The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1894-03-16
DANGEROUS coAsTINo.
A BreathIess Dash Down the slope of a
Giecier..

Glacier.
Tobogganning on a glacier is sport
which might daunt any but an ad-
venturous soul Evidently it is an ex-
perience never to be matched or for
gotten. A descent over part Of the
Silvretta glacier, which lies nearly ten
thousand feet above the level of the sea,
and is for the most part smooth and free
from the dangers common to glaciers,
is described by Miss Margaret Symonds
in the Pail Mall Budget:
"Herr euler had for long time en-
tertained the plan of tobogganningo over
a large portion of the glacier As the
the autumn advanced and the surface
of the glacier grew smooth, he urged
me TO join the expedition, and con-
sented willingly, tobogganning being
my favorite sport -Four toboggans had
to be carried up the four Thousand feet,
and the march was, of course, slow and
laborious.
"At half-past four we reached the
club hut, a tiny stone edifce with two
rooms, table, an iron stove and hay
to sleep on. Soon afterward the glacier
was in shadow. Darkness fell sudden
ly. II was wonderful world of snow
and stars upon WHICH we gazed before
we went to sleep.
"At three o'clock in the morning we
were aroused, and continued our
march for fully an hour and a
half up over the snow-fields,
stopping about every forty yards
to place q stick in the snow, which
should guide us on our downward
course. Finally we reached the top of
the glacier, and after some delay Chris
tian and took our seats and started
slowly forward over the first gentle in
cline. euler followed with my friend.
Smooth and very slow at first; then
on a sudden my toboggan glided more
easily, then bounded forward. / real
ICED that was on the verge of the
great rounded summit of the Silvretta
pass. Below me lay the billowy sea of
unending white; beyond that again
broken bits of moraine; then glimpses
of the verdurous Prattigau. surmounted
by innumerable RANGES ending in Todi
and the whole Bernese Oberland Then
followed the most breathless fight l
have ever flown.
t'Up dashed the fresh snow into my
face, fl'i-.g laT rs9-, n.y -velids, my
mouth ana nosrrils. and plastering itself
in upon my chest. All power of con-
trolling my headlong course had van
ished. For second all consciousness
of danger forsoolS me. l was seized
with the intoxication of movement, and
hurled forward with closed eyes and
lungs cholSed by the driving snow,
which rose in a cloud before me.
"When recovered my senses it was
to find myself launched forth upon
centler slope, and many metres to the
eft of the assigned course. A few feet
n front of me I became aware of an
I'd scar Of crevasse. II was neck or
nothing, and had no energy to stop.
shot across it, and steered out upon
IN even plain of ice. had descended
through the sunlight, in the space Of
five minutes, a tract Of snow-fleld which
it had taken us more than an hour t.
climb at down"
IALLGYhAND'S AUOACiTY.
\ Contemporary Anecdote OF the Fa-
nous Diplomat.
M. de Beugnot, a contemporary of
Talleyrand,s and superintendent of po-
lice at the time of the Prussian oceupa-
~ TOD f,1l
anecdote of Talleyrand, an incident in
which he, himself, played no incon-
spicuous part:
M. de Talleyrand," says NJ. de Beug-
not, son hearing that the Prussian
army intended to blow up the bridge OF
Jena, and knowing that on these occa-
sions no time was to be lost. ordered
me to find Marshal Blucher, wherever
he might be, and to use the strongest
language in my vocabulary on the part
of Che King and his government in order
to induce the marshal TO give such
peremptory orders as would prevent
the Threatened Outrage.
"'Shall | say said l, that the King
win have himself Carried to the bridge
and be blown up with itY
"'Not precisely; people will not be-
Eeve us quite SO heroic; but say some
thing strong--very strong.
''O1f | went to discover the marshal,
who was easily to be found, in Ger.
tain gambling house in the Palais
Royal. Though By no means delighted
at being disturbed in his only amuse-
ment, the marshal, on being assured
that the name of the bridge was to be
altered, gave the necessary orders for
stopping its destruction.
'sWhen | returned, and gave an ac-
count of my mission, NJ. de Talleyrand
said, good-humoredly:
".Well, now I thiall Tint we may
profit by your idea o9 this morning
You remember the King threatened to
be carried to the briege, ard was pre-
pared to be blown up with It. Ii will
! make good newspaper article
Il pro6ted by the hint. The anecdote
appeared in all the papers. and the
~,