The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-28

whose body swung on the face Of the
precipice, balancing them, shouted:
There is only one chance for US. !
am going to throw my ice-axe over to
you. Look out for it, and catch it for
If you miss it we are lost. Now are
you ready? One-two-threer
And then he threw it, and one of the
others caught it, and their lives were
saved, though the man who saved
them had got injuries from the strain
from which he never afterwards re-
covered.
Instances of Great Endurance.
These are typical anecdotes to show
of what stern stuff the Alpine guides
are made. One or two may also be
recounted to show to what extent their
physical power and endurance goes.
The hero of the first story is Michel
Payot, of the village of Les Moussous.
near Chamonix, and the narrator is
his employer, Mr.. James Eccles. for
whose benefit he exercised his
strength. Mr.. Eccles and this guide
were going over the Col du Thur to
Argentlere, when Mr.. EccIes was sud-
denly taken i'll.
Several times he writes. did
Michel endeavor to impress on me fhe
urgent necessity of getting over the
Col du Tour, and as 1 gave little atten-
ton to his entreaties, he lifted me onto
my legs, and tried to lead me along
His efforts were quite useless: nv leSs
refused to work, and I subsidized onto
the snow. 1t was half past 3 O'clock
and the position was serious De
scent by the Glacier de TRENT was not
even to be thought Of, and the dis
lance to the Col was yet consideraJbIe
At last he cried out. 1T is absolutely
necessary that carry you. and carry
me he did. First, taking knapsacls
ropes and ice-axes to a distance If
about 100 yards EDWARDS. he laid tben,
down and returned to me. Then 10
put me on his back and carried me
ABOUT the same distance beyond tho
knapsacks, for which he returned. after
R RuteIns me In my turn on the glacier.
1hese operations were repeated until
we had passed the Col. and descandej
considerable distance on the pIacia,.
ou -FOUR, when began to recover o,,d
win many halts and descending ver1,
slowly. we arrived at last at the vii.
lage OF LIE Tour, after nightfalI.
The Alpine Guides Great Skill .,
Finding His Way.
Another characteristic Of eres+
guides is the wonderful skill Iii,
which they find their way through dir
hcult and doubtful places; and of none
Of the guides is this more true tban
mat OF the illustrious Melchior An
,~S9' "4iOAi SApSII Alpine opinion
mas pronounced to be the grea test of
them all. His passages through M
known and Intricate seracs have been
compared to that Of an Indian ob;ef
tain through primeval forests: and his
unerring instinct does not forsalse hin
when he quits the mountain for The
town. 'He
Five and twenty years ago" writes |
his old friend and employer, Mr. q u
Matthews. "he came to England on p |
winter visit to some Of his old friands |
he arrived at the London Bridge sta
ton in the middle of a genuine london |
fog. He was met by Mr.. Stephen and |
Mr.. Hinchcliff, who accompanied hin, !
on foot to the rooms Of the latter gen
tleman in Lincoln's Inn Fields. A dav
or two later the party found them.
selves at the same station on their
return from Woolwich. Now. Mol
chior,' said Mr.. Hinchcliff, YOU win
lead us back home Instantly the
skillful guide, who had never seen a
larger town than Berne, accepted the
situation and found his way straight
back without difficulty, pausing for
consideration only once, as if to ex-
anime the landmarks at the foot of
Chancery lane.
Men of Simple Piety.
Last among the characteristics Of
the guides, it is pleasant to be able
to record their simple piety. Not all
of them, 1t is true, are equally pio,Is:
nor is the pfety of any allowed to in
terfere with the pastime of shooting
channels at times and seasons for
hidden by the law. In many cases,