The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-12-03
ALPINE ACCIDENTS.
Nearly Two Hundred FctaI Ones yDs
8tEy Thfrty-Sixs Years

Nearly Two Hundred Fetal Ones ynrs
Thtrt Six Years.
Since the year 1860 nearly 200 fatal
aecid ents have occurred on the Swiss
Alps alone. OF these how many were
occasioned by maladroit, feeble Or tim
id climbers? The safety Of every
mountaineering party demands in adj
vance that each member OF it should be-
a practical and steady climber; that no.
serious ascent should be undertaken by
any man who can not rely upon his
own nerves aid capabilities, his power
Of Drawing fatigue and standing cold,
and, finally, that the party should be-
accompanied by a sufficient number of
professional guides. Mr.. Leslie Ste
phens lays it down as rule that the
loftiest mountain may be scaled with
safety by trained mountainous, pro
yided that fine weather, good guides
and favorable conditions Of rock and
snow have first been secured On the
other hand" he adds, ..there is no.
mountain which may not be excessive
II dangerous if the weather be bad, .
the guides incompetent, the climbers
inexperienced, the conditions of rock or
snow unfavorable." Who, for instance,
can say With confidence until he has:
been tried that he, has nerve enough to
stand the crucial test which Prof. Ag
ASST confesses was almost more than
he could bear, when, in 1871, he was.
one of a party Of twelve who ascendeds
the Jungfrau, half Of them being pro
fessional guides, with the celebrated !.
Jacob Lenthold, who died soon after
ward of consumption, at their head?
I'VE started wrote Agasslz, from
the Grilnsel hospice at 4 o'clock 4. M.
on Aug. 81, $1S41, sleeping the first
night at the cha tlets of Maril and COM
plotting the ascent of the jungfrau the.
next day. Our difficulties We're not az
little increased by heavy mists and In
tense cold. At last the ascent became
more and more steep, and every step
had to be cut in the ice. LentholG kept
up close to the edge of the ridge of
frozen snow, because the ice yielded
there more readily to the ak. It was,
however, so trying to our nerves that
j, for one, should not like to repeat the
experience. The awful precipice be
meath US was constantly in view. and
we could drive our alpenstocks through
the rim of frozen snow and gaze sheer
uOW Ii THROUGH TIE uOlc 1nLO vast am
phitheater which seemed yawning to-
swallow us, thousands and thousands
of yards below. The apex of the jung
frau is so small that only one person.
can stand upon it. At p. m. we start
ed upon our downward path, turning
our faces to the icy slope, and feeling
with the foot for each step below,
those steps being more than 700 in all
At 11:3O O'Clock p. M. we reached the
chatlets Of Meril, which we had left
that morning at the earliest dawn Of
day." The least imaginative mind can
readily realize that one false step made
upon surface so steep and slippery
that it is impossible to think of it with
out shudder would have involved
In the worst accident that ever oe-
CURED on the Matterforn-tha which
befel Lord Francis Douglass and his
three hapless companions is notorI-
Gus that one false step made by an In
experienced climber, and followed by
. the breaking of a rope. was the sole,
cause Of the terrible tragedy. -LondoR
Telegraph. ..l