The herald., 1896-06-28

mountain fevar more nurIIurousiy cool,
year. Some people define mountain
eering as a form of madness which at
tacks people in the summer months, in
citing them to climb impossible noun
tains at the risk of their lives for the
single object of reaching the top and
coming down again.
When the fever has once taken hold
of a person the germs of the disease last
as long as life. If the novice makes
successful ascent of moderately dan
gerous mountain, he or she at once be-
gins to lay plans for climbing a still
more dangerous one. And so it goes un-
til the fever reaches the matterhorn or
jurgfrau point. When these have been
safely gone over the summit of the
mountaineer's attainments, are sup
posed to have been reached
This has always been the case here
tofore. but in the late summer of last year
young peasant performed feat which
had always been considered impossible
But as he accomplished it. the more adj
venturous of the Swiss tourists of '96
will doubtless try to equal the feat, and
If they do it is a certainty that the death
roll of the Alpine climbers will be con-
siderably swelled before the season
closes.
This peasant is a 20-year-o native of
the little town of Brixen in the Tyrol.
named Herman Delago There is
Rosengarten group OF mountains near
Botzen over 5000 feet high. Until the
summer of 1895 mortal man had never
set foot on the top Off Now a pyramid
of stones adorns the pinnacle of the
peak. They were erected by the peas
ant Delago to commemorate his feat,
and 1t may be centuries before other hu-
man hands disturb them.
A DANGEROUS PEAK
This peak, now known as the Delago,
Is the most westerly of the five famous
pinnacles in that particular range of
mountains. When any of the natives Of
the valley wished to describe with em-
phasis the impossibility of doing a GER
tain thing they said: You might just
as well try to climb the West peak"
Long experience had taught them what
that meant.
Tradition in and about Brixen and
Botzen has it that the first attempt to
scale the peak that young Delago sue
ceeded in ascending was made by
charcoal burner named Zermann about
the year 1850. He reached narrow ledge
IN his fifth effort, about a hundred feet
below the summit, but his next step was
On an insecure point of rock that broke
under his weight, letting him fall to the
ledge below with sufficient force to frac-
ture his left thigh. For two days he
toiled in his effort to descend and was
received by his anxious friends only to
VIC lAOlu Ills INJURY u lew weeks later.
Another notable unsuccessful attempt
to climb this peak was made in 1880 by
Andreas Hofer, who led his people when
they drove the Bavarians from the Tyrol
Hofer planned his ascent very carefully,
and entered upon the undertaking with
every assurance of success, but only to
be disappointed. His chosen path had to
be abandoned before he had gone one
half of the necessary distance. The
change of plan did not help him. for no
matter which way he turned the path
was closed. mo man will ever reach the
top without Wings" he said.
In 1868 the famous climber DR.. Crab.
mann ascended some of the most difficult
peaks OF the Dolomites, but when he
reached the westerly point of the five no.
TED ones he said, TT is impossible
LIKE WALLS OF GLASS
From the valley the west peak looks
Ake great tower and it's walls for the
most part seem to be as smooth as glass;
FOR many hundreds of feet the strongest
field glass does not bring into view the
tiniest crevice or ledge to sustain the
climber Young Delago said that in his
ascent ne sometimes had to work his Way
upward on projections of rock two and
three inches wide. If one of these lodges
had broken loose he would have plunged
into an abyss thousands of feet deep.
The acme of the ambition of most
climbers is to ascend the Matterhorn.
Many have succeeded and for each one
who has reached the summit fifty have
tried and failed. Hundreds go to Zer
matt, the little village nearest the Mat
terhorn, for the purpose Of making the