The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-13
Ho! FOR THE ALPlyES
But the Swiss Cemeteries Deter Am.
bilious Climbers.
TOMBSTONES UNMAN-MANY OF
THE ADVENTUROUS.
Give Agonizing Particulars of the Tragic
Fate of Amateur Mountaineers-some
Recent Feafs

Give Agonizing Particulars of the Tragic
Fate4of Amateur Mountaineers-Some
Recent Feats.
This promises to be q great year tor
a lp1ne climbing, particularly among
touring Americans, who are catching the
mountain fever more numerously each
year. Some people define mountaineer-
ing as a form of madness which attacks
people In the summer months, incitine
them to climb impossible mountains 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 person the germs of the disease last
as long as life. If the novice makes a
successful ascent of a moderately danger
Gus mountain, he or she at once begins to
lay plans for OHM bling still more dan
gerous one. And SO it goes until the
fever reaches the Matterhorn or Jungfrau
point. When these have been safely gone
over the summit of the mountaineers
attachments are supposed to have been
reached.
This has always been the case hereto
fore, but in the late summer of last wear
young peasant performed feat which
mad always been considered impossible.
But as he accomplished 1t, the more ad-
venturous OF the Swiss tourists Of '96 will
doubtless try 60 equal the feat and if
they do it is certainty that the death
roll OF the Alpine climbers will be con-
s1derably swelled before the season closes.
This peasant is a twenty -year-old native
OF the little town of Brixen in the Tyrol.
named Herman Delago. There is slen.
der peak Of the Dolomites of tho Rosen-
garten group of mountains near Boten
over 1000 feet high. Until the summer
OF 1895 mortal man had never set foot on
the top of it. Now pyramid of stone
adorns the pinnacle of the peak. They
were erected by the peasant Delago to
commemorate his feat and it NAV be GEN.
tur1es before other human hands disturb
them.
A DANGEROUS PEAK.
This peak, now known rs 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 en-
phasis the impossibility of doing GER
tain thing they said: "You might lust
as we'll 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 youngIDelago succeed
ed in ascending was made by charcoal
burner named Zermann, about the year
1850. He reached narrow ledge in his
fifth effort, about hundred feet below
the summit, but his next step was on
an insecure point of rock that broke I'M
der 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
die from his injury few W eeks later
Another notable unsuccessful at.empt
to climb this peak was made in 1880 by
Andreas Hoefer, who led his people when
they drove the Bavarioans from the Tyrl
Hoefer 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
he 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
III 1868 the famous climber DR.. Grahm-
gam assembled some of the most difficult
reached the westerly point of the five
noted ones he said, cit is impossible -
LIKE WALLS OF GLASS.
From the valley the west peak looks
like great tower, and its 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
climber. Young Dslano said tn at in his
ascent he sometimes had to work his
way upward on projections of rock two
and three inches wide. If one of these
lodges had broken lose he would have
plunged into an abyss thousands of feet
Deep
WHERE COURAGE Is LOST.
The acme of the am bition of most
climbers is to ascend the Matterhorn.
Many have succeeded, ard for each one
who has reached the summit fifty have
tried and failed. Hundreds 20 to Zor-
matt, the little village nearest the Mat
terhorn for the purpose of making the
ascent, but are deferred for q peculiar
reason. One Of the sights of Zermatt is
the cemetery, and in lounging about the
town most of the tourists visit 1t. This
cemetery abounds with tombs stones, an
nouncing that the deceased " Fell from
the Lyskamnl, Killed on the Matter
horn" or Crushed by an Avalanche, /"
the dates and other indisputable partiou-
lars.
This has most disheartening effect on |
the nerves of the ambitious climbers, and |
many of them content themselves with |