Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-09-04
CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN.
Prince Luigi Will Prepare q Mono
logue on His Experience.
Chevalier Cagni Is Enthusiastic
Over the Ascent Of Mt. st. Elias.
A Difficult and Dangerous Ad-
venture Among Glaciers = We'll
REPAID for the Hard Climb.

New York. September 8. - Prince
T.uigi Of Savoy, Duke Of Abruzzi and
nephew Of the King Of Italy, is at the
waldorf, having reached this city after
accomplishing the feat, hitherto regard
ed as impossible, of climbing to the
summit of Mt. ST. Elias. Concerning
his achievement, Prince Luigi IS very
modest. TIe has avoided conversing
about either the character CT the work
he and his party had to perform before
they arrived at the summit or the sclen-
entific facts he has added to the former
knowledge of the mountain. When he
returns to Italy he will prepare mono
1ogue concerning his experiences, which
will it is said be of great value to the
scientific world This monologue will
be accompanied by photographs of pc
culiar interest, which were taken by
the party at various stages OF the jour
ney. Some of these, most notably those
obtained at elevations of more than H.
GOO feet, have no equals, it is said, IN
the world Not only do they show the
effects of photography, at such eleya-
tons, but the actual appearance OF what
has been regarded as an insurmounta-
bic peak The negatives are in the
personal keeping of the prince, who
prizes them as the most valuable Of his
trophies Of Mount st. Elias. They will
be developed in Italy and until then
Prince Luigi declines even to converse
about them.
Chevalier Cagni was the princes
spokesman. He was enthusiastic over
the success CT the exploration. He
said: "You viii be surprised to know
that the ascent was not either very dan
gerous or difficult We are all expert
enced mountaineers, and we had all of
us encountered dangers in climbing far
more perilous than those with which
We were confronted. The notable fea-
lures of the long climb were the glaci-
ers. They seemed to be boundless. We
had never before witnessed such vast
expenses and their splendor is unrivaled.
There were many crevasses, many Of
them very wide but these were also
overcome, and we reached the top after
eighteen hours of hard climbing.
"The sensation we experienced when
we reached an altitude of more than
$4,000 feet was chiefly rapid and diff
cult respiration. The rarity Of the air
made the last steps of the journey diff
ficult. but the WEAKNESS was more than
repaid by the view which we obtained
at the summit. These photographs will,
| believe, open the eyes of mountain
climbers. Our chief regret was that we
were unable to carry really large ca
mera on account Of its weight.
''The most difficult part Of the trip
was from the divide From this point
it required eleven hours to gain the top.
We had lots Of adventures and everyone
of the party, including the prince and
the guide, fell into crevasses, but we
We're so well prepared for accidents Of
that sort that no one came to harm.
We came down the slope OF the noun
tain to the divide in little more than
two hours. There was some danger
perhaps in this, for the ice bridges and
snow bridges under the influence of the
afternoon sun had melted somewhat
and We are not always able to trust
ourselves to them, but the hazardous
ness Of it all was forgotten in the ex-
ment which was superb and set the
whole system tingling with the exer-
else We found the mountain to be.
according to our instruments, 1900
feet high. I say this. of course, with
the understanding that after more care
full mathematical application we may
find that the height will vary 20 or so
feet. While it was cold at the summit,
1t was not excessively SO, our thermo-
meters indicating 10 degrees below zero.
In returning it would have been to
our advantage had the temperature re-
aimed ri 10