The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-12-07
TALES OF PLUCK
And ADVENTURE.
whymper Tells Of Tarysious Experiences
DWARD WH1MPEK, The DIS
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Nhymptr Sehs CT baff"4'"s LNP'f'r"'''
TZ DWARD WHYMPER. the dis
Il tingulshed mountain climber.
who was a member OF the
first party which reached the
summit OF the Matterhorn In 1865. and
who later achieved renOwn by climb
ing ChlmbOrazo in Ecuador. aud at
tanning a height OF 2O.jOO feet. a feat
unparalleled at the time. and which
has been equalled by few persons
since. lectured recently In New York
City at Mendelssohn Hall under the
auspices OF the American Geographi-
cal Society. Mr.. Whymper, who Is an
Englishman. il on his first visit 10 this
country, and this was his first appear
ance In New York. He arrived two
weeks ago at Boston on a lecturing
tour, which Will last until Christmas.
when he expects 10 return TO England.
While here Mr.. Whymper is going 20
spend a few days In British Columbia
looking over the mountains there, and
may do a little climbing II the wealth
er Is favorable. This In spite OF the
fact that he Is now sixty years old,
and has done no great climbing for
six or seven years.
Mr.. Whymper who when only twen-
ty-One years Of age astonished the
world by the bOldness and success Of
his mountain climbing, is particularly
robust, and his feet, he says, have still
the stcadiness which enabled him TO
scale the Mattcrhorn and return alive,
after four Of his companions. includ-
Ing Lord Francis Douglas, had lost
their lives by the breaking Of the rope.
Mr.. Whymper gave n thrilling de-
scriptiOn Of the manner in which Lord
Douglas and three others Of the Mat
terhOrn party lost their lives just af-
ter the descent was begun. When the
first one lost his footing he with a
guide held on a jagged rock and the
rope broke with the weight Of the
fourth man, leaving them in safety.
"oucht not 10 have happened, and
have always laid it to a division Of
responsibility due 10 the fact that
there was no authorized leader.
think It probable that all the mount
aims In the world could be conquered
with proper expenditure Of time.
trouble and labor but for one thing
which nature has made So far an in
surmOuntGble obstacle. That is the
mountain sickness resulting as one at
~. Ill t. 81, -
n peculiar one, and long ago | decided
II was worthy of careful investiga-
ton. | determined to find ont whether
It's effects were permanent, and where
it first became observed. Up to that
time 1t bad never been learned
whether cdres could be effected by
staying on the spot, and persons when
seized by 1t and invariably descended.
That was the only cure then known
1t was my desire to investigate this
which led me to undertake the ascent
of Chimborazo, which Humboldt as
cendcd in 1903 to a height of $1,000
feet. When we arrived at the scco I'd
camp ut an altitude of 5000 feet the
y
The symptoms were fever, intense
headaches and terrible craving for
d,ink, which we We're ,able TO sat
lSfy. one of the peculiar things about
the trouble was the inability to tall.
as one is constantly guiping like fish.
At this altitude our pipes refused to
burn. This condition of affairs lasted
n night and a day. When the inten-
Slty of the symptoms diminished, two
days later we went up higher and
pitched our camp at an altitude of
1900 feet Then the fevcrishnesS and
the gulpinS disappeared, although
most OF us still felt lifeloss. Two
days later. however, we were able to
move, and finally reached the summit,
the barometer showing al inches
pressure. denoting an attitude of 20
500 feet. Sun.