Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-22
PASSING OF sN0WD0N
TEARING AWAY A FAMOUS BRIT.
ISL MOUNTAIN.
An Ancient Monument in Wales-Its
Eastern Face a Rare Pieco
Of Rock Scenery.
From the London Leader.

| From the London Leader.
| There Is no mountain in Great Britain
| which figures more prominently than Snow.
| don in the popular imagination: yet curl.
ously enough. the public is standing by In
utter apathy and indifference while Snow
| don Is being destroyed. What would be-
said IL bill were submitted. and passed,
in parliament to authorize some private
| company to pull Westminster Abbey or
/ Stonehenge to pieces and make n profit out
or the ruins? 1t is no exaggeration TO say
| that the Society for the Preservation OF
Ancient Monuments Familiarity known as
| Ahti-Scrape.' would have the whole ma
| ZION at its back in its resistance to such
| vandalism, yet Snowdon is a far more an
cient monument than the abbey Or Stone.
henge and the vandalism which g now be-
| more insensate kind.
For, consider what this Welsh mountain
| Is, ana what the outrage is that is being
done TO II BY common consent :at. cast.
| ern face of Snowdon is one of the finest
| pieces OF rock scenery which this country
! possesses: one has To go to the Coolin Hills
| In the Isle OF Skye. to find a cpot that can
| rival Ii.
The Seats Of the Mighty
The array of peaks seen from the
| Capel Curig side-Snowdon itself in the cen.
| ter. and its lofty henchman, Lliwedd, on
the left. and Carnedd Ugain and Crib Goch
on the rights a sight that no lover OF
| mountains can without emotion: and
| the nearer view from the shore Of Ilyn
! Iiydaw. In the great hollow of Cwm Dyli,
1 IL sun more impressive. ANY n,ountain-
eer worthy of the name" says Mr. Haskett
Smith. in his book on Climbing IN the Brit
lsh Isles. viii admit that the ridge walk
| ifuynd a,,A IA,.-
| Europe "
And this Is precisely the scene that is now
| IN process of being ruined, in order that a
few spectators and traders may ieneGt at
| the expense of the community
| INJURY has, of course. been done TO tho
| natural beauty of Snowdon for many years
| past. The copper mines in Cwm Dyli,
| whlch have been worked, and neglected.
and worked again. have greatly defaced
| the mountain and poisoned the waters Of
| LIyn Llydaw; but it was not until the rail-
way was built from Llanberis. and an hotel
| placed on the summit. that irrcparable
| harm was done by deforming the natural
| shape of Wyddfa the topmost peaa-now
dull. blunted cone.
| Footsteps of the Ungodly.
| Even now the ascent of Crib Goch or Of
| Lliwedd may be enjoyed as OF yore bv
| those who can shut their eyes to the
denominations of the Summit Hotel, and
their ears to the screech Of the train as 1t
! creeps upward with its freight of trip
| pers, to whom the top of Snowdon is no
| more than the pier at Margate the ter
| race at Windsor; indeed. only a few DAYS
| ago the present wrter-oblivious for the
| moment OF these invaders-had the pleas
| ure Of seeing three ravens perched on the
| narrow ridge of Crib Goch.
But, unfortunately. the summit railway
| is now to be followed by a network OF
| electric railways around the base OF the
| mountain. and the power for working
| these lines is to be procured by desecrat-
| Ing the very heart of SnoWdon itself.
| Immense works" are being erected at the
| foot of the waterfall Zone of the finest in
| Wales) which descends from Llyn Llydaw
| into Nant Gwynant, and the lake is to be
| enlarged In order that greater force may
| be available. In a word. the most wild
| and beautiful mountain recess in Wales
! Is being hopeleSsly ruined and Vulgarized.
| Then the railway viii be constructed
| and the larger valleys that lie round the
skirts of Snowdon will be vulgarized too.
| And for what object? Simply that pri.
waite gain may be made out of public loss,
Natures Humiliation
1t is not surprising that the new
works locally welcomed, for. thanks
! to Lord Penrhyn and his like. all business
| at the slate quarries is at the present very
| slack and the want of employment in tho
| district is severely felt but 1t is surprise
! ing that the general public, which is able
| TO take a wide review of the question.
| should fail to see how short-sighted a poll
| Icy it is to allow the mountains to be ex-
| plotted until there are no mountains left.
\ 1t is true that Switzerland is employed in
| the same manner in spelling the Jungrau
| and Mont Blanc, but it must be remem4
| bered that Switzerland has practically
| unlimited reserve of Alps. while we have
| only one Snowdon TO spoil
| 1t is curious fact TOO, that this greed
| for exploiting the natural scenery of Wales
| gees hand IN h3 nd with a complete neglect
OF such legitimate and really useful means
| of utilizing the tourist season as to the
| maintenance of bride paths and mountain
| tra cks, which, without dsfiguring the seen.
| cry, are of great service TO walkers. There
| has been attempt. apparently, for the
| past quarter of century to keep these
! roads In repair and even the path made
| in recent years by Sir Edward Watkn 70
| the top of Snowdon. through Cwm-y-Llan.
| is already blocked in several places by
| large boulderS that have slipped on Il.
In the Peoples Charge.
| In this respect the state of Snowdonia
compares most unfavorably with that OF
the English lake district. where there Is
some local considera ton for the comfort
| of travellers. apart from the immediate
| prospect of max ng money out of them.
| The Carnarvonshire county council would
| do we'll to give its attention to this SUBJ
| ject in preference 20 encouraging local
| enterprise" in the construction OF unnecess
| sary railways, which do far more harm
| imam SOOO.
| In the absence of a healthy local opinion
| there to he only cure for the
| vandalism which threatens to mar tho
| whole beauty of Snowdon and the adjacent
hills and that is standardization. If parks,
| open spaces, railways. tramwdys, water and
| other public needs to be muncipalzed,
why not mountains? 1t is impossible to
overestimate the value OF mountains as q
recreation ground for soul and body; yet
while we awaking to the need of MAIN
| tanning public rights in other directions, we
Iorn oil nDilntalnS-ln
Wales at any rate-to be sacrificed to com.
mercial selfshness.
If Snowdon had been purchased by tho
public twenty years ago the investment
would have been great deal more profit
able than those in which We usually en-.
gage: but while We are willing to spend
vast sums grabbing other peoples ter
r.tory we have not. of course, penny TO
spare for the preservation of our own.
Meteorite or "Thunderbolt"P