The Grit-advocate., 1905-10-06

ul l. Hill of the Mattcrhorn was
-IsN! ss- Is! made. Now. ut the foot Of
U@Q the mountain. where The
Zermatt glacier di>intc-
CRATE, watch is being kept for the
body ut Lord Francis Douglas, on" of
four men who lost their lives in that
feat. II the body is found, says the
New York Sun, it will be a repetition
of history, for in 1861 the bodies of
three men lost on Mont Blanc forty
one years before were thus recovered.
The catastrophe in whh'h Lord
Franc, lost his life WAS one of the
most terrible in the history of Alpine
txplo0lion. Until 1866 the Matter
horn had remained inaccessible. al
thougA The best guides in Switzerland
and llaIy had. sought TO scale the peak.
On lniy Is of that year eight men
startcd from Zermatt i'll Il party 10 at
temp The feat-J.ord Francis Douglas.
Mr.. Whymper lwho had failed eight
times In the same task, the Rev. Chas.
Hudson, Robert Hadow, Il college
man: Michael CroZ. Il guide, and three
'tli'i -lllhS an aus W ~
fathor and two sons.
On that evening they campcd 1l.n0O
feet above the sea. The next morning
seven OI them started early. leaving
one of the Taugwalder brothers with
the baggage. At 10 O'Clock when they
stopped for an hour. they were 1l.0uo
feet above tide water. From that
lime their labors became excessively
arduoUS and their progress slow. but
after long dctourS and awkward seal
ing Of icy prccipiccS, they mt last
reached the summit soon after noon.
in the world. which no man had ever
seen til then. Their excitement was
intelSc, their triumph complete.
After an hours rest they started
down carefully ropcd together. Croz
went first, then IIadow. Hudson. Lord
Francs, the elder Taugwaldcr. his son
and Mr. Whympcr in the order named.
The way was so difficult that hut
one man moved ut a time. When he
had found Il resting place and was
firmly fixed. the next man cautiously
followed down to the post just vacated.
while the rest clung to the face of The
rock or ice TO sustain the shock if h"
slipped. CroZ guided the feet of Ifadow
into footholds. Having firmly fixed
them in place, lie was in the act of
turning 10 find IL new post for himself.
when IIadow slipped. struggled and
topplcd over him. throwing him out
ward. In another moment Hudson
WAS torn from his grips and was fall
ing after them. and Lord Francis I'M
mediately followed The other three
leaned back and braced themselves.
Tie rope was taut between them and
all caught the shock at once. They
clung to the rock; but the rope between
| Lord Ftancis and the elder Taugwalder
broke, and the four men went sliding
| lclplessly down over rock and lee. IN
able to find Il projection TO which 10
cling. They struggled desperately. hut
could not stop themselves, and one by
one fell over precipice and dropped
10 the glacier. 1000 feet below.
Three of the. bodies were soOu rccOv-
cred, but that of Lord Francis Douglas
WAS never found. The glacier has
moved since then about one foot Il day.
and the part on which he fell has al
most reached the point of breaking up.
The supposition that he fell into Il
| crevasse, and so may have been borne
along with the, glacier, has led TO the
setting of watch. But that fact is
! Encstablished. and no very accurate
klOweldge of the rate of movement of
the glacier is available. so that the
hope of finding the body rests on Il
slender foundation.