The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-12-04
ALPINE DEATH ROLL

| The remarka bly, flne weather IN Swift |
zerland throughout the summer and |
autumn has been responsible for the
longest Anime death roll ever recorded. |
/ Climbing proper began on June, and I
somewhat later than usual, but be- |
tween then and now two hundred and |
/ thirty-one accidents of q serious char
acter have been officially recorded by |
the Aupine club. Nearly twenty-six |
per cent. have been due to the insane /
determination of the ignorant noun |
tain scratcher," as he is termed in
Switzerland, to tackle some peak or
make some difficult ascent without
guide. So common have these guide
less accidents become that the Italian
and Swiss Alpine clubs have laid the
matter before their governments, with
the object of securing legislation that
will prohibit all from making certain
specified ascents unless the climber
shall have passed the examination laid
down for professional guides, or shall
be accompanied by one of these trained
and expert professionals. Another
very frightful cause of disaster is the
desire to climb alone. This is rarely
done by the Swiss, though an accident
due to this cause happened to a well
known young Swiss climber named
Eshbach; he tried the Cine de FEST
single handed, missed his footing, and
hung between life and death on a ledge
on the face of a precipice for thirty
hours before he was discovered and
rescued.
One of the many strange instances of
the Alps giving up her dead after long
years was recorded early in August at
Chamonix. Three summers ago Mile.
Buchler, accompanied by friend, Mile.
Minzlafl. and her brother-in-laW, Pro-
fessor Basner arrived at the Hotel des
Alpes for brief stay Three days
later Mile Buchler started out alone
for a walk, and was never seen again.
Two m1nthes ago her body was discoV-
cred in a perfect state of preserva ton
among the ice near the foot of the Bos-
sons glacier, Many still hold to the
opinion that was very general at the
time, that Mile. Buchler was the vic
tim Of a crime, that she had been lured
away from the proper route and
thrown into one Of the innumerable
creyasses near by.
The death of the guide Devassoux
few weeks later on the Mer de Glaze,
at Chamonix, was due to the breaking
Of the hand rail of a bridge across
which he was leading two young Eng
lish excursiJnists, the Misses Cousins,
of London. The unfortunate man fell
distance of nearly one hundred feet
into the Nant Blanc torrent In July
party of six Swiss artillerymen, under
Sergeant Major Mayer, after making a
successful ascent of the Gallustock,
met with disaster on the way down.
Mayer yentured to pace too near the
treacherous edge of an abyss was pre-
eipitated headong on to the Tiefen gla-
cier below and was killed on the spot.
A little later a young Bernese named
Lehman lost his life on the AXalphorn,
near Brienz, while making an excursion
alone in the mountains above The
lad appeared to have fallen from con-
siderable height, but how the fatality
can have happened has never been sat
isfactorily explained.
The midsummer months have every
year their tale of disasters to the edel-
weiss gatherers. In the Glaeis Canton,
at Saasberg, a young Swiss, venturing
too near the edge of a sheer drop of
four hundred feet in order to reach
some edelweiss blooms, lost his balance
and went over. His body was reeov-
cred horribly crushed the following
day. Five lays later an exactly similar
accident happened to an excursionist
on the Rigi Rotstock, but the victim
had the good fortune to be caught by q
pine tree in his fall, and escaped with a
broken limb.
An English tourist was seriously in
jured about the same time on the Oes-
ehinen Alps by a fall while picking
edelweiss, The Swiss and Italian press
have opened up the whole subject of
the edelweiss question owing to the
alarming increase in the number of ac-
cidents directly due to the search of
this typically Alpine flower. II Is pro-
posed to put certain close restrictions
on this dangerous pursuit and to erect
monuments at certain spots bearing the
names of those who have lost their
lives near by in hunting for edelweiss,
as a warning to visitors, over seventy
minor edelweiss accidents have been
recorded during the uast four months.
Another Chamonix guide, tried and
popular Alpinist named Fourier met
his death on the Coulter Alguille on Au-
gust /, He fell distance Of fifteen
b,tnIral hn ola u
cier during his descent in charge Of a
party of five eXcursionists, His body
was crushed out of all recognition. The
accident occurred through Fourier
unroping himself to examine part of
the traverse across which the climbers
had passed on their ascent The spot
in itself was of no special danger, but
, in turning corner of the rock Four
nier's shoulder struck a projecting
bowlder, throwing him off his balance
, and edging him over into space,
J A woman staying at Wallenstadt
about the same time had remarka-
, BILE escape from death, She haC
reached a spot high up in the noun
, tains above the village, and endeav-
ored to take short cut down to the no
, tel In crossing a steep grass slope she
: Tipped, and in a moment found hereli
being shot downward toward the edge
> of a sheer drop of one hundred and tif,
/ ty feet BY the merest chance she was
thrown into the branches of a pine tree
some twenty feet over the edge, ant
, there she hung, unable to move, unit
some children, who had seen the acct