Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-15
COOKS TALE OF CLIMB.
Praises BarriII in Account of
Scaling Mckinley.
NOBILITY OF CHARACTER
What First Struck Him at Summit
of Mountain.
ALL NIGHT ON ICE SLOPE
Word Picture of Two Men Clinging
to Steepness Over an Arctic In
ferno Till the Dawn Came.
L NIGHT ON ICE SLOPE

| DR.. Frederick A. Cooks own story of
his Mount Mckinley feat is set forth at
length In his book, ITO the Top of the
| Continent
Certain parts of his picturesque nara
tive are of peculiar interest. in view of
the very different version of the adven-
ture given by his companion. Barrill.
| Not the least striking of such passages
| is that in which DR.. Cook describes his
sensations aloft on the roof of a CONT
| nent.
THE thing that impressed me first,
| he writes. was the noble character of
| Edward Barrille. the bigness in heart and
soul of the man who had followed me
without a word of complaint through
| hopelessness to success
More Praise Of Barrill.
DR.. Cook has previously given a hair
raising account of night spent by him
| self and ,Barrill Cor Barrille) as he calls
him). clinging by toe and hand and hard
driven ak to an icy steep over the
Smoky depths of an arctic inferno
some 10000 feet deep.
| Below are printed at large some of the
| most eloquent passages in DIR. Cook s
| thrilling descriptions, contained in his
book, published by Doubleday, Page &
| Co.
| Thus DR.. Cook describes a climb of g.
600 feet up one of the slopes of Mount
Mckinley through snow and ice by
| means fsteps cut In the slippery in
cline by himself and his guide. Barril.
We continued our steep ascent further
and further into the icy clouds curling
above our heads UP to the knife edge of
the north arete, around a great spur,
from cornice to cornice, cresting sheer
cliffs over which there was sickenlng
drop of 10000 feet into the mystery Of
the lower arctic world, and then began
the awful task CT making a ladder for
1000 feet.
with eternity but an easy step below
every moment of this climb, we went
from hanging glacier to snow slopes.
from blue grottoes to pink pinnacles.
from security to insecurity, with the
laundering rush Of avalanches on both
sldes. II ever there was more dis
hearten1ng task 1t has not been my mis-
fortune to be confronted with it.
A Night on Ice Slope.
keeping the rope tight, we Clipped
steps as near the ridge as was possible
and remained sheltered from the wind
One hundred steps and BarriIle took the
ak: then another hundred steps and it
was my turn.
We coul not see the slopes above for
ifiotc tudH d IuIlOTeQ ydTUS, ana below
everything was obscured by twisting
clouds and drifting SHOWS. 1t was black
at o'clock. We dropped into the steps
| from sheer exhaustion.
There was a limit to human endurance,
and we had reached that limit but where
| could We rest and live for the night:
I'VE uttered a sigh of relief as We rose
| on the icy steps of our Jacobs ladder
out of the gloomy dangers from Below to
the upper edge of the cloud zone. AS a
duty to ourselves and our families, we
side of the mountain and hold on for the
| night
| In this side hill ditch we fitted our
selves securely with view to the effects
| of slumber movements. For II we slip
ped from the ditch we would plunge thou
sands of feet through the clouds to the
smoky depths of an arctic Inferno. We
| wrapped ourselves In a bundle with all
| of our belong .ngs then dashed the bundle
to the axes, which were securely driven
into the ice, and in this way we held on
for the night.
| THE fine snow drifted down our necks
and into the cracks of the dugout, but
we did not dare to move for fear the snow
| would fill the gap, crowd us out, and we
would be left to hold on to the axes to
stay us from death plunge.
"Avalanches Numbered down from both
sides at close range. The night was very
| long and stormy. The thought of going
| to the top of the mountain was -dispelled
| by the misery of that awful night. But
! with the break of ay. with its fetching
! polar glory, all of this disheartening note
of abandonment and danger changed.
Now our determination to retreat resolved
itself into resolution to go to the top.