The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1913-07-04
THE MAN
WHO FELT
But He Reasoned at the
Same Time


without experiencing sense Of the
vastness Of Inorganic things. And we
can never contemplate this material
immensely without making a step on
ward, realizing the wider scope of the
spiritual. To us living beings soul
must always be placed far above mat
ter. Why then should man, superior
to these senseless though awe fnspir-
ing mountains, die among them and
pass into oblivion while they go on for
ages?
The consensus of opinion has al
ways been that he does not. The be-
lief that he mingles in the affairs of
beings still in the body has-as II SUI
perstition-largely died out. but scien-
tific investigation has taken its place,
and research goes on in the supernat-
ural as well as in the natural. though
there is probably no dividing line be-
| tween the two.
The Alps are my favorite mountains.
though l do. not consider them su-
perior to the Canadian Rockies. But
the former are In the center of civ
ilized continent. while the latter are
still solitary and not so easily reached
Mountain climbing has always been
passion with me. and in the Alps one
finds every facility for the purpose
Before l was twenty I had stood on
the summit Of the Jungfrau and a
year later made the ascent of the Mat
terhorn.
My favorite Alpine region was that
about Mont Blanc. which climbed
several times and always with the
same guide, Otto Marx, though ascents
are not usually made without two
guides. Marx, though possessing the
wiry, close knit build of the typical
mountain guide. had spiritual coun-
tenance. He climbed mountains not
so much from a love of encountering
their dangers as for the contempla-
ton Of the splendid scenes to be found
among them. He was a silent man.
not easily drawn out. but 1t Is my
fancy to dive into the inner depths Of
such persons because ! expect to find
there treasures not to be found among
while climbing we reached q conven
lent spot for resting and looking out
upon the broad expanse Of mountains
and valleys and cliffs, peaks here and
there extending far above the clouds
| would begin my pumping.
He told me that he was born among
the mountains and he could not be-
lieve that he would ever leave them.
"All things must have a beginning"
he said. MY beginning is in my
body. can only propel myself on
my legs. helping myself up steep
heights. at times helping with my
hands. When I die i shall be fHe
from such contemplate methods.
Though we sometimes retrograde, in
the main we progress Man first could
only walk on his legs: then he made
an animal carry him. and now be goes
rapidly by steam. When he dies he
makes much greuter advance than
I have cast or the body shall not
be subject to gravity. I shall pass
over this broad valley to yonder noun
tain by some such means as the cleo
trio current cannot conceive Of the
by which I shall move
any more than half a century ago one
could conceive Of talking to another
hundreds OF miles away by means Of
n telephone or of flying among the
clouds In an aeroplane. Do you sup
pose man can make such progress as
this. clogged with the body, to ac-
complish nothing Mt all when freed
from it?"
Sitting there. looking out. upon the
grandeur, was deeply i'm
pressed with his reasoning. l did not
stop to inquire whether or not it was
logical, and 1t does not appear to me
now to matter whether 1t was logical
or whether 1t violated every logical |
principle. There are deductions that |
only appear to us through the feelings,
and this feeling that we shall live
again after our present life Is perhaps
the most important Of oil such deduc-
tons.
Many were the talks in this vein l
uaO WIFI OttO NdTA Wulie we WeiS
resting above the clouds. When we |
had descended into the valley he would |
be again shut up like an oyster. Some |
times when we were alone together In |
| would endeavor to get |
him to converse OH these subjects, but |
never once succeeded. Sometimes ! |
fancied that he saw these sights OF |
what he would be in the future only |
from q great height and when inspired
by the peaks. Aud yet this did not de-
stroy his faith in them.
The last climb Otto and ! made to-
gether we started one morning from
Chamounix to ascend the mountain |
and stopped for the night Mt the Grand
Mulets. the cabin erected for the shell
ter Of climbers. We had our supper
before dark and sat looking out over
The succession Of mountains and gorges |
md the great ice river pouring with
invisible slowness down into the val
ley. tried to induce Marx to talk.
but failed.
"what is the matter with you, Otto" !;
asked.
'Herr," he replied, IT feel some
Ihino "