The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1914-11-27
UP ON MOUNT BLANC
3arefied Air Makes One Gasp,
Says Writer.
View From Lofty Mountain OF Switzer
land 10 Incompatible, the PIANO.
ramIc View Being So Immense
That Details Are Lost.

Washington, d. C.-"The heart
thumps irregularly. the pulse goes up
to 100. your knees knock together, and
your poor legs seem unwilling to car
ry you. Your throat is parched, you
feel suffocated, your chest seems
loaded down with great weight. and
such feeling of utter exhaustion!
This is not a patent medicine adver'
tisement. 1t is Walter WOODBURY.
Hyde's description of ones condition
on reaching the summit OF Mont Blanc.
Switzerland, as written to the ma
tional geographic society at Washing
ton. d. G.
The air has now become so rare
that even the stoutest guide Is COM
PEELED to take breath every few steps,
he continues. If you ever saw an
asthmatic man trying to walk up hill
while paroxysm was on him. you can
form some idea OF the last part OF the
ascent. And what do you think Is the
first use made of the glorious view
after all these hours Of toll? Do you
at the wonderful sightf BY no means!
You shut them as. tight as you can and
throw yourself down on the snow In
utter WEAKNESS of mind and body, re-
senting the impertinence OF your
guides. who urge you to look about.
But II is too cold to sleep, and soon
you are up trying to keep warm.
THE view, II you have any desire
to see II. is indeed Incompatible. The
panorama before you Is immense; but
everything Is on such grand scale,
great agglomerations of plains and
mountains. that all details escape you.
Most Of Switzerland, great portions OF
France as far south as Lyons, and the
plains of Piedmont and LOmbardy, In
Italy, are spread out before you. The
cold was so intense that five minutes
after arriving at the summit we were
all ready to begin the descent.
Although the ascent of Mont Blanc
offers no greater dangers than that OF
some other Swiss mountains. 1t has
the name Of being the longest and
most exhausting climb In the Alps.
While such peaks as the Matterhorn
and the Chamonix Aiguilles are so
formed that no great quantities Of
snow can cling to their sides, and con-
sequently present for the most part
merely dangers incident to rock
climbing. Mont Blanc, from its peculiar
formation, is almost wholly buried in
it's upper reaches in snow and glacier,
so that crevasses and avalanches and
all other dangers peculiar to snow
climbing are a constant menace to the
climber. The extreme cold and rarity
of the air az you approach the sum-
nit are also serious obstacles. The
equipment for the two-days' journey
consists of ice axes, hob-nailed boots.
wooden leggings and gloves, noun
tain caps which cover the face and
protect it from blistering, dark glasses
completely from the glare OF the sun.
and goodly supply of provisions
for you would be SURPRISED at an AL
pine appetite The guide himself
brings long coil or rope, almost 100
feet in length, slung over his shoulder.
Ten thousand feet above the sea is
an island Of rock projecting from the
snow. A tiny chalet has been built
here, where the climber can spend the
night sleeping in good bed. The lit
tie chalet is leased to a man and his
wife, a most woebegone couple, whose
detected looks eloquently bespeak the
solitude Of their lives amid these
eternal SHOWS, where the thermometer
each night stands at zero. Triweekly
two hardy porters alternate in bring
ing up supplies from Chamonix. and
they certainly earn their few francs a
day. No wonder glass of water costs
20 centimes, even II 1t be melted snow,
for every billet OF wood has to be
brought from Chamonix, seven hours
below"