The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-03-01
CLIMBING Mt. EVEREST
WHAT SCIENTISTS SAY
NOT LIKELY THAT THE SUMMIT
WILL EVER BE REACHED
Oxygen.

time. il will be the ambition of man
to stand on the ultimate uplift OF Mt
Everest (Tibetan Chomo Langmo),
which is 29,14l feet above sea level ac-
cording to accurate triangulatioh.
This altitude is about $500 feet great
or than the Duke of the Abruzzi at
tanned on Mount Austen in the Him
alayas. says the New York sun. NO
man ever struggled up higher Tue
tremendous strain on the heart III
every 100 feet above the 24,6oO to the
c,aait of the Duke of the AbruzZl
makes the difference between that
achievement and the conquest OF EN-~
crest a forlorn hope, Is any man
equal to it?s
Paralyzed at $4,000 Feet.
In the Geographical Journal Mr.. "A.
Kellas. who has himself CLIMBED 10
% 0OO feet. deals with the posslpllltS
Of putting Everest beneath the soie
of mans foot. He calculates that 'he
oxygen supply at the top would DC
only one third that at sea leVel. "ha'
a pair of lungs it would take TO keep
tho hody going! In the balloon GAS
cent of Glashier and CoXWeH poth
men we're paralyzed at $4,000 feet' anu
Glashier became insensible CoAWen
retained consciousness enough to grip
the valve rope with his teeth anu
inns he arrested the upward sweep OF
ha
senses. but the balloon soon reacheo
a lower level, both men escapihs
death. But it is to be noted that ties
were sitting still. The mountain
climber must press upward, and at
very high altitude the physlcai eNei-
ton of putting one foot ABOVE the
other has the same effect as II, IKE
Atlas, he were carrying the heavens
on his shoulders.
Life at the Summit.
This seems absolutely deterrent 10
tho attainment of the apex OF the
world, but Mr. Kellas encourages the
Alpnist by saying that the pailooh-
ist has no opportunity OF becoming
acclimatized to high attitudes. bu'
what of the strain on the mountain
GERS heart as he tolls up through the
snow and works around cornices? Pc
culiarly speculative is Mr.. he''as
suggestion that 1.-The ascent OF MI
Everest would be possible II air en-
riched with oxygen were oreat'leo
during the latter portion of the ciliho'
Mr. Kellas. we think, dismays the OPP
timistic ones by observing:
.If any of the Himalayan giants IN
the far future are desecrated by
cog wheel railway oxygen VIII nave
to he breathed continuously by the
natrons when near the summit, other
wise none will get down alive
Airshp Only Hope.
Who will build the cog railway?
Science must blush for kellas. Never
theless, he perseveres, asking: rs
possjble to become sufficiently ac-
c,imatized to attitudes of $4,000 feet
tn 81 600 feet to enable one to CHIMP
to over $4,000 feet?' He submits
number of curves" and tables, pres
sure of oxygen in millimeters of mer-
cury" and percentage saturation OF
the haemoglobin with oxygen, ana
On on. but after the cog railway IL
,ustration they are not impressive
Moreover, passing the Hlmala9ah
giants in review, Mr.. Kellas says:
MANY of these peaks seem imper-
yious to direct assault, and II on
close investigation that were found 10
he the case they may be attacked III
some future decade by aeroplane OF
airship."
Some of the Difficulties.
But how the deuce is the aviator 10
breathe the one third oxygen at ~
ooo odd feet, and how in thunder
could he make landing? Mr.. helias
must be playing with us unscient'hc
nersons. We observe that In the ssih-
posium that followed his lecture
how delightful the interchange OF
oninion and "reminiscences always Is d.
the Royal Geographical society
meetings of explorers and wanderers
to the earth's extremes!-Mr. keiias
speculation were taken none TOO sef'-
ously. The ever polite president, MI
rono,as Freshfield, D. c. L., himself
distinguished mountaineer, renarheo
before the lecture began: There are
---nerhaps T should not say unfortun-
ately--a good many difficulties IN the
way of reaching the top of the Nigh
est mountain in the world" The first
for the present is quite sufficient: his
Highness Maharai adhiraja Tribhuoaha
Dir Birkram Jung Bahadur Shumshefe
Jung forbids any one to come nearer
the base of Everest than 100 miles.
SHELTER SMOKE.