Evening star., 1925-10-26
FITZGERALD PLANS
AIRCRAFT FIGHT
Representative Climbed Mt.
Rainier in Blizzard Dur
ing His Vacation.

Representative Roy G. Fitzgerald OF
Ohio, of Dayton. birthplace Of heavier
thanair craft, and who has been a
! leading figure in Congress since the
| fight demanding that Congress should
! provide more generously for aviation.
| has been spending several months Of
his vacation hitting the high spots"
| by airship and mountain climbing in
| the Far Northwest.
He Is coming back to Congress to
| lead fight for far bigger appropria-
tions that the United States as a ma
| ton may lead the world in aeronauti-
cal research, experimentation and
making the science Of aviation a safe
| commercial agency as we'll as putting
| the United States where no other ma
| ton will dare to challenge her in the
air.
In July Representative Fitzgerald
/ spent considerable time in flights over
Seattle and vicinity. From July % to
, August Is he was climbing in the Cas-.
cade Mountains with the Noun.
taineers' Club Of Seattle.
Scaled Rainier I'm Blizzard
He celebrated his 50th birthday by
climbing the peak considered hardest
20 scale in the United States-Mount
Rainier, the IA ,40S-foot peak. third
highest mountain in the United
States-during a raging blizzard. Then
he did some more climbing in the
Olyn1pics and spent from September
IA to October in the Rockies south
of Glacier Park. Mont.
In the trip to Mount Rainier. Rep
resentative Fitzgerald was impressed
by the improvements made since he
was first there in 1915. ten years be-
fore. He had several times within
that decade planned the ascent OF
of the mountain. but something al
WAYS interfered. This year he had
a three-day wait at Paradise Inn be-
fore a party was formed. 1t took
two days to make the climb and the
guides marveled at the endurance of
the Representative, who weights more
than 200 pounds. The blizzard they
encountered was one of the worst
for many years.
The storm was so bad that the
I experienced guide was at a loss to
know which way to turn at times
and later admitted that he had been
lost. The clothing of the party be-
came coated with ice and Represent
ative Fitzgerald was compelled to
break through a two Inch layer of It
to remove the bandana handkerchief
about his neck.
Exposed to Storm.
The party was buffeted by the wind
and nearly blown from the rocks.
Each time they exposed their faces
they We're badly cut by flying ice par
ticles. The storm became so thick
that at times those In the rear of the
line could not see those in the lead.
Near the summit they We're stopped
by crevice. and had to go back and
climb again to a place where 1t was
possible to cross. This was heart
rending to the already wearied Repre-
sentative, who was painting Tor breath
because Of the altitude. and every
step was fresh agony About $50
yards below the top. after falling and
fioundering in the snow for the tenth
or twelfth time, he declared he could
not get up or take another step If he
did get out on his feet. Finally he made
1t. and passed Register Rock" over
the rim into the crater to take shelter
from the storm. They had been on an
eight-hours grueling grind through
the storm.
Representative Fitzgerald suffered
slight frost-bite on several fingers.
while one member Of the party sus-
tanned a frozen finger and the guide
himself nursed a frost-bitten foot
when a cake Of ice formed inside his
shoe.
The party was exposed to the rag
ing blizzard for 13 hours, from 5
o'clock In the morning to in the eve
ming. when they returned to Camp
Muir. They arrived back at Paradise
Inn about $50 pm.
Representative Fitzgerald says it
would be safe for any one to offer
him $4,000 to make the climb again
they could keep the money. But he
treasures, and is bringing back to the
Capital to display to his colleagues. a
summit-climb certificate, won under
the most trying conditions in guide
annals