Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01

cold was intense. After breakfast the two
started upward, but progress was very slow ill-
deed, and every few steps they had to stop and
gasp for breath. and very often to sit down.
Somervells throat very troublesome and his
cough racked him. while Norton's eyes began TO
play him tricks.
After some hours Somervell's throat became
% bad that he was forced to stop, and Norton
went on alone. The going became dangerous.
for 1t was a matter of climbing along narrow
lodges some less than foot wide, in deep pow
derry snow. 1t was the sort of work which would
have been well enough with several men ON q
rope, but was most perilous for one tired man
alone. Yet Norton stuck at 1t and finally
reached a height of 28,126 feet
The summit was in plain view, but he was
almost exhausted and the hour so late that it
was hopeless 70 dream of climbing the renain-
ing 800 feet and returning before night fell
There was nothing for it but to return The
return was almost than the climb, for
both climbers were terribly exhausted Somer-
veil lost his ice ak, which shot away down
the steep mountain side and disappeared. It
was dark before they gained camp No. f. TO be
received by Mallory, Odell and Irvine and fed
and cared for. Next morning Norton was quite
blind. It was snow-biindness caused by sun
glare on the snow, and it was several days before
he recovered his sight
Since the monsoon had not broKen and the
weather renamed fine, it was decided to make
one more attempt on the summit, and early on
the morning Of June Leigh Mallory and young
them and carried the oxygen apparatus.
Oxygen is immense help to breathing at
great heights, and is, of course, taken by air.
craft pilots who intend to try for height records
but it has the disadvantage that it irritates
Threats already damaged by cold dry air.
THE two spent the last night of their lives at
camp No. 6. The last person to see them
was N. E. Oden, who, climbing alone at 26OOO
watched the two tiny dots moving far up the
mountain side. For the moment the whole peak
was clear of cloud, but the distance was too
great for Oden to say which was which of the
two climbers, or whether they were roped to-
gether. He could not even be quite sure how
far up they were, and while The watched the
mist fell again. The two were moving one at
a time. over what appeared to be difncult but
not excessively difficult ground
OdeI visited camp No. 6, but as there was on;y
one small tent there, just big enough for two
people. he thought It best not to remain, so
after helping himself to little food, ne closed
up the tent and made his best of his way down.
ward. He returned to camp No. 4, where he
met Hazard Next morning he and Hazard.
sweeping the upper slopes with glasses, could
see no signs Of movement at camps or g., so
once more Oden and two porters started up
ward. The wind was very bad and it took
long time to reach camp ). The cold was cruel,
and all night the fierce gale ragged across the
bare face of the great mountain. Odell spent
his two porters IN a state of collapse was
forced to start alone fer the uppermost camp.
The wind still blew strongly as ever and it
was only after desperate struggle that Oden
gained camp No. 6.
He found no one there. No one had bean
there since his own last visit. Worn as he was,
and in spite of the cruel weather OdeH went
straight upward in the hope of solving the
mystery of his two friends disappearance It
was very brave thing to do but nothing came
of it. What cOlfid have cd of
man. crawling like an insect among vast
stretches OF cragS? One man, already worn out,
struggling against fury of storm and sweeping
mist! At last Odell was forced back to camp
No. 6, from which he signaled to Hazard below
that there was no news. 1t meant, of course,
that there was no hope, for by this time It was
out of the question that Mallory and Irvine
could have survived. Their fate remains and
probably Away viii remain, mystery 1t may
be that, lured onward by the intense desire to
reach the summit, they did not leave themselves
sufficient time to return before being benighted.
In that case, they might easily have missed their
way and tried to face out the night in the open.
Sleep comes quickly under such ccndi IONS but
it is the sleep of death.
The only alternative is that they fell. This
is not very probable, for both were fine crags-
men and the actual climbing Everest is not
difficult. It is. of course possible that, above
the level of 28100, reached by Col. Moron.
there might have been a worse place than any
previously met with OdeIl, who was the last
to see Mallory and Irvine, and who has written
the account of their last attempt, inclines 70
the belief that they met their death by being
benighted. but the rest of the party are Of opin-
ion that there was a slip and sudden death.
Odel1 thinks too, that it is quite likely that
his comrades succeeded in conquering the noun
tain before they met their end. It has been
suggested that something happened to the
oxygen apparatus. But even If such mishap
did occur, it would not have been fatal, for it
was found that all who became acclimatized to
the great heights were able to live and breathe