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Show A MARVEL OF ENDURANCE. Mme. Brassard Is a Hardy Woman, Who Does Not Know Fear. Mme. Drassard, a French woman who keeps a small corner shop at Lyons, lays claim to being the most noted Alpinist of the fair sex in Europe. Eu-rope. This poor woman, who gains her' living by following I ho .Franch Alpine troups during their maneuvers in the Alps in order to soli her cocoa, has accomplished during thoso marches some remarkable Alpine feats. This year she joined the Ninety-j Ninety-j ninth battalion, and marched with them into Savoy, after which she exchanged ex-changed to the Ninety-seventh, which she followed in all its marches. In a space of a few days this extraordinary extraordi-nary woman climbed the Mont Jovet (2,500 meters), crossed the Col de la Vanoise, which was covered with two feet of snow at the time, ascended Mont Froitl (2,800 meters), one of the most dangerous mountains in the French Alps; accompanied the soldiers sol-diers to the summit of Mont Cenis (2,200 meters), and finally reached the top of the Frejus (2,700 meters), where she quitted the Ninety-seventh regiment to join the grand maneuvers maneu-vers in Savoy. During her travels Mme. Brassard constantly carried a basket containing nearly 30 pounds of cocoa and her provisions, wore ordinary ordi-nary shoes without nails and was armed with an ordinary walking stick. Many soldiers "fell out" with fatigue during these difficult marches; not so Mme. Brassard, who finished up by walking among the soldiers another hour or two in order to sell her cocoa. A paltry 150 francs represented the profit at the end of the maneuvers. |