Show moddies OF MT A arty of eleven loit of whom were boston it was about 4 in the afternoon after nine hours of as interesting a ride as I 1 ever took and I 1 have covered a good deal of european ground since then that we entered the village of in 1870 and faulted at our hotel As we did so we noticed that some thing unusual had occurred groups of men and women were around in the in front of the village church all earnestly discussion some apparently important matter many ot the women weeping aud there was a shade of sadness on all the faces that attracted our notice at first we attributed it to the war that was then raging only a few leagues away we were not long in learning the truth however fur we had hardly descended from the diligence before the terrible announcement was made that eleven men bad been lost on mont biance what that meet to the dwellers in that seclude ed village we in the great and busy city of boston can scarcely realize and even upon us strangers and sojourners for a day it left an impression which the lapse of years has not yet effaced an intelligent english gentleman who had been at chamouni gome time and was conversant with the facts told us the bad story he that on he previous pre monday morning ahw was sept 7 three travelers two of whom were americans bad started with three guides and five porters for the top of the mountain their names were john C randall of quincy mass dr lamtai B bean of baltimore md and 0 M coykendale Cor kendale a scotch clergyman 1 lie three guides were the best and most reliable in the village namely john balmat joseph bretton and august collet all well known and esteemed by the mountain climbers of that lime the party had reached the grand mulcts and spent the night on monday there setting the rhual signal to inform the dwellers below ot their safe arrival on tuesday morning they completed the ascent and reached the eui spending the usually time there on the afternoon of that day they were seen slowly descending the mountain they looked like aliea crawling over a white sheet all at once he said there seemed to be a veil thrown over them and they vanished from his sight never to be seen again at first not much anxiety was felt in the valley as slight snow storms are not buncom mon at that season but when night came on and there were no signals set at the grand mulcts or any lights to be seen about the little hut where they should have spent second night fears began to take shape that some terrible catastrophe bad taken place SAS soon as the people had partially recovered from the shock occasioned casio ned by a realization of what bad occurred the malac of the village who was also the chief guide called for volunteers to go in search of the missing men bow forlorn a hope it was may be inferred from the tact be would accept no married men neither any who were over 30 years of age it was about 5 when these volunteers thirty in number with packs of clothing and provisions on their backs coils of ropes and axes over their shoulders and alpenstocks alpen stocks in their bands gathered in front of he manes office to get their final instructions they were to go up to a certain point that night examine the ground carefully as they went then proceed next morning to the summit and signal back what sue cess if any they had had in their bearch for the missing men that night there came on about 8 a tempest of wind and rain accompanied by thunder and lightning such as I 1 have rarely listened to or witnessed except in ithe swiss alps the next morning flocking from our botet windows we baw that enow bad fallen upon the mountain sides far down toward the valley and we instinctively felt that the efforts of the brave must have been fruitless even if they themselves had oot fallen a sacrifice to the fury of the elements but about 10 that forenoon they were seen eberg ing from tha woods and here soon their friends yet with sad i bened facet they reported that they had reached a considerable height when the storm suddenly overtook thema storm not of wind and rain as we had bad it but a cerce tempest of wintry sleet and snow they had spent the night under the best they could find and small choice it was and early the next morning bad proceeded on their upward journey it waa not far however that they could go for the snow had fallen in such quantities that bot only were all landmarks and paths obliterated but it was imps aible to make any progress without momentary danger of being burled into some abyss which could not be avoided because hidden under a treacherous covering of abow they knew also too well that no human being could have survived such a night and such a tempest at a point above that which they had reached and now dear reader you know why there was weeping and wailing that afternoon of beat 7 among the women and children aay and men too of chamouni beight of their best and bravest citizens cit izena had been wiped out of existence as suddenly as if the earth had opened and swallowed them up borne of them left and some aged depending upon them fur support eup port they were all very poor for the season bad been bad for them the french and german war had kept away visitors to a large extent and everybody wa complaining of the bard times jo ft amounting to upward of 1000 francea was raised among the strangers who werf there and distributed by the sunru itwara several weeks afterward that I 1 learned the earuel to this terrible affair A week or more elapsed before it was deemed practicable to attempt another search for the missing men and then only with ahn bare expectation of finding and bringing down then lifeless bodies there was no hope fifty of the roost experienced mountaineers of the village were detailed for this purpose and after a long and tedious search they came upon the stiffened corpses of the party among which were those of dr beane and air kendale they were in a sitting posture as though they had sat down to rest and so had perished in the cold hands of dr beane was found a note book bearing several dates the last of which was that terrible night of sept 7 the record seated that they had been two days in the midst of a terrible snowstorm snow storm that they had had trouble their guides and the party had become separated they were conscious that they were lost for the record closed as follows we have dug a grotto in the snow at a height of feet I 1 have no hope of descending my feet are frozen and lam exhausted I 1 have only strength to write these words I 1 die believing in jesus christ with the sweet thought of my family my friendships and all I 1 hope we shall all meet in beavan dr beane was a highly esteemed young physician of baltimore and had in his possession letters from prominent officials connected with the institution the object of his visit to and his fatal accident of the mountain was mainly for scientific investigation air kandall atio perished at the same time but whose body was not discovered I 1 believe until some days after was a well known resident of quincy and I 1 think was treasurer of the savings bank it is said that munt blanc claims at least one victim every year but the year of 1870 was preeminently its own for this terrible affair the worst that had ever been kemem bared at chamouni was not the only fatality of that season the other was in this wise during the previous month of july an englishman with his young bride visited chamouni the lady was very anxious to go part way up the mountain so two guides and a porter were secured and the gentle man and his wife and a lady companion started on their upward way upon reaching the grand mulcts they found the ascent so agreeable that they concluded to go on still further the gentleman and guides started on ahead ajr a short deshance de stance ia order to make out a path fur the ladies in charge of the porter they had gone but a short distance when they heard a succession of shrieks and upon hastening back to the spot they had so recently left they found the lady companion standing alone and dazed with fright the bride and porter had disappeared forever from the face of the earth As soon as the frightened woman could speak ehe explained that they were all stamping their feet upon the enow to keep them warm while wailing for the return of their male companions when it suddenly gave way beneath them and in an instant the bride and porter were gone from sight they had been standing over a narrow but deep crevasse the surface opening of which was hidden by the snow those who have crowed the mer de ulace will know what I 1 mean the treacherous crust had finally given away and the falling in upon them had forever shut them out from human sight and sound every possible effort was made to recover the bodies but without avail for these crevasses cre are sometimes hundreds and perhaps thousands of feet ia depth though often not more than two or three feet wide at the top which renders them all the more dangerous after snowfall I 1 have heard people speak of the ascent of mont blanc as a pleasant summer days jaunt but I 1 am quite sure they have never tried it neither have I 1 the mer de glace waa enough for me there were at the time men on the roll of guides at chamouni but a few only of that number were allowed or licensed to take any one to the top of the mountain those who know it best fear it most A fee of francos about was paid to each guide who made the ascent two porters to each guide are also required to carry the extra clothing provisions ac of the party the latter are paid considerably sider ably leaa than the guides and none too much for they share equally the peril and more than share the toil of the ascent they are a noble body of men bound together by very strong ties of sympathy and friendship |