The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 19, 1897, Page 22

&) (] THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1897. s are deeply 1nterested in a con- | that has suddenly sprung up, 1 its way is one of the queerest ever known. It is noibing less than strife among adventuresome women mountain-climbers as to who is entitied to be called “'the bride of Mont Blanc.” Bo vitterly has this mimic warfare raged that the autho; c tually appointed a commission to consider the evidence in the case, sitting as a tri- bunal, and to-day the hearing is in prog- There are not less than twenty con- nts for the honor, and each one has a | large and vociferous foliowing. Perhaps the most resting fact in connection with the af is that the honor may be bestowed upon a woman who died yearsi | made up her mind to start upon thee: 1 | There was plenty of opposition to be | encountered, Of the 25,000 inhabitants of | Geneva Mlle. d’Angeville declared that | only five were in sympathy with her am- | bition. The rest considered that her en- terprise was not only foolhardy but jm- vroper. Deputations waited upon her in her apartment and endeavored to dissuade | her from her mad design. She got tired of receiving deputations’ and slammed | the door 1n their faces. Her friend, Lady Cullum, came to see her and implored her, with tears in her eyes, to think bet- ter of it. Her heart was touched but her resolution was unshaken, and she made | her preparations with a stout heart. | Carrying the burden of provisions, her | party left the hotel at 6 o'clock in the morning. All Chamounix was awake to see them start; the soldiers at their posts saluted. The pace was good. *I did not walk,’ says Mile. d’'Angeville, *I| flew, and more than once they called to me, ‘Gently, gently!'” She would not even stop to rope upon the Glaciers des Bossons, but leapt the crevasses like a | | chamois. **Can madame pass?” asked the | guides, when some point of difficulty was reached. ‘“Madame can pass wherever two men have preceded her,”’ was the re- ply, and she passad and got to the Grand Mulets at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Here | tents were pitched, for there was no inn | there in those days. After per the ago, in 187L. Unquestionably she was the pioneer of women mountain-climbers, and was, 80 far as is known, the first woman to set her foot upon Mont Blanc’s summir. Her name was Mile. Henriette d’Ange- villee. To the world her story bas not heretofore been known, and just now all Paris is rehearsing it. Mlle. d’Angeville was born on March 10, 1784, of an cld and honorable family. She climbed a little on the hills around ber home; later she had some scrambling cn the Jura, and that was all the moun- accident, reserving until afterward my versonal supplications for success,” and lay awake all night in her excitement, *It was not until I reached the foot of the ice wall of the Grand Cote,”” wrote the lady, “that I bad to struggle against two enemies, both equally determined—to wit, suffocating palpitations of the heart when 1 walked and alethargic drowsiness when I stopped. It was no ordinary drowsi- ness; it was overwhelming, passing from the eyes into the limbs and spreading lethargy all through them. Tne effort of will that I had to make to get rid of this torpor was indescribable. “I was obliged, so to say, to wind up my will power as far as it would go. In this way I obtained a nervous paroxysm, which iasted a few minutes and enabled me to advance a f2w steps convulsively; then my heart would beat again as though my chest were being split open, and when the ‘meoment of suffocation arrived I would threw myseli on the ground, over- come by the stupefying drowsiness of which I have just told you. “] was in this state of agony four hours without thinking of abandoning my en- terprise. At one time I thougnt that my body would perish in the atiempt to ae the bidding of my scul. Then I said to my guides ‘If [ die before reaching the summit drag my body up and leave it there. My relations will reward you for thus executing my last, wisbes.” Thanks to God, however, I was able to drag my- self along, and at the very moment when 1 set foot upon the peak I was revived as it were by a miracle. Vivifying air cir- culated in my breast, the drowsiness dis- appeared, vigor returned to my limbs, the intellectual side of my nature resumed the upper hand, and it was in the full posses- sion of my faculties that I admired the magnificent and imposing spectacle which met my gaze.” Then Mlle. &’ Angeville sat down upon the mountain top, penciled hasty letters to her lady friends and drank a toast to the health of the Comte de Parns. Then | the guide Couttet stepped up with a proposal. “You would like,” he suggested, *‘to be taken even higher than the summit of Mont Blane.” “Is there a road leading to the moon, then 2 asked Mlle. @’ Angeville, laughing. “You shall see,” replied Couttet, and he and the guide Deplain joined hands so as make a seat for her, and lifted her high into the air. And then came another proposal It was to the effect that all the guides and porters who had deserved so well of Mlle. & Angeville should be allowed to Kiss her® The lady mountameer strained a point and consented. Of the rest of Mlle. d’Angeville’s life there is very little to be told. She con- tinued her scrambles in the Alps for many vears. At the advanced age of 69 she was Still vigorous enough to climp the Olden- horn, starting at half-past five in the | guides organized a concert, until an av- | | alanche faliing from the Monts Maudits | | frightened them to Then | Mile. d’Angeville “prayed to God with | fervor to preserve my companions Iromi tain training she had had when, in An- gust, 1838, finding herseif at Geneva, she cursion which was to earn her the proud | title of *‘La fiancee du Mont Blanc.” I morning, and taking ten hours over the ascent. It was her twenty-first and last ascent. She lived till 1871, and died at Lausanne at the hour when the Com- mune was raging in Paris. Howa CatKilled a Rattlerto Protect J-IeflrYoung TETETBIVEHLES SHE SUNK HER TEETH INTO THE SERPENTS NECK AT THE BASE OF ITS BRAIN ERER 292020922202922092020020¢ {n"n’m LEELERE] William Adams, whose home is near Wilbur, Or., heard a tremendous hissing | and rattling at the rear door of his home | not long since. He knew that a rattle- snake was doing the business, but the | other sounds confused him. Thinking | some of nis children might be in danger ! ne ran to thedoor. The rattler was there | all right, but there were no children. But there, militant, were three kittens of | the favorite Louse cat and their mother. | The four were entertaining themselves | and each other in a fizht with the rattler, | the motner of course doing most of the fighting. | Fora while there were movements that would have bested a kinetoscope. The old cat had tackled the snake by the throat iu | such a manner as to prevent him striking | his fangs into her back, and the snake was making a powerful wiggle and squirm to get free. Its tail lashed the air like a whip, and its black fangs shot in and out | like three-pronged lightning on a small | scale and ‘in different color. But kitty’s | fur was up, and she was using her feline agility and quickness for all it was worth, 50 that the snake’s venom went out into the air or settled in the earth. Innocent as children the little kittens | had a lot of fun with the rattler's switch- | ing tail. None of them seemed to care | particularly for the taste of it, but they | pursued it, caugnt it, and let it go again, and threw it about much as they would a | whipcord. Once or twice the rattler got free, and in intricate curves too many to describe, and gave up the fight. Half an bour later the family of Mr. Adair returned anc he took them out to the scene of the fight. The snake was siretched Finally, as if to putastop to the siruggle, | out at full length, its head nearly severed the cat changed her grip, sank ber teeth | from the body. Thecat and the Kkittens into the round body close to the bead and | sat looking down upon their victim with beld them there, The rattler soon bowed | that seif-satisfied smile which can come his head, doubled up his back, squirmed | only upon the face of a slumbering cat. swift as an eel made straight for the little ones, but the old mcther cat was too quick for the snake. She grabbed the creature by the back, about eight inches below the head, and stopped its course. i AN INDIAN FROM FAR AWAY ALASKA. A b anroio il s Y (g NICHOLAS J. GONOGODELA is a very small, eight-years-old boy, a native of Alaska, who is attending the Holy Cross mission on the Yukon River, which is in charze of the Russian priests. The mission is 500 miles above St. Michael. seekers, returning from the Kiondike upon requested the captain to give them a chance to go ashore. sparkling black eyes and sbining white teeth, at the sugzestion of Gabriel Cohn Jr. wrote a letter, of which the foregoingis a reproduction, in which greeting 1is sent to the great world of which the lad bas only dim knowledge. ture of Nicholas. The letter came down upon the Excelsior and found its way to Gabriel Cohn's family at 1001 Sutter straet. This is the first letter ever received in %’nga// BOY WRITES A LETTER 4 : WA AL Thne gold- tbe steamer Excelsior, hearing of the aptitude of the Alaskan children at the mission, Bright-eyed little Nicholas J. Gonogodela, brown as a berry, with With the letter 1s the pie- San Francizco from a native born Alaskan Iudian child, THE MAJOR'S STORIES. He Tells of Awful Fatalities From Lightning. “I see,” said Major Blazen, as he took a cigar out of my vest pocket and pro- ceeded 1o light it, “that the statistics show that deaths from lightning are be- coming more frequent every year.” We were sitting in the lobby of the Oc- cidental Hotel and the major had a red- colored volume on his knee, which he had been reading prior to my intrusion. I merely nodded, knowing that my <ilence was more likely to draw him into conversation than my words. He puffed vigorously at my cigar for a few minutes and then began: “Yes, sir; the deaths are becoming more frequent every year and I wonder that no onein this country bas ever in- vented a patent fizhming conductor that could be carried ubout the person by peo- ple living in the districts where electrical storms are 80 frequent.’’ Again he puffed as his cigar, stoppinz only to expectorate thoughtfully at a cus- vidor removed some two vards from his Jdeet. He did not hit it, but the matter did not seem to worry him much. “Talk about Yankee ingenuity,” he said presently, “why I know a German who beat us hollow. He was a scientist of the first water and bad a trunk full of diplomas and all that sort of thiug. I met nim out in Buenos Ayres some years ago, where, as you know, electrical storms are very frequent and of great force,” I was not aware of any such thing, but nodded again, The major chewed a piece off his cigar and pasted it on the white pillar near his seat. ““Yes, sir; storms are very frequent out there, and one year I remember that dutfil from lightning averaged ten a day. 1 coughed, but the majos's eyes were| We did and I paid for them, - ATTACKED BY A BLOODHOUND. Man and Dog Engage in a Fierce Battle in the' An innocent man was pursued and at- tacked by a bloodhound recently in the San Jacinto Mountains of San Diego | County. The whole affair was an acei- | dent, but it was thrilling while it lasted, and the wonder is that the victim sur- vives. None Lave squght the name of the | victim, and iti3 not known avhether at| any time he had been a culprit upon | whose trail the bloodhounds had been set by the officers of the law. The hound was the property of Sheriff Johnson of Riverside County. It wasa big, powerful fellow, that usually knew its business, and bad shown ability more than once to the terror of the law-breaker. It bad never been tested, however, to as- ceriain the enduring power of memory, although there are bloodhound experts | and breeders who claim that the animal never forgets a scentthat has once been given to bim. Sheriff Johnson was on his vacation. He had taken a good horse, had even lefit his gun behind, as the story goes, and was reveling in the unalloyed pleasures of the pretty Strawberry Valley in the San Jacinto Mountains. Tauquitz Peak loomed up not far ahead of him. The big bloodhound joined in the rec- reation, galloping along beside the horse, while the road was dusty and uninterest- ing. Suddenly the dog struck a scent and sniffed around as if he were on the track of a wildcat. At first the Sheriff paid little attention, but in a few moments he looked back and discovered that the dog had disappeared. Thinking perbaps that the hound had found a bear or wildcat trail, the Sheriff turned his horse and started an examina- tion. To his surprise, he discovered tracks of a man. Johnson realized the possibilities of the situation in an instant. The bloodhound, when it chose to be, was fierce, and John- son anticipated danger. He appears to bhave had little thought that the hound might have been on ihe trail of a crim- inal. The dog did not return when his master called. The Sheriff followed the track. He mightjas well have tried to follow a jackrabbit. In tbe thick underbrush the N\ \ 2 AN R prints of the dog’s feet quickly became lost, and the Sheriff found himself bunt- ing in vain for two or three hours. He returned to town much worried. About four hours later thedog returnea, bearing marks of a fight, a fact which largely increased the Sherfl’s anx It was evident that the bound had found | a victim, and the Sheriff conclnded, from previous knowledge of the dog, that il siranger had been vanquished. In another hour =a stranger passed through Idylwilde, a village not far from San Jacinto. His clothes were rent badly, and there were blood marks all over him. He asked for a physician to caute:iz his wounds. He told a tate of a fearful en- counter with a bloodhound on the top o! Tauquitz Mountain. Suddenly in the stillness of the moun- tain couniry he beard the deep baying oi a bloodhound. His bhair lifted his hat seyeral inches from his head. He cocked his gun, but too late. There was a rustie in the bushes behind bim, and before he could turn around the bloodhound had leaped upon him and thrown him to the ground. For a moment be was stunned. | But the bioodhound clutched at his throat and chest and he came to himself ina hurry. With all the strength he could summon he grasped the animal by the throat. It was a desperate effort. Tae hound was powerful as Fitz's bijx Dane. The stranger said subsequently that he had never realized before the traiming there was for a fizhter in a good :serap with a big dog. self loose with a wrench that almost dis- iocated the man’s wrists. Then he sank his teeth into the man’s hunting coat at ibe front of the collar and fairly threw him about as if he had been a small ani- mal. The man was heavy and the Lound lost his hold. The man reached for his gun, by this time being able to get half way to his feet. The bound knocked him to his knees, grabbing him at the same time by the arm. Fura moment the mau tried to use The hound jerked him- | Fastnesses of the San Jacinto Mountains. | The fizht continued this way until the man was aimost ready to s nk from ex- haustion. Dog and man roiled around on | the ground, aliernating neckno'ds—if the | man’s story is to be bel evec rmholds and other holds not known in sporti | parlance, until fin , with one terrific eff rt, the man threw the animal some ce from him and got time to grab zun with boih hanis ready for a blow. He aimed for the head—or rather tried to—but the dogdodeed aat he struck him heavily 01 the side. Tne dog reireated with a lowl of prin. But he wus not to be s0 easiiy ofeated. Buck e came once More, seen. stronger t ever. By this time, « er himself hat zathered a sittle sirength and was ready ‘0 deliver another hard b'ow. Azain he missed tie head. Neverthe- jess: the houna winced with pain so that his uext attack was less fierce. The man advanta nd followed itup vigorou-Jy. Inafew momentsthe houna was in full retreat and the man wasin full possession of the mountain, with a badly torn suit of clothes, a painful wound in his arm, scraiches from the | dog’s teeth here and there and a sprained gun. He accounted himse!f lueky to have a gun at all. According to the stranger's own story the descent from the mountain was not sccomplished without nervousness. His legs were weak under him and visions of thousands of ferocious bloodhounds swam before his eves. 1In fact he saia that he expects 1o float in miragesof bloodhounds for the balance of hs | The physicians at Idylwilde dressed his wounds and the man passed out of the | town without being further questioned as { to his 1dentity. He had the appearance | of being a gentleman and there was no ‘aulwurd inducement to inquire if he mizht not be a criminal. | Sher.ff Johnson is at a loss to account for the action of his hound in leaving the trail and following the tracks of a man except upon the theory that the wilaness his free arm to get his gun into such a po- | of the country appealed to his imagina- sition as to be able to discharge it into the | tion or stirred up memories of previous dog’s side, but the tussle was too lively | occasions and led him into the notion that and he had to give up the effort. 1 there was man-tiacking to be done. fixed on the ceiling and he did not hear me. “One morning the German scientist came up to my apartments and said that he had just completed a portable hght- ning conductor wiich would make his fortune, and which would soon be owned by every resident of Buenos Ayres. He showed me three small rods, fitting wto one another, the whole being abeut twelve feet long. The middle one of these was to be attached by astrap to ihe wearer's back; the lower wou!d then reach the ground, the top one would project some feet into the air and the electrical current would be carried directlvinto theearth. I may add that a small wheel was attached to the bottom rod, enabling it to glide over er's movements. His object in coming to me was to request me to make a trial with his patent before he finally put iton the market.”” The major's cigar had gone out and he proceeded to light it. “What was I to do?”” he asked me, after he had satistied himself with a few puffs, 1 merely waved my hand. “The afternoon promised to be a stormny one,’’ he continued, “and so I promised to be on hand and risk my life for his especial beneht. At3 o'clock I repaired to the place of meeting, a lonely plaza on the cutskiris of the city, and just as the storm began to break I took the.three rods from bim and commenced to adjust them. Peals upon peals of thunder broke over the ground easily and not retard the wear= | the city and the lightning flashed every few seconds. It was forked lightning, too, sir, and I assure you it kept me jumping from side to side to avoia being siruck. Fortunately,” continued the major, look- ing at his shapely limbs, *I am well built and exceedingly agile. A less agile person bud been struck repeatedly, put I come of fine old stock, sir.” He eyed me fiercely and I bowed. “Finally 1 succeeded in adjusting the three rods, attached tbem to my middle and, upon my honor, sir, the lightning slid down that rod in front of me for two hours in one solid stieak. The German sc entist made a fortune, but he died of apoplexy shortly afterward. Shall we drink, sir?” he continued as he took my arm. s L TO ONE WHO IS A GRIPPLE. In other lands, in other days, Thou, too, shalt roam among Those greener hills, those fairer ways Of which the bards have sung. And thou shalt pluck the blooms that nod And laugh upon the hills of God. And, if thou wilt, thou, too, shalt ‘roam Among the stars that light The courtyards of our Father’s home Throughout the peaceful night. And thou shalt watch the kingly sun Arouse the world when night is done. And thou shalt hie to where the breeze Is taught by seraphim The song that sounds o’er lands and seas— The Lord Eternal’s hymn. And thou shalt hear the grand refrain Re-echo back from earth again. . Upon those hillsides thou shalt find The friends of long ago, The kindest heart, the brightest mind, And all as pure as snow. And oh, what true companionships And speech unknown to mortal lips! One never weeps, one never sighs Within that happy place; The love of God is in all eyes, His light illumes each face. No heart but is a peaceful shrine Wherein is placed the love divine. In other days, in other lands, All this shall come to thee; God sees thee and he understands— Thou well canst patient be. For when he wishes thee to come His messenger will fetch thee home. HOWARD V. SUTHERLAND,