CONQUERED
88
By R. H. WILKINSON
<£), Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
GUESTS nt the Alpine House
were thrilled when Neal Leon
ard and his party arrived for
the climbing season. Leonard
was rated among the most accom
plished climbers of the day. And ev
ery one knew that the veteran’s heart
was set on conquering Mount (ilacior.
No living man had ever reached Gla
cier’s lofty summit, it was one of the
few remaining ascents that still held
out an insuperable defense to the
strength and endurance of man.
One after another of the world's
greatest pinnacles had succumbed to
the skill and perseverance of the great
Leonard. Lesser peaks, they were, but
testing his skill and that of others to
the utmost. And now M^tint Glacier!
Hundreds of others had failed. It bad
been said that no living man would
ever reach its summit. And yet to ac
complish that very end had become an
obesslon with Neal Leonard. It meant
the crowning achievement of his ca
reer.
There were three in Leonard's party
—Turner Cameron, who had scaled the
most precipitous trail up the Matter
horn in record time; Orris Markham,
whose name was a byword of achieve
ment among mountain climbers of the
Alps, and Leonard himself, ltoth Cam
eron arid Markham were comparatively
young. They were not ns sober and
concerned about the success of the at
tempt as was their lender. To them It
was a glorious adventure; to Leonard
the accomplishment of a burning am
bition.
The trio set out early one morning In
late spring, following a farewell party
sponsored by guests nt the Alpine
House ns tribute to the three daring
men. It took the party a week to reach
Glacier’s base; a week of climbing that
would have taxed the skill of unladen
men, let alone these throe who were
forced to struggle over lesser ridges,
each bearing on his back a minimum
of 40 pounds of food and equipment.
Leonard had chosen his companions
with foresight. When the base camp
was established, both Markham and
Cameron were us eager for the ascent
as when they started. The discomfi
ture of the week’s “preparatory” work
had not discouraged them In the slight
est.
Following a day’s rest, the party
awoke before daylight ami prepared to
make their first ascent—the south wall.
At the first flush of dawn they set out.
Hoped together, witli Leonard in the
lead, they made quick time over the
comparatively easy southern defense.
Once atop the wall they rested, ate
and began climbing again by two In the
afternoon. High above them towered
the cone-shaped summit.
Their present encumbrance was a
nob known as the Camel's Hump. At
first the slope was easy; the snow well
packed for climbing purposes. But by
late afternoon, with the hump's top still
a good hour away, the trail became
more precipitous. The slope shot up
ward at a dangerous angle.
Leonard kept in the lend, digging out
footholes with his ax with studious
care. He surmounted one ledge after
nnother, gave his companions the ad
vantage of a tight rope whenever pos
sible, and finally, just ns daylight be
gan to fade, reached the top of the
final ledge, and halted.
They made camp on the wind-blown
summit of the Camel's Hump and went
immediately to bed.
At dawn they were up and ready to
begin again. Caching a quantity of
their food supply, they begun at once
the ascent of the dangerous l’ulplt
Hock. The rock presented the first
real difficulties of the climb. It was
accomplished by hitching the body up
through a series of chimneys—narrow
crevices with an almost perpendidar
climb. Leonard, as usual In the lend,
reached the last chimney’s top at 1:ii<)
in the afternoon. Below him his com
panions were obscured from view by
an angle of rock.
Alone, with a hundred miles an hour
wind threatening at any moment to
unseat him from Ills precarious perch,
the veteran confronted and overcame
one of the most hazardous of all as
cents.
At the chimney’s top a flat slab of
rock, smooth as glass, sloped upward
at a nearly perpendicular angle for a
distance of 15 feet. A barely visible
crack, not large enough for n man to
insert In It his finger tips, extended the
length of the slab. It looked Impossi
ble, hut Leonard knew it had to be
done.
Inserting the point of his climbing ax
In tlie crack and making it secure by
twisting the handle outward, he hoisted
up Ills body, clung to the sheer (me of
the slab for a breathless distant while
he loosened the point and repeated the
maneuver, and again pulled himself up.
Ir tills manner miraculously, lie reached
the ledge above. When Ids two com
pnnlons arrived nt the chimney’s top,
they nscended the slab easily with the
help of Leonard's tight rope.
That night the party camped on a
ledge scarcely wide enough for all three
of them to lay down side by side. Di
rectly beneath them was n drop of some
thousands of feet. Above, the summit
was scarcely 700 feet away, a good half
mile of climbing. The temperature was
far below freezing. The air had be
come light and was dillieult to breathe.
Every step during the past throe or
four hours of climbing had been tor
ture, lung-racking. A rest was required
every few feet.
Leonard’s eyes began to burn with a
strange light. No man had yet readied
the height to which the three had ns
eended. The summit, realization of a
lifetime of dreaming, was In their
grasp.
As usual they were up before dawu.i
and nt the faintest hint of daylight had
begun the climb. Progress was snail
like, every foot gained meant a tremen
dous struggle. A slip now would mean
destruction to all three, so precarious
were footholds. Hy noon they had ac
complished but a scant 200 feet. An
hour later a heavy mist enshrouded
them. Leonard knew the signs, and
great ns was his eagerness, he was not
a fool. lie led his companions hack to
the upper camp, and for two days they
remained Inside the shred of a tent
that was their camp, while a fierce
storm raged without.
On the third day It cleared, and again
they attempted to gain tlie summit.
Hut again a storm overtook them ami
they were forced to retreat.
That night they held n conference.
It was, they agreed, an Impossibility
for nil three to gain the summit. Some
one must he left behind. Another camp
would have to be established further
up, and it would he out of the question
to transport enough food and equip
ment for three.
Cameron and Markham wore young
er. They realized that if the thing
could be done, it would fall to them.
And yet they hesitated, knowing the
obsession that fairly haunted the mind
of Neal Leonard.
Leonard was silent for a long time.
But at last he looked into tlie eyes of
his two youthful companions and nod
ded. The two youths carried a mem
ory of that look for many a year after
ward.
Early the next morning Cameron and
Markham started out. All day long
Leonard waited in the camp below with
his thoughts. At dusk the two youths
returned. It was impossible, they said,
to gain the summit. An Insurmount
able overhanging ledge jutted out and
prevented progress from all angles.
Leonard listened to the pair and said
nothing. The next morning he an
nounced he was going to attempt the
ascent alone. Markham and Cameron
tried to dissuade him, but the old vet
eran was obstinate. He departed with
his companion's pleas still ringing in
his ears.
At night their companion had not re
turned, and Markham and Cameron fell
into a doze. By noon of the next day
they began to lose hope. By mid-after
noon they knew that no living thing
would have been able to withstand the
ravages of exposure for so long a pe
riod.
They held on for another day, how
ever, and then descended to the next
camp. Here they waited three days
more and then sorrowfully began fight
ing their way downward.
That was the last time Neal Leonard
has ever been seen. The following
spring two aviators announce.) their in
lention of (lying over Glacier’s sum
mit, no small feat in Itself. And In
May of the same year the act was ac
compiished.
Among other things the aviators re
ported seeing something that looked
like a torn piece of jacket plastered
against a tiny mount on the summit
Markham and Cameron, both of whom
heard the announcement, exchanged
startled glances. Ami, then. Joyfully,
they knew. Old Neal Leonard had real
ized his ambition. Mount Glacier hud
been conquered !
Recovered Eyesight Disappointing
Occasionally persons who regain
their eyesight after having been blind
from Infancy are greatly disillusioned
and disappointed. Some dislike human
faces, while others can no longer
hear to touch objects they have used
for years, or cannot continue to eat
certain foods because of their appear
ance. A few even regret that they
can see again.—Collier's Weekly.
Mails Delayed
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fif
teenth amendments to the United
States Constitution were submitted to
the states at the close of the Civil war.
Delaware turned down all three hot 30
years later. In IUUI, reconsidered and
passed them. Thirty-four years after
ratification, the State department at
Washington was notified of that ac
tion by Delaware's secretary of slate.
No explanation of the delay was made
A Downy Encounter
"He’s wrestling with his conscience."
“Yeah, a featherweight match.”—
Montreal Herald
Let Our Motto Be
GOOD HEALTH
BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD
Professor of Bacteriology and Preventive
Medicine, University of Illinois,
College of Medicine.
THE INFECTIOUS COLD
A good many Infectious diseases giv«
you immunity when you have had ont
attack, but not i
cold. You can be
just over one, nnc
contract anothei
the next dny.
So far, medlcai
science has not
been able to Isolate
the germ that
causes the Infec
11 o u s cold. The
germ Is so Infinites
imally small that
It goes through ev
ery bacterial filter
we have In our lab
oratories, nnd It cannot he seen with
the microscope. Rut some day some
scientist will be able to "catch” It in
some kind of net, and then when we
cnn isolate it from other germs, we
will he able to work on it, and the same
scientist, or some others, will lie aide
to discover the way of killing It. Ret
us hope these discoveries come soon.
The common cold Is certainly the cause
of an amazing amount of discomfort in
tlds world.
medical science, however, nas learnea
that there arc two types of colds—ona
that is contagious and one that is not.
The non-contagious type is the one
'hat most chronic head cold sufieicrs
have. The infectious type is the one
that most of us get. It is the one that
comes in “waves.”
Medical science, ton, lias determined
pretty well that we nil have tlie cold
virus (a Kerm is called n virus when
it is so small that you cannot see it
with a microscope) in our noses and
throats constantly. When we are well
the cold virus doesn't bother us any
more tiiun a dust spot on healthy skin
bothers us. But let 11s get below par
then—well, the cold virus Is there
ready to attack, and loses no time "get
ting In its work.”
In experiments which we have been
carrying on In the University of Illinois,
we have learned that the temperature
of the lining of the nose has a great
deni to do with whether or not we arc
resistant to a cold. Briefly the action
Is this: In a normal healthy person
when cold water or cold air strikes the
body anywhere, the temperature of the
lining membrane of the nose drops In
stantly below normal, and before the
temperature of the skin drops. Then
within the spnee of a few minutes, the
temperature of the lining of the nose
rises above normal and stays there long
enough to counteract the bail effect of
the below normal period* Then It set
tles back to normal. In other words,
n healthy body machinery has the abll
Ity to adapt Itself, within reason, to
exposure to cold, and to ward off Its ill
effects.
But now supposing the body Is be
low imr. Then when cold air strikes
the skin at any spot, tlie temperature
of tlie nose goes down instantaneously,
but instead of going up again Immedi
ntoly ns it should, It stays down fot
perhaps half an hour or longer. And
when the blood holds away from the
surface for longer than ten minutes,
we have found, the cold germs seize
the chance to get In their work, and
in a very short time our noses are run
ning and we are sneezing. Tlie cold
germs are multiplying by the millions
and ready to fasten themselves on any
person that comes In contact with otn
wet handkerchiefs or tlie spray from
our mouth. It is in tills beginning
stage that tlie common cold !s most in
fectlous.
But it is now that quick work on
our part can often stop the cold. It
we can get tlie temperature of tlie
r.ose to rise above normal for a while
so that we can sweat and the blood
In tlie nose can come to tlie surface
to battle against the germs, and we
can rest our bodies for a bit, the
chances are pretty good that we can
conquer the cold within a few hours
The best tactics to use nt this time are
those grandmother used—a steaming
hot foot hath while wrapped in blankets,
a hot lemonade to drink, a warmed bed
to get Into, and then rest there until
the next morning.
The best way to prevent infectious
head colds is to keep the lining of the
rose and its underlying vascular net
work in a normal state of function.
Tlie skin of the whole body must be
kept In "tone." and this can be done
by n warm morning bath followed by n
cool shower, or nt least n washing of
tlie face, arms and hunds with cold
water ami a cool rubdown of the rest
of tlie' body. Then he ost in tlie open
nir nt least an hour a day. Eat plenty
of fruit, vegetables, dairy products,
lean meats, and go easy on starches
and sweets.
And avoid ns you would a pestilence,
tlie person who is in tlie sneezing stage
of a cold and who Is showering tlie air
with germs. No one Is resistant enough
to withstand a too big dose of fresh
cold germs.
©. Western Newspaper L’r,!on
{htotMituj Joimbm
Big Task for a Cameroun Hairdresser.
Prepared by the National Geographic Society
Washington, D. C.-WNU 8ervlce
FOUMBAN, mandate of Came
roun, Africa, is astonishing.
The city stands upon a hill and
is surrounded by an elaborate
system of ancient trench fortifications
anting from the years of the Fulah
raiders. The trees, which have been
planted along every street, give It a
wooded effect wholly absent among
■he neighboring grass meadows. One
ans an immediate impression of order,
prosperity, civilization.
Many of the houses of Foumban are
pf sun-dried brick and are roofed witli
native tiles or grass thatch. The com
oound fences are neatly constructed.
The market, made of brick and tile,
's modern in type and perfectly clean.
At the center of the town is an Im
posing three-story structure set in the
midst of elaborate gardens.
It Is the palace of NJoya, sultan of
the Hnmoum and overlord of Foumban
Everything—order, bricks, and garden
—Is indigenous. Foumban existed when
the white man was no more titan a
myth. Even now outside Influences
pave touched It only slightly.
The sultan and the majority of his
people are Mohammedans. In accord
ance with the curious rule that people
pf the African deserts and prairies
readily adopted Mohammedanism, and
that the people of the African forests
almost invariably did not, the Hamount
•carcely recall a time when their life
was not strongly influenced by the
Arabic belief.
In the center of the town, facing
the sultan's palace, is the mosque, a
frame building of strongly Moorish
type, even to the vertical stripes of
red and white paint. Uere, every Frl
iay, the elite of the Baronum gather.
Subchiefs Are a Proud Lot.
The many n'gl, or subchiefs, of the
tribe, some of whom exert far more real
power than the sultan himself, come
'.n from their districts, bringing with
them a string of dependents. They
make a striking picture. Nearly all
aristocrats of the Cameroon plateau
ride horseback and dress la immense
lowing robes covered witli blight em
broidery. Some swathe their beads In
white or blue turbans; others wear
the characteristic floppy straw hut of
the Fulah cattle herders. All have an
air of faintly contemptuous majesty.
They, the rulers, they fondly think,
are the pure-blood conquerors from the
North, und therefore the superiors of
.lie indigenous peoples witli whom they
have merged. As a matter of fact, lit
tle trace of the Arab strain remains,
?erta!nly so far south us Foumbnn.
Tlie Bamoum, except for unusual
stature and the occasional appearance
of an isolated straight-featured type,
are distinctly negroid.
The n’gi, when they come to town,
are followed, according to their rank,
by greater or less entourages. Several
male members of bis family usually
accompany the n’gl. also mounted.
The horses are richly caparisoned in
red and green lentlier. The men carry
elaborate spears, with shafts of hard
wood and tips of sliver or native
bron/.e. Behind comes an inconspicu
ous rabble of wives, inwally well-laden
with produce for sale at the week-end
market, and several depressed-looking
burros, not quite as heavily laden as
the women.
While the ceremony at the mosque
Is In session the women und burros
sit respectfully about outside. When
the men come out, Foumbnn stirs will,
unaccustomed activity, an activity
which continues until the country pen
pie stray away home late the follow
Ing day.
Markets Are Picturesque.
All sorts of produce ure spread out
In the market. There uie leatlier boots,
scabbards, and decorated harness;
8iiperb pieces of Banmum embroidery;
rolls of homespun cotton cloth; curved
wooden household articles of every de
scription.
Hardly less picturesque Is the food
market. First of all, there are thou
sands of e»’ of fine Indian corn. It
grows everywhere on the plateau.
More special delicacies range all the
way from roasted termites’ eggs to
crocodile steaks, things of considerably
less Interest to a white traveler.
More than a thousand people attend
the market. The sounds, sights, and
smells of vigorous native trading give
an impression of thriving, continuing
African iife such as one scarcely senses
among the less developed forest types,
particularly among the dreary, half
invalid creatures of the jungle of
southern Cameroun. The favorable
climate, the mixture of types, and,
above all, the remoteness of the cor
ruptive Influences of white civilization
clearly show their effect.
By Sunday morning the peasnnts have
for the most part gone nway, their
produce sold or favorably exchanged.
The aristocrats, however, remain. At
the slighest provocation they will ar
range a parade, n sham war, anything
to vary the monotony of isolated tri
bal life.
Even the presence of white stran
gers, for whom the rules of the plateau
have great toleration but very scant
respect, will serve for an excuse.
One Sunday noon recently a trnveler
learned that word went forth that a
“play” had been arranged. The eight
whites then in Foumban, only three
of whom resided there permanently,
sat with Sultan NJoya In chairs at one
end of the town squnre. The riders,
musicians, singers, standard-bearers,
and buffoons made ready at the other.
The “play,” running true to the type
of innumerable similar displays that
take place in the 'arger towns of the
high prairie, began with an orderly
procession of all the unmounted men.
Drums, fifes, horns of many kinds, and
stringed Instruments came In the first
rank, playing warlike refrains. Before
them danced, somersaulted, and grim
aced several clowns, royal Jesters at
tached to tlie sultan's court In much
the same position held by the court
Jesters of medieval Europe.
The end of the square reached, the
marchers formed Irregular lines at ei
ther side. and. spears and standards
lifted, shouted greeting to the horse
men who followed.
Charge of the Horsemen.
The square of Foumban Is narrow
and a little more than 200 yards long
It was m'dnfternonn of a golden trop
ical summer. The vividly green trees
that skirted the plaza and the bright
red earth peculiar to the Foumban dis
trict made a perfect setting. The
horsemen numbered more than 100, and
each was gowned In (lowing robes em
broldered in every Imaginable bright
color. All carried either spears or long
Mint lock rides lifted menacingly above
their heads.
There was a great shout, and from
the distance the spurred horses bore
down upon the spectators at full gal
lop. Tin dust, tlie dashing spears, the
wild cries, and I lie blazing colors made
a thi^'ug sight.
In another Instant the small, help
less group of whites were cold with
terror, for the charge neither turned
nor abated. There was no time tc
move.
When less than (i feet away, each
man shouted, stood up In Ids stirrups
and reined In. Kvery horse rose up
on its hind legs, forefeet kicking, pi
rouetted, and the line swept away at
the right angle. The cruel Itausa hit
".n iron circle Mint rings the horse's
tongue and holds in its tippet side t
sharp prong that gouges the animal's
llesli when the rein is pulled, Ime
proved its effectiveness.
a
I.aler in the afternoon, the ‘‘play’
lock the form of a series of weird tra
ditional dunces performed In masks
These masks, a line collection of whirl
may be se; n in the private museum ol
Sultan NJoya, are of copper or wool
or a combination of the two materials
Many, though deliberately grotesque
show rare sculptural ability. Sums
are enormous, some ridiculously small
others have the shape of animals
heads horses baboons, crocodiles, etc