Prince Luigi's Pluck

Some of the bluest blood of Italy is soon to be pitted against members of the United States coast survey.' The scène of competition will be Mount St. Elias, in Alaska, and in addition to some minor seientific laurels the victor will gain that gre.atest of all raptures to the mountaineer, the knowledge that he has been the iirst to tread the summit of one of the highest and most coveted peaks in the néw world. ' l'rince Luigi Amadeo, of Savoy, duke of Abruzzi and nephew of King Ilumbert, is the Italian who considers the ascent of St. Elias worthy of the long" trip f rom Eome and a whole summer of hardship and exertion. While still a very young man, he is an experieneed traveler, and doubtless knows a good in the way of a mountain when he sees it. His compauions will be Dr. Paoli Vecchi, of San Francisco; Prof. Fay, former président of the Appalachian Mountain club of Boston; Prof. Davidson and Israel C. Kussell, who has already taken part in two attempts to scale the mountain, and W. A. Ingraham, of Seattle. The American party will be under the leadership of Henry C. Bryant, of Philadelphia, and will include Samuel J. Entrikin, who was seeond m command of the Perry expedition of 1891-2, and E. B. Tatham, of the coast survey. It will have the advantage of an earlier start than the other parties, since it has already gone to the Pacific coast. Mount St. Elias is one of the highest peaks in America, its summit being estimated at over 18,000 f eet above sea level. It lies far from supplies, and the explorer must carry with him from Sitka that he expects to use. It is the center of a great región of glaciers and rugged mountain spurs, very few of which ever have been crossed by human beings. Above all other points perhaps in interest, Mount St. Elias ofEers a longer ascent over unbroken snow fields than any other mountain outside of the aretic regions. The line of perpetual snow begins at 3,000 f eet above the sea, and from that point 011 ice axes and heavily nailed boots ancl safety ropes are the unavoidable aceompanirnents of the climber. The mountain itself is of very wide extent, and includes a number of subordínate peaks. It includes an immense cráter at a high altitude, and has several times during this century broken out in volcanie eruptions. On the southern side, where most of the attempts to climb have been made, it is very preeipitous, and the most cireuitous routes must be adopted in order to make any advance upon it at all. Logan's peak, which is another objective point of the present expedition, lies about 20 miles to the northeast of the greater mountain. A number of attmepts have been made to climb Mount St. Elias since it was first sighted by Bering on St. Elias day, 1741. The most notable of these were the New York Times expedition, undur Lieut. Swatka, in 18SG; the Topham expedition of experienced Alpine climbers in 1888, and the two expeditions by the National Geographical society in the Slimmer of 18Ü0 ancl 1891. The Topham expedition reaehed a height of 11,460 feet after 14 days of perilous climbing from the foothills on the south side, and the last of these peditions, imder the leadership of I. C. Eussell, who is to aeeómpany Prince Luigi tliis year, reached an altitude of 14,500 feet. Prince Luigi, of Savoy, wil] r.ot be his fa-st visit to this country by any nieans vhen he reacht-s here in June, nor is he entirely unknown to Americaus. In 189(5 he visited nearly all the seaports of the United States and Canada vhile making a trip around the worlil as first lieutenant on board the Italian eruiser Cristoforo Colombo. Everywhere he was received witb marke'j attention, not only from his cwn countrymen, but also from Amer,cans. The prinee is the third son of Amadeo, brother of King Plnmbert, and was born at Madrid, prior to his father'sabdication of the Spanish erown. He is anly 24 years old, but is m accomplished ling-uist and musieian, and has received il very thorongh military training. j ing his trip around the world he Iived in svery respect the life of the other officers on the eruiser. and at no time Aas allowed nor did he assume to claim spe3ial favors on account of his birth.