A Braken Rope.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14211, 28 May 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

A Braken Rope.

SAVES FOUR LIVES. A dramatic narrative of the disaster which overtook Mr. Leonard Salt, the Rurtoii-o:i-Trent brewer, who lost his I"e while climbing Liiwedd. North Wales, with some companions.'was told at the inquest on March 30th. Mr. Reginald Hudson, of Kiratford-on-Avon, said that ho and Salt had oiteu stayed together at Cartel Curig. Salt was a splendid athlete, had won iorty cups, and hud done a lot of climbing in the Alps and in North Wales. Suit, witness, f,nd daughter cycled to the foot of Liiwedd with a rope, intending to climb the east buttress. At the foot of the mountain thev met two visitors, Mr V,. Hirst, of Chelsea, and .Mr. If Yf TTubhook. one of the lecturers at Cardiff Tniversity College, and they accepted them as companions in the climb. They attached their ropes, both being looned to witness as the centre. Salt led them, then came Miss Phyllis Hudson and witness, with Hirst and Kubboek at the latter end. Fifty feet intervened between each, of them. Salt had never climbed the Horned Crag before. Ho did not think it dangerous, but the courses v,-cre difficult. The climb commenced at 12.35. Thev went up a third of the waj-, when Salt found a bad place and then tried another spot where boot scratches were visible. He then went out of sight round a corner. Witness at the time was entirely occupied in keeping the rope to delav Hirst, when he heard a thud and thought a rock had fallen. He then heard his daughter crv in an agonising tone, "Hold on, daddy.'' Witness then saw a body sliding on its back down a snow slope, but did not suspect that it was Salt. He asked his daughter where Salt was. and she indicated by a gesture what had happened. He then with difficulty, as his daughter bad no support, descended the buttress. There was not much losse stone on the buttress, and the frost had not affected the surface. His theory was that something bad happened to Salt's feet. Miss Phyllis Hudson said she was the nearest to Salt. She could not see him at the time of the accident, as he had gone out of sight, saying he was going to see if the wav was clear. She heard him exclaim and then fall. She expected a pull on the rope, but there was only a slight jerk, the rope breaking close to Sir. Salt. She saw hint falling a part of the way down the rock, and then along the snow on the crag to the bottom. If the rope had not braken probably they all would have gone over. The coroner said tho accident might have been worse, and the other four might have met the same fate. The Liiwedd Aberglaslyn Pass' was a very dangerous climb. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and expressed sympathy with Salt's aged parents. The remains were interred at the Old Church Cemetery, Cancl Curig. after the inouest. A memorial service was held in the local church, the enpfin resting on the soot occupied by Salt on Good Friday, when he participated in tho Communion ser- j vice, as he had done for many years.