THE "CRAG RATS"

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3180, 21 May 1932, Page 3

THE "CRAG RATS"

■ EMULATE MONKS OF ST. BERNARD. Uncle Sam has his of the St. Bernard monks who rescue persons lost in the winter mountain snows, says the "Manchester Guardian." They are the "Crag Rats," of I Hood River, Oregon. Since their organisation five years ago they have achieved some dangerous and spectacular rescues on the high peaks of Oregon and Washington. Leaving their occupations at a moment's notice, without pay or expenses of any kind, they have gone off into blizzards, traversed glaciers and been lowered by ropes into deep crevasses. In their five years they have averaged six notable rescues a year, and about a dozen easier ones each winter. The "Crag Rats" are descendants of several nationalities, and among them are fruit growers, two bankers, a photographer, an electrician, a doctor, a chemist, a garage keeper and a lumberman. All are skilled mountaineers.