Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1899 — ALPINE GUIDES. [ARTICLE]

ALPINE GUIDES.

Will Hereafter Have to Receive a Special Training for Their Vocation. The central committee of theSwisw Alpine club has decided to take under its own charge the protection of! the Alpine shelters, the Cervin andi the Eggishorn, and to cover the necessary expenses by grants from ihot central fund. The same committee l has drawn up a new scheme of rule* for the instruction and training mountain guides, publishing the fok lowing regulaticn-: The cbject of the sememe being to create & corps of" guides equal in qjl respect? to mands of their calling, the grants subventions for a series of courses for the training of guides, these courses to be followed in all Alpine districts. The minimum age for following this period of instruction; is to be 20, and the young men selected must lie vigorous and of sound constitution. Each course of training in' thtis department will last for ten days, and in order to obtain a diploma the. guides must satisfy the committee on: the question of their responsibility towards tourists, their duties in case of accidents, the signalling of casualties, and affording first aid to the injured. They are also do be examined) on the topography of their the care and keeping of the mountain; huts, and their knowledge of load maps. Other points to be dealt witk are the geography of questions of tariff, neatness n* thoroughness of equipment,and practical work in mountain climbingJ There will be two diplomas, of finfc and second class. Swiss guides'are, according to this scheme, to be divide* into two categories, the first elase being placed under the control of the cantonal governments and. receiving their license from them; th© aecon* will work under a section of the Alpine club, receiving their licenses from the central committee.—Zurich Correspondence London Times.