, 1874-11-01
Il The Town Of Tears"
. r., That Was Buried By Half a Moun'
Wv tain Falling upon 1t.
r.,ea Thousand Lives Destroyed

lao - overwhelmed CITY OF f4eurs' lFoln
rnlenr 1..r-old book on the Destruction OF
seFtp's-::va .a.s in the public library at Zurich,
Alpine 'iua Lot to tho place where Plours Stood
snd tto'n r,,x rp1suSE by Mr. Alpha Child, no"
il Italy:
-. a;+nation Oh the River 1faira,
In ; enA,u lsers It flows into Lake Como, and
to* 'e miles e s;st,nce south of the Swiss border
tut hsso aan u p.ss lies the City of chiayenna.
b. the op1as ts,s from thers toward the Pass ol
IN hoais "est "s.tn,5d. up the beautiful bank Of
AAosSla' nae one to place where q greater
the Aa1f., 'l hnwsn beings we're once buried alive
number o. n .h,n anywhere else known IL the
ps ',s Even in rompeu' as 's SUPPOSE ~ 4r tha
vow. thonsand people 3efe oSgisaAen n. =! , w
tuer n deluge from TesuTlus. nus a'.e ;.% Dsu e.,
ne1, u th.t number we're o'er"netmeo' "i,n ~n
tsnes .nn. Of life md civilization ana al were
nsa .siad fore.er. There has never oeen *u' Ok
r,yat;cn 1t this ptA'e-
,,ne of = place where from 2,50o to
VIZ ssosnaro,a 'us and happy people lived. 1t Was
sVo .,,a g,,est. richest, mcst, pleneure-loving
one " .:a. :, 1ombardy. Hanging above it "as
a'''s s .;,s,n 4 600 feet high: not very high foF
1.o Vim hut high enough. and very much too
'cA 4.e ,ha atutT it was made Of. 1t Was called
s'est con,o the half OF it which still stands,
-;th ooe side abrupt aod peEPenucnlar, rs e.nl
,aozn hy the same name. On the night OF 'oo
,..h NJ September, 1918, it split in two from
~. to .nax. and the half Of it that you don't
Ds1 ~, . ride spread grave-mound, oVor the
a..n,y-bu1ied little city.
RI. tremendous aad terrible avalanche "as 30
.-...1t,,aons. it closed in the e1trome outa1de
sa.... NO entirely it Was 30 complete ana over
1s.,,,;no that it WAS impossible to discover the
,.,,t ,ertice of Pleurs remaining. AND tne soo-
I.,o. th,t fall upon It was mounraln-srde TOT
~: .ad an immense depth Of broken rock anu
..4b 40 thst ANY effort 70 uncover any part OIL
!. WYE. bsva cost vastly more thao the Ealue OF
.n,tbing to be found, as nothing eoulo nA'0
haon found but houses splintered hat to the
s,ee:a and about :
ruREr ruoUsAnD MASHED coRPsEs.
~. nnfai1ne restorative powers and all-7e1i-
inv oentlenees of Nature have caused soil to
.oumulste upon, and vegetation to cover, both
tbe steep cleft eide Of the half-mounsaln that
stands and the half thAt lies prostrato. strag-
r;rr forest of ehestnut-tteas. in the more earthy
nlaces. coyers tho site. with Gu1nps OF "hortle-
hen, bushes among the rocks; yet the vastness
and manner OF the ruin sre plainly dlst1ngusha-
To' Enormous angular blocks Of rock broken
hS the fall. some GO feet thick, are
he.ned in the most friehtful confusion.
Tere and there q hut is seen. where
scme ono subsiBts over this unmarked grave
yard. and fororn-looking chapel stands at one
Eide DeloE, the valley is wooded without sign
hdcNnQa Annfffr HHEnf-
ciously-steep mountain is there; but. ulla or
tuo bevond that, are farms. Other mountains.
txne ss high rs these, 600 10 1000 feet. arise
On either side, behind, in picturesque peaks and
outlines !; and on the opposite side OF the
Nai1a is one Of the most beautiful cascades in
the would, entirely unneard Of in books OF IN
travel for augut know; it falls over . success
siop OF lodges ip four broai, thin sheets each.
coto 100 feet vide, and about as deep. The
:, The north. Such was the land
e:ape to the eyes Of the people of P1eurs,
except the first part OF t,-and such it ;s, first
put aud all, to the few who have hea1d OF
Pieurs, aud turn aside IN hour or two from 60
M dowa into Italy from the Splugcn Pass to
stsud upon the melancholy scene,-the vast
graye Of 5000 people. 1t was called Pleurs, or
':1HE TOWN OF TEARS
becsu.a, strange to thiui of. it WAS situated
u7on the broad, earthly tomb of another village,
which bad Itself been overwhelmed by like
cat.st.ophe! But that Was many hundred Cears
earlier snd am told there are 10 remaining
accounss OF 1t; only the bare fact is known,
6ad tie record borne by the name Of tho
toxn that succeeded it. Yet the mountain
from which th.t ancient avalanche slid avay
dkplayB the rum wrought upon it more dis
t;Ectly than Mount Conte, which overwhelmed
Fiecrs. Instead OF leaving generally surfacc
Of e21th which could Eecomo converted into soil
sad Epricg into vegetation. as On Mount Conte,
this mounts.n % the other side was of remark
abl5-diferent formation. LIS steep, towering
wall il + nass OF broken. tlaky rock. in thin:
horizontal lAye1s. This gives it's vast broken
front 3 eompazatlrcly-fresh appearance as
viewed With tho other, and the visitor would
suppose ,hat the avalanche which buried Pleurs
came from that side; but the fact l6 clearly
Known to The contrary.
suANER.REsoET or THE oLpES TINE.
1t eeeme singular that, in those old times
the beginning OF the Seventeenth centurv,-Tich
gentlemen and mobiles, fashionable people and
successful merchants, sho2ld have had the same
way ne have Of going with their families to
sammer-resorta. Bus the old Romans. We well
k1oT, had thar country villas; Cicelo speaks Of
ze:lnne 70 Ills Suburban abode, TO his "books.
aaa tablets, Ind literary leisure y and perhaps
9e e hare very little that is new in cur ways Of
lie, Bu: well-Eecorded circumstances relativo
q rlenfs show that, on that 4ih Of September,
le1o' there we're few hundred more people
N town than the resident population,
Ano they were summer-yisltors. A party
o. theee, residents Of Milan, had gone down to
tnlaTeona two OF three days before, on account
OF e1cesasgely sro:my weather. intending to re-
tun To lAan it it continued. But the 4th of
September was
CLEAR CHARMING DLy,
g1lng promise Of prolonged pleasant weather.
1ao 1neJ set ont ia the afternoon to go back to
tsu1s' on approaching the town, they we're
AAIfned ut seeing several slides OF gravel aud
tus4s 70 tie rear OF it. and finding that some OF
@e 1oeEa1ds had been buried from tho same
= aaae' rearing general avalanche, most OF
4aen returned to Chlayenna, but some kept
a. There were also herdsmcn of the
t.is tai1es: living on the high pastm es of the noun.
a. alus 10 sho rear. attending the cattle, as they
~ ~ 70 this day in the summer-seaeon. Some
u 1hem started to come down to sho town the
~ 4e s1telnoon to dispose OF dai1y-pro6uce thai
sa accumulated, but, Oh approaching it, has
ttsaea away, having seen strange movements
es Ams Place, and alarming symptoms Of some
saee. CONFUSION. From such sources the nTe
a.otu'osy movements toward the catastrophe be.
. ss..e nterTard kroun.-a catastrophe tha
.Meaa mourning to the region around, aad ho1
"3 throughout Northern Ia1y,
l., EXCESSIVELY WET WEATHER
- ~ c cp1esalled several dAys. On the I'd and SC
oeptecaber the rain came down as Il delugo
~ 1ufns the night Of the Sd it cleared up; tht
hsu .Eose brightly, and The town awoke to it.
occupations and joyous modes OF life
tug taat afternoon. new assures we're eeeI
E1oe IN Mount Conte, and an internal crack
aue no16e EaS heard Tint all this va9 ont from