Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-02-08
Vivid Description of an Avalanche

L Z rom me lSfGtf LAKE ffcYUt1-
A miner Of Little Cottonwood, who saw
the descent OF one of the recent snOW-Slide5
il that canon, thus describes il:
There goes a Snow-sIide." exclaimed my
companion, as in the midst OF a heavy Sleet,
we ascend ed the canon where we had been
assisting in the eXhUming the corpse OF a
victim, at the scene OF a late disaster. do
you not hear ito and q shrill whistling
sound which attracted my attention deep
ened into low guJteral-like roar. increasing
| in volume and power at every instant until
| the artillery of Stone river seemed but q
| whisper in comparison.
Where is itP" Ihurriedly asked. while the
| air at that distance seemed to tTcmble in
| cOnsOnance with the motions Of a monster
still visible
From the bed of Little Cottonwood
| smooth incline rises at an angle of twenty
| degrees from the horizontal, terminating in
perpetual somber wall one thousand feet
| in height, which is again surmOUnted by re-
receding quaTtZite cliffs through which two
narrow gOrgeS cut their way diverging i'm
| different directions, and. making scalIOp in
| the horizon, are lost TO view.
Amidst the blOod-curdling uprOar, the phe
nOmena We're invisible TIL the gOrgeS at the
summit filed the level with the moving
snow. Rocks. as IL in rage al their Inability
| 10 withstand the shock, gave way FROM their
foundations with an audible grOwl. Clumps
| OF trees, centuries in maturing, snapped like
stubble. their dark branches describing the
undulationS Of the surface as though a strug-
gle for existence was theirs until overtaken
by some more powerful wave OF the ava
lanche. They sink gradually and disappear;
jUtting craggs of quaTtZite shake of their
disconnected portions, which, tum bling down
their jagged sides, bury themselves noise
leSsly in the moving masses, that having
united at the converging point, rush toward
the edge Of the abyss with increased fury.
Nothing more terrible than the successive
plunges of the disconnected portion Of the
avalanche over the preci pice can well be COLI
ceived. Compressed by contact with obsta-
Giles in its course, the van Of the volume has
attained the sOlidity OF ice Retarded by
variations OF the incline, II seems TO pause on
the edge of the precipice as though in seus
tive dread ofthe terrible shock which awaited
it, lmpelled by the tremendous pressure be-
hind, il juts over the gulf unsupported dis
tance OF nifty feet, until, severed by its own
tremendous weight. IL strikes the earth with
a crash only neutraliZed by the uproar above
it, With a duh thud and an irregular roar
for an echo each descending body alighted on
its predecessor, pilling higher and higher al
each successive descent, as though preparing
for the grandeSt tableaux Of the sublime
spectacle. Higher and higher, until assum-
ing the proportions of a majestic column, 10
Conceals the bluff behind IL halI distant 10
the top.
"Wfn it fall?" asked my companion, as
transfixed by the phenomena he utters the
first wop,s that have escaped him.
Eyes. it must fall See il is swaying al
| in itS magnitude, yet symmetrical in proper
| tior 10 the scenery in relief; superb TO the
| vie ion, indescribable in its destruction. A
| srgaying motion, graceful sweep, a boom
| indispensable in power, the crags ana ca
> mons no mute auditors OF the performance.
! In tones Of thunder they hurl back their APP
| plauSe.