Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1875-04-29
Shows Slides.
How Avalanches are Formed in
the Rocky Mountains.

A Nevada paper in speaking
Of the aValanches of snow which
have been so destructive Of life
and property this winter. says,
The purely sliding avalanche,
or snoW-slides, are such as oc-
cur in dry or mere moist snow,
while the rolling avalanches
take place when the snow is wet
or sufficiently moist to form in
to balls by rolling. The avalan-
ches that occur in Virginia City
were ofthe genuine rolling des-
cription, the kind most dreaded
and the kind most destructive
in the valley Of the Alps. a
very small beginning when the
snow is in the proper condition
may end in a destructive ava
lanche. A ball of snow no lar
ger that a mans head started
high up on the side Of Mount
Davidson, might have swept a.
way syeral houses at the foot of
the mountain. The fearful force
oftbe avalanche was shown here
when one broke into a house
and killed two men, and another
demolished two houses and bur-
led five persons, who were res
cued with much difficulty. y
further illustration Of the terri
bic force and destructive DOW
er5 Of the avalanche is to be
found in the fact that twenty
eight Cinnamon were killed by
one that fell near Genoa. As we
have said, a small ball Of snow
started high upon the slope of
Mount Davidson would result
in a genuine avalanche. In a
rolling distance Of fifty yards in
the moist snow it would become
four or five feet in diameter,
when it would burst, and each
piece Of it would an instant al
ter form ball Of large size:
these in turn would explode as
soon as they acquired certain
weight and velocity, and a mo-
ment after there would be hun
dreds and thousands OF these
balls in motion, all bounding
down the steep side ofthe noun
tain.
While hundreds Of these are
exploding or just forming other
hundreds are Of full size, and
are pickingup rocks, dirt and all
manner Of rubbish, which be-
comes involved in the edownward
rush. Toward the latter part Of
their course the balls become so
numerous that they bound and
crash together so often that thew
are broken before they acquire
any great size, and the whole
avalanche is then a pImglng,
s.iding'mass OF snow. The ava
lanche which knocked two houses !
to pieces and buried five persons |
started but a few hundred yards !
from where thchouses stood. 1t !
started at a bunch of rocks which |,
projected fifteen or twenty feet |
above the general surface Of the
On these rocks the
snow had fallen and accumula-
ted to the depth Of about three .
feet, hanging in places as snow
IS seen to do on the caves Of /
ahouse. From one ofthe rocks
fell Il bunch Of snow, which be-
gan to roll down the hill, and !
-hc result was a destructive ay-
blanche. Doubtless the ava
anche which killed two men
started in much the same way.
"How came you 10 be- drunk
lrd?' asked a friend Of Tom Mar
shall in conversation with !
lim. "WeIl, | viii tell you all a.
1out that. said Tom. Il gradua-
ed in law at Lexington, with the
celebrated divine, Robert J. .
Breckenridge, and our friends
hought we were the intellectual .
wonders Of the age, and they advis-
ID US, by way OF taking a high po-
itlon at once, to attack Henry Clay,
hen in the prime of his fame and
power, upon the first opportunity
hat presented itself. That op-
)ortunity soon came. We were
10Th employed in a case in opposi-
ion to him. BOB made a speech .
lad l made a speech, and our
'riends congratulated US upon our +
tremendous speeches, and we were
,asking in the sunshine of coming
prosperity, when the old lion arose,
md, with one sweep of his paw,
lrove Bob to the Bible and me to
he bottle, where we have been ev-
r since"
"He who hopes to succeed in