The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-02-05
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THE AWFUL AVALANCHE.
A Utah Mining Town Destroyed
Fearful Loss of Life.

A Utah Mining Town Destroyed
Fearful Loss of Life.
On Tuesday, the 10Th ult., a snow slide
descended with terrible force on the little
mining town OF Alta, at the head Of Little
Cottonwood canon in Utah. From the
Salt Lake Herald's report we take the fol.
lowing
After the first shock was over, which
lasted but minute, the frightened sense:
of the people we're partially restored to ac
tivity, and with one object in view al
rushed up the street to the elevated bench
on the north side of Alta, some carrying
lanterns, others shovels, and others witt
stats, poles, or anything that could be used
In digging through the snow. About fit
teen rods from the business center of the
town wild scene of chaos presented it
self The snow was piled up to the depth
of thirty feet, and projecting from the
packed surface were large boulders, heavy
mining timbers, and here and there portions
o. what had once been frame dwelling
house. Even the bare contemplation Of
the wreck sent thrill of horror through
the frames of the hundreds Of spectators
then what must their feelings have beer
when they realized that from the location
of the slide some Of their acquaintanccs--
their friends, and perhaps relatives-wcrt
certainly beneath the mighty mass of snow
and debrisp In less time than it would re.
qure to relate it, scores of hardy miner.
were actively at work digging away the
snow from where had stood houses occu
pied by human beings. While thus en-
gagged, faint cry of "hclp," came through
the snow; again it was heard, and again
but growing more faint and weaker at eacl
successive cry. 1t dill not take long TO as
certain the direction from with the voice
proceeded. and when once the men on the
surface In found the location there wa.
lively shoveling of the snow for few min.
utes. Short as those minutes were, eacl
must have been an age to him who was un
derneath the snow and whose sands of life
were so near run on. but the quick stroke.
of the shovels grew more distinct to Tho
ears Of the doomed man, and finally he wa.
lifted FROM his snowy bed and the light o
a dozen or more lanterns shone full in hi
face. The fortunate or unfortunate mar
was George Tomlns, an old gentleman
who has made Alta his home for scvcra
years. BY his side, in the bed on which he
had been lying, was the body Of Michae
Kelly,-"Old Mickey" was know
to every resident Of Alta and vicinity TIT
snow had done its work for sold Mickey.
He and Tomlins had retired early, but wer,
not asleep when the avalanche came. Be
fore they knew what was the matter, OIL
had they known, before they could ever
have got out of bed, the building wal
crushed and the two men buried under a,
least six feet Of snow. "NIickey's" back
was broken, and it Is thought he died in
stantly, but Tomlins was more fortunate.
True to his former self, after being resur-
rected, the old man called for a "whisky
straight" and in quick succession poured
down several "drinks" OF his favorite bev.
erage. He had been "very dry" during
the day, and this slide was q godsend to
him. as the WHISKY ran freely, and long be-
fore the excitement had ceased, the old man
was on ''jolly Spree"
While Tomlins and his mate were being
uncovered, there was busy scene at an
other part of the snowy wreck. The res
idence Of Mr.. James Carey was in the
course of the slide, and had been either
carried away or crushed. Above the site
Of tho location the men commenced work.
ing with their shovels, and soon succeeded
in finding what had been the interior of the
frame house. though the building was bro.
ken to pieces and some of it carried away.
A little more shoveling discovered a heart
rending sight, and one which caused many
of the stern, hardy miners to shed tears
Many an eye which had not been moistened
by sympathetic tear for years now swan
in briny drops; and noble sons of toll who
could scarcely remember the time when
they had wept now cried bitterly. Seated
in an easy chair and clasping TO her breast
her infant babe, sat Mrs. Carey--mother
and child both dead. Near them were the
lifeless remains of the husband and father,
and in another part of the room was the
corpse Of an adopted daughter, bright
little girl about six years old, named Laura
Wilson. None of the bodies exhibited
bruises of any kind; hence they had all
suffocated. The expression on the moth.
er's countenance was one of mingled apx.
iety and despair, as if she had hoped that
her dear ones might yet be saved, but had
finally died, realizing that all must perish.
The snow around the husbands body
showed that he had struggled hard to cxtri-
cate himself.
In another place the dead body of an old
miner named Vsnderleen was found.
Up to last evening no other victims had
been discovered, though a number of men
are missing, and it is believed they are un-
der the snow, 1t is impossible 70 tell how
many wcre killed or what is the extent OF
the damage to property and it will prob.
ably be late next spring, when the snow
melts, before all the facts are known. '.li
There were apparently two slides, each
OF immense proportions, which started
about the same time and though they head
ed at different points and did not travel the
same route, they united Immediately above
Alta, the whole force and mass entering
and crushing through the town.
One OF the avalanches started from near
the Stackey mine, above and west of the
Emma, and on its course of destruction
swept away the extensive trestle work and
the large Ore-house at the latter mine The
other started from the Stoker mine, near
the top of the ridges between the two Cot.
tonwoods, and passed down = gulch east Of
the track Of the first, the junction of the
two being at the foot of the mountains on
the elevated plateau in front of Alta. 1t i,
unusual for snew-slides to occur in tina,
,vicinity-and those of Tuesday are the
largest ever known there. Rain had beer
falling very fast all the afternoon, and thu
snow had become thoroughly saturated ant
soggy with wsterj and the weight being
thus increased caused the slide.
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