Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1876-01-05

A miner OF Little Cottonwood who saw
the descent of one of the recent snow
slides in that canyon. thus describes it in
the Salt Lake Herald:
There goes a snowslide," exclaimed
my companion. as amid the tomb-like
silence We assembled the canyon. where
we had been assisting in exhumipg the
corpse OF victim at the scene OF late
disaster. do you not hear it 2" And
q shrill whistling sound which attracted
my attention deepened into low gnttur-
alike roar increasing in volume and
power at every instant. until the artillery
Of Stone river seemed but Q whisper in
comparison.
"Where is it? l hurriedly asked,
while the air at that distance seemed to
tremble in consonance with the motions
OF q monster still invisible.
From the bed of Little Cottonwood. a
smooth incline rises at an angle OF 20
deg. from the horizontal. terminating in
perpendicular somber wall 900 feet in
hight, which is again surmounted by re-
cedipg quartzite cliffs. through which two
narrow gorges cut their way, divergipg in
different directions. and making q scallop
in the horizon are lost to view.
Amidst the blood-curdling uproar the
phenomena we're invisible till the gorges
at the summit filled level With the NOV
ing snow. Rocks, as il in rage at their
inability to withstand the shock. gave
way from their foundations with An
audible growl. Clumps Of trees. Gen.
turtles in maturing, snapped like stubble,
their dark branches describing the undu-
lations Of the surface as though Q strug-
gle for existence Was theirs until over
taken by some more powerful wave Of
the avalanche, they sink gradually and
disappear. Jutting crags OF qusrtzite
shake of their disconnected portions,
which. tumbling down their jagged sides,
bury themselves noiselessly in the NOV.
ing masses. that having united at the
converging point rush toward the edge
of the abyss with increased fury. Moth
ing more terrible than the successive
plunges of the disconnected portions OF
the avalanche over the prscipice can we'll
Be conceived. Compressed by contact
with obstacles in its course the van
OF the volume has attained the
solidity Of ice. Retarded BY variations
Of the incline it seems to pause
on the edge Of the precipice as though
in sentitive dread OF the terrific
shock which awaited il. Impelled by
the tremendous pressure behind, il
juts over the gulf unsupported q dis.
lance of fifty feet until severed by its
own tremendous weight it strikes the
earth with crash. only neutralized by
the uproar above it. With duller thud
and irregular roar for an echo each sepa-
rate descending body alighted on its pre-.
decessor. piling higher and higher q,
each successive descent, as though pre-
pairing for the erandsst tsbleau of the
sublime spectacle. Higher and higher,
until assuming the proportions of q ma.
| iestic column. il conceals the bluff be-
hind il half distant to the top.
Twill il fall 2" asked my companion,
a. transdxed by the phenomena he ntters
the first words that have escaped him.
| Yes. it must fall. See. it is swayins
already" Great God. what . scene
Colossal in its magnitude yet symmetri.
cal in proportion to the scenery in relief
superb to the vision. Undesirable in it.
destruction. A svaying motion, a grace
full sweep, boom indispensable il
power. the crags and can yons no NUT,
auditors Of the Performance. In tone.
OF thunder they hurl back their applause