Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-06-04
A TERRIBLE AVALANCHE.
Disaster and Death OH the Simplon in
the Alps--NOble Herolsm of the Monks
of the Hospice-- Alive in a
Mountain Gallery.

The Rome correspondent of the Lon
don Daily Neaus writes:
Nowhere has this exceptionally cold
spring been felt SO acutely as on the
mountain passes between Switzerland
and Italy. Only a few hours Journey
| from the spot where her majesty has
been enjoying her villeggiatura occurr-
ed scene of disaster and death rarely
paralleled in those regions of snow
drift and avalanche. The Simplon pass
is the route by which more than ten
thousand Italian workmen annually
make tn cir way into Switzerland and
France in quest of employment, and it
was on thlrty-two of these wa yfarers
that the visitation descended, from
which nothing but the heroism of the
poor monks of the hospice could have
saved them. Thanks to that instltu-
ton and its attendants, only one of the
thirty-two Italians lost his life, although
three Of the men attached to it have
been engulfed in the avalanche, and
will not be found until the melting
SHOWS have 11nshrouded their bodies on
the mountain side.
Such was the snowfall on the I'd inst.
that the courier could not prosecute his
journey with sledges. A stalwart Pc
destrian offered to take the letter-bags,
and after herculean efforts he managed
to reach the hospice about II A. NJ, and
there found seventy Italian workmen,
en- route partly for Switzerland, partly
for France. He was forthwith interro-
gated as to the state of the road, and to
their question as to whether they could
go on without danger, he replied that if
they wanted to start they must do so
that very day, as every minutes post
ponement increased the risk from the
snowfall. Accordingly, three compan-
les of these Italians, consisting respect
lively of fifteen, ten and nine persons,
set out at once, and by 1 in the after
noon arrived at refuge 6, where they
rested for little, as the snow was COM
ing down with increasing force and
density. Two sturdy Swiss youths at
tached to the refuge offered to conduct
the travellers, and off the three compa-
MES set once more, with their two
guides at their head. Scarcely, howev-
er, had they emerged from the middle
gallery called La Vieille Galerie-the
most dangerous part of the Simplon
rOute-when an enormous avalanche
descended from the mountain, carrying
with it the two guides and an Italian
workman who walked beside them.
The rest of the travellers who remain
ed in the gallery were so far safe; but
they soon saw the terrible predicament
they were IN, no longer able to advance
or retrace their steps, as both ends of
the gallery were blocked up with snow.
They were in despair, and already the
cold Was beginning to tell on the chill
dren of the party, and cries of misery
resounded throughout the living tomb.
Suddenly a mans voice rose above the
wailing: "We might as we'll die under
an avalanche as under a gallery. Let
us try and get out" And so without
further parley he set to work and sue
ceeded in excavating passage through
the snow, and arrived half dead at
refuge 6, whence the alarm was passed
to the hospice. By this time it was
hal-past seven in the evening" The
monks attached to the hospice lost no
time in repairing to the scene Of disas-
ter, and, with the aid of two servants of
refuge 6, they succeeded about half-past
9, two hours after they had set out, In
saving the inmates of the gallery, and
accommodating comfortably at the hos
pice, leaving a few whose strength could
carry them no farther at the refuge.
The names of the monks who, with
such heroism and success, came to the
rescue of thirty-two Italians are: The
Rev. Angelo Carron, prior of the hos
pice; and the Rev. Eugenio Carron,
Valentino Rausis, and Innocente Fellay.
The three companies Of travellers nav
ing been settled for the night, the monks
were anxious to return and do what
could be done for the two guides and
their panion who had been carried
away by the avalanche; but consider
ing the darkness, and the constant sue
cession of avalanches that were thun-
dering at short intervals over the pre-
cipices, they reluctantly abandoned the
attempt.
The prior was still in doubt as to how
many, or how few, had disappeared
with the guides, some of the survivors
saying that four, some that three, some
that two ftheir number were missing,
when next morning he addressed the
heads of the three companies, and by
dint Of patient interrogatories, put to
each of them separately, he satisfied
himself that only one Italian had joined
the guides-one Maurizio Uccelli, from
the neighborhood of Intra, OH the Lago
Maggiore, the father of five children,
the eldest of whom is private in the
Italian army. Every effort was made
to rescue this man, but in vain: and his
body will not be found till the melting
of the SHOWS have left it stranded some
where. One of the two guides, youth
named Batter, quite an athlete in
strength and nimbleness. managed, as
he rolled down with the avalanche, to
keep his alpenstock in his hand, and
when he came to dead stop he felt
that the point of his stick just protruded
from the surface of the snow above
him. Working away with what strength
remained to him he succeed after some
hours in extricating himself from the