The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-02-27
- THE AVALANCHE.

| The following graphic account of the
perils of avalanches in the Alps is from
"Hours OF Exercise in the Alps" by the
celebrated John Tyndall, the scientist. A
party ofsix were being conducted by
two local guides and famous Alpine
guide, Johann Joseph Bennen, over the
Haut de Cry, ,5one Of the Swiss alps. They
advanced in the beginning of the ascent
very rapidly. The peak was glistening
before them, and hopes of success cheer
ed their spirits. After time thew came
to snow T., frozen upon the surface which
would bear them few steps and then
break down. This, of course, DELAYED
matters and was very fatiguing. Finally
it came to point that, in order to reach
d certain arete, they would be obliged to
90 up g steep snow field 500 feet high,
150 feet broad at the top and 500 feet at
at the bottom. During the ascent they
sank about one foot at every step. After
mounting for some distance the two lead
ing men suddenly sunk above their
waists. They were enabled to get out
after some struggles and presently found
better footing and came to the conclusion
that the snow was accidentally softer
there than elsewhere. But Bennen was
afraid of 'arting an avalanche, and said
so. They started forward aga1n-but let
the book complete the story:
"Wir sind allie vcrloren'' 1--WE are all
LOST. His words we're slow and solemn,
and those who knew him felt what they
really meant when spoken by such man
as BenDan. They were his last words. l
drove my alpenstock into The snow and
brought the weight Of my body to bear
on it. It went in to within three inches
of the top. l then waited. 1t was all
awful moment of suspense. | turned my
head toward Bennen to see whether he
had done the same thing.
TO my astonishment, I saw him turn
round, and face the valley and stretch out
both arms. The ground on which we
stood began to move slowly, and l felt
utter use(essness Of my alpenstock. I
soon sunk up to my shoulders, and began
descending backward. From this mo-
ment I saw nothing of what had happened
to the rest of the party.
! With good deal Of trouble succeeded
in turning round. The speed of the ava
lanch increased rapidly, and before
long was covered up with snow and in
utter darkness. was suffocating, when.
with jerk. i suddenly came to the sur
face again. The rope had caught, most
probably on rock, and this was evident
| ly the moment when it Moke. l was on
wave of the avalanche, and saw it before
me as was carried down.
1t was the most awful sight T ever
witnessed. The head OF the avalanche
was already at the spot where we had
made our last halt. The head alone was
preceded by thick cloud of ,now-dust
the rest Of the avalanche was clear.
Around me heard the horrible hiss
ing of the snow, and far before me tie
laundering Of the foremost part of the
avalanche. To prevent myself sinking
again made use of my arms, much ia
the same way as when swimming in Il
standing position. At last l noticed
that was moving slower; then l saw
the pieces of snow in front of me stop at
some yards distant: then the snow
straight before me stopped, and I heard
cd large scale the same creaking sound
that is produced when heavy cart
passes over hard-frozen snow in winter.
felt that had also stopped, and in
stantIy threw up both arms to protect my
head in case should again be covered
up. I had stopped, but the snow behind
me was still in motion; its pressure on
my body was so strong that | thought I
should be crushed to death. This tre~
mendous pressure lasted but short time,
and ceased as suddenly as it had begun.
was then covered up with snow coming
from behind me. My first impulse was
to try and uncover my head, but this l
could not do. The avalanche had fIozen
by pressure the moment it stopped, and
was frozen in.
! Whilst trying vainly to move my arms,
l suddenly became aware that the hands
as far as the wrists had the faculty of
motion. The conclusion was easy; they
must be above the SNOW. set to work
as we'll as l could; it was time, for could
not have held out much longer. At last
l saw. faint slimmer of light. The crust
above my head was getting thinner and it
let a little air pass, but could not reach
it any more with my hands; the idea
struck me that might pierce it with my
breath. After several efforts succeeded
J LII uOluS oo. thuu AClL SuuuCuly d JuSil vi
air toward my mouth; l saw the sky
again through little round hole. A
dead silence reigned around me.
I WAS surprised to be still alive, and
so persuaded at the first moment that
none Of my fellow sufferers had survived
that did not even think OF shouting for
them. I then made vain efforts to ex-
tricate my arms, but found it impossible; :;
the most could do was to join the ends
of my fingers, but they could not reach
the snow any longer. After Il few min
utes heard a man shouting. What a
relief it was to know that was not the
sole survivor! To know that perhaps be
was not frozen in and could come to my
assistance I answered. The voice ap-
preached, but seemed uncertain where
to 90, and yet it was quite near:
a sudden exclamation of surprise.
Robot had seen my hands. He cleared
my head in ia instant, and was about to
try to cut me out completely, when I saw
a foot above the snow, and so near to me
that couIa touch it with my arms, al
though they were not quite free yet. I
at once tried to move the foot; it was nv
poor friends. A pang Of agony shot
through me as I saw that the foot did not
move. Poor Boissoult had lost sensation
and was perhaps already dead. Robot
did his best; after some time he wished
me to help him, SO he freed my arms
little more, so that could make use of
them. | could do but little, for Robot
had torn the axe from my shoulder as
soon as he had cleared my head. Il gen.
| ofn fvo&v -
pcnstock, the blade tied to the belt and
handle attached to the left shoulder.)
Before ceming to Inc Robot had help
ed Nance out of: the snow; he was lying
nearly horizontally, and was not much
covered over. Nance found Bevard who
was upright in the snow, but covered up
to the head. After about twenty minutes
the two last named guides came up.
wss at length taken out; the snow had to
be cut with the axe down to my feet be-