The Red Cloud chief., 1881-12-01

were exDosed. So. in fancied
security and entire ignorance OF the
fate which was in store FOR them.
they lived n
Meanwhile, the almost unparalleled
rains OF summer were slowly but sure
~ completing the work which had been
begun by the thoughtless or ignorant
quarrymcn score Of years ago. The
end came on the evening OF sunday.
September lin the Saints Ca,cn-
dar,' current in some parts OF Swjt-
zerland. marked 1.-The Lay OF Felix.
saint OF luck and happiness" During
the early part of that day, the people
OF Elm vent about their usual yocaticns
IN the usual wav and without any antic.
ipation of the terrible calamity which
was SO near at hand. The little church
was well attended, hearty dinners we're
eaten, and afterward. as was the CHS
tom, most OF the people. old and
young. walked through the meadows
or upon the mountain - At five
O'Clock in the Ung Win many OF
them sosa out in the ds. some
opsk as heard crying: ~ at the
/9attenberg-the Platteuber5' Those
81 SOhtOWCo ~ uiICttfg X anu WHO
are still alive, say that for Aoment il
seemed to them as il ever eak above
the slate quarry was in m lion; then
there came q rumbling ndi like far
of thunder. and Ia q momcx they were
blinded by clouds Of dust. when they
could see again they founaS@hat agreat
slice Of earth and stone hd slipped
down from the Tschingel9p, burying
fine houses and covariue acres OF
good land. Men and sv0men were
at the same time seen struggling
among the ruins. and from all sides
friends. neighbors and lxeatives hur-
ried to their aid. Unhappy, they hur-
ried also to a terrible bath. Even
while they were engaged : their work
OF love the mountain obove them
moved again. This tina The sound OF
thunder was not far disthnt, but only
too ear at hand. The oine trees on
the grassy slopes were seq to sink. A
great cloud OF dust and deam covered
the whole valley, thousauas of tons Of
stone were hurled throusS the air. An
all-overpowering wind-pe3 ssure carried
everything before it; thSre was a hor-
rible crash. a sound of h~adly-rushing
torrents; and all was Ill. Then the
dust and smoke cleared AWAY, the sun
shone in q ~cloudless N, and it was
o that, as far as the efe could reach,
the once-blooming SefAf Valley was
covered with from foety 10 one hun
dred and sixty feet oe black stone,
moraine, dirt and SLIM Forty dwell
n g-houses, the best iu<the village, o
gether with dozens of tables and out
buildings, were buried3ar out of sight,
torn TO pieces by IL air-pressure,
strewn broadcast Owe the morainc.
One hundred and ele a. of the people
OF Elm were swa'l0sa&i up in the gen.
eral ruin. At leastts elve strangers =
Italian quarrymen : AIRED their fate.
1t was useless to thin of rescuing any
who fell in that awfol death slough.
Far out upon its edke, from a strong
house, which was only partially
covered with the slim and stone, four
persOns-a graybeaol of ninety-One
years and . mother vfth two children
-wero taken out IDLY injured. but
alive. Every other knman being over.
taken in the path of3he avalanche was
forever buried out $of human sight.
Fifteen Jumps Of torn and bleeding
flesh, masses of pull without shape or
form, were taken @. The others rest
in a grave SO deep ubd strong that no
man uncover it In one house thir-
teen persons who 6 ut a christening
feast, and who 40 known to have
joked with each - Ter in regard to the
old superstition al At thirteen at a Ia
bic, were swalloH3d up as they sat.
On a lonely hillside out of the way OF
danger, an old me and woman lived
with their only IN. After the first
slide OF the mont I'm the father and son
hurried down Cd the help of their
friends. They We Q swallowed up with
the rest. A childess widow, who has
become q chafter1g idiot, now cccu-
pies the lonely dwelling. Daughters
who hurried to G. help ottheir fathers.
mothers who would have saved
their children, ID ers who strove to aid
their brides. ws together buried in
the awful morai1e. 1t is feared that
many of those rtD have been left be-
hind will share 3le fate of the poor
creature who, Il burning n husband and
q son. has gone had with sorrow.
The extentfs he land-slip is almost
beyond belief. fo give anything like
an adeQuatefI ea OF 1t is no easy task.
1t isno way tot compared to the Golden
slip of 1906 when, rs it will be re-
membered 30 people lost their lives.
In the I.4& case the mountains slid
down a~nds&Svcred the village. At Elm
a great WasNA the Plattenberg, a mass
~04A&@, at least 1000 feet high
above the valley, and. according to the
engineers, from sixty TO 100 feet deep,
fell over upon the village. its farms.
gardens and meadows. Tons of rock
were dashed entirely across the valley,
and now rest quietly 800 and 400 feet
high upon the hillside. The air-pressure
was SO great that houses were lifted up
from their foundations and carried a
distance of LOCO feet. A barn built of
heavy logs and filed with hay, was
carried entirely across the valley and
overturned POO feet high on the mount
ain opposite the P~lattenberg. An iron
bridge which crossed the Sernf was
torn up, carried scores of feet
away from its abutments, and now
rests OF end more than half buried
in mud and loose stone. The whole
valley, as far as it can be seen from
the village inn. which is still standing,
very closely resembles the bed of a
glacier which has receded. As 1 have
already stated. the masses of stone and
earth which have fallen are everywhere
piled up to a height of very many feet.
At least 500 acres are covered in this
way. The River Sernf has made for
itselfa new channel through the debris,
and has flooded and ruined much of the
land b~elow-land which was not direct
ly harmed by the avalanche of stone.
So. in n way Or another, the whole
valley has been injured beyond all hope
of repair. The loss in property will
reach not less than 1900, 600 francs;
at the lowest estimate 1913 people have
lost their lives. The State Engineers,
fearing further land slides, have for
hidden those who have escaped to re-
to the houses which remain stand
ing, and in consequence more than 800
men, women and children who, but a
few days ago were prosperous and we'll
TODD. are now almost withouta roof to
cover them.-Eim, (Swiszerlan1D Cor.
N. Y. Times.