New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-16
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOLEP.
A SWISS LANDSLIDE.

A remarkable landslide occurred in SwltZer-
land last month, by which the village OF Elm az
the foot of the Plattenberg Mountain, was al
most completely destroyed. Some large Slate
quarries were on the slope above the village,
and through these large crevices had been maze
by frequent earthquakes. On September IL
was perceived that the soil ut the quarry was
in slow motion, and a house situated lmme-
diatcly below was evacuated. Two days lalei,
between > and q o'clock In the afternoon, 1t
was seen that the forest on the slope OF the
mountain began to move, the trees being DehI
like a field of corn during strong wlhd thSy
then rushed down, together with the ROCKS
situated above the quarry, breaking up mo
thousands of pieces. This formidable stone
avalanche reached the village, the trees were
bent like straw, and the houses moved ny the
pressure of air pushed by the landsiIp' hcI
and houses were thrown on the Opposite sue "i
the valley, smashed against rocks, ana purlcp
bv the landSiip, which, as i'll the catastrophe Oh
the Rossberg, crossed the valley and rose up
hill on its opposite side. The first landslIp Ge
str0yed that part of the Elm Commune WhlcI
is named Unterthal; but a second one followed
Immediately, destroying the village anu
throwing the houses on the opposite slde OF INC
valley, one kilOmctre wide. The picturesque
valley of Unterthal is now covered win Il
mass of mud, earth and stones, thirty to tor'y
metres thick, on the surface OF when are sttn
blocks Ct the size Ct house. Inc ScIHlC
River which flows in the valley, l. barred ny
the debris, and ha., formed Il small lake. ne
number of persons killed is about 100. An
other small landsip occurred on the following
day and the slope OF the mountain continues
to he in motion. 80
I he 1imeSS Geneva correspondent saws &c =
cordmg to the measurements and estimates ol
Professor Helm, of XuIica University, who idS
lust visited Elm, the carthslip, though loss dc,
Structivr of human life than those OF ilnrs ana
Goldau, probably exceeds in extent either OF
those cataStrOphcs, great as they were. nc
portion OF the TschingcI Alp which broke away
from the parent mountain measured at It's udHc
100 metres 10y 800 metres. The length OF Wiat
Professor Helm calls the debris stream Is l,JoO
metres and varies in breadth from 300 To loO
metres The distance Of the extreme cnd 81
the stream from the place whence 1t broke
away is ZOO metres. The extent oil the Nallry
bottom. which Is tocrably even, covered 10y
debris is computed at 80, 900 metres, while the
entire mass makes a total of 100000 square
metres. From the lower part OF the valley To
the upper Joint of rupture the height Is u"
metres. The fall was, therefore lItile over
1000 feet The lowest estimate OF the con-
tents of the slip, according Ia the admca,urc-
mcnts of the engineers, Is lO,OOb,DuD cunc
metres. II contains, ~ay, the Professor, enough
stone 70 bHild two elite, as large as Zurich ana
the population of Zurich Is 10000. some "I
the blocks, which are hcapcd II metres higher
than the village eli Elm, measure Loo cublC
metres and are estimated to weigh $500 tons.