Osage Valley banner., 1881-11-10

short, so carefully were they cultivated
: that the people never wanted for an
abundance OF vegetables and fruit So
situated. so blessed by nature. the / 100
! inhabitants OF Elm, well housed in
; strong dwellings of wood and cement
built after the Alpine fashion, lived in
dustrious, healthy, and contented lives.
The terrible calamity which has over
taken them did not come without
warning. Indeed, The people OF Elm
are, IN measure, themselves RESPONSE
BILE for the great trouble with which
they have been visited. This statement
aud the causes which led 10 the destruc-
tion OF the village may bs briefly ex-
planned. For years past the inhabitants
of tho Sernf Valley have found in the
extensive slate quarries Of the Tschin-
gelalp or Plattenberg one Of their chief
sources of revenue. As has already
been stated, the berg or mountain in
question rises 70 height Of several
thousand feet just behind what was the
| village 10 is composed. as the event
| has proved, Of loose, scaly material,
! exceedingly liable 10 crack and give
way. Into the base Of this crumblng
\ and treacheIoHs mpnntain thq. quarrE
meg nf Elnf fS,Pgt " former years with
I out any regard u the laws OF science
! or the simplest principles of engineer
! ing. Recently they have been more
cautious, but their caution came too
/ late. In a word, they cut away the
! foundations OF the mountain, and at
last, as a natural consequence, il has
fallen upon them. That here was
some danger Of Il landslide from the
Plattenbcrg has long been known In
Elm. Within the past three or four
months slight falls of stone and mud
/ have been Of frequent occurrence after
/ heavy rains, yet the people never for a
moment thought of leaving the beauti-
full home to which they were so much at
taehed. andeyen experts who examined
the mountain seom to have had no idea
OF the full extent of the danger to which
they were exposed. So, in fancicd
security and entire ignorance Of the
awful fate which was In store for them.
they lived on.
Meanwhile, the almost unparalleled
rains of summer were slowly but sure
I ly completing the work which had been
begun by the thoughtless or ignorant
I quarrymen scores of years ago. The
end came on the evening of Sunday.
September lin the "Saints Calen-
dar, current i'm SONS parts OF Swift
zerland. marked "The Day of Felix,
saint of luck and happiness During
/ the early part OF that day, the people
/ of Elm went about their usual vocations
/ in the usual way and without any antic-
I ipatiOn OF the terrible calamity which
was so near at hand. Tho little church
/ was well attended, hearty dinners were
] of a 81.
+ tom, most OF the people, old and
! young. walked through the meadows
( or upon the mountain side. At five
/ o clock IN the evening" while many OF
I them were still out in the fields. some
one was heard crying Look at the
Plattenberg rg--the Plattenbergr Those
who followed the direction and who
are still alive say that for moment II
seemed 10 them as if every peak above
the slate quarry was In motion; then
there came a rumbling noise, like far
off thunder, and Ia q moment they were
blinded by clouds of dust When they
could see again they found that great
! slice OF earth and stone had slipped
down from the Tschingelalp, burying
( fine houses and covering acres of
/ good land. Men and women were
at the same time seen struggling
among the ruins. and from all sides
friends. neighbors and relatives hur-
ried TO their aid. Unhappily, they hur-
/ ried also 10 a terrible death Even
while they were engaged in their work
7 OF love the mountain above them
moved again. This time the sound OF
thunder WAS not far distant, but only
( too near at hand. The pine trees on
I the grassy slopes were seen TO sink. A
great cloud of dust and steam covered
the whole valley, thousands of tons of
stone were hurled through the air. An
all-oyerpOwering wind pressure carried
( everything before il; there was her
/ rble crash, sound of madly-rushing
/ torrents; and all was still. Then the
dust and smoke cleared away, the sun
/ shone in cloudless sky, and il WAS
seen that, as far as the eve could reach
/ the once-blOoming Sernf Valley was
covered with from forty 10 one hun
I dred and sixty feet OF black stone,
moraine, dirt and slime Forty dwell
I ing-hOuses, the best in the village, to-
| gether with dozens OF stables and out.
I buildings, were buried far out of sight,
! torn to pieces by the air-prcssure,
1 strewn broadcast over the moraine
/ One hundred,and eleven OF the people
/ OF Elm were swallowed up in the gen
eral rum. At least twelve strangers -
Italian quqn ymen shared their fate.
II was useless TO thint Of rescuing any
who fell IN that awful death slough
tar ont upon its edge, from strong
hou.e. which was only partially
severed with the slime and stone, four
persons-a gruybeard Of ninety-one
I years aud mother with two children
were taken out badly injured, but
alive. Every other human being over
taken In the path Of the avalanche was