San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-05-04
Ayalanches In Nevada.
Scientific American.

AiutTlcan.
Several mining towns in Nevada suf.
fered severely by avalanches during the
month of March. The snow falls wera
excessive-fr five 10 seven feet i'm
the valleys, and more on the mountains
and slides from the steep mountain.
sides were frequent. A considerable
portion of the village of Genoa, Ne.
vada, was wrecked on the 10th. and
many OF the inhabitants were killed or
injured.
The slide came down the gorge i'm.
mediately south Of Genoa canon, and
swept everything before it as far as
Main street. No obstacle seemed to
check this moving mountain of snow
until it spread out and lost its force on
the nearly level piece OF land on which
Genoa is built, fully a quarter of mile
from the base of the mountain.
During the storm scores of avslan-
ches fell in and near the town of Lun-
dy, in the Momer mining district. Some
fifty or more persons were buried, and
several of them killed.
The first avalanche at Lundy, on the
afternoon of Wednesday, March 10,
was shot over lofty precipice near the
top of Mount Scowden, which rises TO a
height of $500 feet between and ut
the confluence of Lake and Mill Greek
Canons, overlooking the southern Sec
ton of the town of Lundy. This body
of loose, dry snow dropped about 800
feet, where it struck upon bench of
the mountain, bounded out upon the
air compressed beneath it, sailed over
the tops of the tallest pines, and come
down, vertically, l,50O feet from it's
last point of contact with the earth
Several residences were buried by the
snow; but no lives were lost. A second
avalanche at the same place was still
more terrifying. 1t started from cliff
overhanging the business center of the
town, where no snow-slide has ever
been known to occur. Three-fourths
of the population were in the streets
in the course of the avalanche when it
started, and they could not flee, as the
snow was five feet deep and soft. For
tunately, the slide struck upon broad
and elongated rock mound or bench
projecting from the mountain near its
base and burst into cloud of spray,
or rather the compact snow was disin-
tegrated and sent whirling with the
velocity of fine shot from q gun, the
rush of air created by the avalanche
being sufficient to lift men from their
feet and knock them several steps, and
to drive the fine snow into planks of
the building on the opposite side of
the street.
An avalanche that shot down Mount
Discovery, on the west side of Lake
Canon, at II o'clock Wednesday night,
buried many persons, swept away cabins
and mining works, and covered the
bodies of some of it's victims to depth
of 45 feet. This slide was one-fourth
of mile in width, had run entirely
across the canon, and 500 feet up the
steep mountain on the other side.
Many other avalanches occurred on
Wednesday night and Thursday, some
Of them huge ones, that did great dam
age. Friday morning opened with
clear sky and stiff, cold wind from
the west. Just as the sun was pouring
its welcome light into the canon, and
the sleepless inhabitants had assembled
on the sidewalk to bid it welcome,
three huge avalanches, running parallel
and simultaneously, went laundering
down the northern slope of Mount Gill
crest, striking the ice of Lake Lundy,
and shooting across half mile to the
other shore. The sun had not yet
struck the surface of the lake, but as
immense clouds of fine, dry snow from
the avalanches filed the air the full
width of the canon, the sun poured
through and turned the whole mass to
eddying gold dust. Shortly afterward
two other avalanches of huge proper
lions had race into the canon from
the south side-one from Deer Canon
and the other from the side of the
mountain just east Of it. The first
named had run of two miles before
reaching the open country. On reach
ing the open moraine, it spread out like
a pigeons tail, to a width of nearly
half mile, and rolled down in huge
wall of snow, 800 or 400 feet high. In
a space of one hour and half no less
than nine ponderous avalanches were
witnessed from the town, some of them
running clear across Lake Lundy, and
one crossing the creek below.