Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-02-29
UNDER THE SNOW.

Twas coming out of TIE mountains to
the north of Virginia City with lot OF
miners mail strapped on my back. There
was no regular mail route there then, but
about once a month some one took the
sttcrs down and returned with any mail
found at the postofiice / was on snow
shoes. The winter had been severe, and
the snow was five or six feet deep on the
level The 9th of January had been a
very balmy day. with a warm sun and
wind, and on the morning of the 2Sth
started.
had TO make my way along the base
of range known to us then as Bill' s
Thumb. and for this twelve miles there
was only one settler. lie was an old
bachelor, who had built himself snug,
stout cabin under the caves of the Thumb.
He was hunter, miner, prospector, tax
idermist, naturalist and / don't know
what else. Some of the boys who had
met him had an idea that he had soured
Oh the world and had come out there to
live hermit life, hut be was chap who
kept to himself and would not allow any
one to question him. / got along very
well for the first five miles, but then re-
allied that I was in danger from snow
slides The thaw had continued through
the night, and it needed only a jar to send
the great masses of snow lying on the
mountain rushing down the slope with q
force which nothing could stand. One
took place behind me which brought down
hundreds Of tons, and as / pushed my
way forward all my senses were on the
alert for the first signal of danger.
When J had approached within pistol
shot of the hermit's cabin saw the man
himself about a mile down the valley.
He was coming toward the house, but had
q burden on his shoulder and was moving
slowly Therefore, as 1 reached the cabin
/ stood at the door to wait for him, think
ing he might wish me to take letter or
do some GRAND. He was still half a mile
away when | heard dull, heavy fall
away up the mountain above my head I
knew it was a mass of snow tumbling off
the rocks and that it was the seed OF an
avalanche The sound had scarcely
reached my ears when | wheeled to the
door, lifted the latch, and the next in
slant was inside. / was none too soon.
Almost every pound of snow on a noun
tain side. ! 900 feet high and quarter of
a mile long, was in motion for the base.
1t came with terrible roar and a success
sion of crashes as rocks and trees were
caught up, and ] held my breath for what
was to happen. The house trembled and
rocked, a thousand empty wagons seemed
to rush over the roof, and then all was
midnight darkness, and the stiffness of
the grave settled down upon me.
The house had been buried under an
avalanche. 1t was Gods mercy that it
had not been swept away and torn log
from log. There was only small fire on
the hearth. and before moved | struck a
match to see my way After looking about
a bit found candle, and then began
to investigate the situation. On opening
the door found the snow packed solidly
in front. Going to the single window
found every ray of light shut out. In the
room was q bundle of rods about as large
rs my finger and nine feet long There
were six of them. | seized one and thrust
it upward from the door, but it did not 60
through the drift. | dashed another TO it,
and vet the length was not sufficient. l
dashed on a second, and now had at least
twenty-five clear feet of pole to probe
with. and believed the upper end found
daylight. In front of the cabin, and about
900 feet away, was a great mass of bare
rock forty rods long by fifty feet high.
This would stop the avalanche, and it was
more than likely that solid mass Of snow
forty rods long and twenty-four feet deep
lay above me.
What had become of the hermit There
was not one chance in 1000 that he had
ESCAPED. The avalanche would block the
trail for weeks and at the very best it
would be some days before any one at our
camp would know that was in the hut.
If the hermit escaped he would carry the
news. If he was buried under the snow I
might as well make up my mind to re-
main prisoner until spring. was in a
bad box, and for the first half hour
quite lost my courage. Then having
every reason to believe that | must be
prisoner for many long days. I began to
take an inventory of stock, as it were.
There was good bed of skins and blan
kets. several cooking utensils, table and
several rough stools clock, dozen or
more books, about thirty candles with
tea, coffee, sugar, pork and flour in guam
titles to last me several weeks ] could
not have been better provided for had l
planned for the avalanche to come. There
was a leanto at the back end of the
hut, and looked into this to find it full
OF luci. 4 lett uuCn more
j had taken the inventory, for could not
help but feel that it would be long before
/ saw daylight again
For several hours after the accident the
cabin sent forth suspicious sounds. The
snow was settling and packing above it,
and rafterS and logs cracked and snapped
in way TO keep me on thornS. If the
weight on the roof proved too great l
should be crushed or smothered the mo-
ment it fell in. 1t was after o'clock in
the afternoon before felt safe But very
little snow had come down the chimney
i reasoned from this that it had been
covered by rocks or limbs. If such was
the case and the fire refused 10 burn. |
should be hard pressed with plenty of
raw provisions at hand. felt all the
gravity of the situation as / threw on
some light wood and made blaze. Il
was hard fight for half an hour. Some
of the smoke certainly found way TO
escape, but some was driven back. How
ever, after q time the heat of the tire
brought down great deal of water-so
much that could scarcely keep a flame
coing-and about 4:30 O'Clock the cabin
was cleared of smoke. While could not
for an instant believe that the mouth of
the chimney showed above the snow.
was satisfied that some way had been
opened for the smoke TO drive away /
may explain here that a great mass Of
tree tops lodged on the roof before the