Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-02-19
UNDER THE SNOW.
FIVE WEEKS SHUT OUT FROM THB OUTSIDE
WORLD.
Buried Forty Feat Deep By a Tremendous Ava
lanchs - Travelling for Three Weeks
Saved By a Thaw.
Ne,r York SIN.

Nsp York Sun.
was coming out of the mountains to
the north of Virginia City with a 10. OF
miners mail strapped on my back. There
,Vss no regular mail route there then, but
,bout oncs a month some \ took the
Letters down and returned with any mail
found at the ~postofice. l was on snow
shoes, The winter had been severe, and
the snow was five or six feet deep on a
level. The 9th of January had been a
very balmy day, with a warm sun and
wind. and on the morning Of the 18th
started.
had to make my way along the base Of
q rance known to US then as Bills Thumb,
and FOR this 1e miles there was only one
settler. He was an old bachelor, who
had built himself q snug, stout cabin
nnder the caves of the Thumb. He was o
hunter. miner, prospector, taxidermist,
naturalist, and 1 don't know what else.
Same of the boys who had met him had
an idea that he had soured on the
world, and had come out there to
i've a hermit life, but he was a chap
h kent to himself, and would not
allow onv one 10 question him. lgot along
yerv we'll for the fret five miles, but then
rssiized that l was in danger from snow
slides The thsw had continued through
the night, and it needed only q jar 10 seno
the great masses Of snow lying on ihe
mountain rushing down the slope WITH Il
fcrcs which nothing could stand. One
took Mace behind Inc which brought doWp
hundreds of o ard as l pushed my way
forward all my senses were On Inc alert io'
the first signal of danger. 49,,
When 1 had approached within pistol
sbot of the Lermit's cabin, saw the man
h;,nself ahout a mile down the valley. he
wss coming toward the house, but had
burden on his shoulder and was moyih
SLOWLY. Therefore, as ! reached the caoln,
I stood at the door to wait for him, thinS'
ING he might wish me to take q iettei
or do some errand. He was still hal
a mile away when l heard a dull
heavy fall away up the mountain;
ahove nv head. / knew it was a mas
oC snow tumbling off the rocks, ano
that II was the seed of an avalanche. The
sonnd had scarcely reached my ears wheI
| wheeled to the door, lifted the latch, sno
the next instant was inside. l was ncn'
ton soon. Almost every pound OF snow or
the mountain.side LOCO feet high ana Q
quarter of a mile long was IN motion 10,
the base. 1t came with aterrible roar, ano
a succession of crashes as rocks ana trees
were tern up, aud ! held my breath 10,
what was to happen. The house tremo!ed
and rocked, a Thousand empty wagon:
seemed 10 rush ever the roof, and then al
was midnight darkness, and the stiffness
of the grave settled down upon me.
The house had been buried under an av,
alanche It was Gods mercy that 1T hac
not been swCpt away and torn log from log
There was only q small fire on the hearth,
AMI before l moved l struck 2 matcn oset
nv way. After looking about a bit iound
a candle, and then l began to investigate
the situation. On openingthedo door four
the snow packed solidly in front. Going
to the single window, l found every ray Of
light shut out. In the room was a bundle
of rods about as large az my
finger and niue teet long;
There were six of them. l seized
one and thrust it upward from the door.
but it did not 60 through the Drift. ! lasheo
another to it, and vet the length was mol
sufficient. ! dashed on a second, n now
at least IS clear feet OF pole to probe with,
and | believed tho upper end found day,
Iiobt. In front OF the cabin, and about
300 feet away was q great mass OF bare
rocks 40 rods long by about so feet high
This would stop the avalanche, aud 1t was
more than likely q solid mass OF snoW
40 rods long and ? Affect deep lay above me
What had become of the hermit? There
vas not nrs chance in a thousand that he
had escaped. The avalanche would b'ocs
the trail for weeks, and at the very best II
would he some days before any one OF onl
csmp would know that l was IN the nut
IF the hermit escaped he would carry the
news If he was buried under the snow
might as we'll make up my mind Il
remain a prisoner until spring. was
in a bad box, and for the first hal:
hour l quite lost my courage. Then, nav
inc every reason to believe that | mus
he a prisoner for many long DAYS, l ne
gan to take an inventory OF stock, as Il
were. There was a good bed of skins ant
blankets, several cooking utensils, n table
and several rough stools, q clock. a dozsr
or more books, about thirty candles, will
tea, coffee, sugar, pork and flour In gum
titles to last me several weeks. lconld no
have been better provided for bad
planned for the avalanche to come. Ther'
was a leau-to at the back end If the hut
aud I looked into this to find it full G
fuel. | felt much more hopaful after
had taken the inventory. for / could no
help hut feel that it would be long befor'
l saw daylight again.
For several h,urs after the accident thu
cabin sent forth suspicious sounds. Tn
snow wa3 settling and packing above IL
and rafters and logs cracked and snapped
in n way to keep me on thorns. II TIT
weight on the roof proved too great shoulc
be crushed or smothered the moment l
fell in. 1t was after 8 o'clock in the after
noon before / felt safe. But very littl.
snow bad come down the chimney.
reasoned from this that it had been GOV
cred by rocks or limbs. If such wa
the case, and the fire refused t
burn, l shoald he hard pressed witt
plenty of raw provisions at hand. felt
all the gravity of the situation a. | threw
on some light wood and made q blaze. 1
was a hard fight for half ar hour. .Som'
of the smoke certainly found o way to es
cape. but some was driven back. How
ever. after a time the heat brought dowI
n great deal OF water-so much that
could scarcely keep q flame ~goiDg-ant
about 4:3O o'clock the cabin was clear o
smoke. While / could not for an instan
believe that the mouth of the chimue.
showed above the snow, l was satisfied
that some way lad been opened
for tie smoke to drive away. | may ex
plain here that a great mass OF treetopt
iod ysd on the root before the bulk Of tina
snow came, and these held the snow up 81
that the smoke went sailing about 10
hundred channels.
/ got myself some supper, wound up thu
clock and sat down for a smoke and
think. The hermit had two pipes and
large stock of tobacco, and, lonely as wa
INV situation, a feeling of gratitude to Go:
--., - haul vcnS upnarnl0lf In