The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1890-01-11


AN EDITOR SENTENCED FOR CONTEMPT,
JACKSONVILLE. Jan. &c. J. Kaiser
of the Valley Rsc0ra, was arralgued to-
day for judgment 10 the contempt case
and Judge Webster imposed fine of $50
and fifteen days' Imprisonment in thu
county Jail. Pending motion for ap
peal to the supreme court, Kaiser wa.
released on his own recognizauce.
THE "ExAMINER's' BRAVE REPORTERS
SAN Francisco. Jan. G.-W. r. Hearst
editor OF the Eraminer. has presented
gold watch and S2U0 each to Allen Kell,
and FL. II. Haxton, the two reporters wht
went out Friday night in tug chartered
by Mr.. Hearst and rescued Antonio
Nicholas from perilous position on rh
rock III the ocean near Point Bonita.
A BIG WHITE CLOUD.
SIERRA CRY, Cal, Jan. G.-rhe snow
I blockade from this place TO tile outsid,
| world has net yet been raised, but tele
| graph communication, which was inter
| rupied about the time of the fatal snow
slide last Friday, was resumed again lat,
last night. Particulars of this slide caI
| now he given.
Sierra City is situated IN what is virtu
ally IN ravine. During the progress o
| a storm, owing to the tremendous veloc
| ity and force of the winds, the snow i:
| swept from the sides of the mountain.
into the ravines, gradually accumulatins
and in places drifting to an immens,
depth. If during the storm it cleares W
for space of only a few hours and the
temperature descehds TO the freezing
point, the snow becomes co7ered with a
crust which forms very slippery sur
face, in places rs smooth as glass. II
| then there comes anothsr iall of snow on
top of this crust, danger is at orce i'm.
minent, for unless the storm ceases and
the snow settles and packs down from
the influence of the suns rays, no power
on earth will prevent the vast upper bod y
of snow from sliding down and destroy
ing everything which may be IN Its
patti.
This combination of causes is what pro-
duced the catastrophe on Friday wherein
seven people lost their lives. As ma.
jorty of the towspeople were peacefully
seated by their tiresides, suddenly, with
out moments notice, an immense bod v
Of snow was precipitatsd from height
OF 1000 feet from one of these ravincs
lying horth of the town. The snow Gov
cred and buried everything in Its path,
carrying away number of houses which
were situated at the base of the ravine
and in the direct line of the avalanche.
Immense oak trees were bent over and
broken off near the roots. Houses We're
swept along with irrestible force until the
fury of the storm was spent. The only
sound to he heard during the entire time
was cracking noise as il fire we're
cheerily burning in CRATE. In less than
moments tine three houses were COM
plete wrecks and their inmates beyond
the reach of all earthly help. Other
houses were badly damaged, and the
Catholic church was completely demol-
ished, with the exception of the belfry,
which remained standing.
A man was sbove!iHg snow from the
roof of house near by, and hearing u
slight cracking noise he rushed up in its
direction and at once gave the alarm,
People in houses not fifty yards distant
were ignorant of what had happened un.
til accidentally they saw people rushing
frantically about and men digging in the
SLOW furious'y and with the energy of
despair. Men could be seen running
with shUvels on their shoulders, and
women rushing distractedly with
blanched faces asking what had hap
pened. Large masses of snow filled the
streets and made It almost impossible to
move quickly. Soon a man came along
40 kah.
wrecked house; then q delecate woman,
half dead with fright, unable to say what
damage had been done, only that she had
been buried in the snow. All was ex-
citement and the sudden deaths seemed
to paralyze all. Piauos were mixed with
broken furniture, and beds and bedding
were carried in an indescrlbable mass 100
yards from where they belonged. Not a
vestige of the original foundations of the
houses remained. Pieces of boards, with
fragments of the roofs, rested quietly On
the bodies of the buried dead.
To add further to the horror of the
scene. the buildings caught fire aDd the
people were soon rendered almost des-
perate from their futile attempts to res
cue the bodies of those buried from its
swift approach. After hours of weary
search one poor body after another was
finally brought to light, until seven
bodies had been recovered. By this time
it was midnight, and every able bodied
man in town was exhausted from his ef-
forts, The grief and sorrow of those los
ing relatives was pitiful to behold. Not
a soul ip town slept Friday night, for
slide might come at any moment from
other ravines, as Sierra City was showed
in on all Sides Escape from town was
simply impossible. Saturday everything
was at stsndstill, no business being
transacted, and the only thought was to
endeavor to take care of the dead and
console the afflicted.
One OF the saddest incidents connected
with the affair was the death O. young
lady who was visiting relatives here. She
was TO have returned home the early por-
ton of this week, but the roads being
blocked with snow made the journey i'm
possible. and she renamed but to meet
an untimely death. A dispatch was sent
to Downieville, her home, and the dis.
tracted father, accompanied by three
others, left Downiesiile, distance of
only twelve miles, at G o'clock Saturday
not reaching here till nearly
noon yesterday. Even this journey could
never have been made unless the travel
ers were expert snowshoers.
There Was but one OF two actual OBJ
servers of the snowslide. They describe
the snow as rising up in an immense
cloud like smoke. Then as it descended,
moving more like snow, increased We
locity was added until finally it ceased
moving 1t was a beautiful but most
awful sight.
A RUINED WOMAN BECOMES INSANE.
SEATTLE, Jan. 7.-Annie Schlueter, q |
German domestic, was to day a6judged |
insane and sent to the S.eilacoom asylum. |
Her insanity was caused by the viilainy |
# an officer of the steamer aEiyasaaa, who |
Yduced her three weeks ago. She |
,roodcd over the shame so much that
eyeral days ago her reason gave way and |
he became possessed of EalIuclnatiun
hat s0me oae wss hunting 10 harm her.
'he had to have every door and window
Ocked, and hatchet by her side to keep
,eople away. Before she became violent |
he made "a statement implicaiipy the Of
lcer OF the EirIstina. No arrest has yet
lten made.
THE. oRBGON PACIFIC EXTENSION.
SAN FRANCISCO Jan. ii. S. Antonelle,
n extensive railroad contractor, arrived
rom Oregon yesterday, and took the
veiland train for the east last night
peaking of railroad work in Oregon.