Morning journal and courier., 1891-04-16

SuVertOn lCol.)
About two thousand feet from the Dem
yer and Rio Grande depot there is a mass
of snow in one lump which contains about
one million tons of water. The mass rep
resents snowslide which came from the
summit of Kendall Mountain the night of
February 90. The point where the snow
broke from the apex of the mountain is
probably two and half miles from the
railroad track, and the slide made the run
according to witnesses who heard the
crash at the start and the crunch when it
stopped-in less than two minutes
Monday night was a terror. The mer-
curry had shrunk away down in the bulb,
and every one expected to see the climax
of the storm. About eight o'clock great
banks of snow began to accumulate and
pile up in fantastic shapes on the noun
tain tops. Then came puffs of wind as
strong as a gale; and miniature whirl-
winds scurried here and there all over the
park, toying with the loose boards and
sending up columns of sportive snowflakes
Higher and thicker and darker the cloud
battlements piled over the Animas canon,
while those up the Animas, like castles of
light riding on pillows of resplendent sill
yer, doomed in magnificent grandeur.
Over and among those aerial mountains
the moon peeped through ftfully and cast
in flood of dazzling glory. By nine
o'clock the storm was at its height. The
wind tore through the foliage On the hill
sides, and battering at the buildings,
hurled defiance at mankind. Serpentine
lines of glittering fire cleaned from be-
tween the rents in the clouds, and loud de-
donations from the battlements on high
proclaimed the march of the storm.
1t was about midnight when, above the
roar of the elements, far above the clouds
upon old Kendall, the "crac-k-k" was
heard. Then "crooch, crooch, crunch!n
and then the whole mountain side seemed
to be coming with fearful and indescrib-
able crush. Thousands of tons of snow
were shot out of that wide space above
timber-line and piled into Idaho gulch,
and brushing down everything before it.
Trees, rocks banks of frozen earth-all
shared in common fate, and to see that
monster coming, as it seemed, from the
clouds, would have been a grand sight.
There was no stop to the colossal mass
when it struck the fiat. Making its own
road, as it coursed its race, filling in all
declivities, it continued on its mad rush
until it reached the river. Instead of
stopping there it smeared a bridge for it
| self and continued over the railroad track,
carrying with it two telegraph poles, the
Y, and spread itself finally over the town
site, within two hundred yards from the
main street of Silverton
Such slide has never before been seen
here, and to those who have never seen
one, and are skeptical of its tremendous
| energy, we invite their attention to this
| one before going elsewhere. Once before
| in the history of this town has the Idaho
| gulch slide come down, and that was in
1879, when it barely reached the river.
| The snow now lies six feet solid on the
railroad track. At the foot of the gulch
it is at least one hundred ank thirty feet
| deep. 1t is full of timber-trees from six
| inches to two feet in diameter broken into
| splinters, rocks weighing tons are scat
tered through it, while the entire body is
as solid as ice itself. People go every day
to view this giant of the mountains, and
it will continue to be source of interest
until it melts beneath the rays of our July
/ sun.