The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-07-13
CRUSHED BY A GLACIER.

Two Villages Wiped Ont by Masses of Ice
from Mont Blanc and $50 Lives Lost
PARIS, July IA terrible accident has
occurred at st. Gervais- Les 2ains, in Savoy,
resulting in the death of over one hundred
persons. A glacier slipped from It's moor
ings on the mountains that almost over
hang the village. and, without q moments
warning, q number of houses were buried
beneath immense masses of rock and earth.
The village of Lefayet was also swept
away. st. Gervais Is q watering place,
with suiDhurous springs, and is favorlte
summer resort. 1t lies in the wooded ra-
vine of Montioie. half q mile from the
Chamonix road, on the Bon Nant, Nant be-
ing the name applied to all mountain
streams In Savoy.
The whole surface of the river is strewn
with the wreckage of houses and with
trees. st. Gervais village is distant about
twenty minutes walk from st. Gervais-
Les Bains, and the destroyed hamlet Lefa-
yet is two miles distant from ST. Gervais-
Le-Village. ST. Gervais-Les-B Balns lies z. .066
feet above the level of the sea, while ST.
Gervais- Village 10 1861 feet above the
sea level Lefayet is about at the same
height. 1t can readily be seen that the
ascent is very steep. and as the masses
came laundering down the ravine they
carried every thing before them with Irre-
sistI BILE force. Many of the victims were
awakened by the sound of the descending
avalanche of matter, but it was too late
for them to escape. 1t is believed that not
q single person In line of the falling glacier
and the debris it carried along escaped
with his life. Many visitors were at the
place. and q large number of them are
among the victims. The baths of ST. Ger
vais were in five separate buildings, Joined
by a stone wall, erected In a narrow gorge.
They were situated about 2,066 feet above
the sea, on the road from Geneva to Cham
onix.
Later dispatches say glacier became de-
tached from Mont Blanc and fell into the
mountain torrent, carrying away the ham
let Of Bionnay and filing the torrent with
wreckaRe OF the village formed q dam
which effectuaily restrained the waters
for some time. Finally the dam broke and
the waters burst like cataract into the
stream of Bon Nant. which passes through
st. Gervais. The inmates of the bath
houses were awakened about 2:l5 A. NJ. by
the sound of rushing waters and q loud
crashing noise. Before they were able to
leave the building the torrent, filled with
the debris of the ysse and
bath houses. Three of the buildings
were destroyed and another one partially,
while the fifth building sustained no dam
age, being situated upon higher elevation
than the others. The torrent continued
into the valley, destroying everything in
it's course. The village of Lefayet. lying
In the valley. was almost demolished. The
wreckage of houses was swept on for miles
into the Arve. Down the latter streams
corpses and wreckage were seen floating all
day long.
The full mortality is not yet known. 1t
is believed that seventy-tive persons per-
lehed at the baths alone and at least fifty
of the Inhabitants of Lefayet were
drowned. The latest estimate Of the num-
ber of the dead is 130