The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-09
THE HANGING TERROR or ICE
PROFESSOR Forers Exrisrn,tou OF tbs Eecsnt
Avalanche In the savoy Alps.

From he Spr'nqSrh Republican.
~, re q, disaster Ivy which the savogard village
from Geneva to Ghnmouni and Mont Blanc,
n .n me smaller villages OF Favet and Bionnay.
SO terribly turns out to be one OF the most
that mai make the human history Of the Alps
- 80 thriillnG and so painful IL seems. by
P lst I 4. Forel OF .Alorges has made. tHat q
a. an altitude OF more than lU.,OO fcet. lat
la'l Eiaclni mass Of more thnn 35,OOO COD
cubic cube let dowa height Of at loast 5000 feet;
dsenGaIsed so much heat by It's fail as T., melt
W al Tni, as rnlyeri2G the glacier fragment.
warm surfaces AMI substances 1t encountered
NH niu H. cn wny, Wa thus converted into viscous
on the mniurky Siliares snlt1 w u"Tn
ing Froi Forei thus describes It:
o OF S sH feet n' T nna % sn va, to ~, oyn
II spsnt ABOUT T0 Ga n y G s Es%ssS Sn,s mat
rsnSmg he AM. from point af its a NAT lew
minutes sy.r.thns hal gone nv, an The renamed
S. Iron, 20 Ete,, 9eIsa, * i'm: hor,t"n,aiis more
hT2w o ssc!. nyalnnche XSsnhshss Of 7c% f.r
Sni is az Of s,GS s ar much ..ls; TIE
v.s"n and no, t .s. T1 n
alonssi. ni hesps OF mud which saw drying .lowiy
OF. rni ea,. Q, wheat That lad been we, nor "si
a, nos s s instance .ss out .sG az FOR
school the moor was covered with mud but a few
dirty water the wns wsrs dry &c now. dirty water.
h% ii. s rsss
t H' lad is Sec s'iss n. mud as "
What adds to tho singularity OF this disss-
TER is that no such avalanche has been known
70 ;. occur n That region. nor was this huge and
lived near it. Prof Forcl says: Neither ut
st. Gervais. nor at nionnay. did any ono
Sy s ns Ss@a%ay e Hsi2G i S1s
!ancles each year. only. being small. they did
not reach the villages"
secrl to have been destroyed. The houses
HAY are. rGmn n are mostly uninnabitabc Where
small animals have persisted. 4" Hnppy are tina
families" says, one writer. that have hesn
question Is now raised whether the disaster
could not have been prevented. Prof. Forel
says:
are at present al inc, easing: and nnd tis
IS as Of Ss
s% = @
AL 'hr se .oss
n A sa.lv. to the rsYn:s and u:
not not. .xGs"t howeyer. continuation 20 speedy "t
vision to have given notice to those in danger In III,
here %"ass
nave suspected uanger 30 remote anu yet so awful
II seems that the particular glacier respon.
nearest to st. Gervais. hut a more formidable
one higher IN. beyond the little village 81
| Houchcs the lrst in the vale OF Chamouni
tho rocky peaks Of the Tetes. Rousses, in IN,
| best reGion for the channels hunter; was thi:
ters. which suddenly slipped from its perch
| Slid down drclivity Of 70 feet in the hun
dred. passed to the right OF the glacier o
| Bionnay. and then. following a ravine Of tn,
mountain torrents. fell upon the Inflated vii
lagos whtGh became iI its prey: Few could hav
even had they known its situation or its con
| dition.
1t should be added that the villages destroy
| ed. although in French territory are but fey
miles from the border Of the Swiss canton 0
Nalais. which Il les on the hoadwaters Of tn
Rhone and the slopes OF the Mont Blanc range