New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
HEALTH-CURE AND AVALANCIiES.


estng and delightful account of life at ana ABOUT
Davos village in the Swiss Highlands. which,
during the past twenty years. has grown lp'o
somewhat famous health resort. The opening ar
ticle, which was written by Mr.. Symonds IN 1910,
had much to do with popularlzng the place' "n'
now he is beginning to be rather alarmed at 'h'
success of his advertising, for Davos has aireadN
lost its village charms is beginning 10 be crowded.
has developed the orthodox big hotels ana threatens
to evolve into too much of a city. Its principal
virtue does not consist in baths or mineral waters
but simply in the air. which is peculiarly ocheh-
cial in pulmonary complaints Mr.. Symonds HIM
self was driven from England many years ago by
a lung affection He went TO Davos merely as
pr1imipary to a dahabea ah voyage on the ME-
A few weeks residence, however, so improved his
condition that he gave up his Egyptian plan and
STAYED in the Swiss Highlands, where, in few
months, lie recovered his health.
The winter at Davos is very cold, often from
ten TO fifteen degrees below zero, Fahrenheit
But the air is so dry that this low temperature
is borne even by invads without discomfort
In fact il is enjoyable and such an exemption from
taking cold do the Davosites possess that one may
actually sit for hours in the snow (of course when
the sun is OUT without mourning the least danger
The snow is never wet. in the least damp
1t is dry and powdery and does not melt under
one. The process Of cure is exceedingly SIMPLE
No medicines are given, a rule All that seems
20 be required is that the patient shall keep IN
the open air and take as much exercise as possible
Because of the Importance of exercise, Mr.
Symonds recommends that sufferers who are very
weak should 60 to Davos some weeks before the
setting in of the winter BY that means they VIII
acquire strength while the weather is mild ana so
he enabled to 60 out of doors freely when u
becomes cold A few DAYS of that life-giving air
d.
Il far above the Riviera. Egypt. and all other
health resorts. lie himself has built house at
Davos. and resides there nearly all through the
wear. considerable colony of permanent resi-
dents has grown up and. while there is not much
amusement for such DO not carry their resources
with them there is plenty of diversion and IN
terest to be found in studying the wild mountain
scenery which surrounds the place
One of the most interesting papers in this vol
ume is an account of the avalanches which IN
tbe Swiss Alps constitute throughout the winter
constant source of danger. 1t might be said that
tbey are TO the Swiss mOuntaineers what the
ocean is to every fishing village. NO winter
nasses without its disasters. Again and again
are the people called to dig for the bodies or
friends. relatives. neighbours who have been over
whelmed Sometimes, and not rarely. the disaster
assumes greater proportions. and whole village
is buried In these cases. the casualties are not
commonly numerous, for the people have learned
10 forcsee the falling of avalanches, and they
fly from their threatened habtations when the
peril approaches. There are, it seems. several
kinds of avalanches. "One" says Mr.. Symonds,
"is called 'Staub Lawinc,' Dust-Avaanche.
This descends when snow is loose and has re-
Gently fallen. It is attended with whirlwind,
which lifts the from whole mountain-sldr
and drives it onward through the air. 1t advances
lino r,or ,iur oh fgcIp
moving forests down like sedge. 'leaping' las an
old peasant once explained it in my hearing from
hill to HILL burying men, beasts and dwellings,
land settling down at last into formidable COM
pact mass without color and without outline The
snow which forms these Staub- Lawinen is dry
and finely powdered When it comes to rest
the earth, it Immediately hardens into something
very like the consistency Of ice wrapping the
objects which have been borne onward by its blast
tightly round in firm, impacable clasp.
or horse seized by Staub-Lawne, if the breath
has not been blown out of his body in the air. has
1t squeezed out by the even, clingng pressure
Of consolidating particles"
Mr.. Symonds has several anecdotes of these
avalanches, which show that once covered by
them no living creature has any chance of survival
Then there is the Schlag- Lawine" or Stroke
Avalanche. OF this we are told that it falls
generally in sprinetime, when the masses of
winter snow have been oosened by warm winds
or sodden by heavy rainfalls. The snow is not
whirled into the air. but slips along the ground,
following the direction given by ravnes or gullcs,
finding a way forward through the forest by
its sheer weight. Tumbling and rolling. gather
ing volume as they go from all the barren fells
within the reach of their tenacious undermining
force, these sloggng" avalanches push blindy
forward till they come to rest upon level There
they spread themselves abroad, and heap their
vast accumulated masses by the might of pressure
from behind up into pyramids and spires. They
have the aspect of glacier with its seracs, or OF
lava stream with it's brstling ridges, and their
skirts are plumed with stately pine trees noddine
above the ruin they have wrought Woe to the
fragile buildings, TO the houses and stables which
they meet upon their inert, grOvelling career
These carried with them, incorporated, used
as battering rams. Growing like the snout OF
some behemoth, the snow dslodges giants of tho
forest, and forces them to act like poughs upon
its path. You may see tongues and promontOries
of the avalanche protrudng from the central
body, and carried far across frozen lakes ex
panses of meadow by the help of some huge pine
or larch."
Another form of avalanche is called the
"Grund- Lawine," its popularity consisting ir
the amount of earth and rubbish carried dowr
by it. This kind is filthy and disreputable. Il
il colored brown saty-gray by the rock ant
soil with which it is involved. Blocks of stone
emerge in borrid baroness from the dreary waste
of dirty snow and sush of water which compos
it, and the trees which have been so unlucky "a
10 stand upon its path are splintered, bruised
rough handled in hdeous fashion. The Saub
Iawinc is fury-ladcn like fend in ITS frs
swrling onset, fiat and stiff like a corpse in ii
ultimate rcpose Of death, containing men an'
nd ,he1 It's
wrinl1led taciturnity of marble. The Schlag
Iawine is picturesque, rising into romantic splre
and turrets. with erratc pine-plumed hrths pro
truding upon sleepy meadows 1t may even III
pure and beautiful, heavng in pallid pillows a
the foot of majestic slopes where it has injurc'