Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-03-23
THE RUSH OF AN AVALANCHE.
Perils of Travel i'm the Snow Noun
tains of British Columbia.
Victoria Colonist.

" 1OiOltioAt
Imagine, IL you can, the very toughest
bit of nature you have ever seen, or take
a newspaper. crumple IL into a ball. and,
placing 1t on a table suppose all It's raised
parts to be peaks, and the hollOws
ravlnes: picture the sharp edges as ridges
more or less timbered, the hollows bare.
smooth or steep as the roof Of the steepest
house you know Of. and you have an idea
Of the mountains and gorges of the
SLOGAN.
Let us suppose we are standing near the
summit OF one OF these ridges on a bright
sunny day in January. 1t has been
showing continually for days, and the
beautiful lies in plenteous profusion
everywhere six to eight feet deep in the
timbered ridges and any depth you like
in the raytnes; the sun gets warmer;
I'D above you, near the crest of The noun
tain. little bits of crystals detach them
selves and go rolling down the slope; a
tiny crack forms at your feet and widens
across the gulch; in an instant the whole
snowy mass is in motion, and, with
kissing, rustling sound and an uph
along it's edges, goes hurting down the
gorge. Faster and faster it glides; the
air is filed with snowy spume: Hhere you
stood It was a riyulet; thousand feet be-
low it is a mad torrent: the noise In
creases as it gains momentum.
Rocks are torn loose, broken to atoms
or ground to powder; trees uprooted. and
broken to pieces; logs smashed 10 spin
ters. AT half a mile on its path IL pre-
sents a crest of twenty to thirty feet in
height. and moves faster than an ex-
press train. Woe betide any living thing
i'm it's way now. Nothing made by man
can stand before IL: the wind Of its
creation is a hurricane; Il cloud OF snow
and dust follows in its wake; in seething
torrent it pours over rock and preciplce
and moving resistlessly on, leaves in It's
track broken and crushed fragments Of
rock and trees, and the smooth and
polished grasses in the gorge. The thun-
der dies; is gone, and the avalanche Is
passed. Down at the foot OF the slope
mile away, mountains or snow tossed
up in hopeless chaos, wild -angle OF
rocks, earth. trees. and logs remain 10
mark the slide, and often; alas. 100 often,
the bodies of brave men caught in It's
rush. lie buried in its icy embrace.
All around you can hear, day ana
night. the distant. muffled roar of passing
avalanches. They come and 80 at all
times and at all hours; each year new
one is created, for the older ones are
well known. They have claimed their
blood tribute; each has its record Of brave
men done to death. These avalanches are
everywhere; there Is not wagon-road
or a mountain trail that does not cross
the path Of several. On the kasD-Slocan
road. to New Denver. there are five
or six; on the winter road TO Sandon ana
Cody Creek, four; all trails TO the mines
cross and recross these moving de-
stroyers; yet all the season of greatest
danger there is more traffic on these
roads and trails than on many highways
in civilization. Marvellous escapes are an
everyday matter. No one hestiates or
delays on account of the peril TO be
incurred. Often-very often-the snow
slide passes a few feet from the ore-laden
packteam, but not always with warn
ing. In an instant men and animals are
overwhelmed and tossed like straws in
the boil OF seethng snow; It Is merciful
that death Is instantaneous.
The force of the wind created by one
OF the larger slides is well-nigh incredible;
in the valley of the Ilecillewaet. on the
line of the Canadian Pacific, tree-tops
are cut off by the force Of the wind on the
opposite side of the ravne through which
the avalanche descends. The snow Is
pressed into the hardness of ice, and lite
rally tears or grinds to powder everything
In its path. The many deplorable fatali-
ties that have lately occurred In the
SLOGAN are partly due TO the destruction
of the timber on the wooded slopes by
the fearful fires of last summer; the
trees, holding up the snow and preventing
sliding We read of many brave and
heroic acts; but surely the patient
courage that daily takes even chances
with death on the slopes and IN the
mountains OF the SLOGAN deserves more
than passing tribute.