The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-08
FIERCE RUSH OF THE AVALANCHE.
May he Seen at Its Best, or at Its
Worst, In british Columbia.

From the Victoria (B. CO Colonist.
Imagine. If you can. the very toughest
bit Of pature ever seen. or take a newspa-
per. crumple il into a ball. and placing
il on a table suppose all its raised parts
to be peaks and the hollow ravines; pict-
ure 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
continuously 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 ravines; the
sun gets warmer; up above you, near the
crest Of the mountain, little bits of crystals
detach themselves and go rolling down
the slope; tiny crack opens al your feet
and wdens across the gulch; in an instant
the whole snowy mass is in motion and
with a kissing. rushing sound and an up
heaval along the edges goes hurting down
the gorge. Faster and faster it glides
the air is filled with snowy spume; where
you stood it was a rivulet; 1900 feet be-
low IL is a mad torrent; the noise increases
as it gains momentum.
Rocks are torn loose, broken to atoms
or ground 10 powder. trees uprooted and
broken to pieces, logs smashed to splinters.
Al half a mile on its path II presents
crest of twenty or thirty feet in hight
and moves faster than an express train;
woe betide any living thing In its way now
Nothing made by man can stand before IL,
the wind of its creation Is a hurricane, a
cloud of snow and dust follows in its
wake; in a seething torrent II pours over
rocks and precipices and moving relent-
lessly on leaves in its track broken and
crushed fragments Of rocks and trees. The
thunder dies. is gone; and the avalanche
passed. Down at the foot of the slope,
a mile away, mountains Of snow tossed up
in hopeless chaos, a wild tangle of rocks,
earth, trees and logs remain 10 mark the
slide, and often, alas, too often, the bod
les Of brave men caught in its rush lie
buried in its icy embrace.
All around you can hear, day and night,
the distant, muffled roar of passing ava
lanches. They come and go at all times
and at all hours; each year a new one is
created They have claimed their blood
tribute; each has its record Of brave men
done 10 death. These avalanches are ev-
erywhere; there is not a wagon road
or a mountain trail that does not cross the
path Of several On the Kasio-Slocan road
70 New-Denver there are five or six; on
the Winter road to Sandon and Cody creek
four; all trails to the mines cross and re-
cross these moving destroyers; yet in all
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
hesitates or delays on account of the peril
to be incurred. Often. very often. the
snowslide passes a few feet from the ore
laden pack team, but not always with
warning. In an instant men and animals
are overwhelmed and tossed like straws
IN the boil of seething snow. 1t is merci-
full that death is Instantaneous then.
The force of the wind created by one
of these large slides is well-nigh incredible.
In the Valley of the Illecillawaet, on the
line of the Canadian Pacific, tree tops are
cut Off by the force of the wind on the OPP
posite side of the ravine through which the
avalanche descends. The snow is pressed
into the hardness Of ice, and literally tears
or grinds to powder everything in its
path. The many deplorable fatalities 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 trees holding up the snow
and preventing sliding. We read of many
brave and herioc acts, but surely the pa
tient courage that daily takes even
even chances with death on the slopes
and in the mountains of the SLOGAN deserve
more than passing tribute.