St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-26
AN AVALANCHE STORY.
Some of the Wonders of This l.,
sistIess Power of Nature.

sistIess Power of Nature.
Detroit Free Press.
Il see they have had a terrible avAt-
lanche in Switzerland" said the man
with the yaller whiskers, "and that
reminds me of an adventure my
brother had in Wyoming a few years
ago. Were any of you gentlemen ever
on Bald-Headed Mountain out there?"
None of the group had ever had that
honor and, when informed of this, the
man continued:
MY brother was prospecting and
hunting, and had a rude cabin on the
side of the mountain. He was a good
man, my brother was I've known
him to stick to the truth when he could
have made $500 by lying 1 wouldn't
do that, of course, but L want you to
understand what sort of a man my
brother was. 1 used to talk to him
by the hour, but he would insist upon
telling the truth"
PITY that more Of the family didn't
stick to that policyr' sneered the man
with the blossom on his nose.
Yes, perhaps; but, then, all of US do
what we think is for the best. My
brother had occupied the cabin for
about a month, when it came on to
rain and rained for ten days and nights.
Had he known anything about ava
lanches he would have been on the
lookout; but. as he didn't, he smoked
his pipe and waited for the weather to
clear up. One night he was aroused
by trembling and quivering of the
earth, and just as he rolled out of his
blankets his cabin began to move
down hill, carried along on the breast
OF the avalanche. 1t was three miles
down the valley, and ten miles across
the valley to Grizzly mountain
Ten and three are thirteen milesv'
SAID the hardware drummer as he
shsas1rpened harper ed. n, MS knife on his shoe.
yaller whiskers. ''As my brother
found the cabin going and realized
| What was taking place he out with his
| Watch and caught the time. l claim
who ever timed an avalanche. In eX-
actly four minutes to a second he was
| across the valley, and in exactly twen-
ty-elght seconds more he was mile
anche had spent its force and the
cabin rested. His report on the speed
| of the avalanche has been accepted by
! the Royal Geographical Society of
England, and by all other societies.
And he wasn't hurt?" demanded the
man who could raise his scalp by work
| ing his ears.
"A few triling scratches. sir; but he
| was greatly Inconvenience. At the
| old location he had a spring close at.
| hand, with plenty of firewood around.
! At the new he had to walk half a mile
after fuel and water. He was also at
| a higher altitude and had more trouble
| to breathe"
But he hung on, didn't he?" asked
| the hardware drummer.
| 'Oh, yeSi'
HE hung on and waited for another
avalanche to carry him back to the old
1ocation?"
Exactly, sir! Yes, sir at the end
of two weeks there was an avalanche
| which carried him back to Bald-Head-
ed mountain. 1t also gives me pleas
ure to inform you that this second
| avalanche made the trip in five seconds
| less time than the first. On this oc-
casion my brother did not get out Of
| bed at all, and met no accident except
getting some dirt in his eye"
1T is an awful pity that your brother
| is deadr said the man with blossom.
yes, it was great loss to the coun-
! try at large"
| s'Because he would have made such
a champion liar in a few years more"
| What" eXclaimedsthe man with the
| yaller whiskers, as he rose up. do
you think my brother prevaricated
about the avalanche?"
Worse than that. l think he lied
| like a trooper
"Gentlemen, I trust you will excuse
! my emotions-I know you will. None
| of you may know what it is TO hear
| dead brother vilified. l promised him
on his dying bed that 1 would never
| strike a man in anger and l am there
fore helpless in this case except TO
withdraw. 1 therefore withdraw.
Good evening, gentlemen-good even
ing"