The sun., 1896-01-26
OVERWHELMED yCHH
A Stamp Mil In Alaska Completely
Wrecked by NJ MouutRia snowslide,

A Stamp Mil In Alaska Completely
Wrecked by n Mountain snowslide.
From the Ainska Ne,cs.
Mining men in particular and citizens IN
general were Mortified Tuesday morning upon
the arrival Of Oscar Aaronson, an employee Of
the NOVEL; Gold Mining Company in Upper
Silver Bow Basin. who brought the report that
the mill ard other houses adjoining tho Ju.
neau Mining and Manufacturing Company,
commonly called the upper Elmer MILL stu.
ated almost at the head of Gold Creek. had
been swept away by some means or other. and
not n vestige Of It remained visible. excepting,
viewed from the distance from which he saw
1t. what appeared TO be some heavy timlers
standing upright in the snow. To have gone
to the site of the mill from where he stood
would have been an extremely hazardous un-
dertaking, on account Of the ground necessary
to cross. and would have required as much
time rs Il did to travel to Juneau.
On his way to town he met Mr. William Eb-
ner and Henry Jones, who were route on
snow shoes to the Elmer Gold Mining Com
pany's property. After hearing the news Of
the catastrophe. they pushed on to the scene
Of the accident, and Aaronson. upon arriving
in the city. at once informed b. NJ. Behrends,
who is receiver for the J. NJ. and NJ. Company.
He at once sent couple Of men to investigate.
They returned tho same evening and con-
hrmed tho reports. A crew of mon were sent
up to recover II possible, the body OF tho watch.
man, John F. Pearl. who had been buried be-
meath tho terrible avalanche.
The mill was built in 1890, and on account
Of its close proximity to high and precipitous
mountains. particular attention was paid in its
location to avoid any possibility Of receiving
damage from possible snow slides. Icy Guloh.
III u, l. a. 49,
scene Of frequent slides. but they never cause
damage to property situated above It. On the
left hand side of the mill site small slides oo-
cur every winter, but never have reached the
spot where tho mill formerly stood. As Il IL
always the unexpected that happens, 20 was n
proven in this instance. tho main channel Of
Gold Creek being the last place > slide would
be expected to como from. About 1000 feot
above the mill site Gold Creek emerges from
a narrow cafion whose walls are absolutely
perpendicular, and tower upward hundreds
and hundreds OF feet. The caflon, which Is over
1000 feet long. narrows in some places to ept
gorge the creek forks, one entering abruptly
from the left. and the, other coming in at near;
ly right angles from the right. At the head Of
the right-hand fork. three-auarters OF milo
distant. Is a large glacier. and the supposition
Which tore down the cafion with such mighty
force. The buildings destroyed. by a peculiaf
caon. the first ' being t the mill. then tho Sosrd-
Ing house. then the dwelling house; tho once
building and black smith shop being but a trih'
scene nth the s only thing Visible B Which could po:
Ss %as fS the ts cupoa ot the @ mi} buidins 70
attached several catles connecting with ths
%n Ths OF
tearing down four stations OF the tramway. the
cables however. ciinging to their anchoraEe:
,1ar both In and ,an war
up in the snow scattered promiscuously around.
but no one would have imagined these were tho
trrS other attendant houses. The slide as near <
could be measured by the the eye: was & about n,d ds2
s ss eSiS wsS sGts dsse E ss qse
1t was, not until the rescnine party had b.
gun digging in the snow @ and am amopE h tho Ss aSers
they formerly stood. that the awful and irrY
s!stibie force of the slide was eomprehendsd.
With saw. Pieces Of flooring were found:
which 9f pea
the root OF the boarding house was found Dali
mile, distant, and huge bouders were encoun- on.
tered which had been carried mile or moIc
and which in themselves required an almost
ncacuabe power to move Later IN 1T hs saana ntsI
evidences of the possible presence OF tho unfor-
tunate Mr.. Pearl. A portion OF the kitchen
saSe Was sand and qRhs qshos s
from the latter pan containing some batter lor
cakes was picked up, md later on the inhttIeeS
from a he'd was unearthed. On the under side OF
the mattress. with Its head tightly wedged IN ths
wire. ms n cat. presumably the pet compan,on, OK
him for whose body the men were now seeking:
Mr.. Elmer also made another FTP 70 w m
seen" Of the accident yesterday while ~ .no
upper basin he called upon the watchtin1nhn
OF the juneau Mining Company's mill. whlont
is in plain view Of the destroyed mil. 10 Sc =.
he could shed any St upon % hs the b1nns @n,s q,
light the strangcst. most impcrturhaple, hila
most peculiar piece OF humanity ever encouns cons
tered. The man name Is A. SuIh"rtanhu., Nv. Hn
letter IN Mr.. BcErcnds and tell all re knew
The letter was duly received. and II. ~ ne sAyS
the slide occurred on DEC; "S. between " a, Siu ~
O'Clock in the forenoon. lie was at work shovel
ling ,now AT that hour, ard heard noise re-
semblng heavy thunder. lie looked IN tho
direction of the Eb'.cr mill and saw notn,nn nnnn
but cloud Of sm%w n ~; wHS ,Shcr. s0Wn stcing out
through The snow quite visible, .,,. ,.rov
lie did not go tn the rescue OF hls Ie,p"
Waterman, he says, hccaus" he thouSht ~ ~
VIII ch events he could be of no use TO MN.
Did not even consider ii necessary 10 settr Nv,
word 10 town, and thus things rename" .. iol
ten dgys mt; Aaroh'nnn EoG nnn,"nad agr''''A'
John r. Pearl was u ruulg man 80 years OF
nrc, ard wa, wei! liEcd by all who knew ", h,,d hnd
He came tp juneau early last summer, anu M M
held u position with lhc company , sinoe 'u''
lie was In town Dec. 2A for the last tlme, o,,-
The III, IN DESTROYED wNs on.oi we llust So,.r ,an
pletr ever nit in Alaska. II consisted h o, W.
err, aud in II rnoiE ad dining the mlli Wa ~
seventy Ivr horse. power generator. Gsed ~
Transmitting power Ia the co nrressor sltuahett t
,hC mipr IT, 60 r%st ,,mr IN nSt 1ST?Jyt put in
buildings. &c, the loss. as estimated U, -.
Elmer. will rraca fully $40, 900. ne pInpr,hs
being AZ present IN litigation. II IS inIoyiSi,h ii -
at this date 10 say whether or not v WIZ "
rs.hu