Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-04-15
MANY BURIED ALIVE.
DEATH RIDES AN AVALANCHE IN
cHlLkooT PASS.
co~ld.seeker. Are Swept Down by tho
ecore-Full Extent Of the Disaster
Not Known-One Kindred Argo.
nauts May Have Perlshed.
Train strewn with Dead,

Inst Sunday afternoon n d;.o ,tro,,.
snowslide overwhelmed Ch;ltoot Pas.
while II WAS row,da.d with m;nors II 10
Thought that thora oro mn loco thor 1N
Victims renresentip0 neor,v ovor, S+.tp
In the Union Thir+v.ona hod;es had
been rocoveroj when tho ,ows u,as sont-
Tho acc;dant occ,rroS IN tha aftornoon'
after a heavy chinook win had softened
tue snow ana ice. The point OF the dis
aster was about midway between Stone
mousse ana the Scales. A BRIEF account
OF the accident was brought to Seattle by
the steamer Alki. The story was tele-
phoned from Dyea to Skaguay Just before
the steamer sailed. 1t is known that sew
eral women were among the victims.
Fully lo0 people were overtaken by the
slide ana were either buried in the snow
or scattered along the borders Of the ava
lanche in n more or less injured condition.
The point Mt which the accident occurred
is some live miles above Sheep Camp.
The nearest telephone station is four miles
distant. The telephone wires ut Dyea
were carried away by the slide. n blind
ing snowstorm was aging all day upon
the summit, II as a consequence many
OF those in the vicinity were making no
attempt to travel. There had been Il
preliminary snowsl;de ut = O'Clock i'll tho
morning and people on the trail were dig
cling out their goods when the second and
disastrous slide occurred. Thousands of
peopse were encamped in the vicinity OF
the accident at the time and were sooll
upon tne scene rendering such assistance
as possible.
Thousands of Tons of Snow.
All day Saturday and sunday n south-
erly storm. with ro;n wind md snnv.
prevailed in tho vicinity md II 10 heliavei
the %softenipr of the snow on the
side by those agencies WA the cause of
the avalanche. The quantity Of snow
and ice that came down in the slide is
estimated at thousands of tons. 1t swept
directly across the trail, which, notwith-
standing the fact that the weather was
unsuitable for travel, was thronged with
wayfarcrs. The hast vestige of the trail
in the vicinity was wiped ont of existence.
and where it led is now n mountain of
snow and ice, under which are many dead
bodies that cannot be recovered for many
days to come.
At Stonchouse the valley narrows to n
width Of about $50 yards, walled in by
sheer and slight wooded cliffs reaching
from the east of the trail to almost u
vertical glacier which is variousiy csti-
mated from $4,000 to 10000 feet from
base to crown. Within the shadow of
this majestic cliff stood n little colony OF
tents, many of whose occupants were
Twufoer1cn-saly- by the grip of death to
fight for life against n rain Of ice and
rock that in IL few minutes had buried the
little white village under thirty feet of
avalanche debris. Not a few were merci-
fully spared II waking death, being crush
cd as they slept, with no forewarning of
I the disaster that wcs to ovcrwhelm them.
Witnesses say that it seemed as though
the e:..;re face Of the great white wall had
been Suddenly Tx seine unseen hand hurl.