The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-01
SLIDE OF $500 FEET.
EXPERIENCE IN A COL
ORADo sNOwsToRM.

.dVenfurers Escape
o,.o Wears. President of the Ches"-
.l.e beach Railway, and COM
IN We're Dashed Down One OF
rncompahgre Mountains From
attitude of 1880 Feet-s"ved
meath by Landing in "a snow
ned zoo Feet Deep
slide of 200 feet down the side oil
..,,oip on the crest of snow wave
remarkable experience related Dy
,Jears. of Washington, d. C., and
IA n mind by the prevailing album
~ snow which now covers most
~ tbe country. Mr.. Mears is at me
# the silverton Railway and the Sill
,srtou Northern, both OF "h'ch Iaii'is
,nro,,eb the rugged Uncompahsre Mou'-
ms If the silvery San Juan, in South-
western Colorado.
Mr. Mears has spent the greater part
81 his life in furthering transportation
.ooones and establishing communication
,.,u.aeD Colorado mountain mining towns
Itch ordinarily are showed in from the
,as, Of the world for the best part Oh
,o,e winter. During his experience IN the
roush Western country. Mr.. Mears mas
,,a two or three big tumbles down the
,o,,-sd sides of the Uncompahgre range
& hnt as the landing place has always been
ho5 If nice soft snow, he has nothing
10 show for his remarkable snow siiues'
Mr.. Mears is a man with an eye 'or
Fl +ransnortsti ton schemes. Back IN the sew
b Mics he was helping Uncle Sam carry
8 .bo mails over the ranges of the ROCKIES
ord IN several occasions succeeded IN
s ,1Iisbing communication between
nIacss which were declared to be aDso-
& iutelv shut out from the rest OF the "orla
n 5nrine the winter season. After he had
III framed over every mountain range IN
81 the STATE, he declared that ne couio I'M
move 1pon the narrow winding trails that
n adpoitted passage for only man and pack
animal and succeeded in penetrating the
81 oiroost inaccessible country of the San
81 Juan with wagon roads and later proposed
81 lines of railway to feed the same country
such a project was looked upon with dis
couragement, but the schemer knew every
foot of the country, and in Jew years
Rad trains skirting rocky canons and
scaling precipitous mountain Sides trans
81 norting ore. supplies, and passengers to
and from such famous gold and silver
producing camps as Telluride, Silverton,
81 Ouray. Rico, Lake City, and Montrose
and Della, in the agricultural and fruit
district of the southwest section OF the
Lives to Tell the Tale.
In his younger days the railway presi-
dent was a transporter who knew no prob
81 lem that lacked a solution. In the winter
of 1876 Mr. Mears had the most remarka-
bic and perilous slide of more than ha1
mile down the highest peak of the Engin-
eer range and now when he sees a snow
81 bank he scratches his head smiles, and
wonders why he is still building railways
after that memorable journey on the crest
of a mountain snoWsfide.
The railway men had the government
contracts for carrying the mails between
Saguache and Lake City, distance of
ninety miles, and from Lake City to Sill
verton the then thriving silver camp Of
81 the West, a distance of forty miles. Early
in the winter the mountain trails became
blocked with snow and except for an occa-
sional venture some traveller or mail-car-
rier The mining camps never got word for
the outside world In the early part Of
that winter complaint was made by the
III posto1Iice department of the constant r-
regularity in the delivery of mail matter,
and Mr. Mears started out with his NAH
carrier to see what the trouble was From
Saguache to Lake City the trail is directly
westward across the Cohetopa mountains
# and Siiverton is southwest of Lake City,
across the high and rugged Engineer range
of the Umcompahgre mountains. The two
mountain climbers carried packs contaln-
ing their supplies for the trip and wore
enormous Norwegian snowshoes, four
@ inches wide and sixteen feet long, with a
smooth piece of board on the bottom to
allow the wearer to coast down steep in
ciines. Deep snow covered the trail and
Flln H.
dizzy precipice which it. bordered so that
frequently the wayfareFs were actually
supported by the crisp snow and nothing
more The ninety miles to Lake City was
covered in three days, the nights being
spent in snow holes dug on the mountain
sides and IN which the men climbed and
81 slept with comfort
heat Amy TObOggan on Earth.
When Mears arrived at Lake City with
out mlshap he was thinking pretty hard,
and had almost formed the opinion that
there was no excuse for delay in getting
me mails through. After leaving that
pace Tor Silverton, they found the En-
# sineer range covered with an enormous
m ped OF snow which in places rested I'M
Il easily on the steep mountain sides. threat
81 'l!hs 10 shde at any moment, The posi-
ohles OF going down into the valley sew
eral thousand feet below with tons OF
contractor and his mail carrier on the
move. While passing along a narrow and
meciptous ridge at an altitude of 1866
leet the trail was over a small rocky
le'ge' with perpendicular nights above
Fl ana an intentionally acute angle below
Fl for SAFETY and to aid each other IL neces.
saryt the two men Travelled one directly
uenlhd the other, and while forcing theft
Fl way over the snow crust their ears were
greeted by the unwelcolne rushing SOUND
II "5ae by the moving snow above
Down It came, down the steep noun
n Jam, directly above 4pom and with TIE
velocity of the wind. Before either mar
n eould turn, the great body of deep snow
ON The narrow ledge Of train was upor
.Ie move and the whirling frozen atoms
p'naed the two wayfarers as they started
Oh lhen perous journey down the noun
ID tam side AS they started to slide off the
RI narrow ledge, the men grasped hands and
made a frantic jump backward. landing
upon the trail, and leaving the lower body
'ie slide to go down the mountain with.
Ia 'Nl itS DdSSppgQrg T9fft