La Junta tribune., 1899-02-18
TEN BODIES FOUND.
VICTIMS OF TWO AvALANcAEs.
silver Plume Ninsrs' C.bins swept Away
Without warnInE-A Woman aud Two
Children Amcng the SIctima

News last night said:
simultaneously two snowslidcs oc-
CURED In Cherokee gulch. at this place.
AT S:45 this morning. Ten lives We're
lost in the laundering rush OF snow,
rock and timber. The ore houses of the
Pelican and Cory City were carried
away and fully $4,000 worth of ore
was carried into the basin between the
mountain sides and lost.
Inhabitants are terrorized. as snow
slides have never been known in this
section of the country. The vast
amount of SNOW on the mountain sides
frowns down upon the people below
and the miners are in mortal terror lest
repetition of the frightful avalanches
will occur and carry away their cabins.
All the killed are miners or mem
bers of their families.
The terrible snowslidcs came without
n warning. The morning was clear
and cold, with the sun shining bright
ly. So far as known, nobody received
n warning of the disastrous slide. Su
perintendent Robeson of the Pelican
mine was standing outside the shaft
house OF the mine when he noticed a
peculiar movement OF the great mass
of snow high on the mountain side. Be
fore he comprehended the danger, the
terrible roar of the swiftly moving
mass OF snow and earth instinctively
drove him to a place of safety. He
saw the start of the slide and reached
cover before the snow reached the
shaft house where he was standing.
The slide is the most disastrous ever
recorded in the northern part of the
state. 1t occurred directly north OF
this place, where the mountain side
are steep In its descent, the first slide
moved with terrible rapidity. Several
OF the miners We're standing outside
their cabins enjoying rest after
breakfast. They Were cut of with hut
a moments warning. As the first slide
began TO move. several miners Of the
Pelican appreciated the danger of the
situation. Their natural impulse was
to hasten to warn their companions III
the cabins on the mountain side, but
the force of the elements was too great.
and before they realized 1t tons and
tons of snow We're upon the CABINS ana
had reduced them to splinters.
In coming down the mountain. the
mass of snow struck two cabins west
OF Republican mountain and the shaft
house and boiler rooms of the Cory
City mine. These buildings We're un-
fortunately located directly in the path
of the slide.
The second slide took a different
course down Willehan gulch. east of
Sherman mountain. between the Peli-
can and Seven-Thirty mines. That slide
carried away cabins In which there
were seven miners. all Of whom found
death In the frigid and uncomfortable
mass that bore destruction with 1t.
Superintendent Robeson. who no.
ticed the movements of both slides. de-
clares that the scene was horrible.
Timbers Of huge proportions were
ground into splinters by the ponderous
mass of swiftly moving snow ana Ice:
and before bird could have winged
away II was upon the humble habita-
tions of the poor miner.
The slides travelled for at least two
miles and worked n furrow In the
mountain sides at least ten feet deep.
As soon as the report OF the catastro-
phe spread. both gulches were visited
by hundreds of people who were will
ing to lend hand to the work Of res
cue. Word of the disaster soon
reached Georgetown and people came
from there to assist In the noble work
OF searching for the dead and injured.
The thermometer registered Is de-
grees below zero. but the work was
promptly begun and prosecuted. Scat
tered along the mountain side here and
there were a few timbers which
served to guide the work Of the res
cuing parties. The brave miners who
were attracted TO the scene worked
heroically.
Inside of five minutes the rapidly
moving shovels of the rescuers en-
countered the body Of Antonio Migret-
to. He was more dead than alive, but
the spark Of life was apparent and i'm
mediate attention was given him.
Willing hands carried him to sled
and he was brought into the depot
where every medical attention
was given him. Soon after Antonio
Maleano and Giuseppe Corcunio were
found. They were almost dead and
were brought here at once and given
medical attention.
The first bodies found were those of
Mrs. Destefano and her children. The
mother had her arms clasped about
the inanimate form Of her younger
child. The other child was found
short distance away. The mother had
evidently seen the avalanche approach
ing and had made an attempt to save
her child in escaping from the house.
The bodies were brought here on
sled. The work of rescue continued.
and In the remains of the Destefano
cabin n cook stove with the fire still
burning was unearthed. The chicken
coop of the modest home was next
found. and the thirteen chicks were
uninjured.
AS the work went on the bodies of
Peter and John Tondini. Gerondo
Guenzi. G. Bietto and Enrico Novaria
were uncovered. They were not badly
but the severe pressure of
the snow told on their blackened
faces. The bodies Of Joe Tondini and
Dominic Destefano have not yet been
found. 1t is known definitely that
they perished. Destefano left his
cabin shortly before the slide came
down and was walking In the direc-