The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-10


same field may. discharge itself down a
nat slope, with deeply grooved beds ON
| eaCh side. However cratic the course of
an avalanche may be, its trail is unmis-
| taxable. The parallel lines visible against
| the tar-dtstant upper SHOWS are sue
ceeded on the lower slopes by a clean
| cut swath through the forests, leaving
not a vestige but the fresh green of a
new growth Bowlders and hillocks and
prush may line the TRAIL but a clean
| sweep from snow to valley marks tho
wake.
AT a distance the avalanche resembles
a 1ar-on cataract, A dull boom, like the
thunder OF surf in rocky caverns, sets all
ire hills to re-echoing, and one looks up
| TO see what might be thin water lines
and clouds of spray pouring over a preci-
pee. lake a Held glass. The thin water
INES are fumes Of snow, broad as a tor
rent The spray becomes a seething
storm Of snow, compared to which
blizzard would be a zephyr. At nearer
! range the view, Is still more imposing,
| one can note the very creation of these
giant forces. In some steep cirque
walled on all sides but one, where the
! declivIty descends SO sharply that any
| raining body must take this slope, great
! crack Will appear across the face of
snoWheld Day by day the rift widens,
| I'LL cornlce Of ice and snow curls over
! the ouler edge of the precipice. The
! whole mass keeps forcing forward Then
! Only breath of warm air from the val
J icy or the displacement of a single stone
Is enough. Millions and billions of tens.
| acres and miles Of snow, hurl over and
| come racing down 4 ten-mile slope, swift,
| plhther1ne and white with a crash that
! reVeroerates from summit to summit in
Iopd explosive ''rocketing'' echoes
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
| IN
! Too close range would. of course, mean
! death to the observer not necessarily be-
| cause he would be hurled away In the
| which every practical engineer and miner
| maeistrom of snow and bowlder, but be-
| cause of the strange atmospheric condi-
| tcns created by the avalanche This
| Is point ignored by SCIENTISTS but with
| IN mountainous regions IS familiar. These
! conditions may also account for the
| sharp, pistol-lille repor frequently heard
| above the roar and rush of snow. The
| velocity of an avalanche is inconceivably
| rapid 70 obtain accurate record would
seem out Of the question. But these
two facts concerning the velocity are
| known. AvalancEes seen by people in
| the valley, at a distance of five, seven
and ten miles, have swept down so
swiftly, though they were seen distinct
| ly starting downward, that people below
| could not get five yards out of their
way. The other fact.iS that when dwell
| ers in the valley have teen killed by
avaianches death has frequently resulted
! rot from a blew, but from suffocatlon,
| and not from: suaQca ion. from smother
| ing, but by. the instantaneous creation
| OF an atmospheric vacuum and the sud
| den surcharge of that vacuum: Miners
| are prone to take too great risks, and
two years ago ,a1;BrQsPec living in
hut at the foot of range SO steep ne
| must have knowaaahts chances was caught
| by an avalanche!aThe rush Of snow liftei
| his hut up bodily, swept ii inc the valley
| and carried it 300 feet up the side o. the
| opposite mountain, Except that 1t was
| tilted off the HORIZONTAL with the logs
| at each end slightly ulged in by com
| preston Of air. theI hut was unchanged
When a rescue party broke in they fouhd
the man sleeping, peacefully in MS beo'
one hand against his face, a knee drawn
up and the blaRkets barely dlsarransed
Not a hair of shis head had been injured
| his cheeks ha1Ethe rudy glow that suf-
| fuses the skin in frost, but the man was
! sleeping his death sleep
That, a human being could come scath-
| less through one of these whfr pools OF
| snow and rock would seem as lmp2ssl-
BILE as the fording Of Niagara. But tine
| West is essentially the region OF tue m
| possible There one sees the son 81 al
| En2ESn
| cook and the man who should be COOK
| acting like "a lord and mountainesrs VINO
have been buried in ayalanches rising
| from the dead. A case. aWnlcn any one
skeptfcaI as 80. facts may verify, Tor tho
I man is still alive and we'll known in the
| silver mining countrsT,2 occurred one
spring before aerial traTnways and tire !
| Ties had superseded the mule train. a
| packer was driving train of mules and
Isl, =ya1O
| up one of the high 1iRSfd ss, when he came
to a SPOT where Here was always dan
! ger Of an avalanche. Tine mountain side
had been scooped out, leaving, a,>holloW
| strip. Heavy forest was elsewhere, but
| there the slope was clean swept as II
| by a broom. Above were vast snow
fields debouchirg from the upper am
pitheater just where this swath had
been cut through the forest. st was
pretty gin up, said the packer. The
spruce and pine had stopped and the
! larch began. Owing to the winds from
the west, it SHOWS continually on that
slope all winter, not a storm, but a soft
furry, furry, everlasting furry of snow
from November to April, till the trees
are so weighted down lots of the branch
es snap. You ksee,Ewhere the snow had
slid down the mountain was sort OF
leveled off. and mot so steep. Though
we knew that trail was dangerous when
the thaw began we'd make zig-zag
switchback across the cleared place
three or four times till we get Up where
It wasn't so steep. I noticed all the larch
trees were bending toward the valley
and realized w91at ia letEof snow there
waS.r s gLS&E
HORSES KNOW THE SIGNS.
my pony was ahead, and led right
across that clearing. The rest followed
and I was walking Gbehind whist.ing, and
yelling at the Inefes. Il don't know that
they were a particularly lazy lot those
mules, but It was so mighty still AMI I'M
natural like up there 1 guess was max
ing a noise to keep from being lonesome.
The pack train had got ahead of me-
: taken turn and doubled back on the
trail Just above where I was walking,
when the little bell mare halted, brought
the bunch to a stop, pricked forward her
ears and locked her eye up at that noun
tain. Those animals have some sort OF
feeders to tell them things men can't
know, and when that little beast looked
so suspiciously at the mountain 7 stopped
and locked up too Pom my word, in all
my life on the mountains 1 don't think
: ever felt anything so dead stiH and
f heavy, chunky heavy, as the atmosphere
| up there that afternoon. i cant tell you
how the knowledge first came, but ali al
once a hurricane was roaring through
| the forests, tearing up the biggest trees
: by the roots, and the air was suddenly
) filled with fiery, singing needles like
| electricity. The horses and mules reared
up. kicking and snorting, crazy with fear
and something like a big white snake
: came Wreat thing and coiling and swfshine
and ramping out of that opening in the
snowffeld above. I hadn't time to yell
,
-. II VA a RY~