The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-02-16

ien salrcharge of that vacuum. Miners
are prone to take too great risks, and
two years ago a prospector living I'M q
hut at the foot Of a range so steep he
must have known his chances was caught
by an avalanche. The rush of snow lifted
his hut up bodily, swept 1t in o the valley
and carried it 800 feet up the side ofFthe
opposite mountain. Except that 1t was.
tilted off the horizontal, with the logs
at each end slightly bu1ged in by COM
preston Of air, the hut was undamaged.
When rescue party broke In they FOUND
the man sleeping peacefully In his bec'
pne hand against his face, a. Knee drawn
ND and the blankets barely fdtsarranged.
Not hair of his head had been injured.
His cheeks had the rudy glow that SUIT
fuses the skin in frost, but the man was
sleeping his death sleep.
That q human being could come scath-
less through one of these whtr{poo's or
SNOW and rock would seem as imppsslI
Die as the fording Of Niagara But the
West is essentially the region OF the nm
possible. There one sees the son CT an
English lord acting in thet capacity OF a
cook, and the man who should be COOK
acting like a lord, and mountaineers who
! have been buried in avalanche:s rising
| rom the dead. A case, which any one
, skeptical as to facts may verify, for the
man is still alive and we'll known in the
silver mining country occurred one
spring before aerial tramways and tres
ties had superseded the mule train. A
packer was driving a train of mules and
horses along a narrow, winding path
up one Of the high divides, when he came
| % a spot where there was always dan
ger of an, avalanche. The mountain side
aad been scooped out, leaving a hollow
| strip. Heavy forest was elsewhere. but
here the slope was clean swept as If
~ a broom. Above were vast snow
ieIds debouching from the upper am
! oitheater just where this swath had
oeen cut through the forest. lit was
pretty gin up said the packer. t'rhe
spruce and pine, had stopped and the
iarch began. Owing to the winds II m
The west, it SHOWS continually on that
slope all winter, not a storm, but a soft
furry, furry, everlasting furry of SHOW
rom November to April, till the trees
Are so weighted down lots Of the b:anch-
rs snap You see, where the snow had
slid down the mountain was sort sot
!eveled off. and not so steep. Though
we knew that trail was dangerous when
he thaw began we'd make a ziy-zag
| swtchback across the cleared place
three or four times, till we get up where
| t wasn't SO steep. I noticed all the Iorch
trees were bending toward the valley
and realized what a lot of snow there
/ was. - .n.-@t...aEt 49, 81 .., he. - .
/ HORSES KNOW THE SIGNS. 49,.
! my pony was ahead. and led right
across that clearing. The rest followed d
e Ind I was walking behind whist.irg ana
! telling at the mules. T dom t. know that
they were a particularly lazy lot, thos..
mules. but4it was SO mighty still and I'M
natural like up there Isguess 7 was MAX
ng 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 stop, pricked forward hec
.ars and locked her eye up at that mcun-
ain. Those animals have some sort oe
feeders ito tell the hin So men cam
znow, and when that little beast looked
70 suspiciouSly at the mountain stopped
ind looked up too. s'Pon my word, sin :;lll
ny life on the mountains don't think T
ever felt anything. so dead; still and
heavy, chunky heavy, as the atmosphere
i I'D there that afternoon. can't tell you
aow the knowledge first came, but al at
once a hurricane was roaring through
he forests, tearing up the biggest trees
oy the roots, and the air FWas Suddenly
illed with fiery singing. needles like
.lectricity.a The horses and mules reared
~, kicking and snorting, crazy with fear;
and something like a. .sbig white snake
AMY anu lo11IlEo
Ind ranping out of. that opening in the
snowfeid above. I hadn't time to yell.
or get scared, or do anything for the
next thing I knew walked up in the
Catholic hospital with one Of the nurses
at my bedside ~ s>,:.t g.. $50. -
The packer did not tell that he had
been insane three mon .hs from the sho k
Packtratn and driver were caught in the
swirl and hurled into the valley. The
theory-but it is only a theory-is tia:
he, was caught In the rush Of air, liftej
above the grinding OF boulde-s and drop
ped in some soft drift at the valley bot
tom. His clothes were torn to shreds, but
that was the only evidence he had been
on a. slope which was not only. swept
clean Of trees but deeply excavated by
the plowings Of enormous powders. 1t
was known. that he had been on the
mountain when the avalanche fell and
there was not the slightest hope that he
could have escaped. Twenty-f Eur hou Y
afterward, to the amazement Of the min
Ing village, he wand red home gesticuiat-
ing. laughing and singing IN a frenzy.
e.