The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-02-16
FURY D! THE II i AVALANCHE
FINED TO THE SWISS -
:*" ALPS -. vi
CAUSES FOR DELUGE OF ICE
Horses nnd Mules Seem to Realize
Proximity of Dangcr-Thrill-
ing Experience One, :a'--,-
Man Had. -'-

1t would be hard to find anything in
ancient mythology more titanic than ar
= active avalanche. Biologists have made
elaborate calculations of the enormous
pressure exerted by glacier, and scien-
lists have harnessed lightning, but, no
man has yet tempered with that fury OF
the mountain tops, moving avalanche.
Stretch a Niagara falls 10000 feet up in
stead Of a few hundred. Imagine the
cataract snow, the rising spray cloud y
streamer Of snow particles, the velocity
that Of a cannon ball rather than a wa
terfall, the sound, the sharp. harsh, deaf.
ening reports of hattie artillery, not the
long, continuous duh boom OF a torrent.
and one gets q faint idea of the over
Whcimlng grandeur of these fierce noun
tain forces that sweep whole forests
away like loose matches. With the ava
lanche one law alone is known. Every
thing must keep out of the way. This
holds the Investigator at a guardedly re-
spectful distance, and his observation
point Is chosen with the strategy of "a
scout. says the New York Post.
In the Selkirks, where the snowfall is
heavier than in the Rockies, and the
slopes more precipttous, with fewer foot
hills, avalanchcs have an alarming trick
tf jumping all guards and changing their
course without notice. But on both rang
es there are many places where one can
rents crash over palisaded precipice with
roar that sets the very air vibrating.
WHERE THE sNOwsIIDE STARTS.
Lake Louise, thirty miles west of the
entrance to the main northern Rockies.
is an IDEAL spot for observing the ways OF
an avalanche. a mountain of snow,
shutting off all view to midheavens, runs
sheer across one end of the lake, In e
continuous. horizontal sky line. like a
wall Of alabaster. Down this In parallel
vertical lines are etched the scorings ,of
numerous avalanches, that shoot over
the lower lodges In a final plunge. To
the left OF Mount Victoria are Caste
Crags and LEROY, massive with snow OF
unreasonable depth and fantastic FORM
Behind these peaks Is a giant bastion.
guarding the way to Paradise valley
This Is Mount Temple, huge. domed
granite pile, towering high above the
clouds In an almost straight ascent, Its
naked rock. striped, grooved and chalked
into Il thousand odd designs by falling
avalanches On all these peaks ava
lanehes may be see during the entire
summer, and in the. Selkirks there is
scarcely a mountain of any altitude
whose forested. TANKS do rot show the
long, narrow, clean strip Of an avalanche
that has swept from summit to base,
1t Is when the heat of early summer
melts the snow of the lower slopes, loos-
en1ng the foundations Of the vast white
fields along the peaks. that avalanches
are most active and frequent. AS the
thaw Is greatest at midday, that is the
best time to watch the snow torrents
fiinging down from airy heights to abys-
mai depths. On Mount Victoria, for in
stance, between II in the morning and Q
In the afternoon, as many as thirteen
different avalasaches have been ! seen
Smaller volumes Of snow pour down as
frequently from the south side Of Mount
Temple. and from the white edges of
Castle Crags and Lefroy-edges that
from distance seem only a few feet
deep. but on actual measurement are
, from zoo to 300 vertical feet-brealk enor-
nous masses Of solid, l,ard-packed snow.
Whlrllng slowly over and over through
the air till the falling weight gains tre-
mendous momentum. Then the whole
Is shattered into a thousand fragments
aasaAhst projecting lodges and crashes
down IN shower Of snow that clouds
the air for an hour after the fall
OTHER CAUSES POTENT.
ihe same course is not always followed.
"A sudden heat sometimes frees an ar
cumuiation at an unexpected point. and
the irresistible volume plows a new fur
row for itself down the SCARED noun,
jtainside. Where buttresses fanking the
base Of an upper snowfle' converge into
made channel is usually taken. but the
same field may discharge itself duwn a
nat slope, with deeply grooved beds on
each side. However cratic the course Of
all avalanche may be. it's trail. is unm:s-
taxable The paral ell lines Wis BILE agains:
the far-distant upper SHOWS are sue
ceeded on the lower slopes by q clear.
cut swath through the forests, leaving
not vestise but the fresh green of a
new growth. Bowlders and hil.ocks and
brush may line the trail, but clean
sweep from snow to valley marks tho
wake.
At distance the avalanche resembles
1ar.of cataract. A dull boom, like tn,
thunder OF surf in rocky cauerns, sets all
inc hills to re-echoing, and one looks up
to see what might be thin water lines
and clouds of spray pouring over a precl-
pice. Take field glass. The thin water
lines are fumes of snow, bread as a tor.
rent -~Ihe spray becomes seethlng
storm Of snow, compared to which q
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 circus +
walled on all sides but one. where the
deciiV1ty descends, so sharply that any
falling body must take this slope, a f-reet
crack will appear across the face of a
snowfteld. Day by day the rift widens.
till a cornice of ice ard snow c1rls over
the outer edge of tho precipite. The
whole mass keeps forcing forward Then
only breath of warm air from the val
ley or the displac; ment Of a s'ng.e stone
Is enough. Millions and bill ems Of t rs.
acres and miles of snow, as1rl over and
come racing down q ten-nniie slope, swirl,
tphntherine and white, with a crash that
reVerherates from summit to summit in 7
loud explos We "rocketing'' echoes.
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
Too close range would, of course. meaa
lueath to the observer, not necessarily be- I
cause he would be hurled away In the
winch every practical engineer and miner
h'aeistrom or snow and Eowlder. but be- /
tause or the strange atm spheTtc CGEai- 4
tlchs created By the avalanche This
+ rs point ignored by sc entists bat with
an mountainous regions IS FAMILIAR. These
conditions may also account for the
sharp istol-itke repor S frequently heard
ahoVe the roar and rush of snow. The
velocity OF an avalanche is inconceivably
rapid. 10 obtain accurate record Woull
seem out of the question But these
Two facts concerning the velocity are Y
known. Avalancfes seen by people in
the valley, at a distauce OF five, seven
and ten miles, have swept, down 50
swiftly. though they were seen distinct
~ starting downward, that people peaow
could not get five yards out of their
way. The other fact is that when dwell
srs In the valley have been ki lc6 by
avalanches death has frequently resulted
cot from blow, bl.t from snf0cation,
J. NJ II