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

Hldue channel Is usually taken but the
same field may: discharge itself down a
nat slope, with deeply grooyed beds; on
| each side. However cratic the course Of
| an avalanche may be, its trail is unnis-
taxable The parallel lines visible against
| the tar-diStant upper SHOWS are sue
| ceeded on the lower slopes by a clean
| cut swath through the forests, leaving
! not Vestfse but the fresh green of a
| new growth. Bowlders and alillocks and
brush may line the trail, but clean
sweep from snow to valley marks tho
wake.
! AT distance the avalanche resembles
| far-off 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
ana clouds OF SPRAY pouring over a preci-
plee Take a field glass. The thin water
hhes are hunes of snow, broad as a tor
rent: The spray becomes a seething
storm OF snow, compared to which a
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.
Waiied on all7isides but one, where the
decllVlty descendS SO sharply that any
raining body must take this slope, great
crack will appear. across. the face of a
snoWheld- Day by day the rift widens,
I'LL cornlce of ice and snow curls over
the ouler edge of the precipiee The
whole mass keeps forcing forward. Then
oPly breath of warm air from the val
icy or the displacement of a single stone
Is enough. Millions and billions Of tens,
acres ana miles Of snow, hurl over and
come racing down a ten-mile slope, swift.
pahther1ne and White, with crash THAI
reVerberates from summit to summit in
loud explosive "rocketing'' echoes.
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
100 close range would. of course, mean
ueath 10 the observer, not necessarily be-
cause ne would be hurled away In the
which every practical engineer and miner
maeistrom of snow and bowlder, but be-
cause or the strange atmospheric condi-
tlcns 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, pistoi-ike repor S frequently heard
above the roar and rush of snow. The
velocity of an avalanche is Theoretically
rapid. To obtain accurate record would
seem out of the question. But these
two facts concerning the velocity are
known. AvalancE.es 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 Rave Eeen killed by
avaianches death; has frequently resulted
rot from a blew but from .suffocation,
and not from sqRQca ion. from smother
ing, but by the instantaneous creation
OF an atmospheric vacuum and the sud
den surcharge of that VacuufIl Miners
are prone to take too great risks, and
two years ago a4;;Brqspecror living in a
hut at the foot of a range SO steep he
must have kno waashis chances vas caught
by an avalanche!aThe rush Of snow lifted
his hut up bodily, Swept it mo the valley
and carried it Greet up the side OF the
opposite mountain, Except that 1t was
tilted off the riIeriRontal,w with the logs
| at each end slightly 1bulsed in by com
| preston Of air.. the hut was unchanged.
When a rescue party broke in they found
the man sleeping, peacefully in his bed'
one hand against his face, knee Drawn
| I'M and the blankets barely disarranSed.
| Not a hair of ghis head had been injured.
His cheeks hastis5the rudy glow that sui
fuses the sllin7i frost but the man was
! sleeping his death sleep
That human being could come scath-
| less through one of these wh1r pools OIL
| snow and rock would seem as lmp2ssl-
| ble as the fordingl Of Niagara. But the
West is essentially the region of Tue IN
! nossible There one sees the. son OF AL
| English lord acting in the capacity OF a
cook. and the man who should be COOK
4 acting Ikea lord, and Inounta1nears VINO
have been buried in, aYalanlfc:nies rising
from the dead. A, case, ,Wnich any one
iskeptfcaI as koI facts may verify, for inc
T man is still alive and well Eknown in the
! silver hitting {countryzsI occurred one
snring before aerial tfa3hWays and tire :
! Ties had Superseded the mule train A
| packer was driving a train of mules and
sheFses salong q AlafEows winding path
| up one of the hdgA 1ilz5fdss when he came
I to a spot where there was always dan
! ger Of an avalanche. "ISne4 mountain side
had been scooped out, leaving, ay,holloW
! strip. Heavy forest was elsewhere, but
| there the slope was clean swept as II
| by broom. Above were vast snow
fields debouchirg from the upper am
| pitheater just where this swath had
| been cut through. the forest. 1T 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 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 EEee,zwhere the snow had
slid down the mountain was sort OF
| 1eveled Off and mot so steep Though
the thaw began we'd make a 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 iarch
! trees were bending toward the valley
| and realizeds %lfat IA l9tsof snow there
| waSy 81 aaI,SIG
| HORSES KNOW THE SIGNS.
.'My pony vas ahead, and led right
across that clearing. The rest followed
and I was walking Gbehind whistingy and
! yeHiRg9at the T9l9fes. II 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 I guess I was max
ing a noise to keep from being lonesome.
| The pack train had got ahead of me.
taken a turn and doubled back on the
| trail Just above where / 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 looked up too. Pom my word, in all
my life on the mountains don't think 1
ever felt anything, so dead stih and
Il heavy, chunky heavy, as the atmosphere
up there that afternoon j can't tell You
how the knowledge first came but ali, at
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 wreatliing and coiling and swishing
land ramping out of that opening in the
snowf1eld above. I hadn't time to yell,
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- 81 Iva Il RY@