The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-01
4 TERRIBLE SNOW SLIDE
MOST DISASTROUS EYER KNOWN
 IN COLORADO.
at the Liberty Bell Minc on smuggler Mountain-Near1y All the Mining Buildings Carried Away-One Ava- lnnche Follows Another and Rescuers Lose Their Lives.

| Telluride, Col, Feb. 2S-The most
 terrible snow slide ever known in Colo
 rado caused the deaths of from thirty
 to seventy-five men at the Liberty Bell l Although the scene of the disaster is
 scarcely two miles from this place in- 1 formation is difficult to obtain, on ac
 count of the precipitous character of
 the roads and the vast amount of snow.
 Nearly all the buildings of the Liberty mine were carried down by the ava
 lanche, all the books which show the
 number and names of the men employ
 ed being lost, so that the death list can
 hardly be known for many hours, pos-
 sibly not until the rescuers shall have
 removed the immense quantity of snow,
 rocks and logs from the canyon where | the victims lie buried.
 It seems that the slides occurred
 practically in the same place, the sec
 ond burying those who were trying to
 rescue the victims of the first. 1 The first avalanche occurred at 7:30 o'clock this morning, while the men of the day shift were preparing for their days work. About 200 men are en- ployed in the mines and mills of the Liberty Bell company, and less than half these were at work at the time of the accident. The others were in the boarding house or in the bunk house nearby. Both these buildings were car- ried down the mountain side distance of 1000 feet and crushed to bits by tons of snow.
 It was 10 o'clock before news of the disaster reached Telluride. At once a number of men started for the scene. Meantime the surviving employees of the Liberty Bell began the work of rescu- ing the victims of the slide. Several were taken out alive. A dozen or more bodies were removed from the snow, which law piled deep in the bottom of the canyon. A little after noon sec ond slide, starting at a point a short distance above the. first and practically following its track swept down the mountain side, burying many of the rescuers.
 A third slide occurred at o'clock about one mile below the Liberty Bell mine and Gus Von Fintel, John Powell and Paul Dalpra, who were on their return from the scene of the catastruv phe this morning, were swept away.
 Harry Chase lost his life at the Lib- erty Bell while assisting in the rescue of the victims of the first slide this morning
 Telluride, Col Feb. 2S.--The Liberty Bell mine is one of the three largest mines in the district, the Smuggler Union and the Tomboy being the oth- CTS. It is owned by Kansas City par ties, the name of the company being f the Liberty Bell Gold Mining and Mill l ing company. MT. Winsow of San | Miguel county is the manager. The 1 Liberty Bell is located about a mile | and three-quarters north of Telluride 1 and has an altitude of about 12000 feet | at the mouth of the tunnel More than | 200 men are employed in the mine and l both day and night shifts are worked.
 The buildings of the mine occupy bench on the mountain side They | were erected in place which was SUD- posed to be protected from snow slides by ridge which would divert the course of any avalanche that might i start.
 But the vast accumulation of snow within the past two weeks gave the slide to-day such volume that nothing | could stay its progress until it reached the bottom of the canyon.