Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-03-06
AWFUL DISASTER.
Three SnOwslides Bury Dozens
of Men at Telluride, Col.
One of the Most Terrible CaIamities Of
Its Kind on RecOrd--Wen who
Tried to Save Miners Caught
In First tSlide-1lnguIfed by
Other Ava Uches.

Telluride, Col. .rch 1.-The most
terrible snowsli ever known in Col
orado caused tle deaths of from &c
to - men at the Liberty Bell mine,
on Smuggler mountain, Friday. Al
though the scene of the disaster is
scarcely two miles from this town, in
formation is difficult to obtain, on
account of the precipitous character
of the roads and the vast amount of
snow. Nearly all the buildings of the
Liberty Bell mine were carried down
by the slide, all the books which
show the number and names of the
men employed being lost, so that the
death list can hardly be known for
many hours, possibly not until the
rescuers shall have removed the i'm
mense quantity of snow, rocks and
logs from the canyon where the vic
Tins lie buried.
1t seems that two slides occurred
practically in the same place, the
second burying those who were try
ing to rescue the victims of the first.
The first slide occurred at 1880
n. m, while the men of the day shift
were preparing for their days work.
About 200 men are employed in the
mines and mills of the Liberty Bell
Co., and less than half these were at
work at the time of the accident. The
others were in the boarding house or
in the bunkhouse nearby. Both these
buildings were carried down the
mountain side, distance of 1000
feet, and crushed by tons of snow.
1t 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 rescuing the victims of
the slide. Several were taken out
alive. and n dozen or more bodies
were removed from the snow which
lay piled 25 feet deep in the bottom
of the canyon. A little after moo"
a second slide, starting short dis
tance above the first, and practically
following it's track, swept down the
mountain side, burying many of the
reScucrS.
\ third slide came down at 3
o'clock, about mile below the Liber-
ty Bell mines, and Gus Won Fintel,
John Powell and Paul Dalpra, who
were on their return from the scene
of the catastrophe in the morning,
were swept away.
Harry Chase lost his life at the
Liberty Bell, while assisting in the
rescue of the unfortunates of the
first slide.
The Liberty Bell mine is one of the
three largest mines in the district,
the SmugglerUnion and the Tomboy
being the other two. 1t is owned by
Kansas City people, the name of the
company being the Liberty Bell Gold
Mining and Milling Co. The Liberty
Bell is located mile and "A quarter
north of Telluride and has an alti-
tude of about $4,000 feet at the
mouth of the tunnel.
The buildings of the mine occupy a
bench on the mountain side, and
we're erected in a location that was
supposed to be protected from snow
slides by ridge, which it was
thought would divert the course of
any avalanche that might be started.
The vast accumulation of snow
within the past two weeks, however,
gave the slide such a volume that
nothing could stay its progress until
it reached the bottom of the canyon.