Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-30
WAS A ROCK SLIDE
Disaster In Canada Due
to Mass of Rock Sliding
down Mountain
CRASHED INTO SLEEPING TOWN

Damned Up and a YOUNGSTOWN Flood
Observation-Disclosures Parties Rescue
Miners and Release the River.
Vancouver, B. c., April 30.-The
small mining town of Frank, in south
western Alberta, was almost wiped out
OF existence yesterday morning and
about 100 of it's inhabitants We're killed
by a mass of rock hurled from Turtle
mountain, o~verhanging the town. which
crushed dwellings and overwhelmed adj
jacent coal mines. A vast crevasse
|opened in Turtle mountain at 4:10
a mile long n many yards in width,
and a vast mass of rock vas precipi-
tated on the town below without a mo-
mcnt's warning. Men in the Frank
mines were at first thought to be
smothered in the workings, but all but
two escaped later In the day. The
number Of those killed in their homes
is not yet known. The first estimate
was 112 killed, but the number may not
reach 100.
The latest theory as to the u of
the disaster is that it was due to 4
rockslide which carried the top of
Turtle mountain down on the village
below. 1t is now thought that what
was supposed to be the smoke of a
volcano was dust. and that the contin-
ued fall of small bits of rock during
the day was merely the aftermath Of
the original rock slide.
To add to the horror of the situation,
the upheaval OF rock and earth has
damned up the Old Mans river 100
feet high, till the entire valley above
the town, is flooded. Unless h river
finds another channel. what is left Of
the town may be swept away by he
on-coming waters.
The threatened flood, which bid fair
to duplicate the Johnstown disaster.
today seems less probable. A large force
of men has been at work trying to Gre
ate a new channel that the damned
up water of the Old Mans river may be
run off. The men will work turnout the
night, and it is hoped that h water
will be running thru The new channel
before night.
When reports concerning the magni-
Itude OF the disaster and details con-
Icerning it commenced to come in from
reliable men who investigated the dis
aster, it was known that h earth
Iopened for three-quarters of a mile. and
many feet in width, and that the whole
n oy~f1,crs, fana nf 1,1yrfla mountain
crashed down on the town.
The shock resulting ON the precip-
~itation of the millions of tons of rock
Unto the valley. while actually demolish-
ing only q few of the houses, SO shook
the foundations of the majority of the
dwellings in the town that they are un-l
safe to live in. The railroad track
for two miles or more east of The
station is covered with from ten to
forty feet of rock, and the telegraph
wires are down. All communication is
being conducted over one wire running
westward, and this one line is SO
blocked with private messages and in
Iquiries from the outside that it is only
with the greatest difficulty that press
matter cen be sent u
At nightfall yesterday rock is still
being thrown on the town from Turtle
mountain, and 1t is impossible to ven
ture within half a mile of the mine
workings. 1t is now certain hat eigh-
teen men are buried in the workings.
All hope for them has been abandoned.
The women are behaving in a most he
roic manner
1t is generally thought here that the
disruption of Turtle mountain was
brought about by a seismic disturbance
although there are people who declare
that the origin of the upheaval was
volcanic. No lava has been seen and
aside from the smoke, from the noun
tain, the atmosphere is clear. There is.
however, no explanation for the con-
tinued upheaval of rock. The erup-
ton influences seem to center at the
crown Of Turtle mountain.
Most of the men imprisoned in the
mine, whose death at first seemed GER
tain, got out alive late yesterday after
noon There We're seventeen men in
the mine. Two died from s~uffocation,
but the other fifteen worked their way
out. The rescuing party above ground
despaired of saving the entombed min
ers, for the entrance was blocked by
immense piles of broker rocks. The
miners within, however, I.und an exit.
and after cutting their way thru thirty
feet of debris, reached the open air.
One of the imprisoned men, who mar
rowly escaped death, went home and
found his house destroyed and his wife
and six children dead.
Frank is a new town of about 1000
Inhabitants, and lies in the valley of
the river at the entrance of Crows Nest
pass. The coal company has operated
for eighteen months. The town is a
a few miles east of Fernie, b. c., where
the terrible explosion occurred a few
months ago. About two years g H.
L. Frank, of Montana, began develop
ing the coal field, driving a tunnel for
about two miles. The output of the
Frank mine is estimated at from 500
to 1000 tons of coal per day.