The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-01
MANY THEORIES
ARE ADVANCED
Cause of Disaster at Frank Not
Definitely Known.
FlFTY-Slx LIVES WERE LOST
SCENE OF DESoLATIoN. IN THE
ONCE PROSPEROUS VALLEY.

FRANK. n. W. T. April 3O.-It is
/ definitely known this morning
that ffty-six people lost their lives
here before daybreak on Wednesday
by the sliding Of the rocky top of Tur-
tie mountain down upon the eeping
! village of Frank.
II was undoubtedly the worst disas-
ter ever known in any community in
/ western Canada. 1t was either a rock
slide OF such magnitude as to be al
/ most tnexplicable or d slide induced by
+ a seismic upheaval.
Besides killing ffty-six people, st de-
stroyed the plant of the CaIadian-
/ American Coal & Coke company. did a
vast amount Of damage to the mine and
/ completely devastated about ten square
miles of the finest and most picturesque
section of Crows Nest pass. The first
/ estimates placed the number of dead
at III, on the suppOsitiOn that seven
/ teen men at work in the mine shaft
! would not escape alive. Then when it
( was known that these imprisoned men
had escaped late yesterday afternoon.
the number killed was estimated at
= ninety-five. This morning it is believed
that the total loss Of life viii not ex-
/ coed sixty. So far the fatalities num-
I Der 6fty-six.
Dead Frightfully Mangled.
Many of the bodies of the dead Will
! never be found. Some cabins are buried
I under $50 feetaof rock Although or
! ganized efforts were made last evening
: and today to search for bodies, only
I nineteen have so far been recovered.
Most of the cOrpses were mangled al
/ most beyond recognition.
The disaster happened at a quarter
"a 4 L.
4 or Frank were awakened by a ire
/ mendOus crash. followed by a shaking
( of the buildings. 1t was still dark, and
Tor time the greatest confusion pre-
( vailed, no one knowing just what had
{ happened As soon as day dawned it
/ was seen that the whole side of Turtle
mountain had fallen away. and that
! the valley for distance of two miles
/ was entirely chOked up by rocks and
/ debris piled to an average height Of
/ sixty feet
A Yawning Chasm.
/ Simultaneous with the piIing Of the
rocks on Turtle mountain there opened
an immense assure or the earth on the
northern side Of Turtle mountain. This
/ assure extended for a distance of three
/ quarters of a mile and was many feet
! IN width This yawning chasm still re-
mains open, according TIC reports
Z
{ the other side of the mountain.
IN the downward rush of the debris
and other material that was thrown
up by the upheavsl, the entire Operat-
ing plant of the French-Canadian Coal
company was carried away. The build
ings demolished included the triple
boiler house engine house. electric
light, railway scales, repair shops and
a row of coke ovens. Seven houses
also owned by the company were
mashed into kindling, six of them being
entirely Obiterated and their occu-
pants killed, while ten other houses.
which were situated in the valley east
! Of town, were also smashed into match
wood. The people living in these houses
Z were also instantly killed as they were
sleeping
( The direct monetary damage viii ex-
+ coed S150O.O00. If the mine had been
ruined the loss from the destruction Of
I that property alone would have amount
ed to S3,000,000. However the actual
+ less to the mine company viii probably
not exceed $780, 900. The Canadian Pa
{ cific railway loses through blocking Of
( its track considerable.
/ Scene of Catastrophe.
The scene of this awful catastrophe
was originally one of the most pic
turesque valleys in Canada Through
.
the Old Man river, which has its source
on the eastern slope of the Crows Nest
pass. The total width of this valley
was little over a mile. and it was
bounded on the southern side by Turtle
mountain, a sheer wall of rock which
rose to height Of $500 feet above level
Of the town. The town Of Frank lay in
the peaceful valley, now a scene of des-
olation and chaos which was bounded
on the other side by a range of foot
hills of the Rocky mountains The Old
Man, which flowed through the valley,
followed closely to the side of Turtle
mountain, close up against the foot Of
which the town of Frank was built
The mountain wall was. before this ter
rible catastrophe, so deep and precip-
itOus that even in the longest day in
the middle of summer the sun set in the
-oWn of Frank at O'Clock in the after
noon, and after that d twilight ensued
until the usual hour Of sunset
Vertical Wall of Rock.
The material from the slide or up
'heavaI came down to almost vertical
wall OF rock and crossed the valley. a
distance OF over a mile, and went part
way up the foothills on the opposite
side IF the valley TO height far above
the highest building in the town.
Where once existed coy homes, fer
tile farms and stock ranches. there is
now nothing but huge chaotic piles of
debris from the mountain which has
all the appearances of a volcanic erup-
ton. The land. which was once of great
value and was rapidly increasing in
price on account of the known presence
of natural gas as wen as coal deposits.
is now buried many feet deep with
waste matter and viii be valueless for
all time to come.
Theory of Explosion.
As there is no geological expert resi-
dent i'm the town, it is impossible to
ascertain exactly the true character Of
the force eXerted. but Judging from
the evidences now brought in by many
who have been scouting around the
outskirts Of the waste of rocks and de-
bris many are now inclining to the
belief that il was a huge mountain
rock slide, caused by an earthquake or
some subterranean explosion of gas
which IS known 10 exist in large guam
cities underneath this section of the
country The nature OF the rock of
which Turtle mountain is composed is
largely Of the limestone variety. An
other theory advanced by many of the
mining men Of the town is that the