The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1903-05-07
FALLS ON TOWN.
Hundreds Of Villagers aeei pe,ih In
lhs Wreck.
0ytRwHtlAtD 81 IONS or ROCK.
Houses We're Cru he'd Ike Egg
Eightsen Mru imPriSossd
In n Mae.

vanoouver. n c. speol.l-ovcr.
whelmed by countless tors o. TOck.
wednesday morning shortly after Z
O'Clock. and with proSctly IL ui It's
Inhabitants Killed almcsi INSTANTLY.
The httlc mining town o! Frank. In
Southwestern Alberta i th-ca.cae4
with complete destruction bY fool
Old Mans river. which EOwI through
the centre Of the town. is damned Up
b. the falling ROCKS 90 the hrsgat OF
nearly 100 feet and the entire valley
above the town Is flooded for miles
A big body Of water Is pressing With
force upon the tam. the oaly pgotec-
! 1ion the town Of Frank row has. IN
less the rive. shall fni another chan
| nel- Should the iTnpIompJu dam break.
the entire village would he swept
away.
4 dispatch from FrarS SAYS: a
tremendously loud reycrbTation shook
| the whole valley OF the Old Mans
| river and scarcely haf the inhahi-
| tants of this town awakened TO a re-
alizatiCn OF the impen!inS danger.
| when. from the top OF Turtle MUUn.
tain. overlooking the settlement. mil.
lions Of tons VI rock were hurled.
| The Frank Min s. operated by the
| French Canadian Coat Company
across from the town. We're seen 10 be
| buried under hundreds q feet " rock
| just as the morning light was break.
| ing. Inside Of five minutes from the
| first thunderous shock, haif the town
| realized what had happened. n small
force OF men had started to the relief
| o; the miners. despite the great risk
| they ran Of being buried under the
rocks, which were still being preci
pitated from the lofty mountain top
The volunteer relief force was Unabl,
to get into the mine. but managed tc
get near enough to determine thai
not a man at the workings had es
capped death. Many had been fcarfully
nangled
The disaster was merciful to those
men who were employed above grount
in that they must have been Killed in
stantly. while those me- in the work
ings OF the mine may yet be alive :
they have air to breathe. IL all tn
air shafts to the mine were closed u
under that awful avalanche all In
men must have died by this after
|
to the vicinity OF the mine alone. TO
many Of the dwelling houses in tn
town of Frank were demolished by IL
falling rock. Some OF the occupant
OF these houses escaped death. bu
many others were instantly killed.
is conservatively estimated that tn
loss of life will exceed one hundrc
and the latest returns place the nun
ber Of dead at 112."
1t is impossible TO arrive at any az
curate estimate of the loss OF life. a
owing TO the excitement and hurr
and rush Of people on the streets. n
one could say who is missin
and who Is not. There ar
no records available that will tell ho'
many men were working in and abor
the mine at the time of the disaste
1t Is variously reported that ther
were from IS TO so miners unds
ground.
The railroad track for a distance {
. two miles or more east OF the static
Is covered with from ten TO forty fe'
of rock and the telegraph wires al
|, down. All communication Is being col
! | Quoted over one wire. running Yves
, and this one line is so blocked wit
private messages and inquiries fro
, the outside it Is only with the grea
est difficulty that press matter can |
sent out. The eruption influences see
. to centre at the crown OF Turt
o Mountain.
An appeal has been made fro
Frank to the government and noun
ed police are being hurried to the u
: | fortunate village Aid Is also boiI
: sent from neighboring towns. but o.
ing to the interruption Of the ira
: service and the mountainous -coultr
e It will be several hours before he
! can reach the stricken community.