Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-03-22
500 FEET OF
ROApBED CONE
Slide Near Ahsahka Forms
Jetty $50 Feet Long Ia
Clearwater

half damned over this morning by a
landslide early yesterday morning
about a mile this side of Ahsahka-
The slide was about a mile long,
cut a wide swath through the trees
down the mountainside, swept away
about 500 feet of the road bed of the
Northern Pacific. and then formed
Jetty in the river which extended out
into the river about $50 feet.
1t is expected that 1t will take three
or four days to repair the damage to
the road bed. In the mean time stub
train will run from here to the po'nt
of interruption, where a transfer Will
be made of passengers, express, mail
and baggage, to the regular Sites
train, which is on the opposite side of
the obstruction.
Broken Dam Causes Slide.
The slide was caused by the burst
ing of dam high up on the mountain
side, the water from 1t setting in mo-
ton thousands of tons of earth and
rock.
The dam was the property of a man
named Charles McCarty. 1t was used
in connection with fiume which he
had high up on the side Of the noun
tain. The excessive rains of We'd
nesday night filled the dam to over
flowing. 1t was not sufficiently strong
to Withstand the pressure, and broke
Slides With Awful Roar.
and began to rush down the noun
tain towards the river. The water
tore trees UP by their roots and dis
lodged great quantities OF earth and
rock.
With a roar that could be heard
mile this avalanche rushed down the
mountain, gaining force and size with
every foot, until the. railroad track
was reached.
With a thud made mighty by the
force of the compact, the embankment
! was swept before the irresistible ava
lanche, taking ties and rails with It,
Telegraph poles also were carried
away.
When the river was reached there
was mighty splash g the head If the
| avalanche struck The water. The first
of the earth, rocks and trees sank out
of sight beneath he waves. On came
the slide, covering up that which had
first gone into the water, and rolling
outward like a fcw of lava from a
volcano.
| By the time the avalanche had spent
| its force jetry about $50 feet long
had been extende out INTO the river,
| built up to a height above the swift
current of about fifteen feet.
Cabin Swept Away
In the path of the slide was the
cabin of Mr.. McCarty, which was crum
bled into kindling wood AS though It
had been made of shingles. Fortu-
nately for Mr.. McCarty he was not
in the house at the time 1t was struck,
or he would have been ground into a
shapeless mass by, the on-rushine
avalanche.
Monstrous trees, measuring two and
three feet in diamater were torn ur
by their roots and hurled down the
mountainside with vast quantities Of
rock and earth.
Tears Limbs from Trees.
The grinding and crushing force O
the slide was sufficient to strip tn,
trees of their limbs, many of the dis
memberd branches being as large as :
mans body
The improvised jetty extending on
into the water was a grand mixture o
almost everything. Here and Their
trees and limbs protruded, stickinI
up at every angle. Intermingled wer
yards of telegraph wires, pieces of tele
graph poles, dozens of bent and twist
ed railroad rails. and hundred o
more ties.
Slide on kendriek Hill.
It is said that this is the worst slid
that has occurred on the Clearwate
division of the Northern Pacific sine
1t was built many years ago.
Sometime yesterday morning Their
was slide on the Palouse tiivisio
Of the road, near the top of the Ken
drick hin. 1t was discovered by tn
crew of freight train. which cam
near running into 1t. The Spokane
Lewiston train was delayed more tina
an hour at Troy, waiting for the Labor
ers to clear the track.
Tracks Reported Under Water.
1t was also reported that early We,
terday morning the tracks of Il
4 Northern Pacific this side of JUN,
eta were covered with water, Il