The Washington herald., 1908-04-27

Aieau !, April PA terrible disaster
occurred early yesterday morning at
Notre Dame de la SaIette, a little hamlet
about eightee" miles from Buckingham.
by which A. FSught, thirty-four people
lost theii Eitss.
The hamlet is situated at the foot Of a
hill. and about 5 o'clock in the morning.
when most Of the villagers were in their
beds. a tremendous landslide occurred.
An enormous mass of earth and snow
rushed down the mountain side and IN
gplfed several houses, with all their oe-
eupants
Owing TO the remote locality Of the VIII
lage and the fact that it has neither
railway telegraph. nor telephone com
munication, details Of the catastrophe ara
hard to get Requests have been sent to
Buckingham for twenty-five conins. and
these have already been sent.
The news of the terrible disaster was
brought TO Buckingham by Mr.. Brous-
seau, Of. Poupore, a nearby village. He
was an eyewitness of the catastrophe. at
a distance. and says that a considerable
portion of the mountain. which is on the
opposite side of the Lievre River to
Notre Dame de la Salette, suddenly be-
came detached and was hurled down the
steep side. crossing the river. and COM
pletely burying several houses in the vii
lage, with al their occupants.
Little Village Is Scattered.
Only that the little village is so scat
tered the mortality would undoubtedly
have been much greater.
Upon the receipt Of the news at Buck
ingham all the doctors in the place, with |
a large force OF men. responded to the
call for aid and drove to Notre Dame de |
Ia salette. while a procession Of wagons |
took twenty-five collins 10 the scene.
Information received from Buckingham /
tonight is that among the buildings de-
stToyed was Paul Desjardins' store He /
was absent at the time and escaped, but \
his wife. two children, the maid, and |
a male servant are missing and thought |
10 be under the ruins
Desjardins kept the post-office and
general store, and both are wiped out.
Widow and seven Children Die.
Mrs, Camille Laponte, a widow, and |
seven Of her children are missing, and /
II is almost certain all are dead.
Others are known 10 have lost their
lives, but their names are not obtainabIe
Doctors and many people from Buck
ingham are now at the little village |
under the mountain assisting in recover
ing the bodies Of the dead and helping
those who are injured. It is understood
the village is a small one, consisting Of
some thirty or forty houses, many being II
right under the mountain. Their occu-
pants were asleep at the time the slide
occurred and had no chance Of escape
A landslide occurred six miles from the
spot a year or so ago.
It is understood the work OF removing
the fallen rocks and earth viii occupy
much time, and it may be several hours
before the exact casualty list is known
Seventeen Bodies Recovered.
Late dispatches say several families
have been wiped out
It is now known that seven houses
were overwhelmed and their occupants
killed
The face OF the hill for a space Of sixty
feet fell over to a length of about half
a mile along the Lievre River. prectpitat-
Ing the mass into the river, and for about
800 yards the other side of it. smothering
everything in its way under yards Of
earth
SO far seventeen bodies have been re-
covered. and the exhumation will be re-
sumed in the morning. 7