The Oskaloosa herald., 1910-03-03
AVALANCHES WIPE
OUT TWO TOWNS
Sixty People at Least, Killed In
SnoWslides.
20 BODIES ALREADY FOUND
Mining Camp Of Mace Is Buried az u
sleeps-Later, Burke, Near
by, Is Also Over ~
Whelmed.


whelmed.
Spokane, Wash, Mar. 1.-Sixty lives
have been lost, it is feared, in two
great snowslides which brought dis
may to the mining towns Of the rich
Occur d'Alene district in Northern
Idaho.
A snowslide swept down the noun
tain, striking the little town Of Mace
and burying rs houses and their sleep
ing occupants in mass Of snow and
ice at the bottom of the canyon.
A few hours later another slide
rushed down on the town OF Burke,
crushing a score Of houses under thou
sands of tons Of earth and snow.
Fourteen bodies have been recov-
cred from the ruins of Mace; Is dead
have been found at Burke. How many
remain buried can only be guessed at.
Women and Children Trapped.
There is fear that the number OF
dead at Burke may be even larger
than that at Mace. Every man who
! can be spared from the rescue work
at Mace has been appealed to. Doc
| tors were rushed from Wallace on spe-
cial trains. ...
From the foot of the Anchor mine
plant to the Catholic church, about
half mile, the slide Is 80 feet deep.
When the alarm spread through the
mining camp that Mace had been al
most wiped out by an avalanche,
mothers, wives and children of miners
employed at the Hecla, Hercules
and Anchor mines, and caretaker at
the Old Tiger-Poorman mine began to
seek places of safety.
Wives and families of miners who
had responded to appeals from Mace
were unable to move, and these may
have been buried in the snow.
Fight Way to Safety.
Because of the larger population Of
Burke, about 900, the houses were
closer together
Mothers hauled their children to the
side hills; brothers dragged little sis
tiers to places of safety, and when the
slide struck many of the houses were
deserted by fear-stricken women and
children, while the bread providers
were, were rescuing injured at the
stricken sister town. ga .1..
Old-timers in the Occur d'Alene dis.
trict had been sounding daily warn.
ings of Mace, Burke and Black Bear
that because of the record depth Of
the snow, slides were imminent. For
| 16 winters these towns have escaped
devastating slides and so strong had
the confidence of the mine residents
been that their homes and families
were safe that no precautions had
been taken. .
Seven hundred men with pick and
shovel, who were hurried to the
scene of the accident on special trains
! from Wallace and other nearby min.
ing towns, are digging desperately in
the hope of rescuing more survivors.
! Crash Heard for Mites Around.
Never since Burke, another little
canyon mining camp, was almost
wiped out by landslide February
1890, has town been so sorely
stricken as was Mace yesterday. AS
on that memorable occasion, the can
yon was filled 1000 feet across by 9
grinding mass of trees, stumps, earth
and powders so to rs feet deep, pacie
ed almost as solid as ice. ..
It's track down the mountain was
swept as clean as floor and the
deafening crash was heard for miles
down the gulch. Chinook winds and
warm rains started the Burke snow
slide, increasing in velocity with every
foot down the mountain until II
gained such Roadway and force that
only a binding mist and a roaring
warned the score of families of miners
of its approach. Surface trans were
crushed and twisted and cabins were
ground like egg shells.
Paid No Heed to Warnings.
Warning was given to residents Of
the canyon towns that conditions sim
liar to those prevailing before the ia
nous Burke slide existed. but nobody
seemed to take any heed.
Thursday night snow and land
slide snuffed out the lives of three
prospectors and a woman at Avery, Q
small town on the Milwaukee road
near the Montana line. All were in
the cabin at dinner when the snow
descended. During the winter of 1885
the snow piled high in the canyons
and never since then has such q
heavy fall been recorded as this year
Chinook winds accompanied by rains
have prevailed since Thursday with
the snow from two ten feet deep.
Wallace, Idaho, March Special:
1000 men and boys with huge con-
fires built from the debris of wrecked
cottages, worked all night at Mace,
Burke and Murray, where houses were
destroyed and men. women and chill
dren entombed by the giant snowslide
A number of people have been taken
out alive and the estimate OF dead to-