New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-01
IDAHO SNOWSLIDES
kNOU TWENTY-FOUR
TO BE DEAD.
Rescuers Work Frantically at
Mace and Burke, Buried to
a Depth Of Fifty Feet.

ot pm VI t)tD 4 CO...
Spokane. Wash. Feb. 2S-Tue enty-
four persons are known tonight to be
dead as the result of snowslides yester-
day and to-day in the mining region of
Northern Idaho. To the nineteen per-
sons who perished in the avalanches at
Mace and Burke, Idaho, last night and
early to-day are added three who died
in a similar accident Yesterday when
the camp of the Carbonate Hill Mining
Company at Mullan. Idaho, was de-
stroyed and two killed at Dorsey Idaho.
to-day.
The fight against time and cold at
Mace and at Burke has been waged
bravely and persistently by the little
army of men who hope to find under
the heaps of ruins some who have es-
capped death. The rescuers have dug
frantically for many hours. Every
available man and boy has been pressed
/ into service.
tIace is situated on q creek and the
/ mountains rise high on either side of the
town. The main body of the avalanche,
which started from the top of Custer
/ Mountain. passed beyond the town. and
striking the opposite slope with terrific
force rushed up to the opposite noun
tainside. The canyon is filed to depth
of fifty feet.
Just Misses 500 Miners.
The damage to Mace was done by
fragment of the main slide, which car
/ ried a construction train from the track
as it plunged into the ravine. AS it rolled
up the other side it demolished the
houses in its path and stopped d short
distance beyond the Pascoe home. The
boarding house of the Standard mine
where three hundred miners were sleep
ing was missed by 12o feet.
The first slide. which almost wiped out
Mace. occurred on Sunday, while all ex-
cept the night Ten~in the mines We're
sleeping The Burke avalanche oc-
+ CURED early to-day. That more lives
were not lost at Burke is due to Seaman
s. Rowe. foreman of the Hecla mine
! Realizing the danger that threatened the
sleeping citizens he sent Bart Clement
10 arouse the inhabitants and urge them
to seek safety.
Four of those who lost their lives at
+ T5urkf were members of the rescue party
that had been at work at night at Mace.
They were David Sheppard. DICK
Richol. William Painter and James
Rogers.
Brave Rescuers Perish.
/ These men were among the first 10
respond to the call for succor when the
news of the Mace disaster reached
Burke. After working several hours at
7ba mass of ice and earth that blocked
the canvon they returned to Burke just
in time 10 be caught in the slide there
Among the last to be taken out Of the
snow alive at Mace was Mrs. George
Hooper. an old woman who lived on the
outskirts of the town. She was buried
/ thirteen feet under the snow and lt TOOK
fc,1r hours to extricate her. She had
suffered from the cold, but was not Sc
verey injured.
AT the time the slide occurred, sad
]. Mcleod. of Mullan, who with his
son John a. Mcleod, was rescued after
= burial of two hours, I was sleeping
in 4. small bunk room Just off the com
Z nTeSSpf y
the compressor. I was aroused from
sIeen when he ran into the bunkroom
crying an alarm
The slide struck the building with
great force and we were buried under
whirling mass OF snow and timbers. My
son was knocked on the bed across me.
With the exception OF my right hand, l
was unable TO move. With this hand I
scraped away enough snow to give us
air"
Burke is buried fifty feet under snow
and earth. The slide is three thousand
feet long and fills the canyon.
James Rodgers, who was supposed to
have perished, was rescued at Burke to-
night. He had been buried in the snow
eight hours
Sought Places of Safety.
When the alarm spread through the
mining camp that Mace had been almost
wiped out. mothers, wives and children
Of the miners employed at the Hecla,
Hercules, Anchor, and caretakers at the
told Tiger -Poorman mine began to seek
places of safety Wives and families Of
miners who had responded 70. appeals
from Mace were unable to move, and
these may have been buried in the snow.
Because of. the larger population of
Burke. about 600, the houses We're closer
together.
Mothers hauled their children to the
side hills, brothers dragged little sisters
10 places of safety and when the slide
struck many of the homes were deserted
bv fearstricken women and children
while the bread providers were resculng
injured at the stricken sister town
! Oldunlers in the Coeur d Alene district
have been sounding daily warnings to
! Mace. Burke and Black Bear that be-
cause Of the record depth of the snow
slides were imminent For sixteen win
ters these towns have escaped devastst-
! ing slides, and SO strong was the conf
dence of the miner residents that their
homes and families were safe that no.
precautions had been taken.
! Thirty-five Italians, sleeping IN an
outfit car on the Northern Pacific siding.
who were swept away with their car in
the bottom Of the canyon, used the tools