The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-06
SEOWSWEEPS MANY TO DEATH
SLIDE ON SELKIRKS TOP NAY
.WEAN so DEAD.
Grew CIearIng OM DeSrts OG nm Earlier
RuSh Caught In . FOllO~tng Ava
Ianche and ISuried--Ii May NE sum-
mer Before Bsdiea Are BPoaght O1t

Ianche and DuPted--II May ne sum-
msr Before BSdiea Are BPonsht Oat
wTNNIPR1. Man. March Every hour
brings new advics- adding TO the maRni-
tude Of the avalanche which overwhelmed
and buried Canadian Pacific train hAnds
and section men near a mOwshed ON
Rear Greek. one milo east OF Rogers Pass
and at the actual summit Of the SelkiTks.
The official estimate of the number Of
the victims plao,s u at eighty. Three
quarters are white men. the remaining
being Japs
Vic Buckley. conductor. and W Phillips.
engineer. of the work train headed by q
rotary -nowplough were killed. II il be-
Iieved that very few survived the awful
accident A. soon as the news reached
Revelstoke the fire bell was sounded
and within half an hour relief trains
conveying physicians and nurses aud
more than 300 railway men and others
were speeding east TO Rogers Pass.
The scene of the accident was reached
AZ . a. clock this morning. The task Of
dig EinE into the tangled mass OF debris
in a." hope of finding a few survivors
was commenced with vigor calgary
made equally prompt RESPONDS. IL also
sent \ special relief train with I5G work
men a. we'll a. nurses aud doctors. This
special ~ scheduled to arrive Al Rogers
Pass at 10 o'clock this morning
T. Fitzpatrick. acting surgeon Of the
Pacific division ~ the 4. =. r.. left here
this morning on the Hsvelntoke local.
bound for the scens at the trouble. Al
Rsvs.lzt oks he will h. transferred to q
Special.
The disaster ~ e.fsily the worst expert
enced ia the mountains since the COM
plet ion of the lines. II has almost become
"A bywOrd that although occasional
slides occurred the snowsheds aud the
system % pAtrolllng the tracks near I'M
protected spots hitherto with rare ex-
ception- had prevented any serious ac-
cid.ut
No passenger or freight trains were
ever swept away and no passenger ever
Loot his life. Ten years ago section
hous. and 81 ght or nine men were buried
in a sIi.I.. that tore down tho mountain
ia ia" same vicinity.
The. first slide took place az SEQ yestsr-
day afternoon la the narrow valley Of
Bear Greek, Ranked On the other side by
PERCEPTIONS mountains covered with snow
u depth varying from twenty Ia nifty
feet IL did not come from any very high
elevation and was composed mostly Of
snow. IL had a length 10 so feet and
depth u % feet.
Rain and sleet were falling when ths
rotary plough, aided by a small army "
white aud Jap section men. started 20
clear the tracks half an hour later. Al
though there were premOnition@ of dan
ger indicated by the crash and boom VI
avs'anches ON adjacent peaks the men
stuck - their task
A. 'i'ne went On the ram aud sleet
gained IN vOuIne, Precisely at l2;O this
morning when half Of tn" first slide had
h"-n removed. the second avalanche &C.
c'irr'-t. u started on that side OF the
canon opposite the point where the slide
took place
Thousands Of feet above few rolling |
bunche- ~ snow grew in volume and
started down on the pathway 81 destruc- |
ton. In a few moments the noise became |
like a thousand thunderbolts The slide
gained from shelf 10 shelf uprOoting |
and carrying with Il ice. trees and huge |
boughs. There was no escape for the I'M |
fortunate railway men.
The avalanche piled on top Of the first |
slide, huryinR the tracks for distance |
- a quarter II "A mile and to a depth OF |
fifty feet Hundreds 81 thousands Of
tons 81 debris in the wake 81 the avalanche |
bounded "A the hugo heap and half filled |
fhfs VA llssy 81 Rear rock hu1dreds ~ feet |