Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1910-03-04
GREAT AVALANCHE
BURIES TOWNS
Mining Hamlets of Mace and Burke
i'm Northern Idaho Victims
of SnOwslide.

SPOKANE, Wash, Feb. 2S.-In
swift succession two terrible disas-
ters have carried death and dismay
to the mining towns of the rich Occur
d'Alene district in Northern Idaho.
20 o'clock last night a snow
slide swept down the mountain side,
striking the little town of Mace and
burying 25 houses and their sleeping
occupants in mass of snow, ice and
wreckage at the bottom of the can
yon. At $50 a. M, another slide
rushed down on the town of Burke,
crushing score of houses under
thousands of tons Of earth and snow.
Fourteen bodies had been recover
ed this morning from the ruins of
Mace; five dead have been found at
Burke, and how many are still buried
can only be guessed at. 1t is feared
so or 60 lives have been lost.
1t was at first feared that the
death list at Burke might be even
larger than that at Mace. Every
man that could be spared from the
rescue work at Mace was appealed to.
Doctors were rushed from Wallace
and two special trains ran. From
the foot of the Anchor Mine plant
to the Catholic church, about one
half mile, the slide Is 80 feet deep.
Later reports from Burke, how
ever, showed the disaster not so bad
as feared at first, previous reports
from Wallace having confused the
death lists OF the two snowslides. Az
noon but four bodies had been re-
covered at Burke, the victims being
A. d. Pitchott, Richard Shepherd
and the children OF Mr.. and Mrs
George Neuman, both OF their par
ents being reported injured. James
Rogers, boy, is known to have been
killed Whether other bodies are
hidden under so feet Of snow can
not be determined yet
my husband, where is he?" cried
Mrs. Pascoe, wife OF the dead super
intendent OF the Standard mine,
when rescuers pulled her out Of a
mangled mass Of twisted iron bed
rails under 40 feet of snow at Mace.
Only cast iron bed post which pro-
tected her head, saved her from In.
stant death Her husband, who was
sleeping alongside her, was battered
almost beyond recognition. Three
children of the Pascoe family lost
their lives, but little Katie was res
cued by a toiling crew OF brawny
miners, after being wounded on the
head by a flying piece Of steel.
Mrs Carrie Hooper was taken
from the ruins OF her home to b.
started to the train where were the
corpses of the victims. En- route sh'
began to show signs Of life and wal
resuscitated. The shock stunned
her but she will recover.
Because of the larger population OF
Burke, about 900, the houses are
closer together. Children hauled
their mothers to the side hill. broth
ers literally dragged little sisters tC
places OF safety and when the slid
struck, many OF the homes were de-
serted by fear-stricken women ant
children. while the bread providers
were rescuing injured at the strlcker
sister town.
Oldtimers in the Coeur d'Alene dis
'trict have been sounding daily warn
ing 90 Mace, Burke and Blackbeal
that because of the record depth o
the snow, slides were imminent Foi
~ winters. these towns have escaped
devastating slides and 80 strong hat
the confidence OF miner residents be
come In the conviction that theil
homes and families we're safe, no pre-
caution had been taken.
Thlrty-flye italians sleeping In o.
outfit ear on the Northern Paclfi,
siding. who were swept away viii
their car IN the bottom Of the can
yon. used the tools IN their car +,
dig themselves out and at o'clocl