Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-03-01
SO LOSE LIVES IN
AVALANCHE Of SNOW
THAT BUR|ES TOWNS
Towns of Mace and Burke,
Idaho, Buried Fifty to Seven
ty-fNe t--Roar of Ice Is
Heard Five Miles
NUMBER OF FATALITIES
MAY BE EVEN HIGHER
CBy Assoeiatsd Prsss.)


have been lost. it is feared. in two great
snow slides. which have brought dismay
10 the mining towns of the rich CoeEr
d'Alene district in northern Idaho
At los O'Clock last night snow slide
swept down the mountain, striking the
little town OF Mace and burying . houses
and their sleeping occupants In mass
of snow and ice at the bottom OF the
canyon
At $50 a. m. today another slide rushed
down on the town OF Burke. town OF ~
population, crushing a score of houses
under thousands Of tons OF earth anu
snow.
Il BODIES RECOVERED.
Fourteen bodies have been recovered al
ready from the ruins Of Mace; l6 dead
have been recovered at Burke. How many
are stil buried is not known. Fifty or
g. dead is regarded as conservative
estimate.
There is a fear that the number OF
dead at Burke may even be larger than
that at Mace. Every man who can De
spared from the rescue work at Mace
has been appealed 20. Doctors were rush
ed nfom Wallace on special trains
From the foot of the Anchor mine plaEt
to the Catholic church. about half a mlie'
the slide IS % feet deep.
When the alarm spread through the
mining camp that Mace had been almost
wiped out by a landslide. mothers, wives
and children Of miners employed at the
HecIs. Hercules, Anchor and Caretakers
AT the old Tiger POorman mine began TO
seek places OF safety
TAKE CHILDREN TO HILLS.
wives and families of miners who had
~
able TO fee rapidly from Burke. Moth
ers hauled their children to the side hills;
brothers dra eyed little sisters TO places
of safety and when the slide struck many
of the homes were deserted by fear
stricken women and children. while the
bread-prOviders were rescuing injured a.
the stricken sister town.
Oid-tiuers in the Coeu, d'Alene district
have been sounding daily warnings TO
Mace. Burke and Black Bear that because
OF the record depth OF the snow, slides
were imminent For Is winters these
towns have escaped devastating slides and
so strong had the confidence OF the miner
residents been that their homes and fami-
lies were safe that no precautions mad
been taken.
Thirty-fire. Italians. sleeping in an outfit
car on the Northern Pacific siding, who
were swept away with their car in ;he
bottom Of the canyon, used the tools in
their~cer % dig themselves out
HUNDREDS cf men were awakened by
fire bells mere as soon as the extent OF
the catastrophe became known Special
trains were made up: hardware mer-
chants opened their establishments,
shoveIs. picks and other implements were
Rad for the asking and every ablebOdied
man in Wallace was hurried to the
scene
LIES BETWEEN MOUNTAINS
The little mining town OF Mace lies be-
tween precipituOuS mOuntainsides, a
struggling line OF cottages in the creek
bottoms. bi-sected by the lines OF the
Northern Pacific and oregon railroad
and Navigation companies Its one indus
Try is mining and its big mine is the
Standard With scarcely a dividing line
perceptbIe. the towns Of Black Bear.
Gem. Mace and Burke form long string
OF houses for six miles. All the popu-
lation of Mace. with the exception Of a
few storekeepers and school teachers.
are in the employ OF the mine.
According TO some reports there may
have teen many more than 100 victims
in the avalanche. Mace is divided into
two paris. known as upper and lower
Mace. and the catastrophe occurred in
lower Mace. Most Of the employees OF the
Standard mine were unmarried men Nv
mfg in the Hotel Standard IN lower Mace.
Some estimates Of the number Of these
employees in lower Mace run as high as
80.
FIFTY HANDS LOST.
Three box cars containing 20 section
hands I'm the employ OF the Northern Pa
cific railroad were standing on the side
track when the slide occurred. All Of these
men are supposed to have lost their lives.
Fifteen houses are said to have been
swept away completely.
At the Mace boarding house the snow
is 30 feet deep. and all Of the fiat from
the boarding house to- the end OF the
town toward Burke is buried beneath the
slide.
Never since Burke. another little canon
mining camp. was almost wiped out by a
landslide on February ]. 1850. has a Occur
d'AIene town been so sorely stricken. On
that occasion the canon was filled 100
feet across by a grinding mass of trees,
stump. earth and bOulders. 30 60 - feet
deep. packed almost as solid as ice. Its
track down the mountainside was swept
as clean as a floor and the deafening roar
fra lob