The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-03-15
4 VERY THRILLING
TRIP
YOUNG MILTON HORN HAS WRIT
TEN HIS MOTHER OF SEVEN
DAYS EXPERIENCE IN GET
TING TO PORTLAND.

Milton Horn, the young son of Mrs.
Cora A. Horn, of this city, who left
on the Inflated train which was
caught in the Wellington avalanche,
has written the following interesting
letter to his mother of his experience
on the train and trip to Portland He
was en- route to Portland to enter
school and was one of the party
which walked out:
Portland, Or, March /, 1910.
Dear Mamma: 1 arrived here safe
ly yesterday although l certainly had
a hard time getting here First, /
was tied up five days in the noun
tains and at the end of that time /
decided that if I could not get past
the slide on foot, I never would get
there.
Sunday morning with four other
men I started out and walked five
miles over the most dangerous path
ever took in my life. We were in
danger of being covered with thirty
feet of snow and rocks any moment
We were walking about 100 yards
apart and l was leading in a narrow
path six inches wide on twenty feet
of snow. When we had walked about
mile l just went around the curve
and looking up saw a little snow
moving on the hill half mile above
me and I knew what was coming 1
started to run with all my might,
but it did no good. In second it
looked like the whole mountain was
coming down on me and the roar it
made was deafcning
The first thing knew I was picked
up and hurled down the hill so fast
that / did not know what was going
on. All that I could see was trees
and rocks hurting past me. When I
went about 60 feet I landed in a
bank of soft snow in the foot of the
ravine almost senseless. My danger
was not yet over as rocks and large
trees were rolling down at me. Il
jumped behind a large tree and for
tunately was not touched. Every
body thought that / had been killed,
until l met the party at Scenic. We
got train at Scenic and were on our
way again, but my danger was not
yet over. About five miles south of
Everett our train struck mudslide
and every car went off the track. /
was standing on the end platform at
the time and was hurled about TWEEN
ty feet below the track. l landed on
my feet and was not hurt bit. For
tunately none on the train were hurt
In about four hours relief train
came and took us to Seattle. / then
went up to our friends, the Smiths,
stayed all night and started for Port
land the next morning. When we
got below Centralia we had to wait
eight hours for a washout to be re-
paired and after that I got to Port
land. The next day 1 learned, and
1 know you have heard about 1t, that
the very same train that l was on
was struck by an enormous snowslide
and carried like straw in gulch
two hundred feet below, and buried
in snow and ice. Nearly every one
on the train were killed or injured,
and what is worse nobody can get
within ten miles of the scene of the
accident to help them-just think OF
that! l shuddcr to think of what an
awful death I escaped so narrowly.
If a man had not come up to me in
the morning and said, do you want
to take a walk and I had not said
YES" would have been buried in
snow now sixty feet deep in places
Every bit of my baggage-violin.
trunk, suit case and everything was
on the train, and I do not know whe-
Their I will get them or not, but /
care little when l stop to realize that
I escaped with my life. / felt that
I would have trouble when left
home, and told you I wanted to go
by way of Spokane over the Oregon
Short Line I would have reached
here safely in twenty hours that way,
and it took me seven days to make 1t
the way / did.
The school has improved greatly
and l like Portland better than ever.
March 5.-Will you send me the
copies of the Daily World since
left? / am anxious to see what they
say. I suppose you have heard
great deal about the awful wreck
and loss of lives on the Oriental Linn
tied that I was on when snow-bound
In the mountains. 1t was certainly
the most awful wreck that ever oc-
Cured in this part of the country
and think how close | came to being
one of the victims. l little thought
when l left home that night how
near I would come to death where
nobody could go to get the bodies
and help the wounded. I knew near
ly everyone that was killed. | had
made many frineds among them af-
ter being with them all tn etime forI