The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1913-05-17
LONG BURIED IN SNOW
FAMILY RESCUED AFTER FIVE
WEEK6 BENEATH DRIFTS.
Authentic Record Of Almost Miracu-
Ious Escape From Death in IN
Avalanche in the Euro
pean Alps.

1t seems incredible that any human
being could survive for fve weeks
under a snow-drift; yrt in the year
1855 three inhabitants OF the hamlet
OF Bergoletto, In the valley OF the
Upper Stura, at the foot of the Alps.
did just that.
During the winter of that year the
fall of snow was unusually heavy. On
March 10, the parish priest, on his
way to church, heard terrifying roar
from the mountain top. Casting up
his eyes, he saw two avalanches de-
scending toward the village. He gave
the alarm, and then ran back into his
own house.,
The ayalanches buried over thirty
houses. Twenty-Five persons were
missing, including the parish priest
who had given the alarm. The mass
of snow that lay over the ruined
dwellings was about forty-two feet
deep.
When the surviving peasants had
shaken off their terror, they set about
trying to save whatever life or prop
erty they could Peasants from neigh
boring villages came to their assist
anee. But they could do little; the
depth of the avalanche was 80 great,
and the snow continued to fall in
such quantity, that they bad 10 wait
for the warm April winds to melt the
gigantic sncw piles.
On April Is the villagers returned
to their melancholy task. They had
no hope of finding any human being
alive. One of them, named Roccia
whose entire family was beneath the
avalanche, was most active in the
search. BY april "a he had got SO far
that, after breaking through six feet
of icy snow, he could touch the
ground with q long pole. Three
friends worked with him.
The four worked vigorously, and
made their way at length into Roc
cia's house, but no one. dead or living
was there. AS it was probable tha'
the victims had sought shelter in the
stable, about a hundred feet from the
house, Roccia and his companions be
gan to dig in that direction. Aftel
they had burrowed for some time
| they reached the stable. One of tn,
men thrust a pole through a hole il
the wall. and on Withdrawing 1t, heart
hoarse. faint cry for help.
The workers now toiled with re
doubled activity, and soon they ha,
made q large opening. And there, t
his JOY. Roccia found his wife, hi
daughter, and sister-in-law. TIL
three sufferers could not move. an
were shrunken almost to skeletons
The men carefully carried them to-
| nearby house. and took measures TO
reviving them. In few days the
had pretty well recovered.
They owed their lives to these eli
cpmstances: They had taken refug
in the manger, which, being strong
had withstood the weight of the snov
although the roof fell in. Fortunatel,
two goats were near them, and thes
animals supplied them with mil
enough to keep them alive.
| They had, of course, to feed tn
goats Over the manager was hol
into the hay.loft. Through this hol
one of the women was able to pu
down fodder into the rack; and whe
she could no longer reach the hay, tn
sagacious animals climbed upon he
shoulders and helped themselves.
Through the whole OF their fiv
weeks imprisonment they were in Il
tai darkness. After the first five c
six days. they suffered little fror
hunger, although a quart of goat
milk had to suffice for the thre'
They suffered far more from the chi
of the melted snow-water that tickle
over them, and from the cramped p
sitions in which they had to sit an
lie.-Youth's Companion.
/