The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-12-05
DIE IN FLOOD
WHEN dixie BREAKS
WHOLE FAMILIES PERISH IN
WAKE OF WATERS FROM
GLENO LAKE IN ITALY
THREE VILLAGES DESTROYED
Restraining Dam Gives Away Under
Overload of Continued Rainfall; so
Square Miles Area DesoIate

Bergamo, Italy.-Six hundred
dead, three villages destroyed and
so square miles made desoIate, is
the toll of the flood from GIeno
lake when the great dixie guarding
it collapsed, releasing the water,
which carried all before il. II
swept oVer the hills and down into
the valleys for. a distance of 10
miles to Lake Izo, which checked
the momentum of the vast stream.
Beruamo valley is nothing but a
barren waste of mud and water
a Veritable lake in which II Is dan
gerous to venture, for in some
places it is over a mans head. In
this sogqy mass, the bodies of the
victims lie tangled among fallen
trees, telegraph poles, buildings
and bridges. The homeless are
counted In thousands, most of
whom are mourning for lost rela-
tives, Or searching for their bodies.
Relief parties from Milan and Bres-
cia are on the scene, while all avail
able troops have been mustered to aid
the s~helterless. The bishop Of Berga-
nor asked donations from the pope
for the purpose of undertaking imme-
date extensive relief.
There is great fear among the sur
vivors Of other dams breaking, espec-
tally as Sunday was the feast of the
st. Bibbiana, on which, according ia
popular superstition, if 1t rains, it will
rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
three villages almost completely
destroyed were Dezzo, Gonna and
Dueggio. OF the 600 inhabitants OF
Dezzo, only three survived. The dis.
aster threatens to be one Of the great
est Of its kind, because of the vasi
amount of water let loose on the cOun
tryside. 1t destroyed hundreds OF
homes, where families persisted with.
out even realizing the tragedy which
overwhelmed them. The dixie, situated
three miles from DezZO, was an i'm
mense structure, four miles long and
80 yards thick. 1t served as a dan
for the artificial lake, situated about
5000 feet above sea level and con
tanning 10 million cubic yards of water
the source of which was chiefly the
glaciers of GlenO mountain. This
basin measured about four miles b!
two, and cost 80 million lire.
Apparently the dixie yielded through
the immense pressure Of the water a
the two ends where the masonry wa
imbedded in the mountainslde. Tor
rental rains are now occurring, rem
dering the disaster more menaeing 70,
the homeless and hindering relic
work. The cold is intense.
Thus far, the dead r estimated a
800, but 1t has been impossible t
ascertain the exact number, for who'll
families are missing. The neighbOr
ing lakes and rivers have been raises
10 to 20 feet, and on their surface flOa
bodies, some of which travelled man,
miles from an altitude Of 1000 feet
carried by the awful deluge.
Gonna was practically buried, Oil,
the barracks and the church standiul
The parish priest, Bernardo, save
himself by climbing to the dome of tn
church. Though injured in the foo
he soon organized relief work he CO.
Iected bodies taken from the flood an
read burial services over them in tn
little church.
The oys engineers relief corps a
ready is beginning the construction &
bridges across the flooded valley to al
the villages Of SchilpsriG and VII