THE TERRIBLE ACCIDENT ON MOUNT ST. BERNARD.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 211, 11 February 1875, Page 3

THE TERRIBLE ACCIDENT ON MOUNT ST. BERNARD.

The London Times of the 28th of November contains the following account of the recent terrible catastrophe on Mount St Bernard : —On Monday last it was rumored in Sion that a frightful accident had happened at a few kilometres from the Great St, Bernard, This rumour, unfortunately, proved to be well founded. On the 19 th instant, at the break of day, a caravan composed of twelve Italian workmen returning to their country, left Bourg St Ferre and the tavern of Proz, where they had pissed the night, and despite the foul weather and difficult state of the roads, attempted to cross the mountain pass or to reach the refuge, as circumstances might allow. The sky was dark and there was a vio’ent snowdrift. On reaching the spot known as the Montagne St. Pierre, half way between the starting point and the place of refuge, they were joined by two monks, preceded by the convent servant and a largesized dog, who, according to the rule of the monastery, came to meet the travellers. At that moment the drift of snow became intense. Suddenly a frozen waterspout, called veura in the language of the mountaineers, whirled through the air, whistling up, the fresh fallen snow enveloped the travellers. The first column, composed of five Italian workmen, two monks, the servant and the dog. disappeared under a shroud of snow several meins thick, without any avalanche having fallen from the mountain ; the several others who were fo • lowing were stricken down by the same cause a shoit distance from the first. A deadly silen -e followed. Suddenly the seven last victims buried in the snow succeeded in emerging from beneath the white surface. They were saved, and they returned to their starting place, after having made every endeavor to rescue their comrades from the grave in which they are probably it this moment of writing still alive. One of these men succeeded, by the force of instinct, and the energy of despair, in breaking the ice piled above him. It was the monk Contat, from Sembrancher. He dragged his bleeding limbs about a mile and a half from the grave where he had been buried for several hours, and reached the first hut called the ‘hospital,’ and situated close to the Velan. It is there the young monk wifi found the next morning nearly insensible after hav : ng been twenty-seven hours alone without food or assistance of any kind by his brother monks of the convent wh > had eome to look after the victims of the accident. How had they become aware of the catastrophe? The dog Turco had succeeded in scratching through the enow and found his way back to the convent. At the sight of this noble animal, with his bruises and bleeding body, the monks no longer had any doubt as to the fate of their two brethren, and started at once to seek for them. A fl tsk of spirits applied to the mouth of the only survivor of this scene, which is here nar ated from his own description, restored him to life for a brief space, for a- few minutes later be was a corpse. His colleague and six other companions, buried beneath the veura, have not yet been found. This is the most terrible accident which has happened on Mount St Bernard since the year 1816.”