U.S. HORROR.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 March 1926, Page 4

U.S. HORROR.

; -MANY LIVES LOST. ! THE AWFUL AVALANCHE. i 1 SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24.' Some definite details of the latest American horror, in which nearly half a hundred lives were sacrificed in the sensational snow avalanche in the State of Utah, have been given to the world showing that more than a thousand men worked desperately i.u efforts to save some of those buried by the gigantic snowslidi» that swept down upon the peaceful little town of Bingham. For several days, owing to the indescribable confusion prevailing in the stricken area, it was impossible for rescue squads to make an accurate cheek of the occupants of the dwellings and hoarding houses, when the Juggernaut of snow and debris raced down upon the copper mining camp at Sap Gulch. Thirty-olio bodies were recovered !>v rescue workers hut, owing to the .terrible condition of their injuries only five were identified, most ol them being torn beyond recognition. At this stage between sixty-five and seventy still remained buried under the avalanche of snow.

it was the worst winter disaster 'tl the history of Utah, and it will be early spring before the remaining bodies will be uncovered. The cataclysm was characterised as one which occurred without a. moment's notice. when the snow-slide rushed down the mottlituin side, crashing tons ol snow, trees, huge rocks, and limbers over a dozen houses and burying 110 men. women, and children uniter the wreckage in tho Highland Boy mine district ot Botv’s Gulch.

Rescuers discovered Air and .Mrs J. T. McDonald, proprietors of one ol the boarding-houses that was demolished in the giganiie snow-slide. Tl a avalanche lilt, their house in such a manner as to tip the side, but the timbers fell in suck a way that ali'ordod protection to the McDonalds. .Mrs .McDonald, sustained a broken arm. but otherwise flic couple were uninjured by their ].4-hour imprisonment. A sister ol .McDonald was killed instantly. FRANTIC SEARCH. The frantic search for bodies characterised the rescue work for several days, and it: eventually gave way to a methodical hunt'. The Highland Boy mine, was closed by mine oliieials anil tin- entire force was pul to work searching the ruins of Bingham’s worst disaster. Fire which broke out from mime!oils stoves in the buried residences in the narrow canyon street, were at last mitt rolled, and mourning over the heavy loss of life was mingled lalef with a feeling of relief that the slide did not make its visitation an hour earlier, when a much greater list of fatalities would have, resulted. Scores of children, of school age. were away at their classes when tile slide let go. All buildings that escaped the catastrophe undamaged were used as emergency hospitals, where the injured received treatment. The (lend were hauled by sleds to Binglmm, where the work ot identification was commenced. The story of tho disaster was written in the faces of many ot the miners who were aiding in the rescue work. Scores left, their families early on the fatal Wednesday morning only ro return and Mod them dead or still buried under the slide which destroyed their homes.

Under the great arc lights the dead were laid out as they were removed, placed in ambulances, and taken to a temporary morgue in Bingham proper. In the light, of flickering fires Bed Cross units gave first aid to flic injured before they were removed lo the emergency hospital at Bingham. Open air kitchens threw an eerie light against the mouniain shadows, - while workers and nurses were served with coffee as they paused for a moment in their work. DISASTER SUDDEN. The disaster was complete in il“ suddenness, its lack of warning, its engulfing of tile canyon-walled settlement. AVith only a preliminary rumble it lore down the mountain side from the tailing dump at the top o! the Highland Boy mine. In its path were two ('lurches ami a dozen houses, two of them hoarding places, crowded with sleeping men. who a few hours before had (ome olf the night shift of the Highland Boy mine, which is one ot the larges! in the world. The doomed homaiis did not have I lie ghost of a chance In escape, (fathering momentum witli, every foot it. travelled, the Juggernaut of snow and rocks crushed the fragile board houses, many of them i liiegiiig to the mountain walls on stilts, passed over them, caught pedestrians ami motorists before they had time to flee, and came to a halt in a huge blocking barrier that was itself a defiance to rescue workers. Alcii of the Highland Boy were the first, to attack the great snow mass. Digging frantically with picks and shovels that a. few moments before t hoy had been using in the mine, they made little progress. From the edges of the mass eoulh la heard the cries of the injured and the shrieks of those who faced in a snow pile the Haines of torlure as the tires began and flames leaped toward them. Alore than a score died in their prisons, pinned down by debris and helpless to move as tile lives aelvam ed on them. • The horror shrieks ol the victims lasi- | i'll through interminahie hours. Then I

there was quiet, complete excepi for I he Ili ml of the shovels and the shunts ni I 1 "* re-, ue workers. After the first drive at rescue, aid lame by special train, by nmtnr-rar. and hv hits, and a veritable army started on the long and slow work of digging to lilt* dead. Early next_ morning i some in* the first wrecked houses on the edge of the slide were reached, and the mangled bodies were carefully removed. VICTIMS' STORY. Tlie aftermath of tin* disaster brought several graphic stories from some of the more fortunate of the victims. 'Flit* most pathetic of the stories told by survivors was that of Tonly Yalasio, 21. a solicitor tor a local mercantile company. who was buried beneath, the snow and debris for more than seven hours.

Yalasio was taking an order from .lose Atem ia at one of the hoarding-houses, when the slide came rushing down the eastern side of the canyon. - ‘l was about to leave.” Yalasio said, "when I heard a noise like the wind i whistling around the house. Snow began to see]) through the door. I ai- | templed to open it. and was unable to It do so. The walls gave way. and T was covered with debris. 1 found myself sitting on tin* floor, my teg pinned by

the debris. Ateneia was underneath me. He appeared badly hurt: lie groaned _ loudly and tried to move, but could not. At intervals I would reach over and pinch him and let him know I was alive. I noticed his groans wore growing Mealier and finally stopped altogether. 1 decided that he had passed on. Alum! fifteen minutes later T heard the workers nearing me. and finally Mas able to raise my hand as they removed some of the snow and wreckage. That is all I know until

f invoke on a cot in the rescue station.” A tiiree-months-old baby, uninjured, was taken from, the debris, but its parents were unaeeounted for. John Litth - , who was in a rooming house when it Mas swept away, succeeding in freeing . himself from a snow hank. I ”1 was turned over and over as the snow carried me down the steep side of the mountain,” he said. “T was subjected to such a great pressure that at times f though all the breath would be crushed from my body.” Mrs Conehita Beita. who was still buried under several feet of snow, was able to talk with rescue workers. She

said that when the slide stopped she found herself lying with tier bead under an overturned bath tub, the edge of which rested on a rock. Hence tier head. face, and shoulders were not buried, and she was able to speak. The resellers worked feverishly and Subsequently released her from her tomb. To add to the horrors of the situation. darkness brought freezing temperatures and rescuers luKl to abandon their shovels for picks as they struck tlie icy surface. Sturdy women served steaming cofiee anti -andwiehcs to the workers.

Bingham is one of the most picturesque mining towns in America. Its main and only street is a narrow defile down the mountain valley. Sheetwalls of rock rise behind the. back of store building?. Tfi gnter Bingham bv

railway a long, circuitous mountain climb is necessary, and passengers arc then dropped down into the town by a steep incline railway.