A MOUNTAIN'S FALL. Details of the Terrible Land Slip in Switzerland.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1528, 20 April 1882, Page 4

A MOUNTAIN'S FALL. Details of the Terrible Land Slip in Switzerland.

A correspondent sends to a New York paper .the following graphic account of the destruction of Elms, Switzerland, through a land slip :— The end came on the evening of Simday, the 11th inst.— ln the " Saints Calendar," current in some parts of Switzerland, marked "The day of Felk, saint of luck ami happiness." During the early part of that day the people of Elms went about tlieir usual vocations in the usual way and without any anticipation of the terrible calamity -which was so near at hand. The little church was well attended, hearty dinneis weie eaten, and afterward, as was the custom, most of the people, old and young, walked through the meadows or upon the mountain side. At 5 o'clock in the evening, while many of them,. were still out in the field, some one. was heard crying, "Look at the Plattenberg— look at the Plattenberg !" Those who followed the direction and are still alive say that for a moment' it seemed to them as if every peak above the slate quarry was in motion ; then there came a rumbling noise, like far-oil" thunder, and in a moment they were blinded by clouds of dust. When they could see again they found that a great slice of earth and stone had slipped down the Tchingelalp, burying fine houses and covering acres of good laud. Men and women were at the same time seen struggling among the ruins, and from all sides, friends, neighbors and relatives hurried to their aid. Unhappily, they hurried also to a terrible death. Even while they were engaged in thoir work of love tho mountain above them moved again. Tins time tho sound of thunder was not far distant, but only too neaj) at hand. The pine trees on the grassy slopes were sccu to sink. A great cloud of dust and steam covered the whole valley '. thousands of tons of .stone were huiled tlnough the air. An alloverpo^ criug wmd pressiue earned everything oof ore it. f Theio was a terrible crash, a sound of madly-i ushing torrents, and all was still. Then the dust aud smoke cleared away, the sun shone in a cloudless sky, and it was seen that far as the eye could reach the once blooming Sernf valley was coveicd with from forty to IGO feet of black stone, moraine, dirt and slime. Foity dwell-ing-houses, the best in the village, together Avith dozens of stables and outbuildings, were buried far out of .site, torn to pieces by the air-pressure, strewn broadcast over the moraine. One hundred and eleven of the people ot Elm were swallowed up in tho geneial luin. At last twelve sti angers — Italian quarry - men -shared their fate. It was useless to think qi rescuing any who fell in that awful death slough. Fai out upon its edge, from a strong hou&e, which was only partially coveied with the slime and stone, four peisons— a grcy-beaul of ninety-one years and a mother a\ ith two children— were taken out badly injured but alive Every other human being overtaken in the patli of the avalanche was forever buried out of human sight. Fifteen lumps of torn and bleeding flesh, masses of flesh withoutsliape or form wcic taken out. The others lest in a grave so deep aud strong that no man can uncover it. In one house thirteen persons who sat at a clnistening feast, and wiio are known to have joked with each othei in regard to the old superstition about thirteen at table, wOl c sm allowed up as they sat. On a lonely hillside, out of the way of danger, an old man and woman lived with thoir only son. After the first slide of the mountain the father aud son hurried down to the help of their friends. They were swallowed up with the lest. A childless widow, who has become a dhattering idiot, now occupies tho lonely dwelling. Daughtoi s who Inn 1 icd to the help of their fatheis, mothers who would have saved their thildien, knei.s who strove to aid their 1» ides, who together buried in the awful moiaine. It is feared that many of those who ha\e becn,left behind will sh.iH 1 the fate of the poor crcatuxo who, mourning <i liu.sba.ud and son has gone mad with sorrow. The extent of the laud slip is almost beyond belief. To give anything like an adequate idea of it is no easy task. It is in no way to be compared to the Golden slip of 1806, when, as m ill be remembered, 457 peple lost theii lives. In the latter case the mountains blid down and covered tho village. At Kirn a groat mass of the Plattenberg, :i mass 0M,.">00 feet wide, at least 2000 loot high above the valley, and accoidiug to the engineers, from sixty to 1 00 feet deep, fell over upon the vlla^'e, its farms, gardens and meadows. Tons of rocks were dashed entirely acioss the valley, and now rest quietly 300 and 400 feet high upon the hillside. The air-pressure was so great that houses were lifted up from their foundations and carried a distance of 1000 feet. A barn built of heavy logs, and filled Avith hay, was carried entirely across the valley and overturned 200 feet high on the mountain opposite the Plattenberg. An iion bridge which crossed the Sernf was torn up, earned scores of feet away from its abutments, aud now rests on end, more than half buried in mud aud loose stone. The whole valley, as far as it can be .seen fiom the village inn, which is still standing, very closely resembles the bed of a clacier which has receded. As I have already stated, the massses of stone and earth which have fallen ai c everywhere piled up to a height of veiy many feet. At least 500 acres are covered in this way. The river Sernf has made for itself a new channel through the debris, and has flooded and ruined much of the land below, land which was not diiectly harmed by the avalanche of stone. So in one way or another the whole valley has been injured beyond all hope of repair. The loss in property will leach not less than 2,000,000f . ; at the low est estimate 123 people have lost their lives. The State engineers, fearing further landslides, have forbidden those who have escaped to return to the houses which are standing, and in consequence more than 800 men, women, and childicn who, but a few ago days, were prosperous and well-to-do, are now almost without a roof to cover them.

Tkqnewpme cash system now being initiated by G. find C. will rerUinly pro\o a benefit to the public. It h.is been a great success in Sydney and Melbourne, and when btrictly c.uried out the cubtomer who buys at an establishment where the gooSs arc marked low toensuie .1 sapid sale must Be a treat gainer. G. and C. sell their drapery, millinery, and clothing at such pnres for cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder in a co-operative society, without the lisk of being *" called upon to bear a portion of tho loss should the jear's business prove unsatisfactory. Garhck and, Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and are determined to give the puic cash system a fair trial; whether they gain or lose thenrst year Country buyers on remitting cash with order will be supplied with goods at co-operatve pi ices; just the same as though they made a personal selection. Furnishing goods, such as carpets, l floor cloths, bedsteads, bedding and general house furniture, the largest portion of which ir turned out at our own factory, willbc marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discount of five! per cent, will be allowed to those who pay iit thctimc of purchase. G. and C having iodised the"cnlir.o value of their stock during their late cash sale tin 1 present stork is t\tw and chkAply B ouoHT.--An inspection 111v1tcd.-GARi.IrK and Cranwkix, City Hall I'yrniOimg Arcade Queen Klnjet, Auckland A^balJet dancer died recently at Naples, leaviag^a large fortune. This shows how ea^y it is to aci-nmnlate wealth when one dresses economically.