ACCIDENT ON MONT ST. BERNARD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 98, 13 March 1875, Page 11

ACCIDENT ON MONT ST. BERNARD.

..++ The ' Journal de Geneve ' contains the following account of a catastrophe which recently occurred on Mont St. Bernard : — It was recently rumored in Sion that a frihgtful accident had occurred at a few kilometres from the Great St. Bernard. This rumor, unfortunately, proved to be well-founded. At the break of day, a caravan composed of twelve Italian workmen, returning to their country, left the Bourg St. Pierre and the tavern of Proz, where they had passed the night, and, despite the ftral 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 violent snow drift. On reaching the spot known as the Montague 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 large-sized dog-, who, according to the rule of the monastery, came to meet the travellers. At this moment the drift of suow became intense. Suddenly a frozen water spout called veura in the language of the mountaineers, whirled through the air, and whisking up the fre3h fallen snow, envelloped the travellers. The first column composed of five Italian workmen, two monks, the servant, and the dog, disappeared under a shroud of snow several metres thick without any avalanche having fallen from the mountain ; the several others who were following were stricken down by the same cause a short distance from the first. A deadly silence 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 endeavour to rescue their comrades from the grave in which they are probably at this moment of writing still alive. One of this men succeeded by the force of instinct and the energy of despair in breaking through the ice piled above him. It was the monk Contat from Sembraucher. 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 was found the next morning nearly insensible, after having been twenty-seven hours alone, without food or assistance of any kind, by his brother monks of the convent who had come 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 snow and found his way back to the convent. At the sight of this noble animal, with his bruised 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 flask of spirits applied to the mouth of the only survivor of this scene, which is here narrated from his own description, restored him to life for a brief space, for a few mimites later he was a corpse. His colleague and six other companion, buried beneath the veura, have not yet been found, This is the most terrible accident which has happened on Mont St, Bernard since the year. 1816.