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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1913)
Snow Avalanches Such as Occur at This Season in Coast Mountains Are :; Most Dangerous to Life arid Property The Berne arioT WelUrigtohSlidel; :: Hou) to Prevent Their Recurrence. ' THIS is the season of the year when that terrific phenomenon of na ture, the avalanche, occurs throughout the Northern regions of the world. Next to the earthquake the avalanche is probably the most destruc tive freak of nature. Of late years many disastrous snow and land slides have . occurred in the northern section of the United States. Oregon, Wash ington, Montana, Idaho, Utah, North and South Dakota and Minnesota, are annually visited by them. Because of the great loss of life and damage to property within the last few years the Government undertook an Investigation to see if something could be done to , prevent their recurrence, and Uncle Sam's scientists at Washington have been working with this object In view for three years. The work of the scientists revealed many Interesting facts in connection with the little known cause of ava lanches throughout the world. There are many different kinds of avalanches. Every one has heard more or less about the snow avalanche, as news Items ap peal every little while telling of some disaster of the kind. Next to the glgan tic snowball comes the land avalanche, made up of thousands of tons of earth which separate high up the mountain sides and go hurtling down through space, burying everything before tt It has frequently happened that a village or town and all Its Inhabitants in tne pathway of one of these great land slides have been burled forever. The Stud Avalanche. Following the landslide in destruc tlveness Is the mud avalanche. This usually occurs In the Spring after the snows have melted and the earth on the mountain sides becomes loosened and turned into mud to a depth of sev eral feet. Because of the slow move men of the mud avalanche It has in the cast caused little loss of life, but it has been the cause of great damage to farms and houses In Its immediate vi cinity. It usually starts by the loosen ing of some large portion of earth in an almost fluid state which, gathering great force as it comes down, spreads over many acres of ground, sometimes covering the lands In the valleys below to a depth of three, four and five feet. But the most dangerous of all is the snow avalanche. It carries death and destruction in its path. It travels with uch terrific velocity when once started that even though one saw tt coming, there are ten chances to one against getting out of its way. Very few men are alive today who have seen a snow avalanche in all Its fury. It rushes down the mountain side at such great speed that the air in front of It Is com pressed with such force that It Is felt for many miles ahead. The force of this compressed air Is so great that houses and barns often have been blown over Ions; before the real avalanche Btruck them There are four scientists In the era ploy of Uncle Sara who have made an exhaustive study of the avalanche. They are Raphael Zon and Thornton T. Hun ger of the Forestry Bureau: Edward A. Beats, of the Weather Bureau, and Leon Peugeot In speaking of avalanches and their destructlveness, Mr. Zon said: "The real reason why this phenomenon was not noticed in the past is simply be cause the country was not so thickly populated as it is today. Avalanches occurred just as often as they do now, but the damage and loss of life were not so great because the sections were only sparsely inhabited. 'In' Europe, where the land has been thickly settled for many years, atten tion was paid to the phenomena many years ago. and measures taken to pre vent their recurrence. We are now where the European governments were 10 years ago. They realized that some thing had to be done, and while It took them a long time to devise ways and means, yet they have succeeded in ac complishing wonders in the way of pre venting the initial start of the gTeat avalanches in the mountains. Prevention Begins at the Top. "I know of one case where there was a great landslide in Oregon which practically blocked the whole Columbia River for months. And yet this slide was noticed only by one or two per 4 . 1 151 sons, and probably no official record exists of it today. And so It goes. But avalanches continued to come down, great forest fires broke out In various parts of the northern section of; the United States, and finally the people began to sit up and take notice. Why? Because the country is becoming more thickly populated and more material interests are affected. "Take, for instance, the flood of the Mississippi River of SO years ago. That did not attract much notice. But today a flood in the same section means great loss of life and millions of dollars' worth of property. Until the damage caused by the floods became so great nothing was done. The same thing is true of avalanches. "In the case of floods;-r forest' fires and especially avalanches, much can be done toy preventing their start. In Ava lanche accidents it is the starting point that is Important. After the tremen dous amount of snow obtains momen-1 turn nothing on earth will stop it. It Is by placing prevention walls in the up per portions of the mountains where the avalanche gets its start that its recurrence will be hindered at least, if not stopped altogether. The work of prevention must begin at the top, not at the bottom. With floods we have the small torrents, simply ordinary moun tain streams that assume tremendous proportions for a short time, due to the melting of great quantities of snow. If measures are taken to prevent these torrents breaking bounds at their source, many of our great floods of the past would never have occurred, and those of the future can be pre vented by the same means." Thornton G. Hunger is probably one of the youngest scientists in the em ploy of Uncle Sam. He la now 29 years old. but looks to be hardly more than 13. He took up the study of forestry at the age of 17. When he was about 21 he took a Job with Uncle Sam as forest assistant. Since then he has de voted the greater part of the last nine years to the study of avalanch.es. The Great Berne Slide. "In the Cascades thousands of ava lanches occur each Winter," said he. The existence of many of these, how ever. Is not known until the following Summer or Winter, when a hunter or sheepherder finds a mass of melting snow and debris at the foot of a slope and sees a path probably 300 or 400 yards wide on the mountain side. It Is only those avalanches which destroy life or property or that cross railroads that are likely to be regarded or ob served soon after they occur. "During the late Winter of 1919 there were many large avalanches in the Cascades region, which caused many hundreds of thousands of dollars dam age. Several of them resulted in great loss of life. The most disastrous swept two trains off the mountain side and killed 100 persons. In the three miles below the town of Berne, Wash., at least 11 avalanches crossed the railroad tracks in the late Winter of that year. This is not unusual In other valleys of the Northern Cascades. 'Avalanches, or snowslides, are masses of snow which slide or fall from the upper slopes of a mountain side into the lower country. Because of the enormous amount of damage they do to everything In their path, whether for rest. railroad structure, habitation or human life, the avalanche must be looked on as a calamity in a class with floods, hurricanes and great con flagrations. "The great Berne slide came down the slope of a mountain 6000 feet high. at Nason Creek, near Berne, Wash. It has a slope of (5 degrees, with Its steepest part near the summit of about 85 degrees. The mountain side was originally covered with much timber, but this was killed by a fire about 25 years ago. Since then other fires have run over the slope and destroyed what was left. Except In a few places, where there Is a young growth pf saplings, the mountain Is now almost completely bare. "The avalanche originated at a height of about 6000 feet. Two occurred with in a period of three days. Where they crossed the railroad they covered the tracks for a distance of a third of a mile with snow and logs, sometimes to depth of SO feet besides filling the canyon of Nason Creek, which is here j 2 V5 THE SUNDAY . r r- SO feet below the shelf on which the railroad runs. "The Wellington Slide. "The Wellington slide, another great avalanche, was the most serious in its consequence of any that have occurred recently, though by no means the larg est. Early on the morning of March It slid, down the hillside close to the station of Wellington, sweeping two trains from the siding, where they were stalled, and carried them into the gully 100 feet below. ' The path of the ava lanche was down a hillside originally well covered with timber, but this was burned over in 1903 by a fire which completely killed the forest. Twice since then fire has run over the slope, so that at the time of the avalanche it was bare, except for a few logs, some stubs, and a little brush. "This avalanche started up the mountain about 3800 feet high. Here a great mass of wet, heavy snow, bun dreds of feet wide, broke loose and slid slowly down the slope. The whole length of its course was not over 1600 feet, yet when It crossed the railroad near Its terminus it was more than 1000 feet wide. This .was the first slide known to occur on this slope, for it has been but a few years since it was deforested sufficiently to allow the snow to slide. Swftserlands Preventive Measure. "The role which forests play In pre venting the formation of avalanches Is well recognised In Europe. In Switzer land avalanches have for centuries been hindrance to the full development of the country, and It has been the special aim of the Swiss government to keep unbroken the forest cover on the moun tains and to extend the natural limita tions of . the forests as high up the slopes as possible. As early as 1343 bann' forests, or protective forests. were created by official proclamation to prevent the destruction of the cover on steep slopes where avalanches might occur. These protective forests are now administered under a system which insures the continuance of a solid cover over the slopes where trees can be made to grow. Denuded slopes are re forested, and there Is a statute which enables the Government to purchase privately owned lands needed for pro tectlve purposes. A similar policy of forest management as a means of pre venting avalanches is practiced in other European countries." ' Eward A. Beals handles the weather prognostications for the Government He Is supposed to know when a tor nado is approaching, and issue warn ings for people to seek the cyclone cel lar. He is also one of Uncle Sam's ava lanche scientists. Next to the Wellington avalanche in destructlveness," said Mr. Beals, 'was the one at Mace, Idaho. This slide traveled about a mile from the top of the mountain to the base of the canyon just below the town. It left a pile of snow and debris more than 300 feet wide, nearly 1000 feet long, and somewhere between 30 and 40 feet deep. Fourteen houses were completely wrecked, and It lives lost in this ava lanche. On the following day a smaller slide came down the canyon above the town of Burke, Idaho, which is only three-quarters of a mile east of Mace, wrecked several buildings, and killed five persona. Many lives were lost In other recent slides in Washington, Idaho and Montana, and one in Oregon, making a total so far of about 113. The dangerous avalanches are the llding masses of wet snow, and they may move fast or slow, and come from great distances or have but short paths. Their destructiveness depends OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. "V' "41 .ze? fss"oa&s- V A ss 2i upon their momentum, which is usually sufficient to sweep everything before them. Cause of the Start. "There Is much differencn of opinion as to' what causes the slides to start as few persons have ever witnessed the beginning of an avalanche from a point! close enough to make reliable observa tions. We know that wet snow on the sloping roof of a building often slides off in great quantities, whenever it has become thoroughly soaked with mois ture and the water has wet the surface of the roof so as to make it slippery. The water acts as a lubricant and the snow slides when the point is reached where the inertia is overcome by the pull of gravity. There need be no jar to cause the movement, although a sud den Jolt would cause, premature action by disturbing the sticking quality of the snow to the roof. It is very likely the same action takes place on a larger scale with avalanches. They begin to slide when the mass increases in weight or when a jar occurs, such as takes place when overhanging snowdrifts come tumbling down from some steep crag or eminence. The concussion starts the avalanche, and It comes down slide, except the small portion from the overhanging drift which comes tumbling and rolling down for a shorter or greater distance, according to the steepness of the slope. Denertptloa of an Avalanche. It Is not possible to give much of a description, of the wind rush attend ing slides, as a person close enough would not be able to stand up against it We have had windows broken in buildings 150 feet from a slide; that Is, the building was in line with the slide but beyond it Alongside and close to slides trees were broken off 15 to 20 feet above the surface of the slide. and there were limbs on the trees be- , JANUARY 19, 1913. Jft 2 SS5 "5iV tit low the breaks showing the breaks must have been caused by the wind and not by the slide itself. I have seen green trees more than a foot in diam eter broken off clean. Limbs and twigs were carried considerable distances to the side and beyond the slides. The noise of an avalanche is a heavy roar, very much like the noise produced by a high wind, but having a heavier sound; that is, one can easily tell it is something more substantial than wind. "One of the best descriptions of a recent avalanche received at Washing ton was one from W. G. Welgle, for est supervisor at Wallace, Idaho. He said: The slide came Into the canyon with such force that it passed - clear across the canyon, destroying all the houses not only within its path, but several more that were more than 100 feet away from the slide were demol ished, evidently by the concussion. The large windows in a schoolhouse more than 300 feet distant from the slide were broken. One house that was not touched by the slide was turned en tirely around, and another house was crushed In, both by the concussion. The canyon where the slide - entered is about 300 feet wide, and this was filled with densely packed snow to depths of 20 to 40 feet entirely across and up the canyon for a distance of about 800 feet Small trees on the opposite hill from which the slide came, but di rectly in front, were bent to the ground, evidently by the strong force of the wind preceding the slide. "It descended from the summit -of a mountain about a mile from the bot tom of the canyon. At first it passed through a stand of timber, but the weight of the snow was not sufficient to break off any of the larger trees. Af ter it had descended the hill a few. SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATE DISASTERS AND CAUSES J .--A' .'' oft? fit-a, irk; 7 cm v-d sip1- hundred yards or so It struck another timbered area, the trees of which were between 1 and 2 feet in diameter. It broke them off close to the ground. The same condition existed throughout its path to the bottom of the canyon, most of the distance, however, being an open area or covered with brush. The slide did not pick up all the snow on the bottom, but in Its lower course seemed to slide over a large part of the snow that was originally on the ground. At least 30 large slides have occurred within a radius of 10 miles from Wallace, Idaho.' " Predicting- a Slide. Leon Peugeot, another of Uncle Sam's avalanche scientists, told the writer of several instances of disastrous ava lanches. He said: "In the early part of last year a snowslide occurred at Alta, Utah, that caused the death of ten men and large loss of property and business delays. "From my previous experience. I ex pected a slide. We were in need of mine timbers, but I advised the fore man to hold the men indoors. I was so sure of the slide probabilities that I even went to the kitchen and instruct ed the cook to keep a low fire, saying that if the slide did come he should rush to the stove and put out the Are. Shortly afterward the slide came. It may have been a lucky guess on my part, for I do not believe that any one can predict a slide to a day. We often hearof men seeing a slide com ing, running 50 or 100 feet and hang ing onto a tree until the slide passes. That is pure Action. When it comes to a genuine slide, you do not see it coming; if you saw anything it would be gone almost instantly. "The fan or wagon-wheel slide is a r 1 'A 33' peculiar variety of the avalanche. If . there is a fall of two to four inches of snow on a--muist surface and the sun comes out warm the pine boughs, with little dabs of snow on their branches, seemlr.glv grow suddenly weary .lf holding them and let them drop simul taneously, tuey start rolling down the hill, growing larger and larger and narrower and narrower, until they be come like so many five-foot wagon wheels. About this etape of their growth they will wobblo precisely like a wheel coming off a bugy and fall flat, starting hundreds of otheF little wheels going?. 'The appearance of the slope after ward is like a large-ribbed fan, and at the end of each rib lies a flat disk for a tassel. A swishing noise ac companies the construction of this im mense fan, about as loud as a fan of this size would make if some giant were using it There is no danger in this kind of a slip or slide except to loose objects. "A menace to life and property that must not be overlooked is the snow cone or crest. This is caused by the wind blowing the snow over a ridge. Seldom more than one is formed in the same place during the Winter, for the making of them is a slow process. Each day as the wind sweeps the flat surface of the ridge the snow Is blown over, causing the snow platform to spread out slowly and hang over the basin below. On warm days at the edges where the sun strikes thawing ensues, and the wind ' sweeping dry. snow from shaded portions of the ridge onto and over these melting edges turns it into ice and builds them far ther outward. This awning-like crest will often project a distance of 20 or 30 feet before the overhanging weight is sufficient to send It tearing down the hill, crushing all in its path." Great Landslides of History. Terrible as are the ravages of the tc-rent and the river-flood, the de struction of the woods exposes human life and industry to calamities even more appalling than those yet de scribed. Earth, or rather mountain slides, compared to which the catastro phe that buried the Wiley family in New Hampshire was but a pinch of dust have often occurred In the Swiss, Italian and French Alps. The land slide which overwhelmed and covered to the depth of 70 feet the town of Plurs In the valley of the Maira, on the night of September 4, 1618, sparing not a soul of a population of 2430 in habitants, is one of the most memor able of these catastrophes; and the fall of the Roseberg Mountain, which oestroyed the little town of Goldau in Switzerland, and 450 of Its people, on September 2, 1806, Is almost equally celebrated. , in tne entire top oi tne mountain In the province of Bel- , luno, slipped into the bed f a river and destroyed in its fall three hamlets and 60 lives. The rubbish filled the valley for a distance of nearly 2 miles, and, by damming up the river, formed a lake about 3 miles long and li0 feet deep, which still exists. Occurrences of this sort have been so numerous in the Alps and Apennines that almost every Italian mountain . commune has its tradition. Its record. or Its still visible traces of a great landslide within its own limits. Tue old chronicles contain frequent no tices ot such calamities, and Giovanni Vlllani even 'records the destruction of SO houses with a loss of many lives, by a slide of what seems to have been part of the hill of San Giorgio in tne city of Florence, in the year 1254. . WILLIAM L. AlsTUVKiVU.
