574 



NA JURE 



[October io, 1895 



yround takes the tourist past the Daubensee to the 

 height of the Gemmi Pass and the Hotel. 



Such was the walk to the ricmnii before the avalanche 

 occurred. Now the broad pasturage fiat, the narrow defile 

 above it to the Schwarcnbach Inn. as well as several pas- 

 sages of the road below, especially the " Stierenbergli," lie 

 beneath masses of ruin and disorder. Fir-slopes have 

 been felled at one blow. Dismembered parts of cattle 

 have been floated hither, thither, in the ice-stream. What 

 makes it the sadder is that all had been in readiness 



Icc-break on Altcla Mountain. — Dead cow ojid fragmcnis of chiilct in the foreground 



on the Spilal Alp for the departure of the herd-boys and 



< iril, .,T, iiir> following day to their villages in Wallis. 



the cause of the disaster was the fall of the 



iip;^i not be forgotten that the actual 



■ : wind-pressure (" Windschlag ") in 



, mass. Living things and timber 



round, or borne to considerable 



- of ice then buries all beneath tons 



ml ii.in.-.))ort3 still farther, tearing and breaking 



% carries. 



N(J. 1354. VOL. 52] 



The enormous rush of wind, together with the terrifying 

 sounds of the avalanche, gave the people of the neigh- 

 bourhood a rough awakening from their night's rest. 

 They thought an earthquake was convulsing thcni. 

 Only one witnessed the coming of the avalanche, that 

 was the waitress at the Schwarcnbach Inn, who had just 

 risen to prepare an early cup of coffee for some of the 

 guests. She rushed out, in time to see the ice skimming 

 the road's corner on its way to destroy the Spital .-Xlp. 

 Had the fall taken place half a day sooner or later, 

 tourists must inevitably have 

 suftercd on the niuch-frequcntcd 

 path. 



Dr. Albert Heim, Professor of 

 deology at Zurich, was at once 

 telegraphed for to make a thorough 

 investigation of the disaster. The 

 result of his examination will not 

 be fully published until the end of 

 the year. Meantime some of the 

 more exact details may be slated 

 here. The accompanying photo- 

 graphs are a few of those taken at 

 Prof. Heim's wish immediately 

 after the disaster. 



The first shows the break in 

 the ice on the Altels Mountain. 

 It occurred near the foot of the 

 neve or "Kirn-snow'' region of 

 the .-Mtels glacier, at a height of 

 3300 metres (11,000 feet). The 

 mass of ice which broke away 

 measured about 300 metres in 

 length, 200 metres in l)reath, and 

 30 metres in thickness. It streamed 

 down the steep-dipping, smooth 

 slabs of limestone rock on Altels, 

 and spread itself out fan-like on the 

 Spital Alp, 1900 metres high (6270 

 feet). The vertical height of the 

 fall was therefore some 4700 feet. 

 The immense impetus thus gamed 

 caused the ice to pursue its course 

 up the steep incline of the 

 " Oeschinen Cirat." The main 

 part in the centre of the ava- 

 lanche "fan" dashed itself with 

 its spray of ice-dust and debris 

 against the ridge, surmounted it 

 in parts as high as 2360 metres, 

 over 7700 feet, and pitched many 

 fragments upon difi'erent levels on 

 the other, or Oeschinen \'alley, 

 side of the ridge. The outer wings 

 of the fan, on tlie other hand, 

 cur\ed backwards : that on the 

 north side can be traced as a re- 

 turn stream from Winteregg to the 

 Stierenbergli corner of the (iemmi 

 ro.id referred to above (Kig. 2). 



This return stream did especial 

 damage to the trees ; and nothing 

 can be more striking than the sight 

 of the long larch and fir trunks 

 felled in one and the same iliiection, and clean-cut along 

 a definite line. One hillock has been stripped of its 

 timber on one side, while no harm has been done on 

 the other. The course of the avalanche has left its trail 

 of stems : up-torn roots, ravaged chalet, dead cattle, even 

 cheeses may be distinguished januned in the general 

 heaps of ruin. 



The result on the ice of its own motion and pressure 

 during its fall deserves attention (I' >g- 3)- '""-■ photograp 

 shows the typical form which the ice takes, viz. that of har 



