SWISS HOTEL DISASTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 180, 25 April 1908, Page 10

SWISS HOTEL DISASTER.

; ,;r ; r -TWELVE-,UVES^LOST^;'"';-: FIFTEEN- PERSONS 'INJURED. .• ' . Coiisidbrablo damage and loss'of. lifo wbro caused ouo.l''ebr.itary at v tho . village .; of. Gojipenstem/ situatedv>t' 'Loetschberg; Tiinnbi,: by-tho:collapso ,or .ft'.hotcl'jreceiitly'built at ■ tho;' southern - entrance .to the tunnel' and. bf:. tlie;' ofiic?s' : 'of' : 'tlieLbetschbbrg \V ork'i?l'iom twenty. to ; thirty .pet'sons.'^ere : buried jiiider the wore- Jkilied. rectors ; ' and brigiiiepra'' attached, ■to v'tlie lijefat' Jlsgub ; wore. thp iiiglii,' onqc set p "rescue tarty.; ,-v'l'Jio '-~y. ic tires '.'of : .'the "disasier. U doctor and .two engineers... >1:; . j :'!l'hq,' dost'royedi bii'iidiiigs did;'noi lie: in tho I patli .of -'tho .-avalanche, 1 but' were'. literally hurled-'dowri ' by vtlje;- I .' displacement': ofV. air. caussd/by tho fall/p£ the enormous mass, of snow'.' ■', This-:''displacement .-of /airfrequently does - more,'- damage 'than, .'..an aralancho -itsolf.> :'J •' \.A." '■ V ■:,-A■ .'-remarkable. demonstration'iof this phe-. nonieiion was ' furnished , iii . .1895,, when a. mass ' of 'four million cubio metres'.in bulk fo'»l |from the Altels glatior, near,-Kandbrsteg, .into tlio valley : : beneath. ; vr ; The wood ohalois and houses on tho opposite side "of the vallpy wero all swept/away by : 'the rush of air caused by : the .huge ifal!.: -The Goppensteiu disaster, was,due ;-to-the same cause. .In the. same wdy the auarters'.of-tha kennel staff : at the'Lootschberg wero-notstruck by the avalanoho, but were destroyed ;by ;;the - violent' atmospheric displacement..-. The- building. hadr-only «recent}y..'.been, put up. by. the Tuwtel =.Company,; for-..the '■ accommodation of -its higher grade.;employees, and the disaster occurred 'just asithe. engineering and ; clerical < staffs'• vloio sittingsd<jwn : to draper.';; Suddenly .a-.loud-.noisevwas :hoard; ; andtwo children rushed into the 'room crying out, "'Aii.'avalanche, :an avalanchoi"; ■ At tlio same uioinont-a violent' rush of-iiir causedby • the fall of tlio enormous »'mass tho'..building,, burying - about -thirty; persons in tlKvrums. which-was also occupied by the local polifco, heeled bver 'to an angle of 45 degrees,-.and'everybody rushed out. j Tho work of rescue was immediately 'commenced by the./workmen .omployed. in tho tunnol aiid. .tho;.inhabitants'.of Goppen,stein.. In all thoro -wero.-'tw.elve dead; two of them children, aiid. fifteeninjured, suffering from broken ■ leijs; contusions, - etc/ -.'■'■■■ •• The dead woro Men to:the hospital'of.:the Works. at .Goppenstein, -and the wounded .to tho-hospital i>.t "BrigUo:"': Among tlio dead is Dr. BpssUs.rbf Geneva; who had only •boon married three weeks. "His wife suffered frominjuries to hor: hoact : arid legs: Tlio (lead also incllldpd-'a'fitter 'iiahlcd Mc'rvart, fifty' yea'fs .named Guillbt. belicved/.to 1 bo of Roueii; , : frho ; Was'' represent' ing a, French.firmj :a!l.d;M:'.Dubrohil, : man,- tho, chief -accountant:: Of ;.the 'injured .. five wero.'sbribuslyvhurt'.-,.'.-;- . ~ A.*,profound -scnsatiQn.'.was-'caused''.among tlio' inhabitants bf Goppohsidiii and:t he' tun--nelinvorkmcff;\' The .tUlinol Hvorki \voto - notdamaged; '.. W;- ■'v,.;;-:' ;>■]p' ;: ~ ■hi Fortunately,-! 'the dii'y ''has-' '^bhb' by I ''when Mitustors can starve tho fleot to stin-o nartv nndiL—'J Militnry ».