ST. BERNARD HOSPICE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 153, 25 March 1938, Page 3

ST. BERNARD HOSPICE

Struck By Avalanche It was revealed last month that the famous Hospice of St. Bernard was struck by two avalanches' during a hutricane which raged in the Alps for several days. The hospice stands at a height ot 8114 ft. on the Great St. Bernard Pass, close to the Swiss-Italian frontier. Thirty-seven monks live there will: their famous St. Bernard dogs, which have saved hundreds of lives. They were cut off from the outside world for days.

Father Depri, speaking on the Con tinental telephone from the hospice, described the avalanches to a representative of “The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post.”

• He said that some of his brothermonks, who had wanted to go out in the snow just before the avalanches occurred, had been saved from death by the refusal of the dogs. “We were trying to' get the dogs to move,” he said, “when there was a tremendous crash. There were two avalanches, one after another. “The fall on the Swiss side is 1300 yards wide. If the monks had gone out they would certainly have been overwhelmed. Their lives were saved by the marvellous instinct of the dogs. “Many of our windows were smashed and three doors were crushed in by the weight of the snow. Some of the rooms were-, filled with snow.

“We had to take sledges, drawn by the dogs, down to the valley to fetch food. It was terribly difficult to get through, even on skis, and several times the sledges were overturned.