HOW THE BABY WAS SAVED.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume V, Issue 46, 15 November 1890, Page 19

HOW THE BABY WAS SAVED.

Two men were killed, and a woman and a baby were for a time buried under the snow. The woman was protected by some part of her wiecked house, and was no sooner dug out than she began to call for her child, of whom nothing sate lie seen. Soon some one said, • I hear a baby’s voice.' Everybody listened, and several asserted that they could hear a' faint cry. They agreed that it seemed to come from above—up on the side of the mountain. Nothing was to be seen in that direction but a coni|>act mass of snow, but in a few minutes men were scattered over the slope near where the demolished dwellings were supposed to have stood. The faint cries of a child were still beard at intervals, and after what seemed a long time the spot from which they proceeded was fixed upon with reasonable certainty, ami digging was begun. The snow was so compact that it was difficult to remove it with shovels, but the men dared not use their picks, not knowing how near the snrt'ace the baby might be. Al! the while the ciowd of bystanders and labourers was growing larger, and the cries were becoming more distinct. At last, when about four feet of snow had been dug through, the top of a cooking stove was reached. The voice was then heard so plainly that several persons cried out together, ‘lt is in the stove !’ ‘ The child is in the stove !’ As soon as possible one of the men thrust down his hand, but the oven door was shut, and the same proved to be true on the other side. The mystery was not solved till rhe workers got down tofloor of the house. Then it was found that the baby was nnder the stove, whence it was hauled out safe ami sound. Doubtless it had l>een crawling about the floor at the moment the avalanche came, and with the first rush of the snow was pushed under the stove, which, fortunately, stood on blocks several inches in height.