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Show TURTLE MOUNTAIN TOPPLES OVER FRANK VANCOUVER, B. C, April 30. A dispatch from Frank says: ; ? - . A tremendously loud, reverberating-crash reverberating-crash shook the whole valley of the Old Man's river this morning at 4:10 o'clock, and scarcely half the Inhabitants of this town awakened to a realization of the impending danger when from the top of Turtle mountain, overlooking the settlement, there were hurled millions mil-lions of tons of rock. The' Frank mines, operated by the French-Canadian Coal company, across the river from the town, were seen to be burled under hundreds of feet of rock JUst as the morning light was breaking. Inside of five minutes from the first thunderous shock and before half of the town realised what had happened hap-pened a small force of men had started to the relief of the miners, despite the great risk they ran of being buried under the rocks, which were still being be-ing precipitated from the lofty mountain moun-tain top. . Mono Escaped From Death. i The Volunteer relief force was unable to get immediately to the mine, but managed to get near enough to determine deter-mine that not a man who was around the workings or underground had escaped es-caped death: many had been tearfully mangled. The disaster was merciful to those men who were employed above rround In that they must have been j.lled instantly, while those men in the workings of the mine may yet be alive if they have air to breathe. If all the air shafts to the mine were closed up under that awful avalanche, all the men must have died by this afternoon. The disaster was not confined to the vicinity of the mine alone, for many of the dwelling houses In the town of Frank were demolished by the falling rock. Some of the occupants of these . houses escaped death, but many others were instantly killed. More Than 100 Dead. It is conservatively estimated that the loss of life will exceed one hundred, and the latest returns place the number num-ber of dead at 112. At noon today it was impossible to arrive at any accurate accu-rate estimate of the loss of life, as. owing ow-ing to . the excitement and the hurry and rush of people on the streets, no person can say who is missing and who is not. There are no records available which will tell how many men were working in and about the mine at the time ot the disaster. It Is variously reported re-ported that there were from eighteen to fifty miners underground. It is known that many women and children have suffered death, but Just how many j it is impossible to tell at present. When reports concerning the magnitude magni-tude of the disaster and details concerning con-cerning it commenced to come in from reliable men who had been out prospecting pros-pecting for news, it developed that the jearth opened up for three-quarters of a tnlle in length and many feet in width, and that the whole northern face of Turtle mountain slipped from place. The shock resultant upon the precipitation precipi-tation of the millions of tons of rock into the valley, while only actually demolishing de-molishing a comparatively few of the houses, so shookvthe foundations of the majority of the dwellings in the town that they are unsafe to live In and many hundreds of people will have to live, in the open or under such temporary tem-porary shelter as may be procurable before nigh trail. Bailroad Tracks Disappear. The railroad track for. a distance of .two miles or more east of the station 1 is covered with from ten to forty feet of rock, and the telegraph wires to the east are down. All communication is being conducted over one wire running westward and, this one line is so blocked with private messages and inquiries in-quiries from the outside that it is only with the greatest difficulty that press matter can be sent out. At dusk today rock Is still being thrown from the top of Turtle mountain moun-tain and It Is impossible to venture within half a mile of the mine workings. work-ings. It is now nearly certain that eighteen men are burled in the workings. work-ings. All hope for them has been abandoned. aban-doned. The streets are crowded with the relatives and friends of those known to be entombed. The women are behaving be-having in a mast heroic manner. Case of Eruption. It Is generally thought here that the disruption of Turtle mountain was brought about by a seUn-.ic disturbance, although there are people who claim that the origin of the upheaval was volcanic. I No lava has: been seen, and aside from the smoke of the disintegrating rock, the atmosphere is perfectly clear. There is, however, no explanation for the continued upheaval of rock. The eruptive influences seem to center right at the crowji of Turtle mountain. The latest theory this evening of the cause of the disaster Is that it was due to a rock slide, which carried the top of Turtle mountain down upon the village vil-lage below. It is now thought that 1 what was supposed to be the smoke of a volcano was dart, and that the continued con-tinued fall of small bits of rock during the day was merely the aftermath of the original rock slide. A repetition of the calamity is now considered unlikely. un-likely. . , |