Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1889 — THE PANGS OF HUNGER. [ARTICLE]

THE PANGS OF HUNGER.

Perhaps the most remarkable instance of imprisonment in the snow of a descending avalanche occurred in the hamlet of Bergoletto, in the valley of the upper Stura, at the foot of the Alps, near the fortress of Demonte, in Piedmont. Three persons survived an incarceration of five weeks. It was in the Winter of 1755, when the fall of enow had been so heavy that there was danger that its weight would break through the roofs of the houses. On the 19th of March, therefore, some of the people tried to avoid the danger by removing the snow from their housetops. Among those so engaged was a man named Eoccia, and his son, a lad of 15. The village clergyman was at this time leaving his house for his church, when he saw two avalanches descending. Calling to Eoccia and his son, he returned speedily to his own dwelling. Father and son instantly fled toward the church. They had not run more than forty yards when the lad fell close behind his father, who, turning around to assist his son, was seized with horror on seeing that his own house and the houses of his neighbors Were buried beneath an enormous pile of snow. His earthly all was swallowed up—his wife, sister, children, gone! The shock overcame him, and he fainted. His son soon recovered, and helped his father to the house of a friend; but he was five days before he was sufficiently restored to make any exertions in seeking his lost ones. When, after five weeks of incessant labor, they were delivered, the imprisoned women were too weak to move, and were shrunk almost to skeletons. With great tenderness they were removed to the house of a friend, where they were put to bed and nursed 'with care and affection. The daughter recovered soonest, and the unmarried woman was able to walk in a week or two; but Eoccia’s wife, who had been in a more cramped position than the rest, was the last to regain the use of her limbs; and her eyes were ever affected with dimness, from beiug suddenly brought out of her prison into the light of day. We give a description of their imprisonment from the lips of Eoccia’s wife. When the dire calamity befell them, she was in the stable with her sister. They had gone there with some rye-flour gruel for one of the goats. Boccia’s daughter and a younger son were Avith the women, standing in a corner among the animals, waiting for the sound of the bell to go to church. In the stable were a donkey, six goats And half a dozen fowls. Boccia’s wife was about to leave the stable to go to her own house. Scarcely had she reached the stable door, when phe

heard the warning voice of the ipinister. Looking up, she saw the descending avalanche, and heard a sound as of another at some little distance. She hurried back into the stable and told her sister and the children. In a few minutes (he snow descended upon the building, crushing in the roof and part of the ceiling. To save themselves they got into the rack and manger, the latter being under the main posts of the building, and therefore able to bear the immense pressure. They occupied, however, a very uncomfortable posture, crouching against the wall in a space only a little more than a yard in breadth. They had escaped instant death, but the more gainful and lingeiing death by famine seemed certainly to await them. They were oppressed with the thought of how they could subsist under such circumstances. The children did not lose heart; they said they had had breakfast, and conld do very well until the next morning. The aunt had a few chestnuts in her pocket, and two each of these served for their supper, with snow water as a beverage. In the bake-house near the stable was the whole product of yesterday’s baking. They made repeated attempts' to force their way through the snow to the’bake-house, blit all in vain. There "wast only one recourse left, and that was the goat. This stipply seemed invaluable. On the second day they felt the pangs of hunger; they divided the remaining chestnuts among them, and also a quart of goat’s milk. The third day they made another attempt to get to the bake-house; but the weight of the snow' was too much for them, so they gave up all hopes of help from that direction. They were therefore shut up to the milk of the one goat. To feed the goats was now one great object. Over the manger where thev lay was a hole into the hayloft; through

this hole they pulled down the fodder into the rack; and when they could no longer reach it, the sagacious creatures climbed upon their shoulders and helped themselves. At the end of the first week, the boy began to sink. He had complained of great pain in his stomach. His mother nursed him in her lap for a whole week, when he desired to lie his length in the manger. His hands and lips were cold, and liis respiration feeble. His mother put a little milk to his lips, but he could not take it;' then, with one tender cry, “Oh, my father in the snow! Oh, father, father!” he expired. Througli the whole of their imprisonment they were in total darkness, For nearly three weeks the crowing of the cock enabled them to distinguish night from day; but at the end of this term chanticleer died, and his companions followed him one by one. Then they literally took “no note of time.” The donkey and the goats were restless for some time, but at length they fell a prey to hunger and exhaustion. The milk of the first goat gradually diminished, but the kidding of the second increased the supply, and as they killed the kid, though with great reluctance, the supply held out until the day of their deliverance. The poor goat became a great solace to them, as it was so tame as to lick their hands and face. The poor creature was ever afterward an object of great affection in the family’.

We need only add one or two interesting facts. During their five weeks’ imprisonment they suffered very little uneasiness from hunger after the first week. The effluvia from the dead animals was far more disagreeable, as also the vermin which infested the place, and the great coldness of the snow water which trickled over them. The constrained position was also a source of great misery. During the whole of the time, Mrs. Eoccia had no sleep, but her daughter and sister had intervals of repose equal to their nightly rest. Their deliverance was a matter of great thankfulness to all concerned; and many a winter’s evening was spent in relating around their humble hearth the sufferings, the mercies, and deliverance of that eventful time.