Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 January 1894 — Avalanches Produced by Railways [ARTICLE]

Avalanches Produced by Railways

A correspondent to the London Times records a curious and altogether unexpected result of the tunnelling operations in the St. Gothard is a lawsuit instituted by the inhabitants of the adjacent valleys. They s ue the Federal Government sos damages caused by the great increase o£ avalanches which constantly thunder down the mountain side, produced, it i» presumed, by the explosions of dynamite more than by the vibrations of passing: trains in the lower tunnels of the railway. Many witnesses, who have lived in the neighborhood since the early part of the century, will swear to the greatly augmented number and force of the avalanches that now constantly sweep destruction down the mouutain. The firat hearing of this novel case was lately heard before the Federal judges assembled at Bellinzona. We believe there is no instance in this country of ai* avalanche produced by railway service.— [Scientific American.