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Show through the diffused, eerie light in front of them. His bed in the commissary had been next to a wall whose lower part was of rock. The rock held and the slide swept over the top of it, leaving him in a cave. Clad only in pajamas, he chipped his way out through the packed mass with a board. The effort had exhausted him, and he was stowed between the mattresses with the other man. At dawn, the wind rose again but the searchers made one more trip. As one of them paused to catch his breath, he thought he heard someone moaning. It was H. J., six feet down. Just as he had been drifting asleep, he had again heard that crackling noise. This time he realized the sound was caused by feet and started not moaning, but yelling at the top of his lungs. The searchers dug through six feet of snow with their hands to rescue H. J. Full daylight had come, but snow was falling heavily. Suddenly the dog Karhu stumbled into sight, no one knows from where. He had been deafened and blinded by the avalanche. After thawing out a little, H. J. insisted that they divide between them such spare clothing as they could find. H. J. tied some gunny- sacks around his own feet, some towels around his body and head, and prayed a little. Soon they were all cold and as dazed as the dog. Help was not likely to come; the telephone had been down for several days and they could find no trace of blacksmith and his wife. In their condition, another night at 12,000 feet might be fatal. Giving up, they stumbled in a blurred and forgotten ordeal of exhaustion down the mountain to Telluride. The first rescue party that started back up to look for the Rajalas failed to reach the Black Bear mine. The searchers in the second party probed four days with long steel rods, finding only debris. Finally someone noticed a strand of green yarn and recalled the cook's knitting. They followed it into the snow and up through a splintered hole in what had been the floor of a room. The bed was there, upright, even the covers undisturbed. Everything looked natural, until the searchers realized that the first thrust of the avalanche must have carried the pair up against the roof, where a broken beam had crushed the tops of their heads. COMMENTS This account is based on a magazine article written from a personal interview with foreman H. J. Several interesting points are found in the report, such as the yarn leading the rescuers to the two victims; protection afforded by pieces of the buildings; the vivid description from H. J. of his ordeal while buried; the sound decision of H. J. to scatter the people in the building; and the survival of the dog. Rescuers should not give up the search until it is certain no hope is left or until conditions make further search impossible. This is especially true when buildings are involved. 10 |