1936 — Nov 22, Landslides (2), Mount Roberts debris into apt. bldgs. Juneau, AK — 15
–15 AP. “Another Landslide.” The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, 12-1-1936, p. 1.
–14 AP. “Juneau Toil Reaches 14.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 11-29-1936, p. 5.
–14 Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd Ed.). 2000, p. 94.
Narrative Information
Gottehrer: “Nov. 22, 1936. An avalanche slid down Mount Roberts onto Juneau streets, destroying four buildings, causing extensive debris, killing 14 and injuring nine.” Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd Ed.). 2000, p. 94.)
Newspaper
Nov 23: “Juneau, Nov. 23.–One woman is dead, seven persons are known to be missing and nine are in the hospital suffering serious injuries as the result of two avalanches of mud, logs and rocks which last evening roared down the mountainside back of Juneau and buried apartment houses, dwellings and stores under tons of debris. The dead woman was Mrs. Gus Erickson. Her body was found crushed behind a stove in her frame home.
“The known missing are:
Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Peterson, who were in the two-story concrete Peterson Building.
Peter Bateelo of the North Transfer Company, who was dining with friends in the Nickinovich Apartments.
Mrs. Fred Matson, wife of a jeweler, who conducted the Matson Rooming House.
Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Bodine and son, occupants of apartments in the Nickinovich Apartment House.
“While the known missing are placed at seven, Chief of the Fire Department, V. W. Mulvihill says they may possibly reach 25….
“When the first slide occurred, firemen and an army of other men, together with members of the crew of the United States Coast Guard cutter Tallapoosa, which is in port, rushed to the scene and immediately set about the task of removing oozing mud, broken timbers and jagged rocks which had engulfed two apartment houses, a lodging house, several small frame dwellings and the Peterson store.
“Light and power lines were put out of commission, and automobiles and fire truck headlights were turned on the area of disaster.
“The first slide was soon followed by a second slide, which was worse. The second slide cut a swath 100 feet wide and ranged from 10 to 40 feet deep.
“The slides tore down the mountainside through a district in the vicinity of Gastineau Avenue and Ewing Street. They stopped just short of the Juneau Cold Storage Company’s warehouse on the bay side of Front Street.
“Torrential rains since last Saturday caused the slides.” (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK. “Woman Killed, 7 Missing, in Juneau Slides.” 11-23-1936, p. 1.)
Nov 24: “Juneau, Alaska, Nov. 24.–CP–Five bodies were dug out of the debris of Sunday’s mountain landslide and rescue crews redoubled efforts today, believing perhaps a dozen others still are buried under the mud and rock.
“First fire, then rain hampered the 150 rescue workers. As they toiled, the first actual accounts were heard of the rumbling side which, loosed by heavy downpours, rolled down on Juneau’s apartment house sector, crumbling structures.
“The unverified death list stood at six or seven, with 10 injured in hospitals and 13 missing. Coast guardsmen from the cutter Tallapoosa, in a message to district headquarters at Seattle, reported digging out five dead persons, including a woman and a baby. The Juneau Daily Empire counted five, without mentioning the baby. Mayor Isadore Goldstein said it would be several days before the number of dead would be known….” (Canadian Press, Juneau. “Recover 5 Bodies From Juneau Slide.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. 11-24-1936, p. 2.)
Nov 25: “By the Associated Press….Three-year-old Lorraine Vanali, entombed two days in debris from a Juneau, Alaska avalanche, died soon after her rescue. Nine others were believed missing in the wreckage. Lorraine’s death was the seventh.” (AP. “32 Persons Die in U.S. Disasters.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. 11-25-1936, p. 5.)
Nov 26: “Juneau, Alaska, Nov. 26.–(AP)–With 11 bodies recovered, business men, laborers and miners joined today in digging through wreckage of Sunday’s great landslide, hoping to find five persons believed still buried. The bodies of Mrs. George Lee and Mrs. Lena Peterson were found in the ruins of the Nickinovich apartment last night an the body of Oscar Laito, Sitka, Alaska, was found in a wrecked rooming house.
“The other eight persons who met death in the landslide, 100 feet wide and 10 to 40 deep, were Mrs. Gus Erickson; Mr. and Mrs. James Hoag and Mrs. Hoag’s son, Forrest Beaudin; Mrs. Joe Vanali and her daughter, Lorraine, 3; unidentified girl about 14, and Pete Batteo.
“Missing were Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Peterson, Mrs. Fred Matson, Joe Vanali and Mrs. James Roma.” (AP. “Eleven Bodies Are Recovered.” Ogden Standard-Examiner. 11-26-1936, p. 8.)
Nov 27: “Juneau, Alaska, Nov 27.–(AP)–Thirteen bodies of the 16 persons believed to have died in Sunday’s great landslide had been found today, as rescue crews wearily attacked the mass of mud, rock and timbers to recover the other three. Two bodies, believed those of Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Peterson, were found late yesterday in the ruins of the Peterson building, one of more that a dozen structures demolished when dirt, loosened by a day’s steady rain, fell down a mountainside onto a section of the city.
“The three still missing were Mrs. Fred Matson, believed in the ruins of her boarding house; Joe Vanali, whose wife and three-year-old daughter were killed; and Mrs. James Roma, both of whom were in the Nickkinovich apartments.” (AP. “Thirteen Bodies Found at Juneau.” The Centralia, Washington, Daily Chronicle.” 11-27-1936, p. 5.)
Nov 28: “Juneau, Alaska, Nov. 28 (AP).–The known dead in the earth slide here last Sunday was increased to 14 today with the recovery of two more bodies. They were believed to be those of Mrs. Fred Marson and Joe Vanali, the only persons listed as missing.” (AP. “Juneau Toil Reaches 14.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 11-29-1936, p. 5.)
Nov 30: “Juneau, Alaska, Nov 30. –(UP)–Juneau began rebuilding today from the debris of a catastrophe landslide which claimed 12 lives and obliterated a section of the town’s best residential district. The new residential district, however, will be safe from similar avalanches. Charles Waynor announced purchase of 46 acres on the outskirts which he will subdivide for the new home district.
“A relief fund for homeless persons has swelled to $1800 and new contributions were arriving hourly.
“Two persons, Joe Giovanelli and Mrs. Fred Matson, still were listed as missing. Their bodies still were believed buried.” (UP. “Rebuilding in Juneau Began.” The Times and Daily News Leader, San Mateo, CA. 11-30-1936, p. 4.)
Dec 1: “Juneau, Alaska, Dec. 1 (AP) — Another landslide caused concern today in the Juneau residential sector where an avalanche last week rolled down from a rain-washed mountainside, killing 15 persons. The slide yesterday occurred just above the point of the fatal one but it did no damage.” (AP. “Another Landslide.” The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, 12-1-1936, p. 1.)
Dec 3: “Juneau, Alaska, Dec. 3.–(AP)–The recent earth slides’ death toll reached 15 today when Mrs. William Lott succumbed to injuries received when she was crushed by the debris….” (AP. “15th Death Occurs.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 12-3-1936, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “15th Death Occurs.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 12-3-1936, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-daily-chronicle-dec-03-1936-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “32 Persons Die in U.S. Disasters.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. 11-25-1936, p. 5. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lethbridge-herald-nov-25-1936-p-5/?tag
Associated Press. “Another Landslide.” The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, 12-1-1936, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2017. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-news-dec-01-1936-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “Eleven Bodies Are Recovered.” Ogden Standard-Examiner, UT. 11-26-1936, p. 8. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ogden-standard-examiner-nov-26-1936-p-8/?tag
Associated Press. “Juneau Toil Reaches 14.” Syracuse Herald, NY. 11-29-1936, p. 5. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-herald-nov-29-1936-p-5/?tag
Associated Press. “Thirteen Bodies Found at Juneau.” Centralia, Washington, Daily Chronicle.” 11-27-1936, p. 5. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-daily-chronicle-nov-27-1936-p-5/?tag
Canadian Press, Juneau. “Recover 5 Bodies From Juneau Slide. Crew Fears Dozen More Victims May be Underneath.” Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. 11-24-1936, p. 2. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lethbridge-herald-nov-24-1936-p-2/?tag
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK. “Woman Killed, 7 Missing, in Juneau Slides.” 11-23-1936, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fairbanks-daily-news-miner-nov-23-1936-p-1/?tag
Gottehrer, Dean M. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised and 2nd edition). Fairbanks, Alaska: Epicenter Press, 2000. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=O53zwdFYTGEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
United Press. “Rebuilding in Juneau Began.” The Times and Daily News Leader, San Mateo, CA. 11-30-1936, p. 4. Accessed 9-3-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-mateo-times-nov-30-1936-p-4/?tag