Tonopah Daily Bonanza

WATCHMAN LOST IN A SNOWSLIDE

SEARCHING PARTY FIND NO TRACE OF MISSING POWER COMPANY MAN

"The line looks bad below here. I am afraid there will be a slide soon."

These were the last words spoken by Victor Slaughter, watchman for the Nevada-California Power company at Lake Sabrina, says the Owens Valley Herald.

This was on Thursday of last week. Slaughter called up the power company to make his daily report. Since that time nothing has been heard from him, and it is believed that his body lies buried beneath hundreds of tons of snow in the canyon below the lake. When Slaughter failed to make his daily report over the telephone Superintendent Kennedy organized a searching party and attempted to reach the lake, but the worst storm known in the Sierras for many years prevented. Tuesday Lester Gunter started alone from the Bishop creek mine and succeeded in reaching the missing man's cabin. He found it deserted and cold. Everything was in place but Slaughter's skis. Wednesday Kennedy sent to Bishop for Tom Keys, a trapper and a man who knows the mountains like a book, to head a searching party. Keys is still in the mountains, but has discovered no trace of the missing man. With him are Lester and Hans Gunter. It is believed that Slaughter lost his life in one of several slides which occurred during a storm at a point about one-half mile below the lake. In the canyon where the body is thought to lie there is over 100 inches of snow.

As far as known Slaughter has no relatives in this part of the country. He came from Texas and had mining claims in the Ballarat country.