During the record heat and drought of 1921, glaciers in the Alps were rapidly melting and there was a plague of vipers.
HEAT WAVE ON ALPS
DANGER OF MELTING SNOWS.
A PLAGUE OF VIPERS.
(Reuter’s Telegram.)
GENEVA, August 7. Drought has increased the dangers of the Alps.
The rapid melting of the glaciers has softened the snow-bridges over the crevasses, while miniature avalanches are most frequent. Many accidents and several deaths have been reported from the mountains in the past week, and hardly a day passed without tourists having to be extricated from crevasses, sometimes from a depth of fifty feet, or being injured by falling stones.
Another result of the heat has been a plague of vipers on the Lower Alps. Many vinegrowers have been bitten, and now tourists go on excursions and peasants start for work provided with bottles of brandy as an antidote against snake bites.”
10 Aug 1921 – HEAT WAVE ON ALPS – Trove
