The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-11-11 00:00:00

THE AMERICAN WHALING FLEET.

The New York journals brought by the Cunard steamer
Russia, brings details of the loss of the New Bedford
whaling fleet in the ice in the North Sea. Out of fourteen
ships twelVe have been abandoned in the ice, and 60 men
and boys have perished. The survivors made their escape
over the ice to two ships which lay on the outside of the
pack, and reached San Francisco on the 21st nit., with intelli-
gence of the disaster. From reports which have been pub-
lished by the captains of th, fleet it seems that toe vessels
had on. board altogether 1 000 pounds of oil, besides a
large amount of whalebone and ivory. It is the opinion of
every master that no hope can be eotertained of the rescue
of the ships or those who remained on board of them. All
are thought to be undoubtedly lost, and carried away to
north-east in the immense ice pack, which closed them in for
miles around. —The AmerLan Correspondent of The limes,
writing from Philadelphia, Oct. 24, gives the following parti-
culars of the disaster :
The American whaling fleet in the Arctic Sea has
suffered a serious disaster, no less than 12 whalers
having been crushed and wrecked in the ice, involving
loss of life and the destruction of at least half a million
dollars' worth of property. The lost vessels were the
Acors Rains, Canal, a, James Allen, Cornelius Howland,
Java, Josephine Marengo, Onward, St. George, Clara
Bell, Arctic, and Desmond. The first intelligence of
the disaster was brought by the whaling bark Florence,
which arrived at San Francisco on October 21, from
the Arctic Ocean, with 190 men belonging to the
wrecked vessels. From the report made, it appears
that the whaling fleet went to Behring Straits last
;spring, and began taking walrus on June b there laeing
plenty of ice and hut few whales. They took as many
walrus as they had casks for, and by the close-of July
had worked as far north as Point Barrow. On July 7
the first disaster happened, the bark Arctic being
oruohed by the ice, the crew escaping to the shore and
afterwards to the hark Onward, whence they were dis-
tributed among the fleet. On August 1 the fleet, then
numbering 14, was at Point Barrow. ITwo of the
vessels did not go north of it, but remained south of it
" walrusing," thus escaping the subsecinent disaster.
These were the Northern Light and Norman. On
August 14 northerly winds broke up the ice, whales
made their appearance, and the fleet was very busy.
This continued for severardays, the ships maneeuvrmg
to keep clear of drifting ice. Finally, a westerly
wind came, which, as the land was east of them,
caused an uneasy feeling. The open space occupied
by the vessels extended seven or eight miles off shore,
but as the wind continued it kept steadily closing. On
Angurst 23 the wind freshened from west•north-west,
and all the shins, excepting the Three Brothers and the
Rainbow, which were archortA at Point Barrow, were
soon surrounded by a drift of ice, and beat to the south
west. The wind in the afternoon began hauling to
the south; still they hoped, before the ice closed in on
them, to reach the open sea, or at least eeeure
shelter under the Sea Horse Islands. But at sunset
their progress was stopped, and next morning a thick
fog set in, the heavy ice-pack reaching along the whole
coast. There was a narrow open strip of water two
miles to leeward, in which some of the ships
were lying. The Clara Bell at this,. time lost
her rudder, and, drifting near shore, anchored behind
a large grounded iceberg, which served as a break-
water, although the ice soon closed around her. The
bark Florence drifting up to Cape Smith, got under
the lee of another grounded iceberg, which saved her.
Two ships and three barks were enclosed by pack ice
that afternoon, and drifted rapidly north-east. The
ship Marengo, setting all sail, got within a few hundred
feet of open water when the ice closed upon her. For
two days the enclosed fleet drifted, the two vessels
that were safe at Point Barrow seeing the distress of
the others, but not being able to render any assistance.
" For two or three days the crews attempted to
make provision for safety by sending boats ashore
with supplies but their success was indifferent. On
August 27 the St. George's men attempted to haul
a boat ashore, but were caught in a fog, and next
day thirteen of them got on board the Rainbow and
Three Brothers at Point Barrow, while the others
regained their own ship, excepting one, who perished.
On the 29th the thirteen men attempted to get
back to the St. George, but they could not reach
her. Two were frk.zen to death on the ice, and
the others were rescued by the Three Brothers. At
this time the ships were all held hopelessly in the
ice, which •was drifting rapidly northesast, until
the two vessels at Point Barrow were no longer
visible. The only hope then was an easterly gale.
At the close of August the crew of the Marengo made
an unsuccessful attempt to get ashore, and then the
masters held a council on the Java. At this council it
was concluded there was no further hope of saving the
vessels, some of which were already badly nipped by
the ice. The vessels altogether had about three months
provisions—not enough to last through the winter.
After a full discussion, no way being seen out of the
difficulty, it was decided that the only method of saving
the lives of all was to reach the land before escape was
impossible' and September 5 was the day chosen for
starting. The ships were then 20 to 30 miles from land,
and opposite the west head of Smith Bay.
"On September 5, all being ready, the signal for
departure was given, eight vessels being abandoned.
The boats had been put in the best possible condition.
The baggage consisted of 25 days' rations of bread and
meat, a change of clothing, and a blanket for each
man, everything else, excepting guns and ammunition,
being left on board. The hope was to find inside of
the grounded ice enough open water to navigate the
boats southward, so as to reach the two ships supposed
;dill to be eutside the pack. The vessels were aban-
doned at 3 p.m. The men first carried their baggage
a half a mile or so ahead, and then returned to drag
alone the boats. The ice was very rough in places,
and boles were encountered covered with thin ice, too
weak to bear a man's weight. Many of the men fell
through, suffering much from cold. The first night
they camped on the ice, about four miles from the
ships. Next day the march was resumed in a blind-
ing snowstorm from the north-east, the prospect being
most discouraging. Several men deserted, returning
towards the Biqa, where numbers of the crews had
remained, refusing to undergo the hardships of
the journey to the land. There were sixty of these
altogether, and of their fate nothing is known. On
September 6 a strip of open water was reached, in
which the boats were launched and pulled towards the
shore. All that day and the next they kept working
through and over the ice, and at eight p.m: en Septem-
ber 7 they reached the land, about two miles west of
Point Tangent. They continued working down the
shore, and at noon on the 9th sighted the Rainbow and
Three Brothers at Point Barrow, reaching them before
night. The ice was all solid beyond these vessels, the
only chance of escape being to drag boats overland to
the open sea—a distance, as was after wares shown, of
.130 miles. Sleds were made, and these t h'
two s +pa
being left, all of the original party started on the
journey; but on reaching Cape Smith the barque
Florence was found, and another consultation held.
It was decided that any attempt to proceed would be
madness, and preparasions were then begun for win-
tering as best they could at Point Barrow. The boats
were got in order for whaling, that Laing the only
resource for food, and work was begun on a house.
"During the night of September 13 the ice began
breaking up before a strong east wind, and next day
the Florence was able to get under way. All hands,
with the baggage, were put on board. They ran down
the coast and found the Clara Bell frozen fast in the
Ice. Her captain said he would stay by her till the 17th,
when, if there was jiO prospect of getting out, he
would leave
.in the boats for clear water, where the
lelosence was to await him. In two days the Florence
made Wainwright'a Inlet and waited therefor the Clara
Bell, and to vet water. On the 18th the Three Brothers
and the Rainbow, which bad crimped from, P. 'rut
-
B ,aro 4,, came down, bringing the Clara ew, t hkt
vessel having been abandoned, since tnere was no hope
of getting her out. Apart Of the people on the
Florence were then put on bostel the Three Brothers,
and a rendezvous appointed at S LAwr,uce B
13.)th arrived on September 23, leaving next day—the
Florence for San Francisco, and her consort for Hone
ltt:u. The 12 lost vessels. belonged,—two ta Sin
Francisco five to New Bedford, two to Boston, one to
New London, and two to Henolulo. They imd, on
board about 1,000 barrels of oil, besides a large amount
of whalebone and ivory. The masters all say.no hope
can be entertained of the rescue either of the ships or
ef those who remained on them."

--
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ft therometer—one of your very bet." SnopkeePer : " This
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quicksilver."—Mrs. Shoddy: "Sliver? That would be very
nice for the kitchen but I want one for my boodoor. Haven't
you one with quick gold r

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