Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1870-11-16

pushing against them with our ice-poIe
we changed somewhat the course of tn
schooner; but when we thought that w
were steering clear of the mass whicl
we so much dreaded, an eddy changed
the direction OF our drift, and carried u
almost brOadside upon it.
|. The schooner struck on the StarbearC
quarter, and the shock, slight though /
was, disengaged some fragments of ict
that were large enough to have crushed
the vessel had they struck her, and alst
many little Jumps which ratified abou
US; but fortunately no person was hit
The quarterback was quickly cleared
and all hands; crowded forward, anN.
iously watched the boat. The berg now
( began to Tcvolve, and was settling slow
/ Iy over us; the little Jumps fell thicker
and faster upon the quarterback, and
the iOre-casle was the'only place where
there was the least chance of safety.
At length the berg itselfsaved us from
destruction. An immense mass broke
of from that part which was beneath
the surface of the sea, and this, dozen
/ times larger than the schooner, came
rushing up within a few yards Of us,
sending 4 vast volume of foam and wa
ter flying from its sides. The rupture
arrested the revolution, and the berg be-
gan TO settle in the opposite direction.
And now came anOtherd danger. A long
tongue was prOuuding Immediately un-
derneath the schooner; already the keel
was slipping and grinding upon il, aud
IL seemed probable that we should be
tossed up into the air like football, or
at least capsiZed. The side of our en-
emy soon leaned from US, and we were
in no danger from the worse than hail
stone showers which had driven us for
ward; so we sprang to the ice-poles and
eNerted our strength in endeavoring 10
push the vessel of. Danger respect not
the dignity of the quarterback.
After we had fatigued ourselves at
this hard labor without any useful result
the berg came again to our relief. a
loud report first startled us; another and
another followed III quick succession,
until the noise grew deafening and the
whole air seemed reservoir Offrightful
sounds. The opposite side Of the berg
had split of, piece after piece, went
tumbling in vast volumes Office into the
sea, and sending the berg revolving
back upon us, This time the movement
was quicker; fragments began again to
fall, and already sufficiently startled by
the alarming dissolution which had ta-
ken place, we were in mOmentary eX-
pectatiOn of seeing the whole side near
est to MS break loose and crash bodily
upon the schOOneT-in which event she
would inevitably Le carried down be-
meath 1t, as hOpelesSly doomed rs a
shepherds hut beneath the Aldine ava
Ianche.
By this time, Dodge, who had charge
Of the boat succeeded in planting an
ice-anchor and attaching a rope, and
greeted us with the welcome signal:
Haul in We pulled for our lives long
and steadily. Seconds seemed minutes
and minutes hours. At length we be-
gan to move off, Slowly and steadily
sank the berg behind us, carrying away
the main boom and grazing hard against
the quarter. But we We're safe. TWen-
ty yards away, and the disruption occur
red which we had all so much dreaded
The side nearest TO us now split of, and
came plunging wildly down into the sea
sending over us shower of spray, rails
ing swell which set us rocking to and
fro rs i'll q gale of wind, and left us
grinding in the debris of the crumbling
ruin.
At last we succeeded in extricating
ourselves, and were far enough away to
look back calmly upon the object Of our
terror. 1t was still rocking and rolling
like a thing of life, At each revolution
fresh masses were disengaged, and as its
sides came up in long sweeps, great cas-
cades tumbled and leaped from them
Kissing into the foaming sea. After
several hours, it settled down into quie-
tudei a mere fragments of its former
greatness, while the pieces that were
broken from it Goated quietly away
with the tide.