The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-09-05
THE ICEBERGS OF THE At
LANTIC.
where they Come from and How
Oh }4yfu they Grow.

Where they Come from anu huW
,oiI laDifp they Grow.
Scenes on the Newfoundland Banks.
corrsslptoDds1es Qr tie N 7. Fo't
81. JOINS, N. F., August II 1870.
Asa nice cool topic this hot weather !
begin with Icebergs There are still some
Of these lonely wanderers OF the deep VS.
ible from tue hills that overlook our liar:
boz, The great OceNn-riVer from the afnC
regions that rushGs along our coasts bears
on its broad bosom thousands OF iCebergs
and tcehows. Seldom, If ever, have they
been so numerous as during the early part
of the present summer. From the top Of
Signal Hill I have often counted forty Or
fifty Of their glittering submits In sight at
the same moment. The entrance Of St
Johns harbor Is very narrow, being form.
ed by cleft in q wall ofroCk six hundred
feet In height; and Mt the mouth there Is
not much more than space for two large
vessels to pass one another.
One morning in June Of this year we
were rather startled to find two huge ice;
bergs had taken up their station during
the night, one on each side oFthe entrance
Of the harbor, leaving barely room for
ships too pass between them. There
stood the big ice giants, grimly scowling
at one another across the mouth Of the
.batbor. They had both grounded; and
had they formed q junction we should
havo been as Theoretically sealed as If q
blockading squadron had taken its POSI-
ton of the "Narrows," One Of the bergs
was about twice the size Of Westminster
Abbey, and had domesG spires, .pinnaclcs
the highest peak being at least two
hundred feet above tho surface OF the
water.
The size of the enormous mass nlay,b be
imagined when we take into account that
mine. tentls are beneath the surface, The
other was much larger, but not 50 LOFTY or
distinguished in appearance. The sight
presented by both from the top Of Signal
Hill, six hundred feet in height, was Won
drously beautiful. The green waves
lcaping fur up their sides and falling back
with sullcn growl, and the bright sum.
Emer sun CHANGING along their dazzling
white SUBMITS, and bringing into view
thor: fantastic carvings and gllttering
peaks. l never wearied Of the sight, and
went again and again,to gaze, ut early
morning and when the soft rays Of the
moon lighted up the scene, and The
shadows OF the great rocks added
grandeur and solcnlnity to the view. BY
and blythe rays of thesun began to tell on
1.-THE ice;giants II Streams Of water trickled
down their sides; here and there tower
EloOsencd by their warmth fell with sudden
plunge into the ocean; projecting mass
from the broad shoulders Of tho taller
giant shared the same fate, making the
water in the harbor swell and rush upon
tho shore, asit q storm were brewing out
side. .gnuI. .gF Hi" 4.
AT length, after stay Of six weeks, q
spring tide and,an off.shore wind carried
away one of our. visitors, and soon alter
tic other, finding the loneliness unendu'
rable, also took It's departure. Resuming
their lonely journey, they would slowly
plough their way to the neighborhood Of
the Banks, where, meeting with the warm
cr water Of the Gulf stream, and cncoun'
tering q higher temperature in the atmos'
phere, their destruction would! be COM
pleted. Shorn Of all their glittering glOries
and shattered into fragments that would
strcw the ocean far and wide, they would
melt in the great deep, dropping their
cargoes of rocks and other spells torn from
the bowels of the Arctic mountains, TO help
in building up the new islands that shall
one day rise above the waves where now
stand the submarine banks of NeWfound-
land. ...,
1t rarely happens, I belivc, that ice
bergs font further south than the latitude
oil the banks. Tho Arctic current, on
which they arc borne, here encounters the
force of the Gulf stream, as 1t turns cast
ward towards Europe, and Of course Its
speed is much reduced; and at tho same
time the increased warmth relaxes the
joints and dissolVes the masses OF these
rowing frOst-giants. ii. m
BIRTH OF AN ICEBERG. .,..
The icebergs that drih along our shores
are formed on the coast Of Greenland or
on those Of Baffln's and Hudson's bays;
and require from six to twelve months to
reach these attitudes, so slow is their pro.
greSs. The larger bergs are all land for:
nations, having their origin fur up amid
the Arctic mountains, where for ages they
arc slowly reared, pushed seward, and,
like ship, at length launched on their
destined clement. The glacier is, in fact,
tue parent Of the iceberg. Tho como oil
ice and snow which covers tho higher part
OF these Arctic ranges sends down into
each of the divcrging valleys long,
sluggish stream Office, with motion SO
slow as TO be impcrccptible.
Kane discovered on the Greenland coast
u gigantic specimen Of these glaciers, the
largest known to exist, extending for sixty
miles along tile shore, and having per.
pendiculnr Jfr6nt Of three hundred feet
He named IL tho Great Glacier Humboldt
and no doubt it Is the parent Of many
thousands, of the icebergs that pass along
here. Tho great propelliDg power behind
Iorces the masses onward into the
deep sea, so that its margin Il
lined with IN enormous crystal pre-
cipice. For time this ice.clitf overhangs
the waves, whose tides gradually wear
away its base, and at length the crisis
comcs-an iceberg is about TO have birth
A noise louder than thunder is heard
The ice mountain snaps asunder, and the
detached mass comes grinding, crushing
down, the ice.giants leaps into the waves
that start buck. as II in terror Mt his up
proach, fling up clouds Of spray, and mad
iy toss themselves, rs if in agony, high
upon the shore The young ice monster
dives as he touches the waves, rises SLOW
by, the water streaming from his huge
sides, and tumbles repeatedly as he tries
TO secure his balance. ~. ...,... ,..,. ,