The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-07-16

b finally dissolved. Seldom, however however
are there any icebergs met with further
south than 40 dogs. oil north latitude
Even now, when the summer warmth l.
50 hlght, II Is surprising to note how rap.
idly the smaller hergs that drift into the
bays and harbors and get aground dissolve
under tho influence Of the sum rays. As
the summer advances they become very
brittle, and then q slight degree of VIC.
lence Is enough TO rupture them. Should
a vessel be caught between two bergs OF
between q foe and berg in motion, she
could no more resist the pressure than q
wlne.glass the effect Of ball discharged
from On Armstrong gun.
SIZE AND FORM OF TIE BERds.
The majority of bergs that float past
are Of no great size, but occasionally they
are Of vast dimensions. One was report,
ed last year by several captains as half q
mile In length. This might seem an ex.
aggerauon, but one was seen by Ross In
Battin's Bay, the birth place Of the bergs,
two miles and a half long, two miles
wide and fifty feet high, nine times as
much OF Its bulk being under the water
as above It's surfaces Tho weight Of this
iceberg was estimated at q billion and a
half OF tons. The visible portion Of an
iceberg Is only about one.ninth part of the
real bulk OF the whole mass; so that II one
be seen hundred feet high It's lowest
peak may perhaps beS00 feet below the
waves. But am assured that bergs are
frequently seen 200 and 800 feet above
the sea, and these, II their submarine
proportions sank to the maximum depth,
must have reached the enormous total
of2,700 ieet. The bergs are Of all shapes
as well as sizes, sometimes rising into
pointed spires like steeples; sometimes
taking the form Of coniCal hill; some.
times having domcs and pinnacles. They
have been seen bearing the forms Of old
abbeys Paoat with walls and butresSes
Of marble, and Others with Il strik,
ing resemblance TO o crouChing lion.
The most general form, however,
is with one high perpendicular side, the
opposite side very low, and the inferno.
date surface forming q gradual slope.
Some have been seen containing prodi.
gions caVerns, and some with hollows
containing vast accumulations OF snow.
Their appearance is that of chalk cliffs,
with glittering surface and emerald
green fractures. Pools Of azure blue
water lie upon the surface, or fall in cas-.
cades from them. From these reservoirs
vessels often obtain supplies of water ne.
culiarly sweet and agreeable. They are
entirely Of fresh water frozen, and when
opposite Newfoundland have iloated near.
ly two thousand miles from the place Of
their formation.
PERILs OF THE ARCTIC STREAM.
The scene presented during storm BY
these floating ice mountains Is represented
to be peculiarly grand and irightiul, and
woe to the luckless mariner whose vessel
Is caught among them. Doubtless the
several ocean steamers that have been
lost since the days Of the Inflated steamer
President have met their fate in the Arc.
tic stream. That these dangers are not
imaginary may be gathered from the re.
suits Of this seasons operations amid our
ice fields. At this date It is known
that seventeen sailing vessels and three
large steamers have been wrecked and
totally destroyed, and at least fifty seal
hunters have met a watery grave, and
twenty or thirty besides were seriously
injured. Not for half o century has such
a season of peril and destruction of life
and shipping been known. Yours, &c.
C,C,F