Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-08-04
The Size, Shape, and Manners of the
Crystal Mountains Of the Sea.
Icebergs as Contributors to DaTy
Jones' Locker.

There are at least some rules which will
not work both ways. 1t may be their mis-
fortune, but it is fact, and facts are ugly
customers to deal wit. Joys forever are
undoubtedly things of beauty, if you only
look at them in right light, but, on the
other hand, many beautiful things cannot
under any circumstances be regarded as the
possessors of anything like permanent joy
fulness. Take your first-class, well-condi-
toned iceberg for instance. It is very
poetic and magnificent thing to gaze upon,
and to talk about, this dog day weather,
but its practical beauties increase with its
distance from the ship, and by and by the
whole of them give up their weeping ghosts
before the combined influences of the sun
and the Gulf stream.
While the ice montain lasts, however,
and keeps itself out of the benighted
mariners way, it is, undoubtedly, a very
splendid institution, and perhaps is worth
the ecstasies and poetic frenzies that have
been expended over it.
\ FIRST CLASS ICEBERG DEMONSTRATION
At st. Johns, they have recently been
treated to an unusually fine iceberg demon
stratfon by the arrival and stranding Of
four monster fellows, to the ardent graft
fication of all beholders. A correspon-
dent Of Baltimore contemporary writ
ing from the scene, describes it
as having been an unusually fine one. The
entrance to st. Johns, says he, resembles
very much that of the harbor of Havana,
only that the Moro Castle is WANT ng in the
towering rocks to the left. The passage be-
tween these rocks is not more than four
hundred yards in width, and on either
side of the entrance to this narrow
passage stood two immense ice
bergs, stranded here on their passage
down the arctic stream. They were nearly
opposite each other, that On the left side of
the ship being about a hundred yards
further seward. The distance from the
vessel to either of them as we passed in
was not more than 80 feet. After viewing
the first one all hands rushed to the right
side OF the ship to see the other monster,
and when the ship was full abreast of it a
large mass from the top, about so feet in
the air, and weighing probably 100 tons,
cracked and fell into the water with a
tremendous crash, dasbing the sea up
against the side of the steamer, accompanied
by cracking noise like a volley of mus
kerry. No sooner had the establishment at
this sight passed away than the huge noun
tain OF ice began TO rise in the sea and slow
ly commenced to topple over, showing that
its depth under must have been, as the pilot
assured Us, 100 feet, that being the depth of
water at this point. As it toppled over
there appeared to have been small lake of
water collected upon its surface, which
poured over, forming, for a mo-
ment beautiful cascade, as it rushed
down the pure white sides of the iceberg,
deeply tinted with green. Not knowing
whether the motion of the monster would
be rapid or slow, slight tremor of terror
passed over the minds of the beholders, as
its motion was toward the vessel, which
was gliding along within few feet of the
Keeling mountain. In minute, however,
we had passed out of the way of danger,
and as we viewed it from the
stern of the steamer it quietly settled
down again in its own bed, surrounded
by the floating masses of crumbling
Ice that had become disintegrated from il
while turning over. The ground swell
caused by the passage of our steamer so
close to it evidently disturbed its equili-