Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-04-14

From the New York Herald
In the chronicles of modern naviga-
tors no record is to be found of such
scenes in the North Atlantic ocean as
those witnessed by the passengers and
crew of the Hamburg steamship CHM
bria, recently arrived at this port. Ice
burgs and fields of ice of unprecedent-
ed extent have been discovered lying
directly in the track of all the European
vessels plying to the United States. On
the 10th of March the steamer Cimbria
sailed from Hamburg, having on board
4S3 passengers and the German mails.
She called at Havre on the 18th, taking
100000 francs in gold from French
merchants. The steamship with her
precious freight turned westward, and
everything went we'll until the afternoon
of the 18th, when a shapeless, glsten-
ing mass was seen rising above the hor.
ison little to the southwark of the YES
sells course. 1t WAS then o'clock, and
in a moment all the passengers rushed
to the upper deck amid cries of "Ice-
bergs ahead."
Slowly the dim glacier doomed up be-
fore them, and in short time it stood
directly to the left. It was an iceberg,
miniature island. diversified by curved
outlines of formation and bold with
edges of ragged shape. Its height was
about $50 feet, its depth beneath the
surface must have been nearly half
mile; it was 400 feet in length, and
covered a surface area Of seven acres.
High above the upper surface rose
solitary pile of the frozen mass, re-
sembling the ruined tower. of a castle
on the Rhine. It's location was in lati-
tude 45 deg. 35 min. north, longitude
{from Greenwich 46 deg. and 81 min.
west. The steamer did not venture
nearer to it than three miles. After the
sun went down and just AS the moon
rose, at about s o'clock, another scene
presented itself on the bosom of the sur
rounding sea. The whole surface for
miles ahead, and on the right hand and
the left, was completely covered by a
white field OF ice, smashed at intervals
by the rising of the waves. The lele-
scope was pointed forward, but far away
to the horizon no interruption of the
field could be discerned. Capt. Brand
and Mr.. Messtorff, the chief officer,
rushed upon the bridge, and the former
Immediately called out, "Slow down
and turn her to SOUTH The vessel &C
cordingly was veered, and the south
ward journey began with hopes of
rounding the dangerous element, and
finding a clear passage ere long. In the
meantime all the passengers were ON
deck, most of them not seeming to real
re the danger tha5 was at hand. AS the
Cimbria sailed on, with the helmsmen
eagerly awaiting hasty commands, and
the sailors keeping sharp lookout, the
TO no of lITo
grandeur Nothing could be seen but
an immense and solid sheet of ice,
whitened with snow and frozen foam,
made ghostly by the gloomy rays of the
rising moon. No sound was audible
save the thump, thump, of the screw,
the noise of the sur les that broke against
the polar field, and the frequent crash
of the great cakes that crumbied over
the rolling erests beneath. For several
hours the same spectacle was witnessed
the vessel ploughing southwark all the
while. No material break was observ-
able, and the field lay to the southwark
as far as the eye could penetrate. At
length the commander despaired of OBJ
tanning break to the south, and. with
a startling courage, he ordered the ship
to be turned westward once again, and
OUT TlguL GuCOUS11 Guo ICo.
The passengers remarked quite COM
posed, deeming the circumstances COM
mon occurrences of ocean travel. The
heavy iron prov of the Cambria was
soon heard crashing through the cakes,
which were from two to three feet in
thickness; and this course was pursued
under the moonlight until o'clock
next morning, when tie blue waters
once again rose to view, and IN short
time the danger was over, The vessel
had run sixty miles southwark and
seventy miles eastward before she be-
came disentangled from the dangerous
meshes of the ice snare. Had the
weather been foggy the difficulties Of
escape would have been tenfold in
creased.
From the dimensions of the vast area
covered by the ice, as recorded by the
officers of the ship, the amount of sur
face covered thereby must have exceed
ed 5000 square miles, and there is no
telling but the field may have extended
as much more TO the north and to the
south. Ii SO, the ice musthave covered
an area far greater than that occupied
by the state of New Jersey, and it
probably was over 2, 900, 900 acres. The
position OF the shlp on leaving the
field was longitude 40 deg; lati-
tude A deg. On the evening OF the
Goth, at O'Clock, another iceberg was
passed In latitude 43 deg. % min, long
itude 81 deg. rs min. 1t was compare
lively small, being only twenty-five feet
over the water and 1000 square feet in
surface area. After the encounters al
ready narrated, the Cimbria, on the
afternoon Of the 2lst, passed through a
terrific storm, with heavy winds from
the north and tremendous sea from
the southwest This swell had been oc-
casioned by cyclone, through the cir
conference of which the steamship
Holsatia passed six hours previously.
While many theories may be advanced
as to the locality from which the ice
came, and many conjectures formed
about the CIRCUMSTANCES which led to
9.nr Ef 1St~1l