The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-05-20
cEnrr.s OF n II E


r,xp-rwo VESSELS SUNK AND oTHEEs
p.NAGgp-INrEREsriNG OBSERVATIONS BY
A CAPTAIN.
IRON the New York Tribunel
Tar q month nearly all The ocean steam.
xhi,s and many OF the sailing vessels which
have crossed the Banks OF Newfoundland
hsye renorted encountering immense fields
- nsck.ice and towering iccbergs. Several
vessels have been damaged by contact with
,hc lce. and two steamships from this port
have recently arrived in Europe having sus.
lined injury 10 their hulls from the ice.
Tb ice. fields are reported a. varying great
lv In extent, and the icebergs rs vary.
inc in size from 80 feet in height and
1o0 feet IN length 10 four and five times
hose dimensions. rs an iceberg on The
,yerage shows only one-elghth OF It's mass
above water. and the weight OF a cubic foot
i equal TO SO pounds. the weight OF an ice
her Of = given size may be approximately
compn,ed. Take, for Instance. one Of the
nine lcrgs passed by the British steamship
Iepanio on May ON on the Baaks Of New
fonndland. This is reported as l50 feet In
height, one and one~hsli miles in length,
ond half a mile in breadth. III this Was OF
recnlar form. the cnbical contents above
water would be 3.465, 6O0,0 900 feet, and sub
merged "a. 259. 200, 600 feet, making the eS,f-
mated weight 697, 1852. 900 tons. This weight
nav seem improbable. but there are in
stances on record where larger icebergs
have been seen from the deck Of vessel.
DISASTERS.
Among The disasters TO ocesn-vessels du-
ring The last two months from ice on the
Ranks Of Newfoundland the following are
the most important: The steamship Fern
vile. from West Hartlepool, England. for
Boston, was cut into by the ice on March
06h. and sunk, the crew being rescued 4 few
hours atterward. The spanish steamship
Vi>caino. from Halifax for Antwerp, was
broken in by the ice on April Sts, and sunk.
The steamship Rhiwindda, from New York
for Cardiff, encountered fields OF ice Tor
one hundred and eighty miles on the Banks
on March 25th and Goth, and passed more
than one hundred icebergs; her bows were
broken in, and her forward compartment
WAS filled with water. The steamship Thin
valla. from Shields, England, for New York.
lost her pioaeller in The ice, and was lowed
into Boston May 9TH. The steamship Cos
monoItan also lost one Of the blades Of her
propeller by striking the ice on April 18Th.
Other steamships haze been caught in The
ice.helds aud DELAYED for several hours on
their passage. S~aiIing-yeSsels have been
DELAYED a much longer time lately by being
clughi IN the ice.
WHERE II ICEBERGS CONF FROM.
Ice and icebergs appeared on the Banks
of Newfoundland earlier this season than
uSusl. They are most commonly met IN
the early pant Of the summer, after the ces-
sstion Of northerly gales. which drive them
from their location in the latter part of
March or April. The iccbergs come chiefly
from Greenland, being formed by rivulets,
etc. The vast ice-fields seen upon the
Banks are brought there by the currents Of
the sea and the wind. They come mostly
from The coast Of Labrador, and are parts
Of the fields which are formed during the
long winter in the great bays and inlets OF
tie Labrador coast. ice5erGS are continual
" changing their line OF floating, owing in
part 10 the breaking off Of pieces OF The
upper mass and the melting away OF the
submerged portion. Their motion Is
always slow, and accidents can rarely hap
pen frOmthem 10 prudent mariners. At this
season Of the year they are brought down
by the northern winds. They float along
the Banks OF Newfoundland, and, finally,
striking the wrmer waters OF the Gull
stream, soon disappear. The movement OF
field Of ice is ACCOMPANIED by much crast-
ing. and is often Obscured by a dense fog,
through which rise the tops o, the bergs.
On two occasions during the Arctic cruise
Of the Juniata in the Polaris-Search EXpe-
ditiOn that vessel barely escaped destruc-
tion by icebergs. One OF these was in the
middle OF July, 1873. During a dense fog
at midday, off Cape Farewell, Greenland,
an immense berg was suddenly seen TO
loom up out Of the fog not more than a
ships length directly ahead. Fortunately
the vessel was running at slow speed, and
her course was quickly changed, and she
cleared The ice-mountain by about one hun
dred feet. On another OCCASION, of Ftsker-
macs, IN a dense fog. another very large
berg was seen a little on the port bow, and
q ledge Of rocks on the starb0ard bow, mol
more than five hundred feet distant. The
engines were stopped and reversed, and
the vessel escaped destruction by only few
feet.
AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE.
An officer Of one Of the vessels which en-
c0untered the great ico-felds and bcrgs
few DAYS ago on the Banks, and whose ves-
sci was closed in for several hours, gave the
following statement Of his observations 10 a
Tribune reporter: "To the windward OF
us, forming a lee shore, W. saw q vast plain
OF undulating ice, 10 nQwise different froui
that which we sometimes see in winter on
the North river when the Hudson Is break
ing up, except In its extent. There was
the same cracking, and grinding, and
splasbing, but the indefinite extent multi.
piled the sound to a tremendous
din, and with 1t came a strange un.
dertone accompaniment. The hummocks
piled themselves up on the edge OF the foes
in a set Of rugged walls several feet in
height. A great number OF bergs, OF shapes
the most simple aud most complicated, o.
colors blue, white, and earth-stained, wer,
entangled In this great floating field OF ice
They ranged from so to $50 feet In height
and were Of various lengths. We could no
help being impressed by the moiesty OF
these i~ce-mountains. With bergs, foes, anc
bummOck-rldges, the great mass looked liz
an ice.bound coast, on which we were soon
firmly fixed. These i~ce-mountains frequent
ly travelled 10 opposite directions from The
wind and the surface ice, which gave us q
good index Of a deep-sea current.
Az ICE-HILL TWO FEET HIGH.
Next was an ice-hill at least 200 feet in
height, its face being 300 feet in length,
and irregular in shape. No one is capable
Of approaching the glorious variety OF Ice
berg scenery, unless he be an eyewitness.
The general color OF a berg may be COM
pared 10 frosted silver, and when its frac-
lures are very extensive The exposed faces
have a very brilliant lustre. But the en-.
iOyment OF the glory Of such scenery is
somewhat modified when we consider its
dangers. As the berg reaches warmer wa
tiers its submerged mass is acted upon, and
as II gradu9lly melts the berg becomes top