Morning journal and courier., 1880-06-26
tSourlral arl0 Coluier.
Saturday Morning, June 2e, 1880.
Ice in the Atlantic ocean.

Ice in the Atlantic Ocean.
 The Question of High Speed and Fogs-
 The Admiralty Chart-Lfmffs of lee
 Are Captains Reckless s-vho is to be
 Blamed s-What an old Captain Says
 About it.
 From the New York Tinles.l
 The arrival of many vessels with reports of having seen ice on their course in the At lantic, and the accidents which have occur red, naturally draw public attention to the present somewhat unusual dangers of ocean navigation. Generally ice has been confined within certain limits. An abnormally mild Arctic winter has allowed icebergs to become detached at an earlier period, which, starting on their voyage, are not only more numerous but have foated further south. The British admiralty charts of 1870 give series of hm- iting lines to icebergs in the North Atlantic for certain months. For the months of April, May and June the limits of ice are stated to be 39o north latitude eastern 39' 5Of; western 590 10. For July and August the ice is described as having made some de- grees more to the south, the limit being AT 1O' south, 380 west, and 590 east. For field ice the limits, according to this English au- thority, are south, 420 12'; east 45'; west 54o 3O. We might say, then, that the south ern limit under ordinary circumstances would be 39o The mean crossing of the ocean by steamships through this ice region, to accord with the great circle route, should, then, be in the attitudes of 440 or 450. To go south even of this line, and to secure entire immu- nifty from danger, might require in all day and half more of time at sea, or a diver gence from the regular track of some 360 miles. But would not, then, that constant element of danger be eliminated by accepting at once this longer route?
 What is an iceberg at sea, and what are it's peculiar elements of danger If it could only be seen the chances of striking it would not be greater than if it were 8 ship. As the presence of ice is at once appreciable by the lowering of the water temperatures, the ther- mometer indicates it when it cannot be seen- But where the great peril lies is that fog con stantly accompanies the ice. It cannot be seen until you are on ii, and the danger there fore is immensely increased. If there is, then, peril to ship and death threatening passengers, the only chance of safety when there is fog is to slow down the ship. That high speed at which steamboats and steam- ships are driven is always increasing the dan gerous equation. We blame, sometimes, captains of vessels for accidents and for col isions. Will people ever know the terrible strain of both mind and body which these men have to bear :? The commander of @ ship on a favorite line of steamers makes, say, three trips which occupy one or two days longer than usual the owners may not di- rectly complain of extra coal and provisions consumed, but still the facts have not escaped their notice. That slow record may or may not have made the captain fall somewhat in their estimation, but it is the stupid public who have remembered the fact. ''She is a slow ship, y they say; q tookher and should have been in London on @ Wednesday, and did not get there till Friday. I shan't en- gage passage her again" Then, very possibly, diminished passenger list shows that set of crazy people would rather run the risk of an untimely end than brook even 36 hours delay. There should be exercised greater charity to captains. If the passen- gers have no fears, for their ignorance is blessed, the captain for days on days has his heart in his mouth. Owners of steam ship lines who do not give the utmost discre- tlon to their captains are taking in their own hands the most fearful risks There ought to be some rule established as to rate of speed, either on the ocean or in our inland waters, in case of fog Sounding the whistle is the poorest of all preventives. There is 8 horrible reason which may make a captain drive his ship through fog. It is this, that the more rapid the speed, the less risk he runs if he strikes another ship, and, conse- quently, the greater the danger to the ship which is struck. The impact of a ship going at the top of speed will cut through the slow CT moving vessel. This is method of self preservation which is closely akin to whole sale murder.
 Seamanship has in no way deteriorated. As class, there never were better informed men than those who command our steamers Their vigilance is beyond all praise The element of danger does not, however, remain at a fixed quantity. It increases with every ocean steamer that crosses the Atlantic, or with every steamboat which makes her way up or down the Sound mustard spoonful of the smallest bird-shot thrown at random in room may be proportionate to that area of the Atlantic which represents the track of vessels We might, for an indefinite mum Der of times, roll one of these shots across the floor, and it never would touch another. But do 1t long enough, and, according to the theory of probabilities, there would arise at some time sudden contact between two grains of shot. Increase the grains of shot, and the number of contacts augments. The more ships we have, then, the greater is the dan ger. There is but one method of preventing loss of life, and that is when there is fog speed must be diminished. Twelve or four ten miles an hour is just half too fast for any steamer to go when the weather Is thick To the writer of this, certainly the most accom- pEshed captain ill the marine service said: Yesterday bade goodbye to very much loved friend, who went with his daugh- ter abroad. The wife of this friend, who could not go, was anxious. She asked me about the ice and it's dangers. It happened that had learned from an officer of that steamship the exact route they had taken on their last trip from Liverpool to New York That ship had made a quick passage she had been driven at the top of her speed through the thickest of fog. I had carefully studied her exact position for two days and three nights, and she must have had icebergs all around her. Why, the coldness of the sea told it's story and some vessels had actually reported them. It was mad recklessness. I could not tell that woman that har huchoDd and obi1d xuora ryo ing across the ocean in safety, for the risks were increasing. It might be a summer voy- age-ice hundreds of miles away from them and less thought of danger than at a Coney Island hotel; but if for single night it were thick and foggy, and the ship were pushed, and she touched an iceberg, God help ship, passengers and crew. Why, in the name of common sense, do not passengers look around them? It may be interfering and annoying to some captains, but if the fog is thick and passengers know that they are going too fast, they ought to notice it. They can't sign a round-robin, and present it to their captain remonstrating about it, for that would make an internal row; but masters ought to be made to feel, and owners too, that passengers are not idiots, and 8 little publicity given from time to time about foolhardy captains tearing through fogs might be of great ad- vantage to the travelling community at large It is the furthest possible from my mind to frighten people; but feel that should be criminal if did not repeat to you exactly what think about the danger of pushing ships at high speed through fogs.''
 High Priestess of Decoration.
 David Swing in Chicago A1liance.J
 Bella Puella is one of the most characteris- tic ladies of our period. All that partiality for decoration which has become so outspok- en of late years-a decoration which lets it's light fall on all objects, and which has power to transform even a worm or serpent into fragment of the infinite beauty, finds in this gifted parsonage full and varied expression. Her home came to the aid of her natural ten dencies, for having passed her youth in the