The Osceola times., 1882-08-19
IN TIE JAWS OF DEATH.

NarfoW Escape OF steamships FROM De-
struction by Ice-Danger Of summer
Atlantic. Passages.
Capt. Hansen, of the Hamburg steamer
Frisia, related his experiences with ice
on his recent trip across the Atlantic 10 q
reporter. "We left Hamburg" said he,
ION May % with general cargo and 622
passengers on board. We had light var
liable winds and moderate weather. On
June ). we entered latitude ~ 81. longi.
tude AZ 0s. The temperature both Of the
atmosphere and the water then fell con.
siderably and | concluded that icebergs
were not far of. When the fret iceberg
hove in sight--about ~ p. M.--we were
running parallel with the Bremen steam.
er Main. The Mosel and an unknown
English steamer were also near by. Its
height above water was fully 200 feet, aud
as that portion always represents but a
seventh part of the entire mass it must
have been 400 feet high. 1t covered an
area of probably j00fquare feet. AT 1880
IL arrived at an equal distance between
the Main and my steamer creating q
number of small whirlpools around lis
Indeed both vessels heaved heavily from
one side to the other in consequence Of
the commotion produced by the waters.
On the rear portion OF the iceberg mum.
ber of Northern birds resembling elder
ducks were visible. A black object also
appeared fer q moment between the
crevices of the ice, which one ofthe men
who saw it through telescope declared
to be sea-horse. Wesaw two more ice.
bergs of an average height of one hun
dred feet before the day was over. This
was in latitude 1906, longitude 1904
The two knocked together shortly after
passing u.s. and third iceberg, consider.
ably smaller than the rest, was formed.
After meeting the three icebergs, a heavy
fog enveloped us, and | know | never
slept wink that night Had an iceberg
approached us, there would have been
no means OF discovering the fact in time
to steer out of its way"
Captain Barre, of the Bremen steamer
Main, correlated the above statement,
and added. Late in the afternoon Of
June 5, we lost sight of the Frisia, and
very nearly missed coming in collision
with an iceberg as large as any | have
seen. This was owing TO the dense fog
which came in the wake of the first three
beIgs. Indeed, strange to say, most of
the large floating masses of ice | have
met have been followed by mists. Luck
lily the approach of the monster was no.
ticed in time by the seething of the wa.
tefs around it. and We escaped without a
scratch, so to say. Judging by the ex.
treme coldness OF the water during the
night, We must have passed several more
icebergs. That we escaped collision and
instant death on this trip was nothing
short of a miracle" Captain Hillmer, OF
/ ha IL,
burg, had still more interesting story
to tell. ave left Hamburg in the middle
of May" he said. Winds were very
variable but mostly westerly. On May
%, lat A, Ion. 46 30, we narrowly missed
coming in collision with three icebergs
from forty to fifty feet high. This was
only a foretaste of what was to follow.
When day dasned on the 24th we almost
thought ourselves transplanted to the
North Pole. Witt. the exception of few
hundred feet around us the surface of the
water was covered with huge masses OF
ice, some Of which rose in peaks to an
unprecedented height. In other words,
we were completely hemmed in; and as
the icebergs continued to drlft nearer
and nearer around us and the circle be-
came smaller, almost ali hope was finally
abandoned. At this critical moment a
channel sufficiently large to ALLOW of our
passing through it presented itself to view
and withouta moments delay we steered
for it. Luck and good seamanship com
bined proved our salvation, and We
lodged our way to clear water The ice
bergs with which We had COPIED were Of
an average height Of 100 feet each, and
occupied 400 or 800 square feet Of the
waters surface. Two white bears were
seen on the plateau of one of them, and
many eulls, ducks and other Northern
birds were perched on the peaks. On
May -, lat. ~, lon. 81 20, three icebergs
passed us, being rapidly dfifted along by
the stream in northeasterly direction"