The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-05-03
NUMBER 80.

McCrea, ssan through that great day OF
all others inathe year, they come gliding
through the Narrows, until, Just as the
sun tips the crest of Signal Hill with
farewell crimson kiss, the last 1aggard
of the fleet anchors in the channel to
wait until the little, busy, bewildered
tug shall have leisure to haul them In
side. But in truth it matters little
whether the ships anchor or not; for,
surely as the sun sinks, out go the boats,
and, leaving the Captain to take care Of
the ship as best he can, in few min
utes the greasy hunters jump on shore,
and are hauled off by friends and wom-
en- as mad with Joy as they are. In
streets, in lanes, in cottages of the poor
as well as in mansions OF the rich, the
night Is prolonged in one great, univer-
sal orgy. 1t was on one of these occa-
sions that an officer of rank, sent up
from Halifax on an official commission,
said, in answer to question as to what
sort of place It was, "Weh, sir, was
only there three days, and they appeared
to me to be all drunk.
In April of last year curious event
took place of New Foundland. There
was visitation of seals suehH as would
have been deemed extraordinary even
in the palmy days of the fishery. For
"
southern coasts have scarcely hoped for
q paying harvest of seal, even after fit
ting out their rough boats, and proceed
ing to the ice-fields of the North On
this occasion the valuable !, creatures
came floating downward on great sheets
of ice, within easy reach of the hunters,
and but for the loss of life that took
place it might have been regarded as
special providence to all concerned.
It was during the first days of the
month of April that the news began to
spread that tho seals were coming, and
within short time the hunters who had
staid behind when the regular fleet left
for the North began to. congratulate
themselves on having remained. They
were ready for the unanticipated har-
vest, and as the ice gathered around,
squads of them might be seen hurrying
from the harbor of st. Johns out through
the Narrows and into the broad Atlantic
Ocean. Far away, north, south and
east, extended the interminable ice
sheets, with here and there q watery
breakage. From Signal Hill, which
rises 600 feet above the sea-level, an al
most unbroken view might be obtained
extending nearly forty miles seaward.
The rich spoils presented to the hunt
ers excited them to recklessness. The
women, too, who seem In this Northern
latitude to be in complete sympathy
with the tolls of the husbands and BROTH
ers, shared in the general craze. It was
not uncommon even for wind -and-sun-
Drowned damsels, daughters of the
hardy fishermen, to grid on the seal
hunters armor and enter the lists with
their brothers in competition for the
treasures of the oil fields. The distance
trayersed away from the land over
the ice sheets varied from one to eight
or nine miles, according to the position
of the seal patches or the good fortune
of the hunter. One gang Of men, more
fortunate than another, would alight on
an abundant patch within a mile or two
of the shore, from which spectators,
witness all their operations. Others,
less lucky, would have to wander over
rough and broken ice for many weary
mile before coming up with the objects
of their eager search. When found,
even at the end of a long and tiresome
ramble, the seal-killer felt himself am
ply repaid for his toll. Thus all went
wen for several days. Men came and
went, and no record of disaster reached
the shore. Thousands of dollars worth
of seals were daily captured, were
brought on shore and rapidly consigned
to the oil watts on the south side of the
City of st. Johns. a oeas
From three to four days the hnntert
had been at work, venturing further and
further upon the ice, when suddenly the
wind fell. The great masses, held in
place by strong northeaster, began to
yield, and the "hunting-grounds !" to
give way beneath the feet of the unhap-
py fishermen. So sudden was the
change that it seemed almost instantane-
GUS. At one moment the men seemed
to be quietly at work; at the next the
panic had spread in every direction.
| The ice had moved. from the shore, and,
except at very few points of contact,
the water began to flow between it and
the main land Hundreds of men saw
before them the prospect of being car
ried out TO sea upon the melting mass.
Those who were most cool-headed ran
for the ice-bridges yet remaining and
succeeded in reaching the shore. Others,
/ less rapid in their movements, or COM
| ing up too late to avail themselves of
these pathways, plunged into the water,
and, swimming across, were hauled up
on the crags by comrades waiting to re-
/ ceive them. Within the harbor small
boats also were sent to the rescue, and
these brought off many who had sue
ceeded IN reaching the edge of the ice
fields. .t.t. g. go
1t was at first reported that some two
hundred and fifty men were afoat upon
1 the ice, and the CONSERVATION and agony
on shore were frightful. Hundreds of
families were mourning for some miss
ing member, and the scenes enacted, as
one man after another arrived, are be-
yond description. Finally, however, it
| became apparent that the number of
missing had been greatly exaggerated.
Before night fell the joyful tidings
reached st. Johns that several men had
gained the shore safely at the villages of
Quidi, Vidi, and Logy Bay, where the
ice, in careering out of st. Johns Bay,
had for brief time impinged and hung
on the Jagged rocks. Later on intelli-
gence was received thata sealing steamer
had picked up some forty or fifty others,
and had landed them safely at Cape
Spear. A screw steam-tug, stanch and
4 strong, built especially to battle with
ice, which had been sent to the rescue
by the Government, also returned, bear
ing seven of the lost sealers to shore.
AT last, as one man after another was
restored to his home, the conviction be-
gan TO spread that awful as the tragedy
had been there was deep cause for thank
fulness that so MANY had escaped.
The harvest of seal so mysteriously
sent to the southern shores of Newfound-
land brought with it certain amount
J of prosperity to many who are accus-
toned TO privation and suffering. The
; life of the fisherman ofthe North is q
peculiarly hard one. They can not sup
. ply their necessities by any kind Of
agriculture, for their soil viii yield moth
ing; they are unskilled in trade and
manufactures, ana are usually the vic.
tins of the merchants who bring the
: necessaries of life within their range.
/. Their only reaping ground IS the tickle
sea, which gives or withholds its treas
ures with q mysterious canrice. Har-