The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-07-12
Mountains of Ice.


with amazing frequency, even in very
southerly latitudes. An illustration of
this may be found in the statement of
four ship captains who have just arrived
In the city. Capt. Hansen, of the Ham,
burg steamer Frisia, who was found at
the office of Messrs. Kunhardt d Co.,
agents for the line, said: "We left Ham
burg on May %, with a general cargo
and 622 passengers on board. We had
light, variable winds and moderate
weather. On June we entered latitude
42.37, longitude 47.O8. The tempera-
ture both of the atmosphere and the
water then fell considerably, and 1 con-
cluded that icebergs were not very far
mill before, you know" with a wink.
swell, of course, was not mistaken.
When the first iceberg hove in sight,
about IL p. M, we were running paral-
lei with the Bremen steamer Main. The
Mosel and an unknown English steamer
were also near by. This iceberg was a
big fellow, and was being carried toward
us with great rapidity by the gull
stream. Its height above water was
fully two hundred feet, and as that por-
ton always represents but seventh part
of the entire mass 1t must have been
fourteen hundred feet high. 1t covered
an area OF probably five hundred square
feet. At II 80 it arrived at an equal
distance between the Main and my
steamer, creating a number of small
whirlpools around us. Indeed, both
vessels heaved heavily from one side to
the other in consequence of the commo-
ton produced in the waters. On the
rear portion of the iceberg q number of
northern birds, resembling elder ducks,
were visible. A black object also ap-
peared for a moment between the crew
ices of the ice, which one of the men
who saw it through a telescope declared
to be a sea-horse. We saw two more
icebergs of an average height of one
hundred feet before the day was over.
This was latitude 1905, longitude 40 .04.
The two knocked together shortly after
passing US, and a third iceberg, consid-
erably smaller than the rest, was
formed. The sight was magnificent,
though enough to make anyone dizzy"
How do you account for the pres
ence of icebergs in such southerly lati-
tudes at this time of the yearP'
"By the fact that we have had y very
mild winter, which has severed the bergs
from the mainland. They have 6rifted
southwark as far as Newfoundland,
which is in latitude 80, and not being
u
owing to their depth, have drifted east
ward. They are to be found in many
different latitudes, but pretty near the
same longitude, that is, between At and
so. do not think any of them are more
to westward than that"
"Is not navigation greatly impeded
by their presence so far southP''
" Most assuredly, and 1t is wonder
to me that no accidents have occurred
so far. After meeting the three icebergs
spoke about just now, q heavy fog en-
veloped US, and know never slept a
wink that night. Had au iceberg ap-
preached US, there would have been no
means of discovering the fact in time to
steer out of its way. The only manner
of ascertaining the presence Of icebergs
in southern waters is by testing the tenn
perature, but then of course this does
not tell one how near the ice isl
"Then there is practically no way of
eliminating this danger to ocean trav-
elP"
"None, unless very southerly and
consequently roundabout course is taken
by the steamers. That is what most of
them are doing, by the way, and as to
myself, intend running two or three
degrees further south on my return jour
ney."
Capt. Barre, of the Bremen steamer
Main, corroborated the above statement
of his brother captain, and added: "My
was, perhaps, even more extensive than
| that of Capt. Hansen. Late in the af-
! ternoon of June we lost sight of the
Frisia, and very nearly missed coming
in collision with an iceberg as large as
any have yet seen. This was owing
to the dense fog which came in the
wake of the first three bergs. Indeed,
strange to say, most of the large float
ing masses of ice / have met have been
followed by mists. Luckily the ap-
| proach of the monster was noticed in
time by the seething of the waters
around it, and we escaped without a
scratch, so to say. Judging by the ex-
treme GOODNESS of the water during the
night, we must have passed several
more icebergs. That we escaped collis-
ion and instant death on this trip was
nothing short of miracle"
Capt Hilmers, of the German bark
Amaranth, from Hamburg, had q still
more interesting story to tell to the re-
porter. ssWe left Hamburg in the mid
| die of May" he said. "Winds were
very variable, but mostly westerly. On
4
narrowly missed coming in collision
with three icebergs from forty to fifty
feet high. This was only q foretaste of
what was to follow. When day dawned
on the oath we almost thought ourselves
| transplanted to the north pole. With
the exception of q 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 enprece-
dented height. In other words, we
were completely hemmed in: and as
the icebergs continued to drift nearer
and nearer around US, and the circle
became smaller, almost all hope was
finally abandoned. At this critical mo-
ment a channel sufficiently large to al
low of our passing through it presented
itself to view, and without moments
delay we steered for it. Luck and good
seamanship combined proved our saliva
ton, and we lodged our way to clear
water. The icebergs with which we had
coped were of an average height of 100
feet each, and occupied 400 to 500
square feet of the waters surface. Two
white bears were seen on the plateau of
| one of them, and many gulls, ducks,
and other northern birds were perched
on the peaks. On May %, latitude AZ,
longitude 51.20, three icebergs passed
us, being rapidly drifted along by the
stream in q northeasterly direction"
Captain Young, of the American bark
81. Routh, who left London April 26,
with general merchandise, told the re-
porter that from latitude 47.15, longi-
tude 44.S0, to latitude 1920, longitude
80 he sailed through a sea covered with
icebergs of various sizes. He met the
largest on May "a. longitude "a. 1t
| WAS almost snlit in two and covered n