Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-04-13
MOUNTAINS OF ICE.
Ny riads ef Gigantic Bergs Seen or
the Newfoundland Coast.

ing the past few days report passir G
vast seas of ice and numerous icsber, 8
to the northua ard. The German bark
Olbers, Capt. r. A. Alberts, from Brem-
! en- Feb. II, encountered on the 17th
and 18th OF this month great number
of immense bergs off the Great banks
of Newfoundland. The Oilers reached
here lac on Tuesday night, and came
to aYchor 10 the ST cam OF Bay Ridge.
Capt. A berts was found last evening in
his cosy cabin, and gave graphic bis
tory of what he had seen. Opaning
his MI teorol ogic.l log-5ook, hs showed
outline drawings of the ten largest bergs
sighted from his vessel. All were fan.
tastic in shape, and it did not require 3
stretch of Imagination to hken them to
certain amilisr objects seen upon the
land.
| 81 have crossed the Atlantic over
forty times, at all seasons of the year"
said Capt. Alberts, land / have never
seen SO many gigantic icebergs as dur
ing the 17th and 18Th of this month.
| presume we sighted about eighty in all.
About half OF them were as big IS this
| bark, which IS $40 tons burden. Thir-
| ty more of them were much larger, and
two were immense ioating mountains.
The two largest of these were certainly
over six hundred feet high, and the
base twice SIS large as Governors island.
| The smallest of the two was not under
150 feet in height above the water line.
We saw the two largest from the deck
when they were over twenty-five miles
away"
On the morning of tue 18th inst. the
| bark, when in latitude 46 degrees SO
minutes north and longitude AZ degrees
west, ran into sea of ice. There was
strong breeze blowing and the sea
was very lumpy. To avoid the ice the
bark was steered to the east southeast.
About ten O'Clock the mist lifted and {
sight rarely seen, save in extreme Arc ic
! )atitudes. burst upon the view AS far
as the eye could reach to the westward
| and northward there was a sea covered
| with floating cakes of ice, while on the
hor zon score of icebergs looR,sd up
like crystal mountains whose crests
nestled in the clouds. Shaping course
| along the edge of the field, the bark
drew near the bergs. Some were passed
only half mile away. The seven
largest we're scattered over an area OF
about twenty miller. The tallest of these
measured by calculations deduced from
the course, distance, and bearings of
the bark, was estimated to be four
hundred feet high, and over mile in
width. Like all the others, this berg was
ghastly white, with tinge of blush
green on the highest peak. The
temperature of the sea was taken every
half hour, and it was found to be as low
Sc 2S degrees Fahrenheit in number
of tests.
AS the day wore Oh the sun came out
and the scene changed to one or daz-
zllng brightness. 1t seemed as if the
cluster of hergs, divided FROM the bark
by long stretch Of dark green tel, be-
longed to some enchanted city floating
in the sky. Sharp pointed peaks and
rounded columns resembled cathedral
spires and domes and the turrets of
legendary castles. Around their base
hundreds of whales sported and blew
clouds of spray, as if it were the office
of the marine monsters to guard against
approach. The air was flied with thou
sands of terns and other small sea birds.
and ss the sun stiuck AGAINST their up
turned breasts it appeared as if silver
shower was falling. Only one lonely
seal was observed, aud the truant wore
a sad and forsaken look, as if he was
compelled by some occult charm to
serve in solitude period from his kind.
Toward the evening the sight is describ-
ed as being one of wonderful beauty.
Freshened by the dashing of the sea,
millions of nelwy- formed iceE crystals
caught the ebbing sunlight, and in pris-
matic colors gave it back with chamel.
ion changes until the whole picture had
raded into darknes.
OF the monster bergs that stole by the
bark during the night no record was
obtained. But the morning of the 18Th
broke clear and bright. The bark was
then forging her cracking way along,
in latitude 45 degrees IA minutes north.
longitude 4S degrees 90 minutes west,
passing at the time eastward of the
Great banks. Shortly alter noon two
immense bergs were sighted. They
were ten miles apart, and were seen
fully twenty-five miles away. Both were
estimated, Capt. Alberts asserts. to be
six hundred feet high and over a mile
in length. Like all the rest, they were
fantastic il outline, one especially SO.
The captain, who claims Ho!l md as his
| hplace, compared its highest por-
ton to huge cathedral, but from q
disgram furnished it suggests to an
American the form of demiiohn.
| Feom the water to the neck il is said
to have risea six hundred feet abb cys
the sea, its width being over haIf mile.
Ga one side rose sloliog hill of ice
| three hundred feet high, whose base
was nearly sgreat as that of the larger
half. Between these immense hi asses
of ice the sea dashed with terrific fury,
sending heavenward clouis of soray.
Slowly the pinnecle swayed backward
and forward, covering in It's extreme
limits about ten degrees. 1t beat the
time with the e1actness of chrome
graph, but it took ten minutes to strike
Its measure. This berg was much
darker in color than the rest, and SEEM
ed to have frightened away the sea fowl,
| for about 1t none were scen.
The next day only one large berg was
seen. It stood out of tne sea about fifty
feet when fist sighted at P. NJ. Two
hours and hslf later the bark had ac-
complished the thirteen miles that lay
between, ard On passing the berg it was
estimated to be about two hundred feet
high. The berg bad stranded in thirty
SIX fathoms of water on the edge of the
Grand bank and stood as steady as a
rock. This was the last iceberg seen by
the crew of the Oilers, and few days
later sll sign of ice was left behind in
the 5ark's wake.
| Why Judge Black Esed the Wed.