Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-04-19
MOUNTAINS OF ICE.
M5riads ef Gigantic Bergs seen OFF
the Newfoundland Coast

M5riads eff Gigantic Berss seen Of
the Newfoundland Coast.
| Vessels which have arrived in thi
port (says The Ne1U York Herald dur
ing the past few days report passing
vast seas Of ice and numerous iceberg:
to the northward. The German BARI
Olbers, Capt. r. A. Alberts, from Brem-
en- Feb. IL, encountered on the 18th
and 18th of this month a great number
OF immense bergs off the Great banks
of Newfoundland. The Oilers reach ed
here late on Tuesday night, and came
to aEchor III the stream off Bay Ridge
Capt. Alberts was found last evening in
his cosy cabin, and gave a graphic his.
tory of what he had seen. OPENING
his meteorological log-book, h: showed
outline drawings of the ten largest bergs
sighted from his vessel. All were fan.
tastic IN shape, and it did not require 8
stretch of imagination to liken them tc
certain familiar objects seen upon the
land.
81 have crossed the Atlantic over
forty times, at all seasons of the year. y
said Capt. Alberts, ''and have never
seen so many gigantic icebergs as dur
ing the 18th and 18th of this month. /
presume we sighted about eighty in all
About half OF them were as big as this
bark, (which is 849 tons burden. Thir-
ty more Of them were much larger. and
two were immense floating mountains.
The two largest of these were certainly
over six hundred feet high, and the
base twice as large as Governors island
The smallest of the two was not under
100 feet in height above the water line.
We saw the two largest from the deck
when they We're over twenty-five miles
away"
On the morning of the 18th inst. the
bark, when in latitude As degrees so
minutes north and longitude AZ degrees
west, ran into a 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 a
| sight rarely seen, save in extreme Arctic
Iatltudes. 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
horizon score of icebergs loomcd up
like crystal mountains whose crests
nestled in the clouds. Shaping a course
along the edge of the field, the bark
drew near the bergs. Some were passed
only half q mile away. The seven
largest were scattered over an area OF
about twenty miles. 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 q mile in
width. Like all the others, this berg was
tenn mnerntI,, 'no nigrrs'65 pezsk. -1nle
half hour, and it was found to be as low
as 2s degrees Fahrenheit in a number
of tests.
AS the day wore OIL the sun came out
and the scene changed to one or daz-
zling brightness. It seemed as if the
cluster of bergs, divided from the bark
by long stretch of dark green sea, be-
lunged 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
>
of the marine monsters to guard against
approach. The sir was filed with thou
sands of terms and other small sea birds,
and as the sun struck against their up
turned breasts it appeared as if q silver
shower was falling. OILY one lonely
seal was observed, and the truant wore
sad and forsaken look, as if he was
compelled by some occult charm to
serve in solitude q 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 icel crystals
caught the ebbing sunlight, and Ia pris-
matte colors gave it back with chameL
ion changes until the whole picture had
| faded into darkness.
| 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 48 degrees 20 minutes west,
passing at the time eastward OF the
Great banks. Shortly after noon two
! 1IlnSAS6 D6ISo MO16 SiSuIGG. in6y
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 mile
in length. Like all the rest, they were
fantastic in outline, one especially go.
The captain, who claims Holland as his
birthplace, compared lis highest por-
ton to huge cathedral, but from a
diagram furnished it suggests to sn
American the form of derUohn.
From the water to the neck it is said
to have risen six hundred feet above
| the sea, its width being over half mile.
On one eide rose a slopiDg hill of ice
three hundred feet high, whose base
was yearly as great as that of the larger
half. Between these immense masses
of ice the sea dashed with terrific fury,
senoing heavenWard clouds Of spray
Slowly the pinnecle swayed backward
and forward, covering in its extreme
limits about ten degrees. It beat the
time with the exactness of chrono
graph, but it took ten minutes to strike
It's measure. This berg was much
darker in color than the rest, and seem.
ed to have frightened away the sea fowl
for about it none were seen.
i The next day only one large berg was
seen. 1t stood out of the sea about fifty
foot uben r -et siohfed at p M Tue