The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-04

A Month of Furious Gales-Huge Icebergs
In Mid-Ocean.
New York Herald.

New York Herald.
The limited number of vessels that arrived
In port yesterday caused much comment IN
shipping circles regarding the bad weather
experienced on the Atlantic for neatly a
month. : Ii must be set down. said an
old Captain, chat since the steamer
Asska's rough usage during the latter part
of January; there have been hard times on
the ocean for all kinds OF vessels. Gales,
squalls. hurricanes sleet, snow, icebergs
field ice and intensely cold weather have
been the burden of the reports of the ar
rivsls.n
The week beginning January % marked
the first OF severe westerly gales, which day
after day increased in violence.
Net alone were the wtstwsrdbound craft
in trouble, bat those going to the eastward
did rot escape, and three freight steamers
that left this port a few days previous have
never been heard of and are given up as
lost, 1t is reported, by the underwriters.
These were the steamers Clandon, which
sailed on the 22d ult. for Leith Fernwood,
10th ult., for Avonmouth, and Preston,
same date, for same place. They were
"uamps,' ana loaded dangerously
deep. What crippled the Alaska,
battered the Servia. nearly wrecked The
steamer Yesso. caused the steamer Ben we'll
Tower to be aban doned and filled with dis
may thousands of sturdy hearts, must have
sunk the unfortunate freighters. First and
last every arrival during the week ending
the 3lst ult. experienced the worst possi ole
weather, and more than one wrecked crew
was picked up and landed here by more for
tunate vessels. The Benwell Tower was of
COO tons, and bound from Baltimore to
Liverpool.
The following week, February / to :, was
but little better, and the week from the 9Th
10 the 10th inst. was scarcely and improve
ment. Immense ice fields and icebsrgs
large and small, were also seen by steamers
and In several instances fogs added to the
general unpleasantness and danger. That
confused seas and hurricanes with low ba.
rometeI, were experienced seemed an old
story, but one or two mail steamers were 80
badly used that only few of the large num-
Der of their passengers dared venture on deck
during the run acres. The week commenc-
| ing the 10th inst. gave hope that the weather
bed moderated, but while the steamers
bound west Jared better than those of the
previous week, many square ringers reported
| fresh gales, dong considerable damage.
The arrivals thus far this week also report
bad weather, bat less severe than that OF the
| preceding weeks of this month, though IN one
or two instances vessels within fifty miles of
Sandy Hook have been driven as far back as
Hatteras. Owners, underwriters and all
interested in clean traffic hope that the worst
I of the winter weather has passed. and that
the regular steamers may from this time on
be made to make something like schedule
time.
The steamship Westphalis, OF the Ham.
rg-kmerican Packet Company, arrived at
her dock in Hoboken yesterday morning.
She left Hamburg on the 18th of this month,
| having on board twelve cabin and 16I steer
age passengers. The voyage was uneveriful
up to the 2lst inst About 3 o'clock in the
morning of that day. in latitude Is degrees
% minutes north, longitude AZ degrees Is
minutes west the shin passed huge iceberg
apparently about EIGHTY feet IN height. Ia
ialitQss IL degrees IS mln0!:s. l2cg'tai. 1.