West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-08-28
ATLANTIC ICEBERGS.
The Great Risks Run by North At
lantIc Vessels.
Huge Masses OF Ice Borne Along the Broad
Bosom OF che Labrador Current
Ships Discovered on the Ends
Of Immense Bergs-Late
Collisions.

III tuC udllN papers, AT intervals, more
or less widely separated, we may see
notices of icebergs passed by ships on
their passages TO and from the ports of
North America. Not unfrequently
thrilling account reaches us of ship
wrecks, suffering aud sad loss of life,
caused by some ill-fated vessel collid-
ing with an iceberg and sinking in mid
ocean. Occasionally, some noble
ship, rcplcte with all modern improve
ments undcr the command OF a skill
ful navigator, carrying precious
freight of eager hearts and willing
hands TO their EldOrado of the Far
West, sails from our shores. Nothing
more is heard of her. In little while
she is posted at Lloyd's as missing. and
total loss. Her insurance is paid; /;
and except to few hearts at home be-
wailing their loss, her fate fades away
in oblivion.
Few landsmen would, however, be
able 10 infer from these necessarily
crude and fragmentary paragraphs Of
the newspapers the great risks which are
run in all seasons of the year by passen-
gers and crews i'm the North Atlantic
The most ImpOrtant dangers are ice
bergs, fogs, and derelict vessels. Ice
bcrgs are more especially to be met
with IN this ocean from the middle of
February to the commencement of
July The barrier of northern ice il
broken mp by the increasing power of
the sun = rays as he marches onward i'm
hiS apparent path towards the summer
solstice, attaining day by day greater
M, nj J.. a
IN those awful ice-bound regions within
the arctic circle where 80 many brave
men have perished. each glacier pro
trudes an icy mass beyond the land and
resting on the water. In course of
time the extremity is wrenched violently
of by the upward bearing pressure of
the sea. After a few convulsive somer-
saults. the resulting iceberg, in an its
grandeur, floats placidly in its
new element, and is now free To
be acted ON by tho forces OF
wind and current. The bergs are
borne southward by the Great Arctic
or Labrador current, which vast BODY
of water washes the east coast of
North America from Labrador TO Flori
da. and constitutes what is known 90
mcteOrologists as the "cold wall -
Huge masses of ice or ice-islands arc
borDo along on its broad bosom. mixed
with smaller icebcrgs and feId-ice
Icebergs and field-ice arc formed In
quite distinct ways. a berg, as we
have seen, has its origin as a glacier
probably far inland, and moves down
ward TO the sea rs a component part Of
the glacier; whereas feld-ice is formed
on the surface Of the sea during the
polar winter. Side by side with the
Arctic current flows the warmer water
Of the Gulf-stream. The direction Of
the Gulf-stream is however, opposite
TO that of the Arctic current. and 70 is
more remote from the American coast.
SO sudden is the change in the teu-
perature of the sea-surface when
crossed by these currents, that the tenn
perature Of the water al the extreme
ends Of vessel has been found 20 diff
fer from twenty to thirty degrees.
The influence Of these two great rtv-
er5 IN the ocean is very noticeable when
Wc compare the climates Of two places.
both equally distant from the equator.
but separated from each other by the
wide eNpanse OF the Atlantic. The
Americans have thc cold current hug
g'ng their coast, thus increasing the
severity Of their winter; while the
warmer water Of the Gulf Stream.
stretching across I'm q nOrtheasterlv
direction from about Capc Hatteras TO
the west coast Of Ireland, tends direct
ly or indirectly TO amcliOrato The rigor
Of our climate. In March. 1888. the
Dundee whalcrs reached n point i'm lat
itudo scventy-four degrees thirty min
utcs north. longitude four degrees
thirty minutes east: while at the same
tImc the harbors Of America were inn
peuotroblc by reason Of ice even as low
down as Bordeaux Icebergs have
boen observed aground on the Banks
of Newfoundland. where the deep sea
sounding had showed that bottom had
been reached at depth o. six hundred
and fifty feet
During the past two or three years
many large iccbergs and fcld-ice.
hundreds Of miles in extent, have been
met with in latitude foriy-two degrees
north. Many of these bergs attained
height Of three hundred feet above the
Lowell Of the sea. When we remombog
that but one-ninth of the volume Of
borg is exposed to view. 10 would ap-
pear that tho total altitude may have
been, roughly-speaking, about two
thousand seven hundred feet They
have been fallen in with i'm the North
AL. n fo "a aor1v oc lamar orN 90