The Portland daily press., 1888-02-16
ARCTIC EXPERIENCES.
Vessels swept from RockIand Har'
Dor by an Ice Floe.
Gutter woodbury. Calamity Cuts Her
Way to the Rescue.
Work of the Cutters Along the Ice
Bound Maine Coast.

RocKLAND. Feb. 14.-The ice which has
closed nm the harbors in this section since
February 1st, started today In the harbor,
its departure was the cause OF much excite
ment. 1t started here about noon, going out
with the wind. The immense field Of ice oc-
cupying the space from Owls Head to Till
sons wharf, twelve to eighteen inches thick,
started in a sheet and swung out in q body,
taking all the feet of vessels in winter quar-
ters here that lay in its wake. Schooners
A. ]. Bently and Helen Montague were
dragged to dangerous position near the
breakwater, and schooner Addie Z. Snow
was taken out over the middle ground two
miles to sea before she could be reached. The
revenue cutter Woodbury., Capt. A. A. Fen
gar. was fortunately in the harbor and
steamed to the rescue. She broke out the
A. j. Bently and Montague first and, put
ting her powerful nose into the sheetcarried
it clear of them. She then rescued the
schooner Anne Eliza, which met the out
going ice as she was entering the harbor.
BY this time, the schooner Addie Snow
was two miles to sea in the centre of many
acres of solid blue ice, which the frequent
rains and cold weather hau made nearly as
hard as fresh water ice. So hard was the
ice that the Woodbury. would break off sew
eral lengths and, although very powerful
boat, at full speed could only cut into the
sheet about 40 feet. Hard and persistant
work, however, fiually freed the imperilled
schooner, and she was towed back to her
moorings. Capt. Fengar and his officers act
ed with their usual promptness and succeed
ed in averting what seemed serious disasters
to the vessels.
Yesterday morning the Woodbury. made
a boat flying signal of distress, two miles
outside of Monroe's Island. The boat con-
tanned four men of the crew of the schooner
Oracle Young, Capt. ]. w. Whitman, bound
to Rockland from the Banks with 10000
pounds .ofifresh halibut The men said that
the schooner lay in very dangerous posi-
tion. and that they had started from their
vessel at 2 o'clock that morning for help.
The cutter steamed at once to the relief OF
the vessel and found her jlst inside Fisher
mans Island, surrounded by rocks, and close
onto bad breakers. She was so situated that
the least change Of wind meant total
wreck The vessel had her mainboom and
windlass broken and was helpless. The cut
ter was run up as close as possible. She
then put out hawser and towed the schoon-
er to this port.
The Woodbury. has had wonderful record
since her winter cruise commenced Decem-
Der 10th. In that time she has assisted 81
vessels, saving many of them from total loss
and has given information to a great many
craft concerning the condition of harbors
and thoroughfares. EShe also rescued two
crews. Her work in the harbors in this vi
cinity has also been of incalculable value in
keeping the channels open so that vessels
and steamers could arrive and depart This
has been notably the case with Rockland,
Rockport and Camden harbors, and the peo-
pie of this locality appreciate highly Captain
Fengar's indefatigable efforts to make COM
munication by water possible. During the
cutters work In the ice, her metal has been
stripped off her and it has been necessary to
give her an iron sheathing. Capt. Fengar
thinks the ice bas gone for good. The cutter
leaves tomorrow for Portland to coal up.
Cutter Dallas, Capt. Barr, arrived tonight
with the schooner Medora in tow. She met
the Ice in the bay, and the cutter had her
ice breaker badly smashed The Dallas re-
ports very busy times. On her last cruise
she assisted seven vessels.