St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-16
AMONG THE ICE FL0ES
The Steamer Saale Narrowly
Escapes Colliding With
an Iceberg.
It Was a Monster and Loomed
Up Seventy Feet Above
the Water.
The Steamer Ran Upon the
Submerged Foot, But Slid
Off in Safety.
Passengers We're Stunned
and Shocked, and Almost
Panic Stricken.


mark of as narrow an escape as the
great Atlantic liner has had in many a
day. The Saale left Southampton on
Friday, June Z, at 1880 a. m, eight
hours having been spent in taking on
coal in Southampton waters. The strike
of the coal handlers at Bremen had
made it impracticable to fill her bunk
ers at that port. Tuesday afternoon
was beautiful. There was some light
breeze ahead that had prevailed since
Sunday morning, veering from west
to northwest by west. There was
only ripple on the blue water, and the
great pulsation of the open ocean was
so subdued that the Saale rode as nearly
upon an even keel as it ever befallS a
sea-going ship to do. Toward sundown
the breeze freShened and drew little
south of west. and the patches of thin.
white fog broadened and dispersed and
were more frequent. By 9 the vessel
ran into thick, wet banks of mist, and
the fog horn began its dismal task, and,
with the damp air, drive the passengers
below and early to bed. Capt. Richter
left Southampton with OIL passengers,
first cabin, intermediate and steer
age. Incoming steamers, as the Saale
got gradually out to sea on Satur-
day, signalled him that they had en-
countered icebergs between longitude
4S and As. 1t is the season of anxiety
concerning ice for all the trans-A tlantic
lines, and the Saale's course was ac-
cordingly the most southerly and took
her we'll below the most southerly point
of the banks. By o'clock on Tuesday
morning. therefore, the Saaie should,
presumably, have crossed the path Of
all south-bound ice, if any there were.
The great converse of bergs that starts
outward in the first weeks of summer
through the seas beyond Cape Race and
follow the reflected currents of the gulf
stream. are generally broken up and
melted before they reach latitude 42.
The Saale was we'll to the southwark.
When the IL p. m. thermometric report
was made to Capt. Richter, he was on
the bridfie with the second officer, and
turned to him and said: 1.-The water
is becoming warmer. We shall soon get
rid of this fog" 1t was
NO QUESTION OF ICE,
but only the fog. The Saale was BOOM
ing along as steady as a church. She
was under full head of steam and at
her topmost speed. Every now and
then she broke out of scurrying fog
bank to enter a waste of glittering
moonlit sea. Then another white-gray
wall would rise before her,. and
presently reappear in another ex-
pense of open water. At 10 the
fog was at its thickest, and
the air perceptibly colder. The watch
was doubled. There were two lookouts
in the basket" sort OF Arctic crow
nest on the foremast, about fifty feet
from the deck. On the bridge we're
Richter and the second officer. At :15
Capt Richter detected small ice in the
water close under the bow. He sprang
to the signal apparatus and stopped the
engine. Almost Immediately the fog
seemed to lift little and right ahead
the captain saw with his night-glaSS the
gray outline of a huge iceberg. He
gave the order ''hard-a-port'' and ''re-
verse; before any one about had seen
berg was about six bOath lengths away
and the Saale was headed straight for
it. 1t loomed up in the fog like great
dark-gray wall, and it seemed to grow
rapidly taller as the boat swept down
toward 1t. On the right it descended to
the water abruptly with an overhang
ing peak. To the left it disappeared in
definitely in the fog, wall of un-
fathomable gray, high here and low
three-big as cross-town block and
from fifty to seventy feet IN height, but
with foundations Of seven times as many
feet in depth: The Saale's helm was
hard-a-port. but it seemed as if she
never would answer it. The pas
sengers, who had run On deck aud
out of the smoking rooms. when they
felt the engines stopped, and noted the
violent vibration of the reversed action,
crowded under the bridge and to the
taft rail, with their hearts in their
mouths. The sight was appalling. The
great bulk and uncomfortable impetus
of the ship seemed to carry them to an
overw helming destruction. The ice
wall lOomed higher and higher: it re-
fiected the light of the ship. and it gave
back the sound Of the wash of the
parted waters at her bows. But slowly
she swerved to starboard, and then, as
if by magic, she gave surge,
shrank away, as it were, from
that mighty overhang of ice,
and with a great careen to
starboard and a terrific crunching and
away into clear water, while the ice
berg. all gIittering with the ships
lights and with the waves lashing
furiously about its base, vanished
astern and was lost in the fog and
darkness. The careen to starboard was
on grand scale, exactly like what
happens to a New York ferryboat when
she strikes the spring piling of her slip.
The Saale had run up upon the SUBJ
merged foot of the iceberg and had slid
safely off again. The shock
HAD BEEN TREMENDOUS
and exceedingly noisy, but it had in
flicted no damage. Passengers on deck
were thrown down; passengers III their
beds woke up on the floor, or in avoid
ing it. Everything loose pitched over
and everything stayed to starbOard, in
cluding, probably, good deal in the
hold, for the Saale maintained her list
to starboard and brought it into port
with her. As the passengers, in all
sorts of dishabille, came piling up on
deck with white faces they found the
Saale stopped in the middle of a fog
bank. Her fog horn was blowing
at regular intervals and in her
fOrecaStle was group of men with
lanterns, lowering men over the bow to
examine the plates. The ships carpen-
ter was sounding the wells, the screw
was being looked to. and in quarter
of an hour Capt. Richter came aft
among the passengers and told them
that the ship was all right and they
could go to bed. The feeling of relief
was intense, for between awakening to
the danger and the captains declaration
was as bad quarter of an hour as
could we'll be. The officers and crew of
the Saale took it as coolly as if it hap
pened every night. AS to the passen-