The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-14
AN EXCHANGE OF SHIPS.

rel OF oil to keep our lamps going. We had
sighted a whale now and tnen, but they
were as wild as deer, and twice when we
had made fast we had our boats stove and
lost two or three men. We had lost top
masts, been aleak, had several sails de-
| stroyed, been on fire, and it seemed as If
the very devil was to pay with the voyage,
and yet no one could blame any one else.
1t was simply ''ship's luck" and we had
to make the best of it. Finally, late in the
season, when we ought to have been head
ing for the south, we got among the
whales. That is, they suddenly appeared
all around US, and on the very first day we
killed four without accident We cut them
in without trying out, as this was the
quicker way to dispose of them, and the
last of the blubber was no sooner over the
rail than down went the boats and two
more whales were secured.
The winter gales were at hand and ice
was making fast, but it was our golden op-
portunity. We drifted slowly TO the south,
killing and cutting in as we went, and if
we could have had two more weeks of it we
could have filled the ship. One afternoon,
as we had half cut whale on each side
OF Us, gale sprang up, heavy snow
storm came on and in less than an
hour we had to let 40 of our prizes and
look sharply after the bark. 1t was the
beginning of the arctic winter, and while
the captain was satisfied of it he decided to
take one more chance There might come
a few days of fine weather after the gale,
and so we drifted away to the north to
wear out the gale. For thirty hours there
was no let up, and every half hour we had
TO turn out and shovel snow over the rails.
Just as the gale broke we got among the
field ice, and the temperature went down
in four hours from . degs. below zero to
Is degs. below. From a gale blowing
at the rate of forty miles an hour the
wind died out until it hadn't motion
enough to flare q candle. On that first
night, when we were surrounded by field
Ice and drifting with it, many of the men
were badly frostbitten, and the frost
cracked through the old ship like muskets.
Morning came without breath of wind,
with the temperature down to % degs. be-
low, and now every man knew it was one
chance in ten for us. We were drifting
very slowly to the south, and while we
made everything as snug as possible the
captain hoped for break before winter
actually shut down. Before noon the sea,
as far as could be discovered from the
crows nest with glass; was covered with
field ice, and by night the temperature was
% degs below. We kept up our fires and
got out all the spare clothing and bedding,
but many of the men suffered with the
cold, and no one slept more than ten min
utes at timevpn account Of the Loises.
When morning came again it brought in
wind, while the cold was just as intense,
and we could now discover great change
in the ice around Us. 1t was rugged and
broken, the heave of the sea having piled
cakes on top of each other, and the field
was four or five feet thick. The old man
himself went to the crows nest and took
long look, and when lie came down he said
to the men, who were waiting to hear his
words:
well, boys, it looks very serious to me,
and expect You had better prepare to win
ter this side of Dundee"
That settled it with US. We turned 10
and began to caulk and batten to keep out
the cold, and in couple of days we were
as ready as we could be. For four days
and nights there wasn't puff Of wind with
the cold SO intense that ice formed to the
thickness of seven feet alongside the bark
At daylight on the morning of the 5th
squall came out of the southwest. accom-
panied by snow, and before noon the ice
field was broken up. At noon the wind
died almost out, but within an hour il
shipped to the north, and away went every
thing to the south. A wilder sight than
sea covered with great cakes and blocks of
ice, each one tossing, grinding and crash
ing on its own account, no one ever saw.
We dared show only rag of sail-just
enough to give her steerage way-and the
smashing she got that afternoon seemed
enough to break every timber in her bows.
At night the wind fell again, and at
o'clock the Thermometer marked ~ degs.
below As soon as the heave of the sea
subslded the ice was firmly welded to-
gether again, and when morning came
there were hills and hummocks in sight as
big as the ship. The men were now told
by the mate that our position was about
ninety miles north of Smiths bay, and
that our foe was no longer drifting. This
signifed that the southern edge of it rested
against the shore ice. and that we were in
for it, unless some unlocked for streak Of
luck came TO our aid
Next day there were heavy wind squalls,
but the ice did not break nor did the ship
move. That settled it. For the next week
we had calms and squalls, with the tenn
perature ranging from q to 80 degs. be-
low, but the pack was as solid as a rocky
ledge. We were housed in by this time
and had established the winter routine, ]
and the arctic night hsd come For the
next month not 70 weary the reader with |
details our life was that 30 often described |
in the books. Then q sudden and terrible |
interruption came The bark began 10
heave out. The first movement occurred |
at about 10 O'clock in the forenoon, and /
filed everybody with dire alarm. After |
five minutes she keaved again, lifting right /
out Of the solid field. with great cakes /
clinging 70 her Is II machinery was al /
work As she Ef.sd she csEted 70 star !
board. ard a. aeon her decks were 4
st an angle OK - degrees. IL has /
ALWAYS seemed TO ne that powder /
ought 10 have teen usea 10 blow up the ice 1
around her and l.t her csck- Indeed, had 4
not our eaetain got so badly ratified we |
could have c1t srd sawed and dragged 4
half an acre of ice in hGIf = day. The car I
penter, who bad little plan Of his own, i
reported that the he2ve had shattered /
several plsnks is her bottom, and that she 1
would nj II see was Graded back She
took Gle more aeave, eaDtlsg over Unit!
----.- CT nsr bssu e-Cs, aid isen We gos
-e 90 -s-.o acazSoa ger
We 70: oC- c.o.SIzs, heScioS. prov1-
-ouz. = compass AID foGr Ocats, and al
Ui..ulgae EeaSeS away n four gang for
smiths be-. each gang having boat
whicc was Crsz-ed and LIED over tie ice
The order ts acznto1 SKIP has tie same i
siect 5n tee ssile- t5at re order 70 -
treat does oa tie so,dier. IL eTssies
panioky fse,4cg and be Loses h-s Judg-
ment- We a % re- -1-e I've uileS before 4