St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-15
ALONE IN THE POLAR SEA.
Deserted on a Ship That Was Frozen
in the ice.
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
After Three Months Battle With Polar
Bears, Ice and Darkness He Is
Rescued.
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
On my first voyage across the Allan
tic, being then an apprentice in the
ship Dixon, of Boston, we sighted a
wreck in midocean and boat was low
cred and sailor was taken from the
derelict. He had been alone only five
days, and the weather had been reason
ably fair, and yet the loneliness of his
situation had driven him mad. and he
gave our men a good tussle to get him
into the boat. If this situation, in sum-
mer weather, right in the track of YES
sells. with the sun showing thirteen
hours per day, was enough to drive
sailor mad, what must be the surround
ings of one abandoned in the Arctic
circle? shall tell you my story and
leaye you to judge.
was hale and hearty young fellow
of % when made the harpooner of Boat
No. on board the English whaler
Search. She was stout-built and well
manned ship, and this was her second
voyage to the North after whales. Our
luck, as we proceeded up the Green
land coast, was all that could be hoped
for, and there seemed no doubt that we
would fill the ship and be out OF those
seas before sailors ear was frost-bit-
ten. On the day that the cooper an
nounced us tWo-thirds full we had two
dead whales lashed alongside and a
large school of living ones were
playing within mile of us. In
one hour our luck changed COM
pletely about. First, and seemingly
without reason, the lashings of
the big whale on the port side suddenly
gave way, and the fish sank like a
stone. There was considerable sea at
the time, and as this fellow let go the
weight of the other rolled the ship on
her beam ends, and the lashings had to
be cast off to right her. The rattle on
deck fetched away as she rolled, and
one man was killed and two badly hurt.
We were laboring to secure the whale
again when squall came up and
popped at us as you might fire a gun.
No one noticed its coming, and though
it was over in ten minutes. it damaged
us more than three-days' gale might
have done. We had to let go the whale,
and it took us fully day to make re-
pairs.
That day was the turning point in the
history of the voyage. 1t seemed as if
the whales had fed from those waters
in terror. for we did not see another
until the ninth day. Then it would
have been better had we given him a
wide berth. Two boats were lowered
to give him chase, and after leading
them long distance and finally being
struck, he turned and struck one of
them and killed two of her crew out
right. On this same day we met
A Yankee Whaler
coming down from the north. She was
chock-full and running over with oil
and bone, and reported whales as plenty
100 miles further up. Her captain eau
toned US. however, that the short Arc
tic summer was Oh its last legs, and that
we must hurry our business to get out
before the ice began to make. AS for
the old ice drifting down with the cur
rents into the Atlantic, there was never
an hour that bergs or foes were not in
sight, Capt. Lord was neither conceited
nor pig-headed. Every man aboard was
pecuniarily interested in the voyage,and
he called US aft and put it TO a vote
whether we should go further north and
| take our chances, or cruise southwark
and hope for luck. while sure to be clear
ofthe ice. The crew voted to go north.
We only wanted four OF five big fish to
fill our last barrel and square away for
home, and it was now only the first
days of September.
In the succeeding ten days we cap
tured but one whale, and that small
one. We raised plenty of them, but
fhQu WORN nvonpdInU1v wild riuinc tho
boats long and fruitless pull. We
were now off Upernavik. on the west
coast of Greenland, and there was every
sign of change of seasons. Once more
the men were called aft and it was
voted to hang on for four days longer
and then square away for home. I'm
less than two hours a gale breeZed up
from the northeast, the air was filled
with snOwfiakeS and we were soon
drifting up the Arctic ocean. 1t was
twenty-four hours before the gale
broke, and then the mercury went,
down below freezing point, and
we had to get out our winter
clothing. We still had plenty of time,
providing everything worked well
but everything seemed to work against
us. The weather came off thick and
squally, contrary winds prevailed, and
when we had worked our way down
almost to Upernavlk we got rOuSing
old tempest, which lost US all we had
gained. On the afternoon of the 18th
day of September the wind died entirely
away, the mercury began to fall, and
that night as the ship drifted about we
felt that we had taken the chances and
lost. The ice stretched away as far as
we could see, and was strong enough to
bear a mans weight. A smart sea
would have broken it up i'll no time, but
for the next twenty hours there was
hardly pull of wind. When it did
come it headed US off again, and it was
no surprise to the men to be told one
morning that the ship would have to
Winter in the Ice.
We drifted slowly toward the Green
land coast with great mass of ice, and
when the shore ice was reached we cut
slip, warped the ship into it, and had
then done all we could toward making
her safe. Look in any direction you
might, the sight was the same-ice in
heaps and ridges and hummocks, with
never sight of water or a level spot.
Next day. after getting the ship into
her dock, we got out a landing plank on
each side, hoisted out lot of spare
lumber from the hold, and proceeded to
build a rude. stout roof over most of
the decks. Everything aloft was made
secure and every crevice and cram
ny which could be stopped against
the cold was made secure. In those
days Arctic whalers went provided for
such a mischance as this. We had lots
of lumber, false doors and window
sashes, plenty of fuel and provisions.
and there was noreason to believe that
we should suffer, either mentally or
physically. On the fifth day l went off
with Mr.. Lampson, the first mate, OH
hunting expedition. Foxes had already
been seen. and the sight of something
we believed to be bear was what
started us off. Daylight now lasted but
few brief hours, but the weather was
calm and the cold had relaxed several
degrees within few hours. We did
not intend to 90 over mile or two, and
we slipped away so quietly that only
few knew of our departure.
We shot a fox within half mile of