New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-06
ICEBERGS.
MANY MAGNIFICENT MONSTERS OFF THE
COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

TOMS EXTRAORDINARY EXPERlENOE
WITH A BURSTING BERG.
cyov,sr,yy CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRiBuNE.l
& John's Newfoundland, June 3D.
Newfoundland-by the way, if you WISH 10 "e
correct pronounce il NuiionlOn ana pun III"
cont hard ON the last syable-has many a''Iao-
,ons peculiarly its own. To come here iron' '''
Jrnitcd States. or from England, or from ally o',''
,vell.setted country, is like coming lh'o '"o'"''
world The people Of St Johns. 1t is true, "ic
NOT essentially unlike other Anglo-oaAohs' i",S
worship the same fashion-plateS ana cn'sV 'n'
some ambitions But outside of the capita INC
Observation-Disclosures are genus OF themselves ''''
creatures of ocean, ice and storm. -,
The Newfoundander loves ice. lie has A'on
sense of its uses and beauties III an ''"'o''
Of the wear he has il about him III '''e "ih'o'
it is the chief product of his island III 'nc sun
MGR il floats past his doorway i'll nople arsosieS'
~. ro.soco 90 an ;cebcrc common as it is, never
fails 70 awaken the enthusiasm OF the Newlouho-
,s.u r., bis cottage on the cliff or in the
rock sheltered cove he watches II as thc currents
- :, along and his manner has IN 1t something
% ,ho rride which a farmer might take in blooded
stock.
From lime until August these ice formations
are continually HOallnS dloHS tiFV ShViVo w Nv"
fonndlond. One or more of them may he seen
AT almost any time and from almost any point
Of view. They are of every size and shape. from
little blocks no larger than fishing punt, when
lool, at distance like little marbles on the blue
waste 10 lofty castles and even TO vast ice islands
whose dimensions may he measured in square
miles Every now and again, perhaps as oiten
as once in ten years, the Arctic region begins
10 disgorge itself of immense quantities OF ice
which il has been slowly storing. Not only are
the children Of the glaciers more numerous III
these years, but the iccfelds are greater IN area
and made up of huger bodies. Ocean navigation
hereabouts, none too free from peril in any sum
mer, is then TO he anNiously undertaken 1Or the
smallest berg is enough to wreck the largest
craft aiioat. Indeed the smaller ones are most
70 be dreaded, for in foggy weather they cannot
be seen. and their movement i free from the
noises which accompany the progress of the larger
ones. They come along from their Greenland
homes steadily and certainly, carried by the
strong Arctic current and quite unmindfu of the
wind 1t may blow hurricane i'll their faces
and against their ample Breasts but they press
along remOrseessy
This is due to the great strength of the currents
along these coasts and TO the Circumstance that
so much more of the berg is under water than
above it. 1t is said that nine-tenths of the bulk
are buried in the ocean, and that only One-tenth
remains above the surface of the But this
is very hard TO believe. | suppose yOu can take
the specific grayties of ice and of sea water and
calculate the matter To nicely. hut if the state
ments Of these seafaring men are found 10 he ac-
curate it will follow that many of the bergs
that pass here must extend into 900 fathoms Of
water These bergs are all from Greenland. and
~. e xose
Humboldt Glacier That monster possesses a sea
frontage of sixty miles and occupies one of the
largest of Greenlands valleys extending inward to
the mountains for about 90 miles. II is NOT sup
posed TO move more than few feet each year
but even that would be enough for tie con-
struction Of many fleets of icebergs
Two splendid srecimens-one an island long,
low and fat, and the other. lofty block of
infinite design. are now aground in the bay
beyond ST. Johns Harbor The harDor is very
deem or such enormous bodies could not have
come so far in. Icebercs IRE common here
that, although they always attract attention,
they are not often visited. / had quite mind,
however, to examine one closely, and the oppor
.unity to do presented itself shortly after
these two bergs grounded. The fortunate owner
Of O steam launch placed his craft at the disposal
OF a gentleman who invited me 10 join him in a
tour Of investigation. Our skipper was a burly
old chap and saving that he was not in the least
unhappy looking his countenancc suggested the
pictures Of the Olympian Jovc. That is, he had
big head and a shock of curly hair all over il
and curly whiskcrs about his face and big blue
eyes. He was good enough TO be interested in our
Investigations, and what we didn't see he told
us about.
The island was nearer in-shore than the taller
berg 1t all Of SIXTY feet high, somewhat
circular in form and about a mile and half in
circumference. In appearance it was just like so
much white marble. The great surface which il
turned toward the sun caused the melting process
to go on rapidly, and thirty forty noisy cat
aracts were plunging over its sides, fast cutting
seams and crevices which, once started, must soon
bring the berg 10 destruction. Here and there
they had already resulted in great assures that
extended far into the ice. The sides Of the island
were like a bleak and rocky coast precipitous
jagged ard strangely spectacular They were not
unlike the very shores along which it lay
stranded.
1T were downright frosty where that Teller
come from, EUR, remarked the skipper, as we
slowed up and lay ny within dozen yards of
the island. Skipper Tom West Country
man and his accent wls trOad. I'VE thinks we
has summat of chilly weather, EUR, hereabouts, in
the winter time. but we doesn't grow them
fellers'
II suppose you'd call that fairly large one,
wouldn't you ?'
1t bent smallish, anyways. Bat there's
bigger ones. Ven | be fshin' up on the Labra-
dor l see bigger ones"
How the water comes of his back / don't
see bow the sun can melt ice fast enough TO sup
ply such big, noisy tOrrente"
Yezzur, thas so, EUR, it do he queer. But
the motion O. the heements wot's agoin' on in
that feller, eur, is past all beevin'. Three year
ago, EUR, come the nineteenth O. next July, |
were a-fshin' in banker of the Labrador. 1t
were a muchly spell, EUR, afore the luck come.
and ven il come, it come all of a student, an
IL were all we could do 10 pull in the fish, EUR
But lie the time we was gifted with tn luck,
eur, run clean short o water. 1t seems, FUR,