Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1890-08-14
THE NORTH ATLANTIC ICE.
Ensign Rodman Tells OF His Observation
OF Icebergs and Fields.


National Geographic society in tho
assembly-hall of the Cosmos club, saws
the Washington Star. His topic was
.Icebergs and Field-Ice in the North
Atlantic" he having just returned
| from trip into the ice-making regions
| of Labrador and Newfoundland on a
special mission on behalf of the hydro
gen Office for the purpose of obtaining
information that might lead to more
accurate knowledge in relation to the
formation and movements of ice around
| the lines of regular ocean travel.
His lecture was. illustrated with
lantern slides from views taken By him
during his trip. Newfoundland and
the mouth of the st. Lawrence river
yearly send out miles of ice that Is ex-
tremely dangerous to navigation. In
deep waters the course of ice can be
easily traced. but in shoal water this
becomes difficult. The movements of
the ice depend in great measure upon
the various currents that traverse the
ocean in this vicinity, as we'll as upon
great variety of other forces, and
little can be said with any degree OF
defniteness as to the probable move
mSnts of ice beforehand. Hundreds of
vessels lave been lost from ignorance
of the local path of the ice, and many
are damaged severely yearly on the
same account.
Greenland is the great factory for the
formation of icebergs, and the most of
those that make an annual appearance
in the northern waters are from this
region. 1t is large island, entirely
covered with ice, that flows down to
the sea. and breaking off forms bergs
and fields. Each glacier produces
from ten to twenty bergs a year, an
annual output of ice that has been esti-
mated at 250 900, 600. 600 of cubic feet,
Or calculating at the rate of five
pounds day for every man, woman,
and child in the United States, enough
to supply this country for at least 100
years. But only small proportion of
the years production OF bergs ever
reach the transatlantic steamer lines,
for many are melted, but moro are
broken up before they get into the
navigable waters. of the Grand
banks the bergs are the most plentiful
during the spring months.
There is great difference in the
rates at which bergs travel. One may
reach the southern waters the same
year in which it is produced, while
another may be several years going
the same distance. The ice-felds are
great obstacle to the progress of the
bergs, smashing them up and causing
their disintegration. The ice of the
bergs is very brittle, and sometimes a
sharp blow of an AK will shatter a
berg, and they are often demolished
by the conclusion of the report of a
cannon. They break up with loud re-
ports that can be heard for some dis
lance. Water often melts in orevices
of the bergs, and then, by some change
of temperature freezes again. and then
1t often happens that, by reason Of the
expansion and contraction due to the
change in the condition of the water,
the ice is split, and thus bergs are fire.
quently destroyed.
They melt away as they get into
the warmer water of the south, and are
ground against the field and broken
ice that they meet on the way. Some OF
them last for several years. They quite
often have long, outlying spurs pro.
jecting under the surface of the water
that are very dangerous to ships, as
they are invisible and may pierce the
side of vessel. Bergs are as rule,
nicely balanced and are quite apt to
tumble over If they are disturbed. On
a clear day berg can be seen for a
| long distance on account of its brilliant
wilderness and at night from its reful.
gence.
In fog bergs may DO detected by
their apparent blackness, but more
often by the echo which they throw of
from any such sound as fog-horn or
whistle. An instrument on deck
catches the echo waves, and by a per-
fected mechanism their lengths may be
measured, thus giving the mariner
some idea as to the distance he is away
from his danger. Field ice is con.
stantly drifting and seems to have a
motion within itself that is always
carrying 1t on in some direction. II
often breaks up, drifts and freezes
again the same day. Two vessels
| csught in the ice near each other may,
in few days, be many miles apart,
although there is not time when one
could not walk from one to the other.
| The Arctic ice takes several seasons to
make, while that made further south
forms each season. The latter is softer
and does not last as long as the other
sort. Only an ayerage-sized berg can
get across the banks. owing to the
great depth of water which they draw,
and many are grounded there to melt
slowly away.
The cod follow the ice down and feed
under it, while the seal, the sort that
is hunted for its leather and not its fur,
makes the ice its breeding ground.
This furnishes a lively industry to
many fishermen of the north, who 90
out in fleets as soon as the ice begins
to come down and race for the bergs
and fields. The catch averages about
81, 900. 600 worth each year, but the
business is perilous and the risks are
great. 1t is peculiar fact. that has
been lately demonstrated, that all ice
does not form on the surface of the
water but often makes in from ten to
have been lost overheard have been
found in cakes Of ice months or years
after. As they are heavier than the
water and could not float, this is ac-
counted for by the explanation that
there are spots in the under-current Of
the water that are colder than on top
and ice forms when it could not do SC
above.
The photographic Office has been do
ing great deal to get reliable infor
nation about the movements of ice il
the lines of steamers across the
Atlantic, and has prepared several
forms and charts that are given to al
marines who will fill them out in ex'
change for any other information that
they may want. All ice sighted is pu
down on the chart, with the date ant
the location, and from the data thus re
ceived office is enabled to draw result
ant averages as to the probable loca
ton OF ice in the more frequcntl,
Travelled lines. The present year ha
been unusual in the number and size
of the bergs that have been sighted
their appearance having been mucl
earlier than ever before. 1t is esti
mated that fully 800, 900 year woul'
be saved in coal alone IL steamers coul'
sail in such courses that they woul'
not meet ice in their routes.