The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-08-26

track of the numerous steamships which
| furrow its water, the danger consists in
coliding with icebergs in the dense fogs
that prevail at the meeting place of the
Arctic current and the GulfStream. Here
icebergs sometimes congregate in large
numbers, and here, too, they have some
times proved the doom of fair ship and
her living freight of human beings.
The icebergs undergo many transforma-
lions during their short life in the neigh
borhood of the Gulf Stream, the warm
waves splitting them up into fragments
previous to their final dissolution. The
splitting or afoundering" of the iceberg is
accompanied by noise resembling the
booming Of distant artillery. Thus the
bergs which have been long immersed in
in the warm summer seas become serious
menace to the mariner who happens to be
sailing in close proximity to them. Ex
banded by the heat they burst with an
awful suddenness, as when porcelain cracks
with sharp report suddenly and unequally
heated on the winter stove. Judge of the
report when the porcelain of a great cliff
cracks and falls, or when the entire berg
is blasted asunder by the subtle internal
fire of the summer sun. If you would
hear thunder or whole broadsides and bat
teries of the heaviest ordnance come to the
iceberg then.
The effect Of laundering berg almost
battles description. Visiting bay on the
southern coast of Labrador few years ago,
we were surprised to find no less than nine
large icebergs lying around in it but a
short way inside the entrance thereto. The
tallest of them was certainly one hundred
feet out of the water. Gazing at this ma
rine monster one afternoon, it suddenly fell
to pieces with tremendous crash. The
sea around, which before was motionless,
was dashed into leaping waves. By the
force of the fall every particle of the berg
sank, and for the space of a few seconds
there remained nothingto indicate the spot
in which it had reposed but a seething
mass of water By and by the debris be-
gan to appear, piece, by piece untila at length
the sea for considerable distance was cover
cd with fragments of ice. The largest sur
wing mass reared itself sullenly and lazily
from the blue waters as wild animal from
its lair to the height of about 20 feet. But
the striking beauty of the original berg had
gone, and in a much shorter time than it
has taken To describe it.
Biologists tell us that the famous banks
of Newfoundland owe their existence to
the deposits for countless ages of the ice
bergs that are carried thither by the Arctic
current and dissolved by the tepid waters
of the Equatorial current. 1t is we'll
known fact that icebergs have been sighted
bearing not only seals and polar bears, but
also rocks and large quantities of alluvial
soil, in which latter herbs and even young
pine trees have occasionally been found
growing. Fishermen of Labrador and
Newfoundland baye told US that Goldfish
are more plentiful in the yicinage of ice
brrgs than anywhere else. This is due,
no doubt, first, to the lower temperature
of the water, and secondly, o the presence
of particles of matter which they have con-
tracted in the long process of formation,
and now deposit in the more rapid process
of decadence. The proceeding, however,
Of fishing near an iceberg is of so hazardous
a nature that GsheFmen seldom or never
run the risk Of doing SO.
As illustrating the kind of dangers
which beset the seamen in the region of
icebergs, the following Authentic narrative
is interesting A schooner of fifty tons
was bound to port on the northeast coast
of Newfoundland late in the autumn, and,
after favorable voyage, drew near her
destination. Phe wind blew heavily off
the land, which the skipper Rugged as
closely rs was consistent with safety.
Everything Wept smoothly on board, and
all hands were busily preparing for har-
Dor. About midnight the man on the
forward lockout suddenly shouted in tones
of CONSERVATION, 'Iceberes ahead r The
captain rushed forward, and, peering into
the darkness, sag that there were two ice
bergs standing at a considerable distance
apart. After . moments hesitation he
determined, with characteristic courage, to
sail between them. The schooner sped
onward, heading for the open passage
between the bergs, which she soon reached.
When every one was expecting to pass
through in half minute the ship bumped
fearfully, and all hands were dashed
violently on the deck, where they lay quak
ing with horror and dread. The schooner's
bow rose high, apd her stern proportionately
sank. What had appeared to be two ice
bergs was Ip reality but one, the bridge
which connected them being hidden under
the water, and on this the schooner had
grounded. The immediate fear of the i'm
periled and afrighted scamen was that the
iceberg would founder, in which case
nothing could have saved either the crew
or the ship from destruction. The wind
as well as the sea increased, but the
schooner showed no signs Of abandoning
her frightful position. The crew were
paralyyed with fear The iceberg at length
began to oseilate in consequence of the
increased motion of the waves, and iq the
space of few moments after its first oseilia-
ton the schooner slid gently backwards
Cher canvas had been taken DOWN, and re.
suining her voyage she was soon at anchor
age. An almost similar accident befell the
steam tender Intrepid, one ofSir Il. Austin's
squadron, in the Franklin Search Expedition
of 1S50-5l. She also escaped uninjured,
though enclosed in a cradle on the side of
berg formed by the broken foe