New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-12
CRASHED INTO AN ICEBERG.
THE SHIP SAN JOAQUIN HAD A NARROW
ESCAPE.
r.h.N MOUNTAIN INTEEFERED WITH HER
VOYAGE FROM JAPAN TO NEW-foRK,
AND CAUSED MUCH DAMAGE.


AND CAUSED MUCH DAMAGE
The good ship San Joaquin came into port yes
terday from Hiogo, japan. There Is nothing re-
markable about ship arriving fiom Japan, but
when ship from Japan encounters such terrors
Of the deep did the San Joaquin. II Is remark
able According to the captain, the ship came
in collision with an iceberg four miles long and
1900 feet high. The first mate says that II that
iceberg was not eight miles long he will "eat his
head" However, both captain and mate agree
as to the height Of the berg. and the wandering
mountain Of ice is officially entered in the ships
log as being 800 feet high.
The San Joaquin was off Cape Horn when she
encountered the iceberg. She had weathered the
Cape and was well started her way up the
Patagonan coast. 1t was September g. and
O'Clock at night. II was thick weather and there
was a chiness in the air which bespoke the
presence of ice The commander Of the ship,
Captain Larrabee was on the poop deck and the
second mate was the topgallant forecastle.
The captains sister deck with him. All
were keeping sharp lookout. They saw before
them a light-appearing mass which was so large
that they thought It was the horizon clearing.
Then bang the ship went into the iceberg. and
swung around port side on. BY the red gleam
of the port light the people on deck could see a
great mass of ice with dark and cavernous fs-
sures and topping cornice that threatened to
fall on them and crush them. Tons Of the over
hanging ice actually did fall on the deck. and
the sailor at the wheel left his post and rushed
In panic about the deck.
The captains sister grabbed the spokes the
cowardly man had left and stegdcd the ship.
She IS a Maine woman and is about thirty-five
years old She had been making the trip with
her brother for her health The captain ran TO
his sisters assistance, but they could not keep
the ship clear of the great berg. Then the cap
tain gave orders to back the miZzen yard, and
the ship slowly got sternway on and slid away
from the great island of Ice.
The next morning the San Joaquin was fifteen
miles away from the ice island. but II was still
In sight, ard Captain Larrabee at once went to
work to get the size OF the berg and to repair
damages.
The crash had caused n lot Of trouble for the
captain. as the fOremast was gone about fifteen
feet from the deck. the jbboom and bowsprit
had been swept away the topgallant foremast
had been reduced to kindling wood by the ice
which had fallen on 1t. and the main topmast
and topgallant mast and the mizzen topgallant
mast gone.
Before the sun set the captain had rieged
jury foremast and a jury bowsprit and was
standing on his course for New-York. with the
iceberg stretching along the horizon behind him
II the berg was eight miles long. the mate Is
ready to take his affidavit that It was. there
Of Ice in II. 1t had wandered up from the
Antarctic Ocean, and is probably as big berg
az there is any record OF.
The san Joaquin stopped at Barbados on her
way up but did not re.it then. She dropped
anchor off Robbins Reef last night, slightly
disfigured. but still a good ship. Seven white
men and eight japanese compose her crew.