The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-09-19


most beautiful scene. No county village
In Chrstendom could have such absolute
calm and quiet this Sunday morning as
! we have here. The ice scarcely moves,
! and when 10 is In motion it has only vel
vety touches which produce no sound
! Gulls are circling about the steamer, and
on piece of ice near by a number of seals
arc basking in the warm sunshine. Three
or four miles distant, but seemingly but a
gunshot away, is the grand coast of the
foreland, with mighty glaciers running
down between the mountains TO the sea.
We can trace them as far as the eye can
reach, Offering n toboggan courses or O
miles wide perhaps 10 or 90 long. and
with an even, hard surface over which
sled would slip like a ball out of a rifle.
Fog fingers along the mountain slopes, but
above the fog the sun lights up the snowy
peaks Though the temperature of the air
Is only 90, there is no wind, and the dry
ness OF the atmosphere makes the cold un
! observable. 1t is n perfect day in the arc
tics-at the very beginning of the arctic
sprlng-and as usual we take our shower
bath in sea water on the aft deck The
bucket from which Sailor Ellefsen dashs
water upon our naked bodies is half full
of fine ice, but we have already learned
that bath frappe is tho most enjoyable
of all baths In "a country where the hot
room of Turkish establishment cannot be
had.
We take occasion to announce in the
morning that with us there is no Sunday
In the arctics SO far as work is concerned
We still have much TO do in the way OF
preparation for our ice Journey, and with
the probability of reaching Danes island
In two or three days the hour of our de-
fbpnpa for hn fo rkh
come at any moment 1t behooves us,
therefore, to be ready for any favorable
opening that may present itself. An
nouncement is also made that there will
be divine services in the evening.
A number Of our Norwegian members,
enthusiastic sportsmen, ask the privilege
OF going ashore To try their skis upon the
glaciers. 1t seems hard to deny their re-
quest for the broad surfaces of ice and
snow glistening in the sunlight are GER
tainly very tempting. But prudence die
tates that they shall not be permitted to
leave the ship. In this country one can
never tell when fogs or winds are going to
spring up. More than one party of sailors
have paid with their lives for the pleasure
of going ashore on these coasts, the wind
driving their ship away during their abb
sence and intervening ice preventing 1t re-
turning TO their rescue.
Eirst Experience.
A little befofo noon Captain Bottelfsen
asked me TO go TO the crows nest with
him to take "a look at the ice. He thought
he saw way out of our difficulty, but
owing to our great desire to save coal
wherever possible no did not like the re-
sponsibility Of moving without orders.
This was my first experience with crows
nests. To get into one Of these contrv- |
ances you have to do much more than |
push the button and step aboard when the |
elevator car comes along. You have to |
climb 90 feet to the foretop upon rope |
ladder. Arriving there, you find IL neces-
sary to swing yourself upon the little deck |
which is lashcd there, and this process |
very much resembles crawling out Of n |
four story window and upon the cornice Of |
the story overhead. Then you ascend an
other rope ladder, which is now becoming
provokingly narrow, and presently find
yourself plump against mast, with num-
Der lines Of hemp and steel running down
from the point which you can barely reach
with your hands Still above you Is the
barrel which answers for nest. To get
into IL you have TO perform some sort Of
acrobatic feat, lifting yourself up by your
hands, getting one of your feet great
>'Ne' 'tsiANi sOuA hSouf uiiu 1
ing in.
In this particular crows nest there is
no way of getting In through trapdoor
In the bottom, i'm which respect it differs
from most contrvances of the sort. You
must get in mt tho top of the barrel A
sailorman finds 1t very easy, particularly
when the ship is rolling violently for he
gets on the upper side and falls in when
she dips.
But for n landlubbcr il is exceedingly
iiffcult, and you finally get into the bar
'el with the breath oil out OF your body, a
great deal of the skin gone from your
hands and shins, and confused sort of
nca In your mind as TO whether you are
IN arctic explorer or performer in some
mes three ring circus
But there Is reward for the effort, though
cannot be said that there is always room
It the top. Tho view from a crows most
5 something indescribably exhilarating
'ut with two men in one barrel there Is
lot much space for moving about and
ieeping up circulation of the blood. One :
4 these arctic scenes is fine enough from !
he deck, but from the crows nest its Z
eauty and interest are magnifed a thou .
andfold. l used TO think that the man G
mo sat at desk and directed the des- 1
inies OF great newspaper had about
cached the summit Of earthly power and
'as enjoying an ideal fascination of con-
roll Next to that there is something pc