Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-04-04
ALOFT OMAN ICEBERG

Alaska-Ths Tide Goes Down While She
Is Fastened to q BERG. Leaving der High
and Dry.
Strange stories Of thrilling encounters
with icebergs have been brought back
from the Arctic by shippers from time
TO time, but they must all take a back
seat now and bow low to Captain Ches-
ter Of the schooner Elwood
The E!wood has just returned from
her first haiibus fishing cruise in the
northern waters Sac left San Francisco
on Jan. "a in ballast, but put into De-
parture bay and took on a cargo Of coal
for Juneau, Alaska After discharging
at the latter place she headed for the
Muir glacier, the purpose being to load
the hold with ice. The vessel was pass
ing through the icy straits and was just
of Hoonia, says Captain Chester, when
be espied an immense iceberg about a
mile away 1t was fully ten times the
size Of the schooner and appeared TO
have become fast upon a reef.
The captain considered this a lucky
find, for he could get all the ice he
wanted The Elwood was headed for
the berg, and when the vessel was with
in a few yards Of it the anchor was
dropped The schooner was then per-
mitted TO swing around until she came
alongside the iceberg, to which she was
made fast with lines
The tide was at the full at the time,
and TO all appearance the vessel was
perfectly safe All went we'll until
along toward evening. About so tons
Of ice had been deposited in the hold,
and Captain Chester encouraged his
men 20 work a little faster, as he de-
sired to get the entire load and leave as
o as possible Meanwhile the tide
had been falling. which caused the Joe
berg to settle heavily upon the reef be-
meath and then to gradually tip over to
ward the side opposite the vessel
The iceberg continued to careen, and
Captain Chester began to suspect that
all was not going 30 be well for him.
He ordered his men TO get aboard and
was about to set sail when, with a
grinding roar, the iceberg rolled of the
reef and started TO revolve. Immediate
ly there arose on the starboard side of
the vessel and beneath it a jagged spur
of Ice. which until then had formed
the bottom of the iceberg With a crash,
the ice struck the keel The next in
slant the astonished crew found them
selves and their vessel lifted out of the
water and resting In a sort of groove or
cradle at the south end Of the ice noun
tain it was a panic inspiring predica-
ment, % say the least, and all hands be-
gan to pray for their lives
The weight of the vessel arrested the
revolution Of the berg, but did not have
the effect Of turning II back again TO
its original position The reef prevent.
ed this
Chester ordered his men into the
boats with Instructions TO get out of
harm s way as fast as they could Be-
fore abandoning the vessel the mate cut
the lines which held her 70 the iceberg
The men then pulled away to a safe
distance and anxIously awaited the fate
Of the Elwood The anchor held fast,
and the schooner. 8 if realizing its
plight and desiring TO escape, tugged at
the chain despairingly
The tide dropped a few more inches,
the iceberg careened still further. and
the Elwood rose still higher into the
air Although at first thought this
seemed TO render her condition even
more desperate, it really proved the
schooner's salvation. The tendency of
the iceberg to roll over and raise the
vessel brought such al enormous strain
70 bear upon the anchor chain that some
thing had 10 give way Something did,
and TO the Joy Of the fishermen il was
not the anchor or the chain The ice
berg lurched, and the schooner was OBJ
served TO slide several feet along the
crevIce 1t rested in. There was another
iurch and another slide Then the YES
sci reached a downward grade and the
next instant shot of the iceberg and in
70 the sea-, bows on. like q rocket She
shipped q heavy sea. as the result Of
plunging her nose beneath the surface.
but quickly righted and after stumbling
owe her anchor chain and tugging vi
oiously to get away settled down to her
original state Of tranquility. to all ap
pearance unhurt
i have been at sea q great many
years and have had queer experiences,
but this one beats them all hollow"
declared Captain Chester. 81 thought
the vessel was doomed and never look
cd for such a happy termination of
our troubles When the schooner start
ed 10 slide, there was no stopping her.
and she bounded off like a thing of life.
She looked Just as if she were gliding
down the ways Of a shipyard on her
launching day never saw anything
prettier You can rest assured that no
happier mortals ever climbed aboard a
ship than were we when we pulled over
to the Elwood We lowered around the
straits that night, and when we took on
the remainder of our ice cargo we took
care not to approach too near the ice
berg We carried the chunks owe in
our small boats, keeping the schooner
at a respectable distance
Captain Wyman, the owner of the Ell
wood, accompanied the vessel on her
recent voyage and c~orroborates Captain