Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-09-19
twain she wa. almost swamped by the

II 1E1FT SfANSs anu Wllt%u the UEt @ft Nettlt
she ran 10 the north TO get out OF the
ice. Next day she returned to search
| the foe. but hit II too far east TO
/ sight me.
II she passed me. which may have
been the case. the mist Using FROM the
Ice. which is called rhe lice blink"
shut her from my view In the .sdes
/ of the foe she fonrd an oar from my
boat and some boards. which were be-
lieyed to be a part of the frail craft.
and, judging from these relics that the
boat had beea crushed and the crew
/ lost. she gave over further search. As
10 the two men IN the ledge, no one
has ascertained t. what craft they be-
longed or how they caile there.
i l am not at all sure how long l DRIFT
ed. hut the general direction was
south and the time was at least four
days and nights. Had we left the ship
without food. should have starved to
death within the fist twelve hours.
/ As il was. l made myself fairly COM
Portable. and being helpless To- better
MY condition, passed much of the time
in sleep. On the n orning Of what was
probably the fifth tliy awoke to md
I that the hoe had ceased drifting, and
quarter of a nile east of me was a
mass OF ice of singular creation.
1t was mile Or more in length and
not over thirty feet high. and locked
more like a wall resting on the wafer.
The ice was yellow and dirty, with
rocks imbedded 10 it here and there.
and have M ID ubt that n good part
of il was the lower part Of an iceberg
which Lad turned turtle. Between me
SEd the water was tumble of Ice.
over which il seemed impossible TO
make Iuy way: but as soon as had
broken MY fast l set out to try 1t. IL
took me full hour to make that quar-
ter OF a mile, but Ut length reached
the wall and found that could easily
get up it rough side. When reached
the top il was TO discover that the
mass OF ICE was almost cube. with
a gre5t hollow in its surface 10 remind
me Of the crater Of volcano
In the center OF the hollow lay
mass Of wreckage. and after a long
stare. half believing that my eyes de-
ceived me. l slid down and began an
investigation. No one will ever see
more curious sight. a space several
hundred feet square was covered with
broken masts, yards, beams. plaaks.
boards, ropes. blocks and sails. Amid
this heap were thousand belongings
10 the interior OF ship. There were
tables. chairs. sofas, crcckery. cloth
ing. carpets. rugs and what not. A
few articles had not been damaged
but the greater part had been broken
and splintered as ii a mailman had
used an ak TO destroy.
There was a sort OF mildew covering
everything, and such articles Of cloth
ing as / pulled at were quite rotten.
A large ship had here suffered de-
structiOn. Just how, I could not de-
termine, but it seemed TO me as II a
great body Of ice had fallen on her as
she rested in the crater. No other
forces. unless gunpowder, could have
so wrecked and scattered her about
, Sailorlike, my first thought was to
identify the wreck. This did by find.
ing a life-preserver with the name
''Princess" painted on IL.
I had not then heard Of the loss OF
, the Australian packet, but knew that
! this must have been a passenger ship
) from her fittings. There were no bod
, les under or about the wreckage. and
Z during my search Of five hours I did
/ not find any money or jewelry or hel
; cargo, only small portion was al
hand, and ] did not see a single bale
? Of wool The life-preserver and thres
I pieces Of silver plate I carried to th'
) boat. but found nothing else worth
Z taking away. could find nothing II
A the wreckage to account for the ship
Q boats. and all her crew and passen
. gers had certainly left her before sh,
! met her fate.
q The theory Of whalers who hav,
q crulsed 10 the icy seas Is that tn
; Princess was driven down on the &c,
= by gale from the north, which, per
n haps. dismasted her. At some time
y perhaps before she got into the &c,
fields-siIe was abandoned, and, on
4 after another. her boats were lost II
4 that great ocean. II after that sh
q got wedged among the Ice, then the
n floated away from her to perish o
e cold and starvation. One can onl
e guess how the big ship came to b
q lying where | found her She ma
Il have been lifted bodily onto the &c
% during a nip" or have run upon
n shelf or ledge as she drove before
gale.
NJ The shape and size Of icebergs
8. constantly changing This one ha
is probably been much larger and highe
ID at some time. There might have beel
y and probably was. high portion
u which fell upon and shattered the vei
81 sci to fraDents. As she had no guI
l powder on board, there could hay
no been no explosion. In whatever wa
her doom came about, there she wa
ne or all that was left Of her
I'd Late in the Afternoon the foe bcga
er to break up and got back TO my boa
y, By night there were lanes Of water
ri every direction and strong bree5
at set in from the south. drifted to Il
m north all that night ard all the ne!
day, but as the cecOnd night can
nd down I was picked up by the Scott
We whaler Jeanette, which had capture
~ and was cutting a whale, and mont
10 later was landed at her home port.
For three years believed the Tall
on man had been east away in the ice, b
ca IL turned out that she escaped wltbo
~ much damage, and finally reachs
~ Boston with full cargo.
nd Saved by the Comedians CIeverne
en- A comedian I'm a Paris theater
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