The morning times., 1896-04-26
Giant Icebsrgs that Dot the North
Atlantic Are the Greatest
Menaces to the Big Ships
and Their Cargoes of
Human Beings.
downright Se6.A

Copyright, lS96.)
When the good steamship st. Paul starts
out from Sandy Hook Wednesday she will
carry in her crew an ocean detective
warranted 20 guard herself and passengers
from loss OF life and property in the journey
to Europe.
Over the ships bow, in an iron cage, at
the very water eIEe, viii be greatsearch,
light OF 2G,COo candle power. manned
night and day 10y trusty guard and abso.
luIely guaranteed 10 detect the icebergs that
a:e filling thc ocean this spring as they have
never filled it before.
IL is as though Nansen were up at the
pole hewing OFF big glaciers and sending
them down as specimens of the companions
he meets in his arctic voyage.
These iceberGs, coming DOWN from Green
land and the Polar regions are the most
Formidable things the ocean pilots of April
and May have 10 deal with. The approach
of a sailing vessel is made known to the
seamen 10y the constant footing OF the
foghorns. No matter how duIIitmay be on
the ocean the foshOrns are heard telling
that sailing vessel is in a certain direction
and ship auoyr' IL a steamer is coming
there is a blowing OF her whistles. One
steamer cannot collide with another ex.
cept by the groSseSt misEsanagem such
as does not now occur once in Il generation.
But with the iceberg il is different. IL
comes without foghom or whistle. 1t is
silent as death and COiorlesS as the at
mosphere. If it is coated with snow ii is
white, but If il has slid off the end of
Greeland, after being washed by the waves,
IT is as cie ar and transparent as the cake of
ice the iceman leaves at your door 1t
is these clear, colorleSS, silent boTgs that
are the terror of sailors and the nightmare
OF the captain OF the vessel.
To guard against these II ocean steam
ships now go out with a searchlight in
their bows. This light is an electric one,
and is kept directed ahead for imost every
hour Of the voyage. AT night il is shin
ing brilliantly, and is manned by the
sharpest lookout Of the crew and in foggy
days it is just as carefully attended. II is
only in the very clearest hours al noonday,
whenthe da Y is warnnest that the sea rchlight
is put out for few hours.
The approach of an iceberg is said TO
be unheralded But to those who know
the ocean there is a premonit!on of it
as coming events cast their shadows be-
forel
The iceberg casts its chill before At
dead of night, if the atmosphere grows
suddenly very cold. and the wind be-
comes biting, The lookout notifies the plot,
and the pilot notifies the mate, and the
mate puts himself in communication with
the crew. There is a silent word, a mean
ing look, the ghost OF a bit OF Information
passed along the line; and the men below
are turned out, regardless of lost sleep,
OF early hours.
The chilli tells the men that a II iceberg
LIS hoyering around. 1t may be back of
them and passing away 1t may have
passed along the course hours before 1t
uIay have been a small one, now melting,
or IL may be berg that is entirely under
meath the water; and this is the worst
kind OF ALL
Pretty soon the air gets more nipping,
the breath of the sailors turns to frost
on their boards. The Thermometer falls
phenomenaliy low and the spars and rig
ging become coated with brilliant crystal.
Then ali know that an iceberg is very close
and all hands watch for 1t.
The Searchlight gets in its fine work now.
With men carefully searching its rays It
1liumineS the ocean sometimes for miles
ahead. and always far enough in the dis
tance TO permit the ship TO turn and avoid
a coming berg.
Pretty soon the great ragged. towering
outlines are seen far off. menacing and COM
ing swiftly onward. Then the CAPTAIN
does his best work. Whether to reverse
the engines and turn back. whether TO go
swiftly forward. or whether to stand still
and let the berg go on its way south-as
ali bcrgS dO-is a question of Judgment
which he must hurriedIy determine.
This season there have been a greater
number Of collisions from icebergs than
have been known before in ocean history
since the days when steam and electricity
revolutiOniZed ocean travel But the ac-
cidents have been to sailing vess els,
Yachts and the smaller OF the ocean craft
The great ocean greyhounds are too care
fully trained and too fleet to be caught
bv the ocean terror.
The way OF placing the searchlight
differs Many ships puts the lights high
over the bow. claiming that a greater
distance can be seen; but others place il
Il the waters edge, because there no
shadow can interfere tcconfuSe the lookout
When Frances willard sailed on the Paris
last Wednesday she had with her body
guard. which the devoted members OF
the w. c. T. L never thought OF provid-
fng, and which eXceled In watChfulness
and effiCicnCv Tie faithful Anna Gordon.
Miss Wizards other self This was
great searChlighr that scanned the water
ahead, and warned the crew Of the ocean
ghosts that are at this particular season
unsleeping prowlcrs Of the deep.
The place where most iCehcrgs come from
Is Greenland, which ought 10 he named
whiteland All the spring IN is white as
snow. coated with the great bersS that
break orr as the waters rush past and
start south. Othcr berEs come from The
frozen northwest passage, which foolish
uavir8torS arc ~ was frvinv to discover
The ice. when it breaks up NJ this jlme or
the wear. starts south with slow momentum
aud gets about as FAR south aS Greenland
Here IL lodges. getting wedccd in the rar-
row passages. and getting an extra freeZ-