Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1896-04-23
"1fard a-port!" is the command.

ScrapeS Tue IufhS VI icc UidU VoWcio 49,
above her trucks.
It is a narrow escape; but what O.
that? She has seen such narrow es
capes before, and has, indeed, felt the
ice Gathering on her decks more thar
once during these perilous voyages
Was she not built for these perils'
What if she should strike berg?
1 Those bows, with their immense
strength, would be able to withstand
almost any blow.
On she drives, and the morning
breaks on sea covered with. floating
ice. The wind has gone down, and the
snow has ceased falling. The captain
orders his most experienced hand into
the zero nest" where, from his airy
perch, he scans the sea for some sign
Of the game they are pursuing,
| High up on the foremost, dashed TO
its slender dimensions, Is the post OF
observation referred TO, and within its
depths stands the man selected for this
duty, his head just peering above the
rim Of the barrel, which completely
hides his person from view
Away to the northward stretches an
unbroken field of ice, its surface dotted
here and there with the game, but not
in sufficient quantity to warrant secur-
ing it.
Under the guidance Of the man aloft
the ship winds her way in and out Of
the ice foes until she is brought to a
standstill, with a shock that tunbles
the unwary head over heels on the
deck. She must force her way through
the immense pan at her bow, and her
engines draw the hull backward, and
still backward, until her commander
thinks that he has sufficient room to
gain the impetus needed to break the
ice.
Then he signals Full speed ahead"
and the ship hesitates moment, as
though gaining its breath before it
leaps forward to its work On it
comes, faster and still faster. until it
strikes the pan tremendous blow fair
in its center, and with groan, as
though it yielded up its possessions
with protest, however unavailing 1t
might be, long crack creeps snake
like over its surface, and it opens under
the immense weight and crushing
strength and leaves the victor to pur-
sue her way unimpeded towards her
goal.
The captain has gained his object by
the subterfuge of the night. There is
not rival in sight to share the spoils,
and right before the ship lies mass of
seals numbering thousands, their dusliy
bodies huddled together, fairly hiding
the ice from sight.
Closer and closer, as under the re-
duced speed she sails along. nearer to
the edge of the ice, until the engines
stop and the ship is moored to the
frozen water
The hunks are torn down, and the
fremen heave away great mounds Of
coal on to the ice. Every inch of space
must be reserved for the splendid har.
vest soon to be garnered; and what
matters it that the coal lift may be all
too little to carry the ship back to port
SO long as there is enough to supply
power to the engines to tear the hull
loose from its icy letters? Never mind
the cost. 1t is mere bagatelle COM
pared with the wealth represented by
the greasy pelts occupying its space in
the hunks.
Now comes a scene of wild activity
as the swiftest runners in the crew
bear the stats upholding their flutter-
ing remnants racing over the ice, and
through the groups Of vicious old seals,
who rear up and snap at the intruders.
There is only homeguard Of these old
ones left, and the ice is duslsy with the
bodies Of the young pups that are not
old enough to swim and whose parents
are away seeking food.
The seals are surrounded now with |
line of fluttering pennants., Off coats
and to work! No idle time now. Over
the sides clamor the men, and, with |
bat" in hand and knife between their
teeth, begin the work Of slaughter.
The pelts are dragged to the side Of the
ship; the winches hoist them on board |
and lower them into the hold, where
they are carefully slowed by hands
long rracticed in this trade, and the
close Of the day, which is in this lati-
tude many hours long, finds the cargo
we'll slowed
After this comes the gathering in OF
The pennants, and the return to the
ship of the men far distant, dragging
The pelts that there is hardly room for
On the ships deck. Piled as high as
The rail, and in every conceivable spare
spot, they lie, while upon their greasy
surface the men throw themselves, and
get u few hours well-earncd sleep
1t had been hard fight-one well
calculated to try the strength of the
7ictors and when the laurels are
heirs, little wonder that they seek
'esting place without regard to any
hing but respite from their labors.
Once more the thick, black smoke
'ours out of the funnel; once more the
telegraph conveys the tidings to the
Waiting engineers that on them de-
bends the safe return homeward, as the
lial reads: "Full speed ahead"
Husband the coal and get all the
team possible with the least expendi-
ure Of the black diamonds. The cap.
ain takes the bridge, and remains