Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-01
ICEBERG DANGERS.

Ships Find Bergs q Peril OF tho Sea
and Dread Having Them Around.
From the New York journal.
There Is one peril of the sea which every
mariner breads, because. especially in fog
gy weather he Is almost powerless to es-
cape from enoountering 1t, ana that is tho
icebergs that break away from the vast
glacial masses ir the arctics and are swept
by the currents into thu track of vessels
They arc most common during the six
months beginning with March or April
though tho captain Of a vessel which came
into this port lastJweek reported a narrow
escape from one ON the way bstween New
York and Liverpool. The number Of ves-
sells each year ported as 'lost, with all on
board" Is probably greater from this cause
than any other. for when ship crashes
into berg tho chances are that she will
sink before there La a chance for any boats
to be lowered.
These icebergs. when they start on their
course from the polar regions, stand $50 to
200 feet above the water, while the SUBJ
merged part Is often from l, 100 to ], 400 feet
in thickness. Though these masses Of ice
are often miles in extent when they start
for the warmer waters toward the equator,
they, as rule, are soon broken up by
collisions with each other and by erosion
Two great bergs have recently been seen
in the South Pacific, which are probably
among the largest on record. One was re-
ported by the British ship Coldinghame
which passed about 200 bergs. one of them
being ten miles in length. The Guilty Sark
another English ship, sailed for nineteen
miles along the berg. BY the action of the
waves it was cut at the waters edge into
caves and caverns Of a beautiful color, and
portion of it, while 1t was being OBJ
served, broke off and turned bottom up
ward, showing it's submerged part carved
into the most fantastic designs by the &C
ton of the water.
The same vessel the Guilty Sark, which
trades between London and Australia, had
an exciting experience last September She
was in 40 degrees south latitude and de-
grees east. when she encountered r vast
crowd Of tcebergs in thick fog. aud when
the fog lifted she found herself literally
surrounded. 1t came on foggy again and
at noon the ship nearly ran into q berg
dead ahead.
you could hear the sea breaking over
and through them,' wrote the captain,
but could not see them until you were
close on them Sometimes we heard re-
ports like big guns and then rumbling like
thunder After cropping their way through
the crowd the Guilty Sarks men saw d.
passage. which, when the fog lifted, was
found TO be about 1000 feet wide and
through it they succeeded in making their
escape.
1t would be possible to multiply ndefi-
nitely such experiences, but here is one
that Will Illustrate what terriers these ir-
responsible monsters of the sea really are:
Inc John Cooke of Londonderry was in
the southern iceberg belt, homeward bound.
when fog arose which lasted two days
II suddenly lifted and the astonished sail
OTIS saw, few miles away. a full-rigged
ship with all her canvas up, run straight
INTO the middle of crowd Of large ice
beTgs and disappear. What her name was
or from what port she hailed was never
Known and never will be.