The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-29
IN THE ARCTIC ICE.
NEW ENGLAND NEW WITH
TIE OFF POINT BARROW.

| TH F EMS OEH
Ma, or Them Have nae Rzperisnce In WIN
,or,,r n, the Frozen Herth ana Thetr FRIENDS
A.. Net Concerned 20 Mech nor Their
s.rc,y as for the Bear Roller IMPOSITION
Nrw prproRp, Mass. Nov. ~2s.-Locked in
tho Arctic ice of Point Barrow, and down tho
Alaskan coast in the direction OF the Mackenzie
River. where those OF the whalers whose posi-.
uons ara not known are supposed to be, arc
eleven New England men, most OF whom are
svsl, known TO the seafaring men of this city.
Among them arc Capt. A. @. Sherman, master
~ ,ho stcam bark Orca, and First Mate I. L.
Eui. hoth NJ this city. Capt Sherman is oSP
NJ the best known sailing masters In this part
of the country, and, as he has wintored In the
Arctic twice before, his friends here arc not In
tho least worried. His mother.in-law, Mrs.
Ebonezer Nye OF Williams street. whose nus
hand was lost while whaling In the Arctic, 10
fearful that those Of the relief expedition VINO
sailed on the Bear on Saturday VIII rare worse
than the sailors Of the ice-locked ships.
"Friends Of the sailor are always moro or less
worried I" sbe said, land were 1t not that Capt
sherman has had tho experience Of two winters
IN the same place I'm afraid my sleep would be
greatly disturbed thinking about him. He
could have made the run and got clear OF tho
loo with the Alexander and Karluk, which got
awny In s~eptember, but he had the Rosario in
low and would not abandon her. Her master,
Capt. Coffin, is u Martha's Vineyard man, and
of course IL the Rosario were left she would
stand n poor chance of reaching any kind Of
hnrbor. as she is a sailing vessel. Men who
have been there think that Capt. Sherman may
have succeeded in getting both vessels into
some sort Of shelter made by the ground leo,
md they think also thattheir chances OF escape
with sound ships in the spring are good. My
daughter. Capt. Sherman's wife, who Is now
dead, spent one winter with her husband near
uerscbel Island, and my little granddaughter,
Helen Horschel Sherman, is the first white
child ever born within the Arctic circle. They
were aboard tho old Beluga at the time, and
they got away from the ice some time In July
Thomas L. Ellis, first mate of the Orca, is q
young man and has the experience OF one win
Ter in the polar sea with Capt. Sherman. Tho
master of the Norwegian steam bark Fearless,
James McKenna, is also a New Bedford mar,
hut for the last half dozen years Oakland, Cal,
has been his home. Tho master of the steam
bark Belyidere, NJ. v. Is. Willard. once lived
here, but business requiring all of his time on
ann Vessel. is a cousin 81 Mrs. Thomas =;
Trip Of Allen street. stephen f. Cottle, third
". Porter, boatheader, also come from this part
Of the country; SapI: q. w 7. Lea% nSositi %aS Is moi OF
known, is a Maine man.. Alonzo NJ. Ripley,
second mate Of the, Jessie II: Freeman ma . steamer na
Of the same ship, E. H.. Bolles, calls New Bed.
ford his home. Mr.. Bolles is a brother OF II. @.
ali about the severity Of the Arctic winters. for
he has been there twice before, ..
The locking up of the fleet in the Ice has given
the old.timers OF the harpoon and blubbcr, spade
something, to talk about land and tne once ~ an, Oh
i hshl f E a H WEEK.. 'l MPi Ashley ehs 9f Is a cousin ySSii 81 Of FIRST First
Mate Ellis of the orca, and naturally his office
has been the harbor steered for by al the re.
.E-~l ..a- - thn can The nnnnnn pnInpnI DI
the sailing OF the Bear with provisions aroused
interest, and when Tue Sun correspondent
old salt was just giving it as his opinion that
the relief expedition would have the devils
f %is h ta%s ie oo EssltdiesS Sit fhS his sf Ssiisf, P BUT thefs
was one among them who didn't NOV oSt
What shS Bef #. ps %Ss G Gspt. S ses rssFe W Sl slSRt
for years chased whales to the limit of open
If those vessels, the orca. Fearless, Jeanne,
Rosario. and Belyidere. are ty e miles e.; of the
nothing on earth can save them from being
crushed and sunk. That is a devil Of a place
ras f SIF Serss arc iioa f I Northwest HHa in the sway
Of the deep currents, and small Ice fields going
southwest on the surface current made py t1 4
a shoal with about two fathoms, of water oveI
it. When the winter sets in and the hrst %lnai
hard, Sig bergs are blown on to this shoal and
grounded. The ice then piles up and makes .
snug larDOr Tor any vessels IOrLulhto CnOukh. v
reach the open water between the ground Ice
and the land in season. / have wintered there
and l think very likely that Capt sherman ma VII ".
when the relief expedition arrives.
Inside this shoal there is Just room enough
the westward Of Point Barrow is a lagoon witt
a very narrow shoal entrance, SO narrow apd
only vessel that could enter. In this lagoon
any ship that could enter would be- free from
tho crushing ice, put tns so atsaay miHSt s 0t p simS
self frozen in tight after a southerly wind ha5
come up and cleared the outside water. Al
inside strip Of water all the way from the Mao
: kenzie River to Icy Cape, up which the natives
G SoDes. an and Sa Point i Barrow iro sf Itself S a harrow arm
Of land reaching out into the Arctic, for thi
lagoon which | spoke OF runs back for mile
, Capt. Winslow did not think the crews of tn
WhaleEs were ERE. in - any yoS great d dsnses, Of s sta Va
3 length Of time they had been away and tn
4 number Of months the ships were provisione,
been many dramatic incidents in eonnectio
!. M none inc more Sh reSa% RsaSSlIs q fha n0I the De disaster 0S q
Q 1871. when thirty-four ships were abandone
single misfortune s ;osO. 900 was taken ava
II from the city's wealth.
n The fleet had been pursuing whales and wa
10 They were detained there from some time !
y July until Is early ,i in august s1sna Waiti tn for tho Ice I
10 Wainwrights Inlet. where eight of the vesse
10 made fast to the heavy pack ice and began I
catch whales. The moving of the Ice forced th
whole fleet to change position. Ground ice ha
.. which the whole fleet succeeded In reaching. III
fleet anchored near Point Belcher waiting for
n northeast wind to give an open sea, when o
the 18th OF August a west wind drove the iC
:, still nearer the shore and compelled many
ly the ships to slip their cables. They were LEI
x. finally In a narrow strip Of water from fftee
Ia to twenty-five feet deep; Scattered along ii
~ coast for upward OF a dozen miles. tho me
ed continued to catch whales and drag the blu
n Der over the pack ice to the vessels.
al A little later the ice was blown off shore II
III a few miles, and 1t began to look as II the
he would get clear, when tho wind again shifte
he and about tho first Of September some of Il
Of vessels were caught and crushed, Later tt
VI two banks Rowan and Awashouks we
In wrecked, and finally. when the Captains b
or came convinced that there was no escape befo
mt the anoI ships y0'Ti'h This Was done about the 81 middle
II. september, and not q life was lost: OF u
at thirty four ships abandoned only one escape
70. total destruction. This was the Winery
10. which was found by the expedition of the Il
A.. l.-i.. ,,nn - 80