The record-union., 1899-02-27
A RACE WITH THE ICE FLOES.
(By Lewis E. Phillips.)


1t was night, and blowing fresh. The
sky was overcast, and there was no
moon, SO that darkness was on the face
of the deep-not total darkness, it must
be understood, for that is seldom
known at sea. was in the middle
watch, from midnight to o'clock, and
had been ON deck about half an hour
when the lookout forward sang out:
Ship Observation-Disclosures a star
board!''
These words made the second mate,
who had the watch, jump into the
weather rigging. "A ship" he ex-
claimed. An iceberg it is, rather,
and. All hands wear ship!'' he
shouted, abruptly, in tone which
showed there was not a moment to be
lost
The watch sprang to the braces and
haulines, while the rest Of the crew
tumbled up from below, and the Cap
tain and other officers rushed out of
their cabins; the helm was kept up
and the yards swung round, and the
ships head turned towards the direc-
ton whence we had come. The Cap
tain glanced his eye round, and then
ordered the courses to be brailed up,
and the maintopsails' to- be backed, so
as to lay the ship to. I soon discov
cred the cause of these maneuvers;
for before the ship had quite swung
round, perceived close to us a tower
ing mass with a refulgent appearance,
which the lookout man had taken for
the white sails of a ship but which
proved in reality to- be a vast iceberg.
Attached to it, and extending a con-
siderable distance to leeward, was a
field or very extensive foe of ice
against which the ship would have run
had it not been discovered in time, and
in that case it would in all probability
have instantly gone down with every
soul ON board
In consequence of the extreme dark
ness. it was dangerous to sail either
way; for it was impossible to say what
other foes or smaller masses of ice
might be in the neighborhood, and we
might probably be upon them before
they would be seen. We therefore re-
manned hove to. AS it was, I could
not see the foe till it was pointed out
to me by one of the crew.
When daylight broke next morning
the fearfully dangerous position in
which the ship was placed was seen.
On every side Of us appeared long
foes of ice, with several icebergs float
ing like mountains on a plain among
them. While the only opening through
which We could escape was a narrow
passage to the northwest, through
which we must have come in the
course of that perilous night.
What made our position the more
terrible was that the vast masses of ice
were approaching nearer and nearer to
each other, SO that we had not a mo-
ment to lose if we wanted to effect our
escape As light increased we saw, at
p distance of three miles to the west
ward, another ship in a far worse pre-
dlcament than ourselves, inasmuch as
she was completely surrounded by ice
though she still foated in a sort of ba-
sin. The wind held to the northward
SO that we could stand clear out of the
passage should it remain open long
enough. Our unfortunate neighbor had
by this time discovered her own peril
Gus condition, and we perceived that
She had hoisted a signal of distress
We also heard the guns she was firing
10 call our attention to her, but regard
Tor our own safety compelled us to dis
regard them till we had ourselves got
clear of the ice
1t was very dreadful to watch the
stranger, and to feel that we could
render her no assistance. All hands
We're at the braces, ready to trim the
sails should the wind head us; for, in
that case, we should have to beat out
of the channel, which was every in
slant growing narrower and narrower.
The Captain stood at the weather
gangway. coming the Ship When
he saw the ice closing in on us. he or
dered every stitch of canvas the ship
could carry to be set on her. in the
forlorn hope of carrying her out before
the catastrophe should happen. 1t was
chance whether or not we should be
caught and our good ship pulverized
between those vast masses of relentless
ice. However, 1 was not so much oc-
cupied with our own danger as to be
unable to keep an eye on the stranger
and to feel deep interest in her fate.
l was in the mizzen top, and as I
possessed a spyglass, l could see clear
- e-iA mat OCCuliCQ he wafer on
which the doomed vessel foated was
nearly smooth, though covered with
foam, caused by the colossal masses of
ice as they approached each other. /
looked and saw that as the stranger
had but a few fathoms of water on
either side of her as yet she floated un-
harmed. The peril was terrifying. but
the direction of the ice might. change.
and she might yet be free. Still. on
came the cruel masses with terrific
force; and fancied that 1 could hear
the edges grinding and crushing to-
gether with a reverberating roar.
The ice closed pitilessly on the ILL
fated vessel. She was probably as to-
tally unprepared to resist it's pressure
as we were. At first I thought that
1T lifted her bodily, but it was not SO.
She was too deep in the water for that
Her sides were crushed in like egg
shells; her stout timbers We're rent into
a thousand fragments: her tall masts
tottered and fell, though still attached
to the hull. For an instant 1 conclud-
ed that the ice must have separated.
or perhaps the edges broke with the
the force of the conclusion, for, as I
gazed the wrecked masses of hull and
spars and canvases seemed drawn sud-
denly downward with Irresistible force,
and a few fragments, which had been
hurled by the force of the concussion to
a distance were all that remained of
the hapless vessel Not a soul of her
crew could have had time to escape on
the ice. ! looked anxiously, but not a
speck could be seen stirring near the
spot. Such, thought I. may be the fate
of the 440 human beings on board the
very ship on which / stand, ere many
minutes are over