The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-29
THRILLING
NARRATIVE
+. Of Ice-Bound Sailors Off New
FoundIand Coast.
WINTER PACKED IN ICE
Captain Norman Ross Tells Of
Great Suffering.


land. over them the SHOWS whirl and the
winds rage.
Beyond the ice hummocks, leagues
away, are the barren shores where sue
cor lies, but never a thought have the
hardy crews save for their vessels and
their cargoes.
Hang out the ox-hide shields over the
buwarks Of these ships and you have
the old time vikings. Here is the Glou-
cester spirit-the dauntless bravery which
clings to peril from preference-the mute
unquestioning heroism which for a CEN
fury has peopled the shoals of the
Georges with white and wave-worn skel-
etons
These Gloucester fishermen will not
come ashore. They will hang to their
smacks until the spring thaw comes and
the ice breaks.
And then?
Death in the jaws of the pack? A gam
bler's chance for life. That's all
And if they lose? More widows in
in the old town hall listening as Kipling
has so graphically described to the read
ing Of the roster of the dead.
st. Johns n. F. March 2o.-Seven gaunt
men staggered into a small hotel on the
outskirts Of this city yesterday and drop
ped down weak and exhausted. Their
faces were raw from the wind and red
dened from the frost and their muscles
were stiff from long travelling
Five were captains of the ice-bound
herring fleet off Bay of Islands The
other two were telegraphers they had
picked up on the summit OF the bleak in
terror plateau.
The little party had travelled a hundred
miles across a deep wilderness of snow
without forests or shelter save here ard
there trackman's hut. abandoned be-
cause Of the awful billiards. which drove
the occupants to the coast for food and
warmth
Their leader was Captain Norman Ross,
OF Gloucester. They were four days max
Ing the journey across the ice cap. spend
ing each night in an abandoned hut
When Captain Ross had recovered
somewhat from his fatigue and exhaus-
5 ton he told for the first time the thrill
Ing story Of the ice-bound herring fleet
Early in January ten vessels of the
feet we're sailing close-hauled in the
pack ice a league off shore at Bay of
Islands
The weather fell cold and thick without
q breath of wind. and within twenty-four
hours the thermometer registered 20 de-
grees below zero. and the entire fleet was
fast locked in the ice.
Here was a situation appalling both to
the owners of the vessels and to the men
on board. The cargoes were valued at
t6o,000 and the crews numbered one hun
dred men.
Instead of moderating the weather
seemed TO grow colder. and for nearly
week a full-hedged blizzard ragged about
The imprisoned ships. thickening the ice
into iron solidity and keeping the hardy
fishermen below decks
When at last the sun broke through
the wild wells OF snow it disclosed a
strange sight. The vessels lay in a hud-
die on sea of CLASSY ice their decks |
ana rigging wrought into fairy lines of |
white by the magic Of the storm
When the wind fell and the skies were |
clear the captains routed out their men |
and began to investigate the condition Of |
the ships.
II was found that the ice was over two
feet in thickness. Ice saws and dynamite
were brought out. and the sailors tried
vainly all day to blast their way through
the ice pack
on the third day two sailors. Captain
Hansen and Peter Spofford made their
way to the Bay of Islands shore where
they procured four dog sleds which they
filed with provisions and hauled back
TO their comrades They also made an
effort to procure the services of a New
foundland sealing steamer. $1.eoo being Of
fered for the venture and $500 ifw sue
cessful. but owing to the proximity of
the seal fishery none could be obtained.
From the government at Washington |
the revenue cutter Seminole was procur-
ed, but off the lower Newfoundland coast
she was driven hack by heavy ice foes
After being almost wrecked and losing
two anchors and chains she was forced
to retreat TO Halifax. leaving the herring
feet TO its fate.
on board the imprisoned ships the cap
tains called a meeting. 1t seemed evident
thar the ships would not he able TO get
free Of the ice before spring. as the en-
tire seaboard was blocked by heavy Arc
tic foes
From the Bay of Islands the water was
Eoiidly frozen TO South Head distance
OF twenty-one miles. and from this point
mighty ice fields covered the ocean. ex-
tending along the shore both ways and
as far as the eye could reach.
As time passed the billiards. became
fierce and constant. and il was seldom
thar the thermometer registered higher
than % degrees below zero.
in the heavy snowfalls huge drifts
thirty feet high accumulated and all
but covered the vessels from view I'm
nenSe barriers of solid snow made com
with the shore Impossible.
The ocean foes were welded 20 the
shoTe at the mouth of every water course
which was frozen solid TO its bed. In the
Interior trains carrying provisions were
snow bound and the passengers reduced
10 the verge Of starvation. >
This cut of the entire western seaboard
With the outside world II also thwarted
he hopes Of the CAPTAINS Of the herring
feet. who were planning 10 transfer IN ir
,argoes by sleds TO the railroad and ship
hem TO Gloucester
Instead Of carrying out these plans they
we're forced to remain on board their !
Tessels. where for weeks they subs'sted
n short rations
During this appalling period the crews
iso suffered intensely from lack OF fuel,