The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-05-07

y
sue their solitary and majestic cours
toward the open sea and gently mel
T away their lives on the deep swell Q
the Atlantic. Still others, like deSpera
does of the highway, make straight 10
some noble ship and send her founder
ing to the bottom. And, as they ar
different in their history, so are tie!
varied in appearance, some being wall
| like, solid ramparJs, with square. ~
most perpendicular, faces. impossible K
scale, two or three miles long and hal
! as many broad. Others might at lit
| tie distance be mistaken for splentIC
| Palace, Turkish mosque or Gotht:
| church.
Occasionally an iceberg gets wOrr
| away ut the water line, while the base
below the water is intact and support:
an extended surface on a comparative
" narrow stem. Others are tunneled
or archcd. In fact, there is no limita
ton as to form or size. The most beau
tiful and the most grotesque may sail
side by side. One may be mile square
and the other only forty or fifty feet
Whether large or small, but a small
proportion of either is seen. The great
mass is always below the water.
At times there is something most
graceful in the movements of an ice
berg. One of large size was observed
some years ago which for a time Oscil-
lated backward and forward with a
regular movement like the pendulum
Of Il clock. 1t was q grotesQue. almost
humorous. sight to observe the great
mountain Of ice swaying from side to
side | Ike one of the polar bears that
haunt the far north. Then gently and
almost inperceptibly the berg turned
TURTLE showing gently rounded sur
face where before had been Jagged
peaks and turrets. 1t was a GiSsolyin-
view in the literal sense.
There is a continuous change in the
appearance of icebergs. At times Il
Gothic cathedral is stimulated; again.
with the sunsets warm glow, tie sur
faces may take to themselves Z like
ness to Il tropic landscape. Cascades
will descend from the upper slopes,
breaking into feathery spray as the
stream meets with Obstacles Sailors
in the arctic make mental pictures as
children do with passing clouds Of
these strange forms. Home, with its
familiar scenes. may be imagined amid
the very abomination of desOlatiOn.
As to the size of icebergs-weH, one
must be among them to appreciate
their proportions. Sir John Ross OBJ
served one that was 21a miles long by
212 miles broad and $50 feet high. The
weight was estimated at 1,5OO,OG0,000
tons. This, however, was not an ex-
traordinary berg. Sometimes they are
observed towering to a height of 700 or
800 feet. AS only one-tenth of the mass
is above water and visible, it is seen
that they require plenty of depth as
well as sea room for their movements.
The comments of the passengers
when an ocean steamer passes an ice
berg are often curious If the weather
is fine and the distance sufficient for
safety. while convenient for the obser- |
yation, the sight is taken as spectacle
loI t1iS Vi tllC
lockers. Some are disappointed They |
expected something more dramatic. |
turrets perhaps when fiat surfaces are
seen or ragged edges where the waves
may be sliding over smoothness 9th |
ers so into ecstasies Of delight over the |
ever changing pictures presented to
their view But the master of the ship
looks on the berg as his natural enemy
md calculates the chances of others
being met with later on. When the
are sleeping the officers
watch that harm comes not nigh.
The littleness of mans work as COM
pared with that of the Creator is no.
where more apparent than when ship.
perhaps great ocean liner. falls in
with feet of these leviathans of the
ocean. The captain, observing lower
ng of the temperature otherwise not
o be accounted for, causes his ship to
De steered cautiously. The watch is
'autioned. Perhaps fog falls over the
ace of the deep. Then, cropping slowly
md painfully in the murky twilight
hat even a search light will not pierce
gzssye--~--S--SSzzs /