The sun., 1903-03-29
ICDBERGS MANY AND EARLY.
SEEN IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC
MONTHS AHEAD or TIME.

Tney Threaten 70 Mako the oeeamenip Zane
Dangere0 Th1s eoason-nepors of
BerEs By Ineoming Liners-Seme Mar |
rev Escapes q the Past-Giant BergS. |
The fierce and persistent gales Of q bhs- |
terins winter have loosened the ioebergs |
from the glaciers Of Labrador several months |
earlier than usual and they threaten to
make navigation dangerous In the steam |
ship lane Oh the Newfoundland Banks.
They are coming down in fantastic fleets.
under Admiral Jack Frost, jamming the
Straits Of Belle Isle. and, on the boeom OF
the fi&id Arctic current, are slowly drifting
into the Gulf Stream.
Last year they didn't get into the course
Of the liners until the latter part OF June
Hundreds Of them. big and little, spectacular
and unpicturesque. are now heading south
east with the polar current, Oh the east coast
Of Newfoundland.
Some OF the giant ones strand on the
shadows ci' the ocean. Many reach the
track Of the liners. and a few OF the sohdest
get below It, even down to latitude +T'
before they are honeycombed by the warm
ourrsut OF the Gulf Stream and made con-
tributos to the general dampness OF the
Atlantic.
When . big berg is bored through and
through at tho base It sometimes turns
turts. It has been the privilege Of passen-
gers OF only few steamships TO see top
heavy monster reverse itself on the Banks
with a mighty crashing and splashing. A
pinnacled berg 200 feet high has been OBJ
served TO roll over and convert itself into
q fat topped. sugar-loaf Of Ice showing
not more than 80 feet above the surface
Of the 50.
The fryt Of the frosty apparitions to drtt
into the vicinity OF the steamship lane this
season was sighted by the oil carrier Burgo-
meister Peteren on March s. II WAS only
60 seet tall and 100 feet long. but II was big
enough to indicate TO the Hydrographio
Ofsce that the Labrador Ice Trust had d.
cided to move Ito colossal products early
in the spring. Even In the latter part OF
February The thoughtful, observsnt hy-
drographss had written: 'Bergs may be
expected early In March.
Ths oil tanks which ply light coming west
and run In high latitudes are naturally
the FIRST observers Of bergs. Sometimes,
when the sea ID veilsd In fog, the tanks
discover che berss by smashing into them.
Liners from Norwegian ports and from
Scotland, which also take . high course.
are, next to the tanks, the earliest sighters
of berRs. Tho Ethiopia OF the Anchor
Line, here from Glasgow, passed twenty
Eve on March Q, the largest being $50 feet
high and 500 feet long. Five days Later
the French liner La Lorraine. in from
Havre, passed south Of . mountain OF
,oe 100 fest long and $50 feet high only .
few miles north Of the steamship lane.
The neat day. March u. tho 6candi-
navisn-Amerioan liner Norge. from Copen-
haeen, passed two immsnss bergs, one
With steeplss - feet In ths air. The hsd
Star liner Nocrdland treated her passen-
gers to the spectacle Of eleven bergs. some
moro than 100 fest high, al In sight at one
time. Northward, the officers on the
bridge observed. about fifteen miles away.
the glittering towers OF several mammoth
berGs.
So far, all the ice has been sighted in
clear weather. and 90 could be readily
cleared by navigators. The menace will
come with fog. which. the latest Hydro
sraphio bulletin says. will occur with
steadily increasing frequency as the month
advances
Lookouts are doubled In crows nest and
at forecastle head when the mist curtain
descends In the iceberg region. Liners
speak each other and exchange informa-
tiop about the location OF bergs. II they
are unusually far south. or directly In the
prescribed lanes OF travel. the cautious
commander sacrifices few hours by chang
ing his course 10 the southward TO avoid
danger. Years ago. before ships spoke each
other BY wireless. the danger was greater
than Il IL now. when ice reports may be
sent from the scene OF danger 100 miles
or more TO ships Approaching u.
Every commander OF IN ocean -crosser
leaving any port Of the United States takes
With him the latest photographs bulletin.
which contains all the reports Of ice sighted
by steamships arriving At Europesn or
American ports. The Hydrographio 0ffioe
supplIss sll steamships with blanks headed
'Ioe Rsports.' which are hllsd out by tbs
ships oGscer. Thee reports assisa the
navigator materially IN stssrins clear Of
ine In the fog region.
The pressacs of Ios in ths noighborhood
Of s,sAinships v Indicated by drop In the
,.mpefstuse Of sE and water. Thus. when
tl,. ships ofso-ss osnno, $40. they cen fosl
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