The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-03-02
A TRAGEDY
OF THE ICE

a lot OF wreckage lying at the bas
Of the berg and sent four Of us OF
In the yswi TO inspect and report. Whel
the berg was reached the mate AM
two men scrambled on TO the ice 10
a closer look, leaving the boat in IN,
charge. They had reached shel
above me and 200 feet to the eas
when, without the slightest warning
the great lump Of Ice began to spill
and quake, aud down came thousand.
OF tons into the sea- The three mei
must have met instant death, Will,
the boat was shot 10 distance OF hal
mile as If moved by steam.
Then fog came up, That was tn,
last l saw Of the Talisman.
The weather was not severe, and
was warmly clad and did not suffer
much during the night. In fact,
slept most of the time, leaving the
boat to take care Of herself. There
were food and water and blankets, and
unless the little craft should get into
a squeeze | might drift for several
days and not be much the worse for
1t. awoke at daylight next morning
70 find the fog still holding and the
pack still drifting, and il was not until
afternoon that the weather cleared.
When the fog rolled away was
within half a mile of one of the big.
gest bergs that ever drifted up from
the frozen south. 1t was mile or
more in length, but not over forty
feet high-a mighty mass OF Ice as
blue and as hard as steel itself. Here
and there were great rocks showing,
and the confguration Of the berg hint.
ed that what was now out Of water
had once been fathoms deep beneath
the surface
] hauled my boat on to the ice and
set out to reach the berg and see what
sort Of shelter 1t afforded. The pack
ice had piled up ten feet high around
II, and l was all of an hour making
that half mile. When / finally reached
the berg and made my way up its
jagged eastern side 1t was to find
great hollow in its center like the
mouth of volcano. In the center of
this hollow lay great mass Of wreck
age, mostly covered with snow, and
after long stare / slid down and be-
gan an investigation. No one will
ever behold a more curious sight. A |
space several hundred feet square was
covered with broken masts, yards, |
beams, planks, ropes and other debris.
Amid this heap were hundreds of ar.
ticles belonging to the interior of a !
ship, such as tables, chairs, crockery
and bedding. A few articles had not
been damaged, but the greater mum
Der had been quite destroyed for fur
ther usefulness. There was a sort of
mildew covering everything, and such
articles Of clothing as held up were
quite rotten. A large ship had suffer
ed destruction by smashing against
the berg. 1t looked to me as IL she
might have been whole when she first
rested in the crater, but had been
crushed later on by fall Of ice. No
other force except dynamite could have
20 wrecked and scattered her about.
Sailorlike, my first thought was to
IDENTIFY the wreck. This did by lnd-
Ing life preserver with the name
Princess on it. / had not then heard
of the loss Of the Australian packet,
but knew from the fittings that the
wreck must have been fine passenger
ship. There were no bodies under or
about the wPeckage, and during my
search Of half a day / did not find
my money or jewelry or other article
If value. OF her cargo only a small
portion was at hand, and that was
Jales of wool, black with mlldew. /
.arried the life preserver and some of
he leaves Of her rotten log book back
o my boat to corrob0rate the story
hould tell If ever rescued, and l de-
,ated long whether or not to set fire
o the wreckage. | finally decided to
10 SO, that might get the advantage
# the smoke as a signal, and when !
inally quit the berg there was a col
INN Of black smoke rising straight In ?
o the air that could be seen for fifty b
niles away. 4
The weather had grown warmer, and X
s evening came the pack ice began to {,
eparate and long lanes of water to =,
how themselves. took one Of these q
ines and worked at the oars until ;,
nally clear Of the field, and then let .
be boat slowly drift to the north, be
ewing that some Of the whalers cruis-
lg in that direction would sooner or
tier come down in answer to the sig 4
al. There were food and water to last
le for four days, and the supply of
lankets kept me warm, and but for !
ne worry and anxiety / should have u
lmost called 1t picnic. Among the -
'halers Of the north and south seas no n
oat is allowed to leave the ship, even Il
go half mile, without food and n
lankets, and in many cases an alcohol d
-ove is added. 1t was to this infiexible g
lle that owed my life. =
On the afternoon Of the fourth day, h
fter had been watching the antics Of II
school Of young whales for an hour, Il
cotch whaler hove in sight and came b
own and picked me up. She had seen to
le smoke forty-fve miles away and u