The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-06
ICE RUBS OUT CHANNEL MARKS
sgIpS CtN'T CONE tP WITH Sc
iIRIII iFTER DARK.
cunning whrcl' Have smashed the lee
Ipo,, ~. but solid Cakes SIN NcN
Iarbur traft boston Boats Take the
ION instead Of the Sound Route.

sea instead ni INV Nouh" ho"'t'
Constant ciurnng OF sidewheels and pro-
liz reduced much Of the traffic i'm
ps.line zee in thc harhor Yesterday to mush,
"a .,r,at IN untravelled courses. local
~a,Iyator. were not so much bothered
ss,b.y had been ON Friday and Saturday.
-, lof,y places overlooking the water
ia hov and rivers at times seemed to be
"nbroken surfaces of ice and snow.
Tho had feature of the situation was the
,,,o.snoe of cakes, sometimes more than
loot thick. in the softer mass. 4 tug or
s,a,msbip going nearly full speed got into
,r,,ble in a hurry by ramming these super
ecally innocent cakes Sometimes the
cake turned UP on edge, sticking up like
+. sualiceberg and revealing TO the startled
,,iIot exactly what he had been up against.
I,evtably the boat was brought to stand
stil and some Of her crew were upset.
The revenue cutter Calumet had an ex-
,erenoe with Zoe about the area Of
Rrooklyn back yard while she was along
,ide the American liner st. Paul, in from
SOUTHAMPTON. The Calumet had carried
oray her steering gear before she fell in
vitb the St Paul, which was steaming
.lovly I'D the bay. Capt. John Bradley
had tackle rugged on the tiller aft and set
three seamen there TO guide the ship. He
stood In the pilot house and stesred by
lune power sending his orders by human
telephone the chief engineer. stationed
anidshlps, acting as central Naturally
he had TO go slow-about four knots
but he got alongside the liner, which was
going a tribe slower and he made fast
10 her with brand new five inch hawser.
The customs boarding officers ran up
the ladder In a hurry. The last man was
hardly aboard when the innoouous looking
foe, which did not seem to be more than
An inch or so thick, hove in sight, dead
ahead There was crashing and crunch
ing under the cutters bow. Then came
ssound like the discharge of small cannon.
which startled passengers aboard the liner
and upset the equanimity Of nearly every
body on the cutter except the imperturb
able skipper. The new hawser had snapped
under the pressure of the foe that the
Calumet had rammed The ice rose out
Of the water on edge like a wrath in
spectacular play. The captain would not
Ike to make an affidavit as 10 the thickness
Of the ice. but it was almost as big as some
Of the little slices of glaciers the liners
sometimes report, and IL was everlastingly
solid.
For few seconds the Calumet's Central
was very busy receiving and sending
wireless messages to the men at the tiller.
After bit of whirling and zigzagging and
vallowing she got out Of the mess. and,
crippled as she was, went of to board an
other liner. Then her plight became known
TO the cutter Chamberlain. which did the
rest Of the boarding until the Calumet was
able 10 make repairs
The Lighthouse Department never had
bad so much trouble with the buoys mark
ing the channels as it has had in the last
several days. All the iron can and nun
buoys not absolutely necessary in marking
channel turns were taken up when the ice
first went drifting down on the ebb tides
from the Bay and rivers. Spar buoys
were substituted. The mighty power Of
strong tide on solid and thick foe that
gets lamiled up against big can buoy will
lift the buoy from its anchorage
and deposit il "A hundred feet or more from
the ge Of the channel il marks One black
can buoy which was torn from its moorings
went sailing out TO sea on the tide Yesterday
afternoon and was last seen by the marine
observer at the Highlands heading south
TWO Of the three lighthouse tenders at this
port, the Larkspur and the Rodgers were
out all day Yesterday pursuing vagrant
bloys and towing them back into position.
No ships can come up after dark with
absolute safety until tho foes disappear
The buoy lights are lighted every day by
the Vlgllant lighthouse men, but when the
ice runs thick they are put out. The ten
der go on duty ct daybreak, every day
and Sunday, too, and do not quit work
until after dark. Even in the day the
spar buoys cannot be seen at times, being
forced under water by the ice, but they bob
up sereney when the ice moves on.
sound steamboats, were all late getting
IN Yesterday. They found a stiff blockade
on milestone, and bumped and sliced
a way through by a big expenditure of coal.
For the first time in many wears the Metro
poltan line freiRhter, Herman Winter,
came IN from Boston by way of the sea,
ana that's the way her sister ship, the
lam >. Whitney, will go out to-day.
surer to take the longer outside route along
the Long Island coast. where there IL no