Semi-weekly herald., 1907-11-25


France for Saint Pierre. Miquel1n. witl
seventy four codfshers In dead q
night She dashed herself agAils.
berg hundred miles from St lJnns
The little craft went apart like a bun
die of sticks. In wild confusioa tn,
survivors took to their boats. aua tiIit
ty-fiye got on. They had no f~1d O.
water. sails or oars. They ver,
wretchedly clad for a high running
Arctic sea and bitter frost rha cap
tain's dog furnished meal Tor tn.
second day, and the thirst was allayet
by sucking fragments Clipped on tn,
bergs. That night seven men diod Or
the seventh day the schooner Victor
sighted the life. containing only foui
frostbitten wretches and a couple oi
days later the schooner rIugen,
brought in three survivors fr)m the
valiant. dory. All seven had to be
operated on. and only two survived
this terrible tragedy of the sea.
In truth the sailer has no chance al
| N'''- h' oip'h vi ilDdtl tNs ~
plank in her hull; she leaks like u
sieve and goes down before -hc terri
fled men can launch their boats. Fish.
ermen on the Grand Banks tell amaz-
ing stories of adventure, shouli re.
mark that the towering Dlnaacles
| above water are pure fresh ice while
| The vast bulk beneath becomes salt
sodden. The fresh ice is used by the
oodfishers to preserve bait and fish i;
a. else they melt it to refill water
casks
One day in 1899 the crew OF ths
schooner Mervya of st. Johns we're
taking ice from small berg. VIII IN II
turned clear over One man was upoa
l. hewing blocks. He suddenly found
himself twenty-five feet in the air,
with the boat below capsized aad his
comrades struggling in the water. He
strove to slide down into the s,a.
or he could not spring out. owing 10
the berg's peculiar formation. As the
man slide. AN ice block followed him.
tearing his scalp terribly. He was
taken to land and put in hospital.
while the little Mervyn return-l TO
The banks-aDd was never heard of
nfterward.
Snaie seasons back a Newfoundland
caster passed a lonely rock, and her
hastcr was amazed TO see a shirt flap
ling from an up ended oar, evidently
signal of distress He found an al
most dying man who had remained on
This bleak rock for four days and
nights in the bitter cold, with no fco6
il drink. He was one of the crew
1i the fishing boat Emmeline. which
ad struck berg and been over
whelmed by its falling masses. She
was destroyed almost instantly in IA
aging maelstrom. caused by the furi.
-ls hail of ice blocks from the shining.
plintering SUBMITS. The sole sur
rivor grasped an oar and contrived to
vim TO this rock.
but 1t is when we consider the state
~ steamship that the full record of ice.
berg adventure unfolds Beyond doubt
1ergs account for many appalling mys-
leries 'of the sea. Take the City OF
I'oston, for example. Some years agol
size sailed for Liverpool with hundreds
Gl passengers, and vanished from the
lace of the sea. Her owners were
3: tisfed that the fangs OF an iceberg
we're buried in her bosom and she went
down to instant destruction
But | think the most astounding
story is that of the Portia. which sail
cd from New York for Newfoundland
With distinguished party of Ameri-
can tourists eighteen in all. Her mas
or, Captain Ash is seaman OF cou-
.'age. coolness, and skill. AS a sealer
hc bore the highest reputation; and
when the government sent ou thel
Greedy relief expedition. Captain Ash
was selected as ice pilot of the Thetis
and it was he who first found Greedy
on the shores Of Smith sound near
Cape Sabine, at the last extremity of
cold and hunger. | mention these
things to show that the mans nara
tive may he relied upon absolutely
lie touched at st. Johns to land cargo.
and then took the Portia north to
Pilley island for iron pyrltes. The
whole party of Americans took the
round trip.
1t was lovely day as the steamer
crossed Notre Dame bay. and all on
Geek enjoying the grand scenery. Sud
denly superb iceberg loomed ahead.
and the Portia rapidly approached the
steely blue giant. Captain Ash's prac-
ticed eye estimated its length at eight
hundred feet and its height at over
two hundred. Its sheer sides glistened
With strange color; and its domes and
lowers and pnnacles, as it noated in
solitary majesty. made spectacle
never to be forgotten.
Not a flaw or Hssure marred its
mighty TANKS; all seemed solid and
stable as when its parent glacier "calv-
ed it, as men say in these northern
seas. Cameras and sketching paper