Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-03

banks ran into thick weather, causing
her to run under slow bell. This slow
bell probably saved her.
In the mid watch, with a fairly smooth
sea and with all possible care for any
| thing that might be ahead, there was a
sudden crash, sfiivering of the great ship
from stem to stern, and a terrific grind.
ing as her torn plates cut into the sides
of an immense berg, coupled with the fall
of tons of dislodged ice on the forward
deck, told the startled officers that she
had struck a berg. Shrieks and cries of
terror from the passengers added to the
difficulty of the minute, and 1t was maybe
two minutes before it was judged safe to
back off and get clear, for the first inn
preston of the captain was that to do
so would be to cause her to sink imme-
diately.
A rapid survey showed the ships bow
had been crushed in as far back as the
collision bulkhead and as that bulkhead
happer ed to be closed the vessel took no
water abaft it, for, although her plates
in the vicinity of the bow were cracked
and many rivets started, 1T was all over
the load line.
AS she backed off from the treacherous
berg and was again water borne. the sub
merged part of the berg struck her bot
tom on account of the swell, but did nc
damage. With her forward compartment
full of water, putting the ship four feet
by the head, she made the harbor of ST
Johns without having injured man OF
woman in the collision.
Hunting on an Iceberg
I suppose you have often read of how
ships go to sea, all fitted and manned in
first class manner, and are never heard
of again? Well, 1 have known several
ac T
they made and the season of the year
they sailed in 1t is certain they have nit
an iceberg and sunk in a minute after,
taking everybody down. There is no pos
sible chance to get on a berg, and If you
could get foothold one would freeze to
death in [. short time.
| recall the case of the cattle ship
Ariadne with 1000 head of beef on the
hoof, bound for London from New York.
She was British tramp steamer fitted
to take the cattle, and had just enough
English coal to make the passage. When
she was four days out on the southerly
track across something went wrong with
her machinery, and they had to bank her
fires and keep her head to the sea or der
rolling would kill the cattle 1t took
more coal to keep up enough steam than
the chief engineer counted on, ana 1T
caused them trouble afterward
The break was in some vital part of the
engines and they could not make part
to fit the break, so there she was. actu
ally adrift and provisioned with fodder
for the cattle just enough to take them
across in ordinary time. To make mat
tiers worse, she was right in the path
If icebergs on their southern trip, and
they raised a huge field of ice the sec
ond night of their wait.
The ship could barely make headwny
for fear of starting the broken machinery
and was making some two or three knots.
When they came near the great berg they
saw something moving about on 1t, and
when daylight came and the ships en-
gines were stopped again they lowered
boat and made for the berg to see what
it was that had life in suci. queer place
1t proved to be an Arctic or polar bear,
and 1t was so near famished that 1t could
scarcely walk. The glasses showed 1t to
be very large, and we determined to get
the pelt. We surveyed the berg for pos
sible landing place and found we could
make 1t, so four of us got out on the ice,
two with rifles and two with boathooKs.
The bear was lodged on rise on the
outer end of the berg and seemed not 70
mind us or our approach. To get within
gunshot of him and be where we could
see him it was necessary to climb, and
the work was hard. When we had got
half way to the level of the bear strange
noise like the roar of passing train was
heard, and in an instant the great berg
was rent In piecess the part we occupied