The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-09-14
CRUSHED IN THE ICE,
Thrilling Experience on Board a
Sealing Vessel.
HOW THE SHIP WENT DOWN.
Smashed In Amidships and PowerIess
to Escape, She Was Swallowed In the
Icy Deep-Ths Wild Rush of the
Grow to Escape on the FIoe.

Smashed In Amidships and PowerIess
to Escape, She Was Swallowed In the
Icy Deep-The Wild Rush of the
Crew to Escape on the FIoe.
Constant peril menaces the hardy
crews that fearlessly sail into the icy
northern seas and risk their lives in
the dangerous work Of hunting the
seal. In Harper's Magazine George
Harding. the author. writes dramatic
ally Of the sinking Of the ship or
which he sailed with the Newfound-
land sealing feet. His experience was
uniquely perilous. The ship was
crushed like an egg In the ice.
ION the bridge were the captain and
watch anxiously awaiting the chance
to head the ship out Of the moving
ice into the stationary pack of which
the big sheet was part. The bowline
lay on the barricade, ready for heav.
ing when the crew should be ordered
on the foe to haul the ships head
around. Aloft, the spyman searched
the gloom for signs of hull In the
confused and tremendous waste.
"Then there came a terrific crush
The vessel. caught In the trench be-
tween the raftering sheets. was pow.
erless to escape. The smash of break
ing timbers rose above the gale as a
great corner of ice crushed the yes
sells side amidships. The captain and
watch rushed to the engine room. II
was filed with steam, the infiowing
water having already reached the fires,
A glance showed that nothing could
stop the thrush of water. The firemen
were retreating. The first Of them
like a creature from another world,
coal begrimed, undershirt clad. reached
the ice sheathed deck, spreading panic
in his path. Above the hailiDg OF
questions and shouts that no man
could understand came the voice OF
the skipper: he knew the situation as
no other man.
".Men.' he shouted. the ship II gol
Pack your clothes-saye the grubr
'sThen it was confusion everywhere.
The crew poured up the hatchway,
hauling clothes boxes and bags, crowd
ing over the side. colliding in midair
as they half tumbled and half slid
down the ropes. then back for food
Laboriously the heavy pork barrels
were hauled by hand from the after
hold, where men bravely toiled. 9th
ers fought their way aloft, where the
sails were slowed. The canvas cut
loose, bellying out in the force Of the
gale, was dropped to the deck. Punts
were slipped from the davits. Some.
hitting the ice with a crash, were
slowed In. Throughout 1t all the cap
tain shouted:
"sHaul them punts and grub farther
of! Farther yet! Fartherp
1.-THE water, rapidly rising, drove the
men from the lower hold. They re-
treated to the deck Then the inflow,
level with the ocean, ceased. The ice
for the time held the ship In its grip.
Second by second passed, bringing nc
change. In that brief interval each
man suddenly thought to save the
thing he most desired A wild rush
was made 70 wheelhouse. to cabin, to
the ships storeroom-every man for
himself-a scuffie to get the thing most
coveted and escape to the Ice With
one 1t was a rife from the ships ar
mory to replace the Anticipated muzzle
loader at home; with another, the
ships compass or the barometer; with
the after galley cook 1t was the cabin
dishes. In the cabin crowd surged
to the medicine chest. scrambling fol-
liniments and pills. smashing anything
that was an obstacle In their way.
Such was the scene when the cry arose
on deck. repeated by fifty men and
echoing throughout the vessel, ''Tis
time to take to the iceT Then great
rush to be clear of the doomed ship as
the mass of men, some empty handed,
others laden. defending their spoil from
the unsuccessful, plunged on to the
ice.
1.-THE ship wars sinking fast. 1t was
but a short leap for the last man from
her deck TO the loosening ice. The
men stood on the foe, looking the ship
over from the bow. lifted high. to the
stern, now below water.
IA pity to lose the vessel they
said. Wonderful hard to lose the trip
o. fat
.sThen came the final plunge. The
mainmast, reaching over the foe, broke
as the weight of the vessel pulled 1t
under. The great anchors sliding from
the bow added to the tumult, as every
thing not frozen solid to the deck
crashed into the house and galley. For
second a fash of fame shot from the
overturned stoves; then nothing save
a few seal pelts and broken oars lay
on the surface of the troubled hole IN
the Zoe where the Grand Lake had dis
appeared"