The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1909-06-03
CRUSHED IN THE ICE,
Thrilling Experience on Board a
Sealing Vessel.

-H- H-#TTE IV
Sealing Vessel.
HOW THE SHIP WENT DOWN.
Smashed In Amidships and Powsriess
to Escape, She Was Swallowed In the
10y Dsep-Ths Wild Rush Of che
Crew to Escape on the Flos.
Constant peril menaces tho hardy
crews that f~earlessly sail into the icy
northern seas and risk their lives in
the dangerous work Of hunting the
seal. In Harper's Magasins George
Harding, the author, writes dramatic
ally Of the sinking Of the ship on
which he sailed with the Newfound-
land sealing feet. His experience was
uniquely perilous. The ship was
crushed like an egg In the Ice.
"On 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 doe to haul the ships head
around. Aloft the spyman searched
the gloom for signs Of a hull In the
confused and tremendous waste.
Then there came q terrific crush.
The vessel. caught In the trench be-
tween the raftering sheets, was pow.
erless to escape. The smash Of break
Ing hmbers rose above the gale az q
great corner Of ice crushed the yes.
sells side a%midships. The captain and
watch rushed to the engine room. It
was filed with steam, tho inlowing
water having already reached the lres.
A glance showed that nothing could
stop the thrush Of water. The fremen
were retreating. The first Of them,
IKE a creature from another world,
coal begrimed, undershirt clad. reached
the ice sheathed deck, spreading panic
In his path. Above the hailipg Of
questions and shouts that no man
could understand came the voice Of
the skipper; he knew the situation as
no other mar.
"'Men,' he shouted, the ship II 20!
Pack your clothes-save the grub!
"Then 1t 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.
L~aboriously 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 wer slowed. The canvas cut
loose, bellying out in the force Of the
gale, was dropped to the deck. Punts
were slipped from the davis. Some
hitting the ice with a crash, were
slowed in. Throughout It all the cap
tain shouted:
":Haul them punts and grub farther
of! Farther yeti Eartherr
'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 No
change. In that brief interval each
man suddenly thought to ave the
thing he most desired. A wild rush
was made to w~heelhouse. 10 cabin. IL
the ships storeroom-every man fol-
himself-a scufle to get the thing most
coveted and escape to the ice. With
one It was a rifle from the ships ar
mory to replace the ant1quated muxzle
loader at home; with another. the
ships compass Of the barometer; with
the after galley cook 1t was the cabin
dishes. In the cabin a crowd surged
to the medicine chest, scrambling fol
ltniments and pills, smashing anything
that was IN obstacle In their way.
Such was the scene when the cry arose
On deck, repeated by 6fty men and
echoing throughout the vessel, ''Tia
time to take to the icer Then q great
rush to be clear Of the doomed ahip %
VAC LOO Va uASA9 0VAS0 OA4Rly A00O00l
others laden, defending their spoil from
the unsuccessful, plunged on to the
ice.
1.-The ship was sinking fast. It waa
but q short leap for the last man from
her deck to the loosening ice. The
men stood on the doe, looking the ship
over from the bow, lifted high, to the
stern, now below water.
ga pity to lose the vessel they
said Wonderful hard to lose the trim
O. fat
'.Then came the final plunge. The
mainmast, reaching over the doe, broke
az the weight Of the vessel pulled II
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
q second a flash Of flame shot from the
overturned stoves; then nothing save
a few seal pelts and broken oar lay
on the surface Of the troubled hole In
the doe where the Grand Lake had dis
appeared"
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