Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-02-16
WHEN ARCTIC ICE BECAME TOO
THICK HE BLAST
ED 1T.
SOME TERRIFYING EXPERIENCES
AMONG THE HUGE. FAST
MOVING sERGs.

imagineS he need simply cnarIer
ship and sail pleasantly away to 80
degrees north latitude might be adj
vised to read Peary's article in Hamp-
toms magazine wherein he describes
the terrific, nerve-straining fight of
the Roosevelt against sea packed
with maverick bergs and ice foes run
amuck. In one case it was even
necessary to dynamite the ice, in or
der to save the ship from being
crushed.
Il think that none of the members
Both of August" says Peary. The
Roosevelt was kicked about the foes
as if she had been a football. The
game began about o'clock in the
morning. | was in my cabin trying
to get a little sleep with my clothes
on-for | had not dared to remove
them for week. My rest was cut
short by shock so violent that, be-
fore l realized that anything had
happened, | found myself on deck-a
deck that inclined to starboard some
twelve or fifteen degrees. | ran, or
rather climbed the deck to the port
side, and saw what had happened. A
big foe rushing past with the current
had picked up the grounded berg to
which we were attached by the haw-
sers, and dashed it against the
Roosevelt and clear along her port
side, as if that thousand-ton berg had
been a toy. The berg brought up
against another one just aft of us,
and the Roosevelt slipped from be-
tween the two like a creased pig.
AS soon as the pressure was re-
Taxed and the ship regained an even
keel, We discovered that the cable
which had been attached to the foe
berg at the stern had become entan-
gled with the propeller 1t was
ton; but by attaching heavier ca
BILE to the parted one and taking
hitch round the steam capstan, we
finally disentangled it.
over than great berg that was pass
ing near US split in two of its own ac-
cord, cube of some twenty-five or
thirty feet across dropping toward
the ship, and just missing our quar-
ter by only foot or two. 'Bergs TO
the right of them, bergs to the left OF
them, bergs on top of them,' | heard
somebody say as we caught our
breaths at this miraculous escape.
The ship was now quite at the
mercy of the drifting ice, and with
the pressure from the outer pack the
Roosevelt again careened to star
board. knew that if she were
driven any higher onto the shore. we
would have to discharge large part
OF the coal in order to tighten her
sufficiently to get her off again So I
decided to dynamite the ice
Il told Bartlett to get out his bat
teries and dynamite, and to smash
the ice between the Roosevelt and
the heavy foes outside, making a
soft cushion for the ship to rest on.
The batteries were brought up from
the lazaret, one of the dynamite
boxes lifted out with caution, and
Bartlett and 1 looked for the best
places in the ice for the charges.
Several sticks of dynamite were
wrapped in pieces of old bagging and
fastened on the end of long spruce
poles, which we had brought along
specially for this purpose. A wire
from the battery had of course, been
connected with one of the primers
buried in the dynamite. Pole, wire,
and dynamite We're thrust down
through crack in the ice at severaI
places in the adjacent foe The
other end of each wire was then con-
nected with the battery, everyone got
away to a respectful distance on the
far side of the deck, and quick.
sharp push on the plunger of the bat
terry sent the electric current along
the wires.
Rip bang! boom! The ship shook
like dish of jelly, and column OF
water and pieces of ice went flying a
hundred feet into the air. geyser
fashion. The pressure of the ice
against the ship being thus removed.
she righted herself and lay quietly on
her cushion of crushed ice-waiting
for whatever might happen next.
A letter from Secretary Meyer was
read stating that IiautaDan+ paar,
enlisted in the navy in 1881 and had a.
total of over ten years leaves of ap.
sence. The secretary spoke of Lieu.
tenant Peary's discovery of the pole
as self-imposed'' but most COM
mendable task. having no military or
navy significance He recommended
Lieutenant Peary's retirement as civil
engineer with the pay of rear aa-
miral
Members of the committee antago.
nlZpd the idea o. flarciopi,,o ,,...o..