Fort Pierce news. (Fort Pierce, Fla.) 190?-1920, 1910-05-20
DYNAMITE AND ICE.
. strenuous Day In the Arctic Win
Peary on the Roosevslt

reary on the Roosevelt,
think that none of the members ~
tne Peary expedition, WIN ever forgot
tne Soth Of August, The Rooseyelt
was Kicked about the foes MS II She
nau been football. The game bepnn
ABOUT O'Clock in the morning w,s
IN my cabin trying to get little sleen
WIN my clothes on. for had mn,
uared TO remove them for week Nv
res. was cut short by a shock so yio-
tent that before realized thar anv.
lhlng had happened found myself on
ueck-a deck that inclined TO stnrhoard
some II to Is degrees. ran. or rotbar
climbed the deck to the port side and
saw what had happened. A bic foe
rushing past with the current had
picked up the grounded berg to which
we were attached by the hawsers and
uashed 1t against the Roosevelt and
clear along her port side as If that
thousand ton berg had been TOW.
Inc berg brought up against another
one Just aft of us, and the Roosevelt
slipped from between the two like q
creased pig.
AS soon as the pressure was relaxed
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 entangled with the
propeller. 1t was time for lightning
thought and action, but by attaching a
heavier cable TO the parted one and
taking hitch, around the steam can.
stan we finally disentangled 1t.
This excitement was no sooner over
than great berg that was passing
near us split in two of it's own accord.
a cube of some twenty-five or thirty
rect just missing our quarter by only
q 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 breath 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
starboard. | knew that If she were
driven any higher on to the shore we
would have to discharge large part
OF the coal in order to tighten her suf-
heiently to get her off again. so i de-
cided to dynamite the ice.
| told Bartlett to get out his batter
les and dynamite and to smash the
ice between the Roosevelt and the
heavy foes outside. making soft
cushion for the ship to rest on. The
batteries We're brought up from the
laZaret one of the dynamite boxes lift
ed out with caution, and Bartlett and
! 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 pur-
pose. A wire from the battery had. of
course, been connected with one Of
the primers buried in the dynamite.
Pole, wire and dynamite were thrust
down through a crack in the Ice at
several places in the adjacent foe.
The other end Of each wire was then
connected with the battery, every one
got away to a respectful distance on
the far side of the deck, and a 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
hundred feet into the air. geyser fash
ion. The pressure of the ice against
the ship being thus removed. she right
ed herself and lay quietly on her cush-
ion of crushed ice. waiting for what
ever might happen next.-Commander
r. e. Peary In Hampton's Magazine.