The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-05-17

DYNAMITE AID ICE.
A Strenuous Day In the Arctic With
Peary on the Roosevelt.

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Peary on the Roosevelt.
l think that none of the members of
the Peary expedition will ever forget
the Both of August. The Roosevelt
was kicked about the foes as If she
had been football. The game began
about 4 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 a week My
rest was cut short by a shock so vio-
lent that before | realized that any,
thing had happened found myself on
deck-a deck that inclined to starboard
some IL to Is 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 hawsers and
dashed it against the Roosevelt and
clear along her port side as If that
thousand ton berg had been n toy.
The berg brought up against another
one just aft of us. and tue Roosevelt
slipped from between the two like a
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
heavier cable to the parted one and
taking a hitch around the steam cap
stan we finally disentangled it.
This excitement was no sooner over
than a great berg that was passing
near us split in two of its own accord,
a cube of some twenty-five or thirty
feet just missing our quarter 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 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 a large part
Of the coal in order to tighten her suf-
fciently to get her off again. so 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 a soft
cushion for the ship to rest on. The
batteries were 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 a dish of jelly. and column of
water and pieces of ice went flying a
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 Hamptons Magazine.