New-York tribune., 1912-04-21
A
grounded gradually melted into this fantastic shape
The Huge Ice Masses That Haunt the Region OF
Cape Race Make a Long Journey on Their
Death Mission After Being "Calved"
by the Parent Glacier.

THE epitaph, the GRAVEYARD OF the
Atlantic" which has been unam-
u mously selected for the Grand bdhNs
and the rugged cliffs of Newfoundland 'ha'
bound the Banks on the west is as appro-
pirate as II is hackneyed. No phrase coulu
more truly describe that region OF ocean
currents, icebergs and fogs. If Cape Race
may be called the Scylla of the moderh
transatlantic navigator, the combination ol
the water and the atmosphere represented
in the currents, ice and fog may very
properly be set down as Charybdls' Inc
navigator Of the Straits of Messina used 10
pray TO Neptune to protect him from
both. Apparently the powers of the earth
SIN respect that ancient deity for the
statue erected to his memory on the water
front Of the city remained standing unin-
jured while the walls tumbled ABOUT IL Oh
that awful December morning few years
ago
There is no similar deity to lead the
mariner through the dangers OF the Banks.
The terrors of the rocks and whirlpools OF
the Italian strait have disappeared with
the coming of the steamship, but the ice
berg and the fog and the rocks OF New
fcundland are as menacing to-day as ever
Fortunately for the present day mariner
however, If he has been fo"saken by the
Old god. invention and science have come
TO his aid. and the watertight buikhead the
whistle. the thermometer and wireless teleg-
rsphy have combined to protect him and
his charges from total annihilation. 1t is
unlikely that in the future vessels with all
on board will disappear leaving no record
tbo,r how DOM iY
the past.
ICEBERGs THE GREATEST MENACE
The commander of the big liner fears two
perils on the Newfoundland Banks. They
are collision with another ship and the sud
den looming up in front Of an iceberg
Despite the fOgs which hang over the
Banks-from 40 to IS per cent of the time
in April-the dangers from the first peril
have largely been eliminated. for the ships
follow prescribed lanes" which carry them
we'll past each other and which can be
avoided by small vessels. The steam
whistle, the lights and the wireless tele-
graph are added projections But the sin
lister iceberg carries no lights, no whistle,
no wireless telegraph mechanism, and
moreover, is no respecter of persons or the
n6ndlWOrk OF man. StO!lI SlO" IlOFiils'
in.perturbable II invades the ships path
and, unseen in the fog or the darkness of
the night. may prove the vessels undoing.
While the watertight bulkhead, the fore
knowledge Of the approximate location of
fee and the vigilance of the lookout avail
much and are likely TO save the great ship,
yet on occasion the greatest liner succumbs
The iceberg has its birth in the rocky
fiords Of Western Greenland. Under the
ever present and irresistible pressure Of
"Greenlands icy mountains" the great ice
cap, the remnant of that which once eX-
tended down over the northern part of the
present United States, countless glaciers
move toward the sea from elevation of
5000 feet. This sheet of ice covers an area
estimated to be from 100000 TO 100000 square
miles. or from six 10 eight times that of
New York State. 1t is believed that it's
depth in some parts is more than 5000 feet
The ice gradually moves down the fords TO
the sea level, having a create: or less speed,
according to the season of the year, some
OF the glaciers travelling in the summer
time as much as fifty or sixty feet a day.
One glacier, that large one near Upernavik
has been known to move as much as l2j
hundred feet in twenty-four hours.
THE ICEBERG FACTORY.
The fringes of the ice cap as they flow
into sea finally hoat and the ends are bro
ken off. These floating fragments are the
icebergs and the process of detachment
from the parent glacier is called ''calving.
IT has been estimated that the ice detached
in this manner in the course Of a year
would cover half of Connecticut to the
depth of the bergs themselves.
The bang Of the separating ice may be
followed by a great commotion in the
water as the new berg. If il is small one.
turns over TO readjust its equilibrium in it's
new environment. Then il floats out of the
ford or away from the shore carrying with
1t quantity of the rock and soil which it
has accumulated in the course of its jour
ney down the slopes OF Greenland. Settled
for its voyage, it moves stolidly of into
Baffin Bay or Davis Strait, as the case
may be.
Some OF these icebergs are miles in
length. for the fronts Of certain of the gla-
ciers, such as those which come down TO
Melville Sound are twenty-five or thirty
miles in length. II is such glaciers as
these that give birth TO the bergs of the
size described by the officer Of the Etonian.
which arrived here q few days ago. These
larger bergs are slower I'm leaving the
stream that gives them birth, for they
must await the slow movement Of time to
carry them far enough into the water for
their great bulk 10 be supported by that
medium. The famous Humboldt glacier
has a front sixty miles long and three hun
dTed feet high with a depth of water OF
half a mile. II gives off enough bergs In
the course of a year 10 form a chain clear
across the State OF New Jersey.
Slowly and steadily the icebergs follow
the West Greenland current northwesterly
across Baffin Bay and Davis Strait toward
the western shore. where they are taken
up by the Arctic current. flowing south
ward. Tere they are joined by the smaller
bergs and ice foes that represent she vast
age of the numerous islands, and the pro-
eession OF majestic masses of steel blue
and green, towering into the sky two hun
dred, three hundred and occasionally FIVE
hundred or six hundred fest. OF nearly TO