The Nome daily nugget., 1914-05-05

DARHGpN, NHhSkH, S'ct. 10, t54o'~ On Aug. |, 1913, the karluk was in the puck lee about three miles off shore, floating northeast parallel to the coast about twelve miles per day. She would have been in danger of be- Ing carried an indefinite distance into the open occan to the northwest to freeze in there for the winter had the southwest wind continued that was driving the ice in which she was pin led fast, had the wind shifted to any point between west and north before VIC drifted clear of Point Barrow she would have been likley to get crush ed. Neither of these things happened.
 Drifting Northward.
 We passed Point Imrrow early the morning of Aug. 2, and.. ns expected. commenced drifting northwest un ac- ct unt of the current from the south west which had brought us. uniting with current from the southeast that met us as soon :is we had passed the poleward corner of Alaska. We now drifted at the rate of over forty miles per day. About noon of the seventh the wind changed to northeast how ever, and soon after that the ice be- gan to loosen up. By o'clock we R,14 tS nd In half an hour We were stcaming freely to the eastward, among scattered ice flt es with land in sight of the south.
 In the Dense Ice.
 Toward evening the ice became denser and the weather thickcned. so we tied up to some ice for the few hours of the midnight twilight. about eight miles off shore from Cooper's island, which we recognized by the Eskimo houses that were visitle le both h the evening and early morning. Soon after daylight we got under way The ice was neither heavy nor densely V8GNC0 oAAN AS "AS OA'eS necessary to "buck" any of it..
 That evening We passed Cape Hal kett, and everything went we'll until afternoon, when we ran aground among the Colvillc flats. We got off again In half an hour, as the bottom thin. soft mud ovcrlying dense sand happened to be favorable. Later we went aground again, but only lightly. as we were under slow speed.
 "1ueking" Ice Floes.
 That evening we passed the Jones islands, sometimes called the Thetis islands. Toward morning we had to do considerable "bucking" as the ice again became denscr. The eve n.ng of Aug. II wo tied up behind a cake of grounded ico about half n mile oil shore from Il mail gravel island or sandspt, known {" some whalers as Cross island and to others by various other names. It is about ten miles from tho mainland. in long iture 14S degrees. approximately. The wind was northwesteriy and the ice was gradually closing in.
 We remained tied behind this grounded ice until tho following after neon, when we commenced working our way out into the pack again Shortly before midnight, Aug. F. we tied up to some heavy fec about fif- teen miles off shore. Tho wind kept varying from southwest through west to north--light breczesand the ice kept closing in moro tightly each day. By Aug. F all the fec was tightly packed and ccmcntcd together by young ice strong enough to walk on
 karIuk Is Stuck.
 From that time the Karluk was never able to stir an inch, and open water was never closer to us than q mile away. When later castcrly winds came fair way for ships opened along tho land. and as late aa the second week of September shir ly either east or west between us md of any draught could hnvo sailed free the land. Had we been Il mile nearer land we should, on more than one oc' casion have been freed ny tho break ing of the leo into cakes and shoult have had another chance to advance; had we been near shore we should apparently have had no trouble 1T that vicinity whatever might have me' us further east.
 Ship Drifts HelpIsssiy.
 As it was. we drifted hclplesly. w had dynamite enough to break abou half a milo of icc. hut tho open watel never came near cnouEl, to make hla asfsae aonyn worth while First