Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-08-15


ILL.,. a cousin of Mrs. r. w. Funk, III
East Maple avenue, has written very
interesting letter to her relatives. de-
scriptive of her ocean voyage to Eu
rope. Miss Campbell was a guest at
the Funk home during the summer OF
1913 and is quite well known here
graduated from st. Mary's school for
girls at Knoxville with the class OF
1914 and the trip which she tells of In
her letter was given her as gradua-
ton present by her uncle. Miss Camp
bell is at present in Europe but her
exact location Is not known as her rel
atives here have not heard from her
for some time. Her letter follows:
On board S. S. Ascania.
Monday, July 6, 1914.
Ship alloy! Ease the anchor to star
board! etc. You see now in your below
ed child a seasoned old sea dog. hav-
ing gone through experiences the like
Of which the captain himself had never
seen! am surprised and thankful that
l am still alive, but il am ever to do
justice to all the thrilling things that !
have experienced, remains to be seen
Before l have finished writing, you will
see why the boat is so late. We reach
Plymouth, where I hope to mail this
letter, tomorrow morning, but we who
go on to London have another day or
so. So when mail this l can't say that
/ have arrived safely at my destina-
ton, but at least shall have arrived
at Plymouth. To begin with the trip up
the st. Lawrence was lovely, indie
scribably beautiful. We passed Quebec
and the beautiful falls Of Montmorelcy
which were still as milky and lovely as
ever. The Chateau Bel Air still stands
~, tho ya1o
saw some people playing tennis on the
court The light house that we visited
looked snowily white on the same old
rocks. This was on Saturday afternoon,
the day was fine and clear, the sun
shining brightly and the water bril-
liant blue. On Sunday went to church
service in the dining room. BY evening
it was so cold that had to get out my
big coat with the fur collar and run on
we were in the Gulf Of st. Lawrence,
rather a dull day (the weather
mean. Later shall tell you all about
the gorgeous people ! met, and the
heavenly times I have had. OF course,
this is the most fun have ever had,
that goes without saying.
Now comes Tuesday, June 3oth. the
day that I shall never forget, entered in
my diary as the lice berg" day. awol;e
blowing, and upon looking out of the
port hole l saw rather small pieces OF
ice floating about the ship. Knowing
that we were in the ice berg region.
and realizing how foggy it was, of
course I didn't sleep any more that
night (up>here so far north it Is broad
day light at 8 o'clock a. NO. About
half past six the stewardess called me
and told me to put on my coat and
hurry out to see the largest iceberg
that had ever been seen by any one
on board. So up went. stepped out
on deck to find it bitter cold. the sun
shining brilliantly, and the boat abso-
lutely surrounded by icebergs Of every
size and shape, and of the most heav-
enly shades Of emerald and blue, all
sparkling in the sunshine. On the port
side, with everybody on board training
eyes, glasses and kodaks on 1t, floated
the most wonderful snowy white berg
as big as a cathedral, in the shape of a
have sailed through the berg. It was
the most awe inspiring sight I ever
saw. All that day the good ship crept
through fields Of ice. At times the fog
closed down and the engines were
stopped.
Speaking of Arctic explorers! People
alternated between admiration and
fear. The captain didn't leave the
bridge for, over twenty four hours. Gle
had had Marconi message that the
straits were free Of ice, so we took the
northern route) / saw him at night
tired, heavy eyed and exhausted and
he said Il wonder if you have realized
what you've been through today. An
experience that one might not meet
with in twenty years Of constant sea-
faring. It's been like trying to find a
hole in stone wall TO guide this ship
through the hergs." OF course no one