The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1921-09-15
BERCS DRIFT FAR
Immense Masses of Ice Often
Found in Mid-0cean.
Certain Conditions OF Sky and Light
Make Them Practically invisible Z
to Ships Lookouts.

Early summer is the real season OF
the iceberg in the North Atlantic. 1t Is
then that these frozen masses are set
free in great abundance In the Polar
regions and are drifted into mid-ocean
by favoring winds and currents.
They have been found several hum
dred miles below the sOuthernmOSt
latitude of the British isles and prove
a very serious menace to vessels which
have to cross their track. The terrible
fate of the Titanic has been that of
many another noble vessel, though hap
PLY, without proving so disastrous to
human life.
Can an iceberg become invisible un-
der certain conditions of sky and light7
1t is claimed that it canon a clear,
starry night, when the conditions make
the berg nearly the same color as the
sky.
But nighttime. under any atm0s-
pheric conditions, is usually a bad time
for seeing bergs at safe distance.
This difficulty In making them out
is one of the reasons why their height
is so often exaggerated.
Mist or fog, too, will magnify berg
immensely. just as fog in the Arctic
regions has been known to make fox
look as big as white bear.
Does experience show that a berg
has nine parts of its mass below water
to only one part above? 1t does not.
And For th;c WOO fho tho c,,h
merged portion Is usually much broad
er and heavier than the exposed part.
SO that it Is not necessary for nine
tenths of the berg to be under water
to keep the entire mass floating up
right.
1t is in the southern hemisphere,
chiefly, where fields of Ice miles long
are found. One Which was reported
by large number of vessels In the
year 1854 was go miles long and 40
miles broad, with an average height Of
800 feet. In these cases many icebergs
had come together and formed into one
soldidly frozen mass.
Bergs sometimes carry strange
freights. One of the fiat-topped va
riety, 100 feet high, was seen In mid
Atlantic bearing three vessels on its
icy summit. Another, near the banks
of Newfoundland, had several Polar
bears walking about on 1t.
1t is sad to think of the fate of these
ursine derelicts when their icy raft
reached warmer waters in lower lati-
tudes and capsized or melted. One
can imagine, if the berg turned over,
the dislodged animals frantically SWIM
ming back to their uncertain and slip
perry refuge only to find, perhaps. that
1t no longer afforded any real foothOld
for them.
Ships have been moored to icebergs
on occasions when they have afforded
anything but a safe berth. DR.. Kane,
the American explorer, once got the
ice-anchors of his ship fixed in berg
after several hours of very hard work,
when large pieces of ice began to fall
on the deck. There was just tine to
cast off again before the face of the
berg fell in ruins, crashing down with
the noise of heavy guns fired at close
quarters.
On the other hand, the steamer Isle
of Null was saved by an echo from an
iceberg one very foggy night I'm June,
1914, on the banks Of Newfoundland.
One of the Franklin exploring ships,
also, was saved from certain destruc-
ton by berg drifting In between her
and surf-beaten rocky shore.
In May, 1907. some gas-buoys broke
adrift from the entrance of New York
harbor and one of them attached itself
TO the end Of an iceberg and by sound
ing its horn at regular intervals,
warned vessels Of the icy danger.
The birth Of an iceberg has often
been seen. But who has stood by at
the death Of one?