The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-12-14
BERGs DRIFT FAi
Immense Masses of Ice Often
Found in Mid Ocean.
Certain Conditions Of sky and Light
Make Them Practically Invisible
TO Ships Lookouts.

Early summer Is the real season of
the iceberg In the North Atlantic. II is
then that these frozen masses are set
free In great abundance In the Polar
regsnus and are drifted into mId-ocean
oy fayoring winds and currents
They have been found several hun
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 10
human life.
Can an iceberg become invisible I'M
dfrlcartain conditions of sky and light?
II is claimed that 1t canon a clear
starry night, when the conditions make
tie herg nearly the same color as the
s'.y.
But nighttime, under any atmos-
pileric conditions, Is usually bad time
far seeing bergs at a safe distance
q This difficulty In making them out
is one of the reasons why their height
Is SO OIIeB exaggerated.
Mist or fog, too. will magnify a berg
immensely, just as fog in the Arctic
regions has been known to make a fox
look as big as white bear
Does experience show that berg
has nine parts of it's mass below water
TO only one part above2 II does not.
And for this reasOn-that the sub
merged portion is usually much broad
er and heavier than the exposed part,
so that il Is not necessary for nine
tenths Of the berg TO be under water
to keep the entire mass floating up
right.
IL 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 so miles long and 40
miles broad. with an average height of
800 feet. In these cases many fceb, rss
had come together and formed into one
soldidly frozen mass.
sBergs sometimes carry strange
freights. One of the fiat-topped va
riety, 100 feet high. was seen in mid
Atlantic bearing three vessels on its
.cy summit. Another. near the banks
II Newfoundland. had several Polar
9ears walking about on It.
1t is sad TO think of the fate of these
1rsine derelicts when their icy raft
reached warmer waters in lower Iati-
udes and capsiZed or melted. One
ean Imagine. If the berg turned over.
| the disledged animals frantically swim
| ming back TO their uncertain and slip
perry refuge only to find. perhaps, that
| it no longer afforded any real fOothOId
| for them.
| Ships have been moOred to icebergs
on occasions when they have afforded
anything but q safe berth. DIR. Kane.
| the American explorer, once got the
ice-anchors of his ship fixed in a berg
after several hours OF very hard work.
| when large pieces OF ice began to fall
on the deck. There was just time tO
cast OF again before the face of the
berg fell in ruins, crashing down with
the noise of heavy guns fred at close
quarters.
/ On the other hand, the steamer Isle
| of Null was saved by an echo from an
iceberg one very foggy night In 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
barber 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 Otter
been seen. But who has stood by al
the death Of one?