The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-30
AMERICAN COAST GUARD BEGINS SEARCH
FOR ICEBERGS IN NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

WASHINGTON, May 29.-some
weeks ago the fleet of vessels OF the
American Coast Guard began again
the enormously important work of
securing the North Atlantic ocean,
particularly the crowded steamer
lanes between America and Europe, to
locate drifting masses of ice coming
down from the glaciers of the north.
The huge mass of Ice making up an
iceberg is but bit broken off the sea-
ward end of a glacier, the solidly froz-
en- rivers which gradually move to the
ocean. These bits of ice are bits
only by comparison with the glaciers
from which they break away. In the
late winter, and early spring the ice
bergs break off from the glaciers and
start drifting south, and it Is to find
those that stray as far as the Atlantic
steamer lanes that the American Coast
Guard vessels keep busy throughout
the spring and early summer months.
Through communication by wireless
1t is possible now to guard the ship
ping of the world from the menace of
crashing into icebergs. The terrible
Titanic diseaster is responsible for the
yearly activity Of the American gov
ping of the location of floating bergs.
When that vessel. then the largest
af1oat, crashed head on into an ice
berg and sank 1t was able to tell other
ships of its predicament while still
afoat through the medium OF its radio
apparatus. Its signals of distress
brought the steamer Carpathia to the
rescue, and that vessel was able to
rescue many souls who otherwise
would have shared the fate OF those on
board who went down with the ILL.,
fated ship.
Radio Clears Cause
Without radio, the fate Of the IT,
tanic would have been a mystery to
this day as no other ship CHANGED to
come along the same route during the
time the wrecked vessel remained
D above the waves. Other similar dis
asters might have happened since with
no proof Of the vessels fate, unless
chance threw survivors in small boats
or on RATS in the paths of other boats.
Out of the Titanic accident some
good did come in waking the world
up to the iceberg menace to shipping.
The disaster like the Iroquois thea
tire FIRE in Chicago. so Mortified the
world and aroused its interest that
steps were taken to guard in every
possible way against its repetition. In
the case of the IroQuois theatre. hun
dreds of patrons were penned into the
blazing building because the great
swinging doors opened inward, and
the weight Of the frantic mass pushing
against the doors in vain efforts to es
cape, jammed and held the doors tight
ly shut, and precluded all chance OF
escapA Everywhere today theatre
doors must open outward, and regula
lions provided that there must be
many emergency exits which open au
tomatfcally when pressure is applied
to them from within.
Lesson Not Unheeded.
So, too, the lesson of the Titanic ha:
not gone unheeded. The activity o.
the Coast Guard has been going or
since the year of the sinking of the
Titanic. The main shipping nations
of the world came to an international
agreement by which the United States
was gwen the duty Of securing the
North Atlantic to locate floating ice
bergs and warn all boats by radio Of
the position of icebergs and their di
rection of movement, as well as the
speed at which they are drifting. Th'
cost of tbs patrolling of the sea Ii
borne by the various nations enterinl
into the agreement, in proportion t.
the amount of shipping each has Oh
the North Atlantic.
Icebergs are not easily visible, an
y cannot be detected at all in fogg
weather or on dark nights. Abou
six-seVenths of an iceberg is unde