The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-03-25

2a(A A[AGALEN0 WI 40OA Az NJ /
lantic, mostly In unfrequented regions,
but occasionally they make their ap-
pearance upon the great shipping lanes,
and to wireless the credit is due that
they do no harm.
It might be thought that a dam
aged vessel, abandoned to become a
derelict, would not move very far
from Its position at the time Of aban-
dOnment, and would, therefore, be
quite easy to avoid. Such, however.
is far from being the case.
Another grave danger which has to
be faced annually by the navigatOrs
Of our great liners and freighters is
that Of collision with icebergs.
leebergs Great Danger.
From the time an iceberg breaks
adrift from the foot Of its parent gla-
cier till the time it reaches the main
shipping lanes, a period Of two years
generally elapses, but every year, on
being released from their winter I'm
prisOnment, they swOop down past
Newfoundland and reach the Grand
Bs1ks about March. From then on
till about July or August icebergs are
a constant menace to transatlantic
liners.
In clear weather they may be seen,
even in the dark, but in foggy wealth
er their proximity can only be guessed.
As many of them measure anything up
to 1000 feet long by several hundred
feet high, the disastrous consequences
Of a collision with one Of them will
be fully appreciated. II was thus that
the Inflated Titanic met her doom In
1912.
AS a result Of that disaster, regula-
tons and arrangements were made to
combat the danger, and all the ma
tions using the north Atlantic route
contribute towards the upkesp Of an
ice patrol service. This service is con-
Quoted on behalf Of all the nations
concerned by the United States gov
eminent, which sends out the revenue
cutters Seneca" "MOdOc" and Tam
pa" every year to patrol the ice re-
giOn In relays until all signs Of the
ice have disappeared.
During the, season one Of these cut
tiers is always on duty, cruising over
the danger area, noting new icebergs
as they arrive and following the move
ments Of those already reported.
Twice a day the ice patrol sends out
by wireless a detailed report Of all
icebergs known to be in the region
and, with these reports to 60 by, ships
which have to eros the danger zone
are enabled to do 80 with a pretty
accurate knowledge Of the where
abOuts Of all the icebergs in the vi
clnity. q
Wireless Beacon Stations.
Most countries have now estab
lished special wireless beacon station
which, like lighthouses, send out
characteristic signal by mea o
which they can be identified. The d
rectiOn finder is brought to bear o.
this signal and the ships bearin.
from the beacon thus established wit
! extraordinary accuracy. So accurat
and reliable is the modern direction
{ finder, in fact, that ships regulaFl
steer by it alone when they have Z
: make a dangerous landfall, such, 70
instance, as the Nantucket Light Vet
sci, in dense fog.
Probably one Of the most spectacJ
I lar uses Of the direction finder, how
ever, is IN the location Of ships /
distress. II a marine radio operate
e hears a distress call he will jump I
4 his direction finder and Immediate
q take the bearing Of the incoming sil
: nails. It had best be done right ava
: in case the ship In trouble has had h'
L hull pierced, in which case the dyni
mo room will o be flooded ar
a power for the wireless transmit,
. will fall.
ID A ship In distress, of course, alwa,
y sends out her position, so that inten
l. ing rescuers may know where to hel
oI for, but it frequently happens that
II a ship has had bad weather for Sc
eral days she will not have had OppC
90 tunity Of getting a clear enough vie
+ Of the sun to take sights and ascI
u tain her exact position.
II Under such circumstances she m
only send out her position as Gale
~ lated by dead reckoning" which
a. only approximate at the best of tim
and may easily be as much as I
miles out. without a direction find
no therefore, rescuing ships might cas-
K spend hours or even days searchi
n for the luckless ship. They may ney
find her, or. perhaps, arrive too Il
ng to find anything more than 50.
'p- wreckage.
." Makes Roseue Easy.
"a III a rescuing ship is equipped "
- a direction finder. so long as the Z
tressed ship can keep on transDOltti
ever with her lOw-power emergeT
set. the problem Of finding her is
nj simplest part Of the rescue Job.
the searcher need do is steer ril
head on to the direction from VII
= signals come and the sinking s.
$3.50 A-~~FLn, n. waf~~rG