The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-05-13

the Arctic to their doom in the
warm waters on the gulf stream. AL
ready North Atlantic traffic lanes
have been moved 60 miles southwark
by order Of the fee patrol which re-
ports that some $50 bergs will move
southwark during the 1882 ice season
Of April, May and June.
Icebergs have always been the
dread of the transatlantic navigator.
They drift hither and yon. They give
no warning of their presence. They
are propelled now by ocean currents,
now by tides, and now by winds and
waves. Fog is their constant COM
panion.
A vessel speeding through an area
infested with moving ice, during night
or in fog, plays game of chance.
Even on a starlit night a berg cannot
be seen beyond half mile; but when
the position of the ice is known to
the navigator, the danger is eliminat-
ed; he can alter his course to avoid
the menace.
The ice comes down every year, as
1t hasrTfor centuries; but now every
berg that follows the eastern edge of
| the Grand Banks into the steamer
lanes is kept under surveillance by
| the international ice patrol. From
this service navigators can learn the
answer to the question which each
asks: "Where is the ice?"
Not single ship has been lost
through collision with an iceberg since
the patrol was inaugurated.
Greenland's "icy mountains" alone
are the source of the icebergs that
come as far south as the steamer
lanes, journeying about 1900 miles
| approximately the distance from
Washington, D. c., to Denver-before
they become white specters" to ship
ping.
With the exception Of a small strip
of coast line, Greenland is completely
covered with vase ice cap. Its es-
timated thickness is 5000 feet
| Always the ice mantle is moving
down the slope Of the land toward
the sea, in great glaciers, pushing
out through the valleys. AS the ice
reaches the sea it noses out into the
water until buoyancy lifts it up, and
then the front Of the glacier breaks
off at weak spot.
| There is a deafening roar and a
! thunderous crash, and with a tidal
splash the glacial fragment plunges
heavily into the sea, almost submerg-
ing. The water is churned into
creamy waves as the newborn berg
shakes off the sea, regains its equilib-
rum, and settles itself comfortably
for long journey southwark.
Come From Greenland.
There are eight principal berg-pro-
ducing glaciers in Greenland. The
worst offenders are those of Disko
bay, Jakobshaven, and Torsukatak,
coast.
Bergs are discharged in vast num-
| bers from these and other Greenland
fiords. Yet few come south of New
foundland. Many are too small to last
long.
Only the fittest survive the buffet
ings of the sea, to be carried south
on the flow of the Labrador current
| and along the eastern edge of the
banks into the gulf stream. This
warm current gives them short shrift;
but until they have dwindled to the
size of an ample library desk they are
capable Of staying in vessels plates.
The Labrador current, although
danger carrier, has its usefulness. 1t
teens with all kinds of marine life,
affording breeding and feeding
grounds for our best food fish.
The berg danger period comedies
with the heavy flow period of the
Labrador current each year-that is,
from March / to July l. 1t is dur
ing this period that the cutters pa
troll the ice-endangered areas.
Two cutters are assigned to the ice
patrol, with a third cutter held in
reserve. The cutter on duty is
busy place every day. To carry out
the orders, ito locate the icebergs
and ice fields nearest the transatlan-
|
the southerly, easterly and westerly
limits of the ice as it moves to the
southwark, and keep track of all ice
seen or reported" is not an easy task.
The oceanographer's day begins be-
fore the break of dawn, because he
must get star sights for position If
the fog permits, the first of the series
to be made and checked all during
the day.
At six o'clock the first ice broad
cast goes out to the ships with mod
ern equipment: "Patrol vessel near
two bergs-latitude, AZ degrees 80
minutes; longitude, 4S degrees 80 min
utes; set and drift, 1Se degrees five
tenths of a knot per hour; foggy,
smooth sea-" Added to this will be
the position Of perhaps twenty other
bergs.
The set and drift data enable the
ship navigators to know that the two
bergs, which are the two southern
most, are coming south at the speed
given.
The oceanographer notices, while
plotting the water temperature, re-
ports from ship that their present
courses might carry them close to a
number of dangerous bergs. An fee
warning is Immediately dispatched,
which the vessels acknowledge with
thanks. The vessels alter their