Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1895 — A Dangerous Ice-Chest. [ARTICLE]

A Dangerous Ice-Chest.

The northern fishing vessels are accustomed to rely for their supply of ice upon the Icebergs themselves—a dangerous, If convenient, resource. An Iceberg is an uncertain quantity, and very narrow escapes are related by the crews returned from the fisheries. The schooner Elwood lately arrived from Alaska with twenty tons of halibut packed In Ice. She sailed from Seattle northward, and went to the Muir Glacier for Ice. A big iceberg was encountered while passing through Icy Straits, and selected for service. Thirty tons of Ice were whittled off the berg and transferred to the schooner during the day. As the tide fell, the berg began to roll, the reef forming a pivot on which it revolved. Then suduenly the vessel listed heavily to starboard, and it was discovered that It had been anchored over a spur of the Iceberg. Night was coming and the situation grew more dangerous. The crew were ordered into the boats. Resting on their oars at a safe distance, all hands watched the schooner,' expecting every moment to see It roll over and disappear. As' the tide fell, a small peak of Ice showed Itself on the other side of the vessel, and it was found that the berg had caught and hemmed the schooner in. For three-quarters of an hour the fate of the schooner hung In the balance; then without any apparent reason, she plunged suddenly forward into the sea, came right side up, and anchored out of reach of the floe. The crew rowed back to the vessel, and lost no time in getting away from the rolling mountain of ice. At midnight the spur which had so nearly caused the destruction of the Elwood was the highest peak of the berg—which had performed a complete revolution.