Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 244, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1911 — HAUNTING DREAD OF SEA CAPTAINS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAUNTING DREAD OF SEA CAPTAINS

I? needed no such mishap as befell the« Anchor liner Columbia awhile ago to emphasize the danger that lurks in the huge masses of polar ice which, enveloped in fog banks, drift in summer across the northern transatlantic lanes. In the open season fur icebergs as every steamship approaches the Newfoundland banks the vigilance of the watch on deck is redoubled. When the fog blanket is laid across the sea, speed is reduced and whistle blasts awaken the wastes; when a sudden lowering of temperature presages ice in close proximity, the throb of the engines ceases at intervals and you may hear the calls of lookouts and the answers from the bridge. These are trying moments of anxiety, for no one has yet devised an instrument that will penetrate a billowing cloud of sea mist. Navigators must keep control of their vessels and trust to their own good judgment. The veterans of the north Atlantic lanes are thoroughly familiar with the signs that Indicate ice. Long before the berg is seen from deck, its "blink,” or reflection, may be noted in the sky and the navigator can easily fix its direction by watching the changing color of the horizon, which Is" Usually much paler in the vicinity of ice. On a clear day bergs can be seen a long distance away; at night their effulgence proclaims them. In the fog, if a berg is visible at all, it will look black in comparison with the mist around it, but usually It is completely hidden. One of the dramatic features of the Columbia’s accident was the echo of her whistle against the berg she struck. When the first blast sounded and an answer came back, the men on the bridge inclined to think they were near another fog bound steamship; but when ’the second whistle was answered promptly they realised that it was the mockery of the ice wall ahead. Seamen have long known that it is posslible to detect bergs by the echo of the whistle or foghorn and that by noting the time between whistle blast and echo, the distance of the object may be found approximately by multiplying by 550. Seals Tell a Tale, Too. Another indication of icebergs is the crack and thunder of falling bowlders, while the absence of swell or wave motion carries its meaning, too. Still another is the appearance of seals or flocks of birds far from land. The temperature of the ocean sometimes is lowered when ice is near by, and there is, of course, the chilly breath that strikes the face when ice is almost aboard. Peculiar conditions near Newfoundland are responsible for the fog banks that sweep over the transatlantic lanes. Here are two currents, the Labrador, cold and moving south from the arctic, and the gulf stream, warm and flowing northward from tropical seas. When south winds pass •ver the gulf stream and encounter the Labrador current they are chilled and reduced to the dew point, thus producing fog. Among the dolling banks drift cragky bergs, field Ice and “growlers,” or little lumps that accompany the greater masses. The bergs usually originate in western Greenland. Everywhere, according to a bulletin of the hydrographic office, Greenland’s mountainous belt “is penetrated by deep fiords, which reach to the inland Ice, and are terminated by the perpendicular fronts of huge glaciers, while in some places the ice comes down in broad projections close to the margin of the sea. All of these glaciers are making their way toward the sea, and, as their ends are forced out into the water, they are broken off and set adrift as bergs. This process is called calving. The size of the pieces set adrift varies greatly, but a berg from sixty to 100 feet to the top of its walls, whose spires or pinnacles may reach from 200 to 250 feet in height and whose length may be from 300 to 500 yards, is considered to be of ordinary size in the arctic. “These measurements apply to the part above water, which is about oneeighth or one-ninth of the whole mass. Many authorities give the depth under water as being from eight to nine times the height above; this is incorrect, as measurements above and below water should be referred to mane

and not to height. It is even possible to have a berg as high out of waiter as it is deep below the surface, for if we Imagine a large, solid lumpof any regular shape, which has a small sharp high pinnacle in the center, the height above water can easily be equal to the depth below. Thousands Set Adrift “Bergs are made all the year round, but in greater numbers during the summer season; and thousands are set adrift each year. Once adrift in the arctic, they find their way into the Labrador current and begin their journey to the southward. It is not an unobstructed drift, but one attended with many stoppages and mishaps. Many ground in the arctic basin and break up there; others reach the shores of Labrador, where from one end to the other they continually ground and float; some break up and disappear entirely, while others get safely past and reach the Grand bank. The whole coast of Labrador is cut up by numerous Islands, bays and headlands, shoals and reefs, which makes the journey of all drift a long one, and adds greatly to the destruction of the bergs by stoppages and by causing them to break up. “It is the greatly Increased surface which the fragments expose to the melting action of the oceanic waters that accounts for the rapid disappearance of the ice after it has reached the northern edge of the warm circulatory drift currents of the north Atlantic ocean. If these processes of disintegration did not go on and large bergs should remain Intact several years might elapse before they would melt and they would ever be present in the trans-oceanic routes. In fact, instances are on record in which masses of ice, escaping the influences of swift destruction or possessing a capability for resisting them, have, by phenomenal drifts, passed into European water and been encountered from time to time throughout that portion of the ocean which stretches from the British isles to the Azores. "They assume the greatest variety of shapes, from those approximating to some regular geometric figure to others crowned with spires, domes, minarets and peaks, while others still are pierced by deep indentations or caves. Small cataracts precipitate themselves from the large bergs, while from many icicles hang in clusters from every projecting edge. They frequently have outlying spurs under water, which are as dangerous as any other sunken reefs. For this reason it is advisable for vessels tc give them a wide berth, for there are a number of cases on record where vessels were seriously damaged by striking when apparently clear of the berg. It is generally best for vessels to go to windward of them, because the disintegrated fragments will have a tendency to drift to leeward, while open water will be found to windward. Serious injury has occurred to vessels through the breaking up or capsizing of icebergs.” Collisions Have Decreased. A few years ago collisions ofsteamshlps with Icebergs were reported frequently. That such accidents have diminished is due not to a decrease in the number of bergs—they are plentiful as ever—but to the remarkable development of the science of hydrography. The wireless also plays an Important role in relaying from ship to ship information regarding obstructions of all types, whether they be fugitive buoys, derelicts, floating spars or dangerous bergs. Hanging on the wall of the hydrographic office in New York is a pilot chart, with red symbols marking the positions of bergs and other obstructions as last reported. Nearly every day the office is visited by shipmasters and junior officers, who either bring reports of drifting objects they have seen or seek the latest news from the transatlantic lanes. They examine the charts, copy the dally memorandum of obstructions Issued by the Washington office, as well as the dally log of the Maritime Exchange, and receive the weekly hydrographic bulletin, which tells all about drifting objects and gives other facts of interest to seamen. All of this information Is given without charge and the office has no secrets. Its object is to aid the men who are responsible for the safety of valuable ships Sind of passengers.