ICEBERGS IN THE ATLANTIC.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1583, 5 August 1885, Page 3

ICEBERGS IN THE ATLANTIC.

A pastil ■'. ;er on board the City of JWli'i ••iteji'T^r, r»cent!y on lier passage fro ti N»w Yovk to Liverpool,?! ves the fillnwiu* a-count of the vessel being ?fni,:k by an iceberg :— " I wis awak cm 1 '! ill my b*rt!i by a sudden shook to the vessel. Tiii* was quickly followed by two shocks, as if she were grating against so!»>"t:hiiior. As soon as I could I went oil dock. It took mo some minutes to realise what had happened. Tnere was a very dense fog. I could see only a rod ahead, There, towering much higher than the steamer, and thrpe. tim-'S as large, was a gr-v object, which I knew at once to be ai\ iceb«rg. The bowsuvit had Horn knocked into splinters, and th^bow was smashed in. Many tons of k-e fell on the forecastle ;>\:k, Veakin:.' i f . through, and going i > »'v ir >:)'d. 7•■>in mi 01 tin loik.l' in. I a very narrow escvipo. the fog hein^ -o thick at the time that they could not s-e the lvn-g until it came tumbling on the forward deck, where they we foc'.i^ thorn to run for tli.'H li*os. Afc the. time of the sho.-k the chief officer, Mr Tarleton, and the 3eco id officer, Mr Barker, were on duty on the bridge, and with great promptness Mr Birker rushed to the bow to ascertain whether the shin ■was cut t'r/nngh bclo-.v the water line, at the Rama time giving orders to cut loshings of life rafts and bolts, and prepare for lowering in case the ship should sink. Two boats were swung •outward, and others were put in readiness. When it wis disjovererl that the ship was not leaking tho orders were countermanded. The consternation among the passengers cm be imagined. They ran helter-skelter to and fro, screaming and praying. The description of the scene, is beyond my powers. The fright of fch« feminine portion was terrible. They nnlied a.out the de'-ks streaming, at their wits' end. The ship trembled lik<« a reed. Many thouj'it it wa* all over with them, and rnshed on de..-k in the condition in which th?y had left thejir berths, so sudden was the shock and so great the haste. Som» ran abont, uttering heartrending cries of distress, in the. wiy of th<» sailors. In front there, was a vast tmwitiin of ic^ that rose in the air like a hu^'e crystal wall. The cold was somsthing terrible, I shall never forget th« siem. T.ie crew was excited at tii'3t, but the coolness of the captain equalled that of the iceberg, and he so »v had things pit right. H'? assured the paH3engt:rs that there wa3 no irasnadiate danger, and the calm w^y in which he wenh abvjb Siis work did more thin any talking could h ive do;ie to reason i*b the timidones." The J3ritisli steamer Critic, on her arrival at N^w York oa 13th May, reported having hid a remarkable experience amid icebergs while on the pa<mge out. The ciptiiii report? that the first indication of danger was a siHden and great fall of temperature, accompanied by dense in\>. About m-d- >. night was dc'scii'ied a vist wall of ice close to and completely surrounded the ship, lik.j a tomb into which the vessel seemoii to have suddenly dropped. All on board were overawed, and some seemed panic striken. This was right in the highway between England and America. All day long Captain Lord tried to get clear, or to find a passage to the southward, but in vain. Vast fields of ice stretched away as far as the mast head look out could sos, and int'Tispcrscl were hundreds of vast towers of ice from 700 ft to 1013 ft hi^h. Only with the greatest difficulty could the captain avoid bi-ing crushed by the floating masses, and every narrow channel he entered hoping to find a way of escape soon became blocked, and a retreat had to be mule. Night came on, but brought no cessation of anxiety. There was nothing for it but to drift with the ice field, which seemed to exercise a powerful attractive force, and the ship had to steam forward and back to resist it. Next day the same dismal prospect was pres"*^-!, and other vessels, including the Allan mail steamer Caspian, were seen adopting without success various expedients to g't clear of the surronndiii^ and ever increasing floes. They presented grotesque and fantastic shapes, and bat for the danger the scene was one of marvellous beauty. At length, after 60 hours of suspense, when hopes had become faint, suddenly there opened a wide passage before, the ship, and we steamed through, and so "\ left all traces of ice behind. The barque Alma, from Rochefort, has also arrived at Halifax in a damaged condition, having been in a collision with «n iceberg.