We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
WITH THE ICE PATROL
67
“It was a cold, foggy day, and the Avater had taken on a deeper tinge of green. Cautiously nosing her way through the murk, the Mojave blew her siren periodically. After each blast the crew would strain acute ears for echoes. That is one method by which bergs are located in foggy weather. The calculations are based on the fact that sound travels about one thousand and sixty feet per second at zero temperatures. Thus, counting the elapsed time between the original sound and its echo, making due allowance for weather conditions, of course, a fairly accurate idea of an unknown body’s position can he determined. At frequent intervals the oceanographer would examine samples of water. In many instances, the salinity of it indicates the presence of ice. This went on for a week, in w’hich time I recovered from my seasickness and fear.
“Not a particle of ice, however, had been raised. We were about at thirty-eight longitude and in the fifty-fifth parallel when the lookout cried: ‘Growlers ahead!’ Rushing up on deck we peered through the mists for a glimpse of the ice. Every so often big slabs would silently drift by. They seemed like phantoms as wisps of fog would trail and eddy about their hulk. A keen, piercing cold assailed my nostrils, and 1 realized it was the sensation old salts refer to when they speak of smelling icc. The normal tempo of the ship’s life had changed. Wireless warnings were being flashed to other shij)s and the bosun was having the decks cleared for action.
“ ‘Here’s where we get our preliminary stuff,’ said Reek. ‘They will shoot up some of the big growlers.’
“It seemed good to set up the old Akeley and to hear the whine of the g>"ro head as I tilted and panned the camera for a ])reliminary workout. All day we cranked as the gunners demolished the small bergs. This is not regular j)ractice, hut it gives the gun crew an excellent opportunity to try out their accuracy in sub-calibre shooting. 'I'hey were certainly proficient. Nineteen direct hits out of twenty-two shells! Nightfall found us a tired and happy bunch. We stayed on deck for a long time watching the Northern Lights as they blazed and quivered overhead.
“Dawn broke crystal clear. Visibility good. Just as two hells chimed out, the executive officer passed me his telescope and said: ‘Take a squint at that baby. Rig as an armoury.’ Once having located