TRAGIC DOOM OF SEAL HUNTERS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2153, 20 May 1914, Page 3

TRAGIC DOOM OF SEAL HUNTERS

IN BLIZZARD HAUNTED WATERS OFF % NEWFOUNDLAND

A PERILOUS CALLING

-wl-M'! 6 " 5 ' F«l|° rte, i i" the cablegrams at tho time, 120 men of the crow of thu soaimg steamer Ninvfoundiaiid, while seeking seals on the ice lloas oil the north-east coast of Newfoundland, near Labrador, wore caught in a blizzard, and moat of thorn perished. iJie Hellwcnture, another of tho a.ahng fleet, picked up fifty dead and djing men from the ic* floes, but there !! fts of l " le seventy. Ahtwreufcly the tn&a fought despairingly against the storm. Tho while community was stunned by the disaster, w steamer (southern Cross, with 173' moil, on her way back from tho Gulf of f ;ii a "l r 7 11 C 'J' 510 ' 6 siw soeui'ed a Jl , tch °* 1* t OOO seals, ojicounerta tho saitia blizzard, and nothing was heard from hor since.

How the Saal Hunters Work. Jl 10 , ! »®Miod of seal hunting pursued by Newfoundland ships is for foarnfths of tl» crew to leav« the vessel every morning and travel over the ice from four to six miles, killing seals as ■they go, and Leaping the seals in piles tor tho ship to secure as she follows. , m£ ® So lightly clad and with little icod, and when bfezards overtake them their chances of escape are W Dr. Grenfcll (Superintendent of tiro' Labrador Mcdical Mission), ■in an interview, aceatded to 4 ' 'Daily Mail-' representative, -said that the calamity was ■tho biggest disaster of its kind in these ,j« as *lwin tho -memory of living man. ihc last big disaster was that of the Greenland, about seven years ago, when forty-eight men were lost, The last picked up alive had teen afloat- on the teo for hfty-six hours, so that- there may yet be hope for some ©f tho men of tile Newfoundland. ''The men are very hardy fishermen and very, resourceful. . They ate a fine sov of Godfearing men. On tho sealing expeditions they travel very lightly clad, as tho work Moods activity, and tire men. become very hot. In consequence if a disaster occurs they are exposed terribly to the rigours of the c<>ld. - . ' The terrlbls Bliizarcf. ; • "xbe bliiifcttrds' are almost always cj". clones, travelHn.g from south-west to north-west off the land. The sensation of being in ' one of ibese eycloncs is an awfiil one. A ; blizzard blowing over hundreds of ' square miles -ef ice gets terrific force Slid is uiteitsoly and crush- 1 uigry coid. Atso ifc koseus tho ice and tlie nion are driven .in all directions, so Search far them is -extremely difficulty, W hen mett have been'driven off in the Way I' have seen them lightfires on tho ice pah with chryis -of wood and with seal fat iu order to'-att-raet-attention."

"A disaster liko this will bring with' it appalling distress. Many of the.fishermen aro married, aud there are so fow Jiidustries open to women thai- the whole family is dependent'on the husband. ' , "Shortly after the Tit-an'-io disaster I hapj>ened to call at Lloyd's, and I .noticed that there were eight - ships engaged,in tho NeivfoUnd.lii.iid trade all posted as missin'g at one time. Bits show the hazards of work in these waters. But-the men are the true typo of British soamen —many of i i:cni are BorseE ,'a)id,,.pevo.n men, traditional sailors of the sea, the sort that sailed with Drake'and Ua'le-igh.

"These seamen receive no wages but Khare in th*.profits of tho seal fishing. Tho season lasts from March W to May 1, and -a man may earn- perhaps i:.itl;i;ig ami pat Imps as much 'as fit) dollars (£10) on a. trip. For the rest of the year'tiiey are fishermen, 'They live anr-' ply on a diet, which consists chiefly of flour, molassosj pork, and tea—seamen's diet.. , Tho Lsst Vessels. "The two boats'which have been lost are of the old typo, wooden boats with auxiliary stean, not s<> vye-1' able as the now heavy steel_ boats to 'resist- tile crushing of tho.ice or iii a heavy : Mia* z-ard to cut their way through and look' for their me-ii. If one oLthese wooden boats iis once in t-lie grip of floating ice, driven against standing ice, her case is hopeless. Millions of tons of ice are crushing her, her timbers are driven in, and then when the ice recedes the ship goes to. the bottom and the ice ebses over the top of her. "The Southern' Cross was a Daftdec boat. I can imagiilo with horror the plight -of these poor roo.H for hours, per* haps days and nights, ols the ice. I myself spent on© agonised night. I was alone for twenty-four hours on an i:e pan. I stabbed three of my dogs and used their skins as protection against tho biting cold. It is impossible to think without'ft shudder of these poor, thinly clad fishermen eiulurim; these awful hardships araftfc on tho tee pans."