Show 1 MAMMOTH ICE BREAKERS T Powerful Steamship That Plows Its Way Through Seas Of Ice A scheme of conquest is about to be put in practice in northern Russia I which may not only accomplish great things for that country but which may give a very valuable hint to Arctic I explorers It is a matter of common knawledge that all the seaports of I northern Russia on the Baltic sea are 1 closed to commerce during several I months of the year on account if the intensity of the winter cold in that region completely covering the sea I with thick ice fields for several miles I from the land toward the open waters I The Russian government has devoted I much time and money to tests and I experiments designed to relieve or remedy this deplorable condition of II things but up till lately only dismal I failures had been reported except in I a few cases where conditionswere more favorable Admiral Makaroff of the Russian I navy has now come forward with a plan simple but ingenious for breaking break-ing up the packs in midwinter by means of large ships specially designed and called ice breakers Small boats of this type already exist and do good work in some ports notably that of Hango at the southwestern extremity of Finland where the ice breaker first I came into prominence nearly 20 years I ago The ice breaker of Hango is a I sturdily built iron steamer with very powerful engines and a strong steel I ram with which the breaker charges I into the ice cracking and splitting it in I every direction The ice pack is soon I broken up and it is quickly removed by the action of the tides The work of the breaker however is constant as the surface rapidly becomes frozen over again and indeed > during the severe winters of 18S1 1886 1889 and 1893 the ice i breakers efforts were unavailing MADE HANGO FAMOUS The results to Hango are astonishing astonish-ing for while in summer it is only a small village nowadays a fashionable watering place completely overshadowed overshad-owed commercially by Helsingfors and other large ports yet in winter being the only northern port on the Baltic open to ships it does an enormous I maritime business thanks to the icebreaker ice-breaker Contrast this picture with that of St Petersburg in midwinter and what do we find The capital of Russia is separated from the open sea by nearly 370 miles of ice fields its granaries are full of wheat the exportation expor-tation of which is delayed several months and its commercial importance is absolutely nil during a period depending de-pending on the severity of the season Nor is this city an isolated case for every other northern port of Russia is similarly crippled and some are still worse off MAY SOLVE THE NORTH POLE PROBLEM Having studied the question deeply for many years and speaking not as a visionary theorist but as a practical sailor who understands what he is talking about Admiral Makaroff declares that with an ice breaker of I huge dimensions and 52000 horse power it would be easily possible to break upI up-I in midwinter the immense ice packs I stretching from the Arctic ocean to the north pole Of course such a powerful pow-erful ship is far beyond the limits which have yet been reached in maritime mari-time engine building but the whole kernel ker-nel of the project lies in the device of making two ships of equal size and each half the total required horsepower horse-power one to be armed as an icebreaker ice-breaker and also fittedwith a special arrangement whereby the other can be used to expend its energy in pushing the first against the ice I Admiral Makaroff however has at present no intention of destroying the 1 romance as well as the ice surrounding I surround-ing the Ultima Thule of all explorers but desires simply to accomplish two things First to open up the ice fields separating St Petersburg from the sea and secondly to establish a regular I regu-lar sea route between the capital and I I the mouth of the river Yenesei in SIberia I beria To effect these purposes two i i ice breakers are to be built according to his directions of 10000horse power II each and 6000 tons draft to act as he lays down one pushing the other and it is proposed that theseboats should I work from spring to autumn when not needed at the capital on the sea route to Yenesei A trial trip of two ice breakers of smaller dimensions designed according to the admirals plan recently succeeded suc-ceeded amid the applause and enthusiasm enthu-siasm of assembled thousands in forcIng I forc-ing their way at a rate of ten knots i through the ice pack covering the Gulf of Finland j I HOW THE BREAKERS ARE CONSTRUCTED CON-STRUCTED I The ice breakers will have a Epecial j I form of construction so that hey will be able to fully withstand the shock oft J of-t contact with the ice in front and the j I 1 I strain which will result when the steamer in the rear comes in contart with the one in front Heavy steel beams extending longitudinally through the vessels will take care of the constant con-stant shocks and strains and prevent any loosening of plates the displacement displace-ment of which would cause dangerous leaks Except for heavier construction construc-tion the new steamers will be built much the same as those already in us in Finland It has been suggested that this double ice breaker might be a possible pos-sible solution of the north pole problem prob-lem The ice which banks up along the northern coast of Russia every year cannot be much more formidable than that in the far north and with two steamers instead of one the ultimate base of food supply and of succor would be divided One vessel might be lost but the other would in all likelihood like-lihood remain to carry the explorers back to civilization What illimitable possibilities may not the gallant admiral open out for the commercial naval and scientific resources re-sources of his fatherland r l I i I I I r = I = = i s = 1 I 1fs I r i I c j 1 t 7 c hn 4 r I I i E I TIfTi1TFT I I 1 f 1 fo M i t = rf IIJ t 71f1 7 1if7 IIf O r 1 1 h r 1 I H iftJ ill JK ti3lr i rt 4 J Vf 4 S ffJ i C V If i t tiJ 0t rXV f h t7J t 11 g rll 7 IJ > f yo i J i ri I Ji fl tftf 1 1 1iWti J < = i i7 JI y f 7 W t 0 i 1iJ f l f7 If Itifi F 9J TrER < c < f f 4 traitoL 5SIfc f ijfrlt1ffi S i1 < < I tt T < 1 Ji f > 7 T1 fi yJY V 7 if J i < < > a If z tJ 2 f i I t > 1 I MAJOdOTH ICE BREAKERS D DEiaOLISHING ICE PACKS TO OPEN UP MARITIME cOMM mCATION WITH ST PETERSBURG DURING I WINTER |