Public Ledger

The Newfoundland sealing steamers are powerfully built, the iron prows and timbers strong enough to resist an immense pressure. A correspondent of the Toronto Globe says that they attack ice-fields with the vigor and pertinacity of bull-dogs. The iron prow acts like a huge wedge driven by steam. Saws are used in making a way through thick ice, especially when an approaching iceberg threatens a catastrophe. The long, sloping stems of these vessels are built of solid oak and covered with inch thick iron plates, forming a ram of great weight and strength. The rest of the hull is sheathed four inches thick with a New Zealand wood almost as hard as metal.