Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-10-10
THE DIREFUL SEA PUSS.
HUMAN SACRIFICES CLAIMED BY
THIS MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

Fruitless Fights with Death-The I'm
lucky Bather Who Is Once Caught in
the Tolls Rarely Escapes to Tell the
story-What Causes the Puss.
Few persons as they SIT on the shore and
gaze on the ocean realize the whole truth
Of the waves. Fewer still comprehend the
many dangers that Turk along the sands
within two or three hundred feet of the
shore. The white caps chase each other in
rolicksome frolic, the ave in their un
dulating motion give arestful and quieting
feeling to the spectator, and the fascination
of %plunging into the surf and toying with
the breakers grows apace.
Who would suspect, much less suspicion,
that there could be any danger within a
hundred feet of the shore? Why, the water
scarcely reaches to ones hips. There are
hundreds of people in the surf, and a sug-
gestion of peril would be treated with de-
rision. And yet the very momen the sense
of security seems greatest, that moment the
sea puss" selects for its work. A swish
of water, a sinking of the sane under ones
feet, a sudden current of mighty strength,
and the ''sea puss' has seized the bather for
its own.
A BATTLE WITH DEATH.
Those who have seen q victim Succumb
to the "sea puss" never forget it. The
scene beggars description. The victim
sportively and wantonly plunges and plays
in the surf, entirely unconscious of danger.
The shore is only a little distance away.
Suddenly a cry Of danger is heard. The
victim is seized by q mighty force, and
finds himself powerless to reach the
beach. Every effort to do so not only eX-
| ho,,efc HI, e+ror~+b hut earI, l,;,, e., I,o,
into the ocean. In the awful excitement of
Suddenly he sinks once then twice. and
now all is over.
The "sea puss" has claimed it's tribute
a human sacrifice. Lifeboat and lifeline
seem too slow to effect a rescue. The vic
tim has passed beyond the pale of human
assistance.
The "sea puss" is an outward current of
great power between two sand flats. This
current carves a channel of greater or less
depth in its course, which extends to the
bar or ocean proper. The channel is al
most always at right angles to the shore,
and serves as a sluiceway for a great vol
ume of water. The "sea puss" has several
points in common with the wind-you can
not tell whence it comes or whittier it
goes. It appears without the least warn
ing, stays a few hours, a few days, perhaps
a few weeks, and it has been known to
linger in a vicinity for even a whole year.
The bather usually takes q liking to some
particular spot where the shores slope cas-
lily, the bottom is sandy and the small
waves roll in with musical cadences.
On a day, even while he is standing on
the spot, he feels the ground under his
feet cut away. and 10! the "sea puss" is at
handl >
Again, the bather will go into the surf
day after day, and thinks himself perfect
ly at home. What is his surprise on enter
ing the ocean {. little later to find that a
great channel has been cut through his
accustomed place, and that one misstep
will perhaps send him to eternity. The
"sea puss'' seems to be here and there and
everywhere, and safety to the bather is
only to be had at the price of eternal vigi-
lance,
AN OPINION.
A reporter talked with several persons
along the coast regarding the "sea puss."
Perhaps the best account was received
from Capt. Lambert Edwards, of the Deal
Life Saving station, at Loeb Arbour. Capt.
Edwards is a veteran in the service, and
has a crew of seven men under him to man
the life BOAT
1.-THE sea puss' is one of the worst enemies
of the bathers,'' said he, and claims more
victims than even the tiger of the beach
the undertow. The reason so few escape
from its clutches is that its operations are
so sudden and unexpected that few recover
from their fright at its appearance in time
to save themselves. People 20 in bathing
on the sand flats and bars near the shore,
and think themselves out of harms reach.
They move hither and thither, driven by
the big waves or the undertow, when sud-
denly they find themselves in a strong cur
rent, and at the same time the water be-
comes quite deep. The current has carried
them to a channel whose depth is over their
heads, while fifteen or twenty feet on either
side the waters depth is only to the waist.
OF course the bather becomes frightened
beyond measure at this sudden turn of
affairs, and loses all presence Of mind. He
wildly strikes out, vainly ~endeavoring to
make Roadway against the force that is
driving him seward. If he understood
the nature of the sea puss' and would keep
cool he might save himself. But it almost
invariably happens that he loses his head
and does the thing which most surely
hastens his Overwhelmingly, tries to
oppose his strength to that of the current.
II bOo 40 Po"OAACSS / uAo dII1S
Of the sea puss.' His only salvation is to
swim along with it, but at the same time
to head for the fats on either side. In this
way he gets out of the dangerous channel,
and consequently the tremendous strength
Of the current. and soon lands on one of
the sand bars.
Correspondence with the sea puss' covers
many years, and we know no more about
it now than when we first saw. its work
ings. 1t appears suddenly along our strips
of beach, stays maybe a few hours, and
then disappears, only to turn up again at
an unlocked for moment and in an unex-
pected place. We have known it to remain
In n spot all summer-yes, all the year
and then, again, to tarry hardly an hour.
1T seems to be caused by fats of sand,
like a grldiron, over which the waves dash
as they plunge toward shore. The volume
of water in the intervening spaces must
find an outlet to the sea- Accordingly, all
the eddying currents north and south unite
in one grand channel with which to return
this vast volume of water to the sea. The
sea puss' is, in fact, nothing more than a
mighty undertow concentrated in enc small
ditch leading seaward.
"As a general thing a sea puss' is not
more than fifty feet wide, SO that if you