Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-06

been thrown up by the
se,. For some time he was puzzled as to how
he wolld carry this valuable prize. but finally
he solved the problem by wrapping it round
and round himself. SO that he could walk with
1t as If done up in an enormous bundle. Unfor-
tunately, it soon came on to rain and then
froze. the result being that Jake's self-assumed
envelope became immovably attached to him
self and heavy that at length he fell upon
the sand unable to move another step. Several
hours later he found. and because it
impossible tdextrcate him from the carpet on
the spot he had to be literally rolled home and
| thawed out
The wreck-strewn sands of Jerseys inhospi-
table shore have yielded since time immemorial
regular and profitable crop of tlotsam and jet
sam. If all the ships whose moldering skele-
| tons are buried along this treacherous strand
| were to be resurrected they would suffice to
carry half the cargoes of the world. Formerly
| all this coast was hunting ground for ''beach-
| combers, who, if the stories told of them do
| them not grave injustice. did not hesitate on
| occasions to invite by false lights or otherwise
| the wrecks which were to them a source of gain.
That portion of the beach which is now called
Asbury Park was originally bought by three
| speculative individuals from the government
| Tor IL shiliin3s an acre. for no other purpose
| than to secure n first claim on wreckage or
whatever else might be thrown ashore.
| FAMOUS FOR WRECKS.
| This spot is famous for wrecks. Right here
the New Era, full-rigged packet of 1928 tons
| burden. bound from Bremerhaven to New York
| with passengers. ran ashore on the morning of
| November ID, 1854, in a binding snow storm
| OF the 4l0 persons on board all but 155 were
| lost. Many deserving families OH the coast
were fairly 'set up i'll life by the wealth which
this disaster brought them. OF course. nearly
| all of the Inflated Germans on the ship had
| money with them. and the horror of the affair
| did not restrain certain predatory spirits from
secretly visiting the wreck at night when the
rest OF the beach-combing gentry had tempo
| rarlly suspended operations. They made their
way to between the decks where many corpses
| were floating around, and proceeded to rob
| them of such valuables they could find in
the pockets. Academia lily the man who car
| ried the only lantern d&pped it. 10 that il was
| extnguished. and the panic which ensued in
| the hurry to get away is described at this day
| by a survivor of the nocturnal expedition as
| simply horrible. the dead bodies, cold and
clammy, being thick about them and coming
| into moist and gruesome contact with them at
| every step. After they had tumbled into their
boat and made their escape he said all the
| riches in the world would not have induced
| them to return.
At low tide off Asbury Park not far from
shore, is still to be seen projecting above the
waves portion Of the boiler of the big iron
steamship Pliny. from Brazil which was
years ago. She was from Rio, filed with coffee.
| which, after the disaster, was heaped in
wlndrows FOR miles along the coast. Russell
White, an energetic resident. collected nearly
400 bushels Of the valuable merchandise and
sold it to dealers in NewtYork for 40 cents a
bushel. 1t was an agreeable reminder of the
| good old days before light houses were built
| and the life-saving service organized, when the
Jersey coast line afforded rich pickings to those
who made business of seeking for them. On
one occasion an old beach comber came across
| box which contained. packed in cork dust
bottle that held pint odd half of rare and
costly altar of roses. He sold it for 315, which
was only small fraction of its actual worth
Having anointed his own salt-havored person
with small quantity of the concentrated per-
| fume he subsequently declared that ..begosh
he couldn't get the smell of it ont of his clothes
at all. and they continued to have the most
beautiful odor long after they had been made
into rag carpet"
| TRANSFORMATION.
| With the Inauguration of the life-saving
service the old-time beach combers were trans
formed into life savers, many of them taking
| employment as surfmen at the government
| stations along shore. For so long a period
however. were the people of the coast accus-
| toned to seek for the spoils of the sea that
| some of them and their descendants to this day.
exhibiting the force of habit and heredity
| make regular business of hunting for treasure
trove on the beach. This peculiar industry is
carried on very systematically. Its most i'm
portant feature il a sort of placer mining. The
| season for that particular pursuit is the latter
part of September and later. At about the
middle of that month always comes great
| storm, which gives rise to very surprising
phenomenon, all of the sand being actually
carried away from the beach by the ocean and
leaving an unsightly bed of blue mud in place
| Of the shelving bank of fine quartz grains and
pretty pebbles on which the bathers here are at
present disporting themselves merrily. As
much as twelve feet in depth of sand is bodily
removed, to be returned by old Neptune a few
| days or weeks afterward.
Now. 1t must be remembered that during all
the summer thousands upon thousands of peo-
| pie are continually amusing themselves on the
beach. usually in recumbent attitudes. They
lose ever SO many small articles of value. out Of
| their pockets otherwise. These, of which
| scarce any are ever recovered by their owners
because they are heavy, make their way grad
| unlly downward through the sand until they
reach the hard blue mud layer. There they
| rest the blue mud being compact mass, knit
together with a network of very fine seaweed
| and containing many old cedar stumps. relics of
! vanished epoch when the blue mud was dry
land covered with forests of cedar trees Cecil
oglsts say that the coast Of New Jersey is sink
| ing at the rate Of two feet every century, SO
that some estimate of the antiquity of the for
ests represented by the stumps can be formed
THE SEPTEMBER STORMS
When the big September storm arrives the
beach combers are on the alert. During the
progress Of the washout each succeeding tide
carries saway its portion of the sand leaving
more and more of the blue mud exposed. 1t is
then that these cnterprising persons get up very
early in the morning. and with the first rays of
daylight explore the shore for treasures. What
do they find? 1t would be better to ask what
they do not find. Bracelets. rings. watches,
COINS brooches, pins-everything. in short. that
Is Of metal and precious finds its way to this pay
stratum of hard pan. The objects are usually
discovered in little pockets in the mud. pieces
OF silver and copper money being most numer-
! Gus among them. The ocean lends its hydraulic
aid to the work, and every fresh ebb Of its
waters invites the seekers to renew their quest
On the darkest night they may be seen with Ian
terms searching for CLINT of something bright
On the same shore where the beach combers
OF old collected the spoil Of the sea the pious
| people OF Ocean Grove are now engaged in
gathering in the wreckage of souls. Heart
culture" as they express 1t, is the object of
their work, for the purpose Of obtaining which
5000 persons are at present living in tents on
the premises. Incidentally, attention is paid
to developing their sense Of propriety. and the
president of the camp meeting association in
his last report points with pride to the fact
| that during the season Of 1891 sixty-five indi-
viduals were removed by comphlsion from the
4 beach for WEARING improper bathing anita In