Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-03-15
SHIPS BUILT IN A CRATER.
Then Lowered Hundreds of Feet to Reach
the Sea-

the Sea-
It is extremely difficult to tell lie
Falsifying is as easy as to roll down a
creased plane. But a sublime lie, in
which one hand touches the stars and
the other dives down through the earth
and comes out the other side, that re-
quires genius remember in my youth
full days having an immense respect for
George because he could not tell lie.
AS l advanced found that to do so he
would have required the brilliancy Of
Hamilton, the astuteness Of Robert Nor.
ris and the cleverness of Franklin
which he did not have-but was simply
the well shaped marble Washington we
know today.
The difficulty consists in the fact that
truth no longer confines herself to her
proper realm Of probability. She takes
TO herself such unlimitable bounds that
the most brazen cymbaled lie possible
to be conceived, dreamed or manufac-
tured has metaphorically, physically and
spiritually to take back seat
am led to these reflections by some
remarks Of my friend, Captain Ebenezer
Luffhard. 1t seems truly said that the
world has changed so much that man
can no longer tell lie without its be-
ing detected as the truth.
We were speaking of the launching Of
ships
"Do you know" said the captain,
that down in the Caribbee islands peo-
pie build ships up on top of an old vol
cano? Yes, sir, thousan feet Dove sea
level Yes, sir, Dutchmen. An they
launch 'em too.
A smile went around the circle which
made the glasses jump on the table. 1t
was On incredulous smile.
but, by the 'tarnal cells, I've seen
em. A lot Of Dutchmen. Live in a era
ter. Thousan feet up. An so steep you
have go up steps cut in the rock to get
to it. An they build ships there in the
crater o. volcano. An what's more,
not a stick of timber grows on the
blasted place. "
Now, cap" ventured one Of his
hearers. Fur be it from me to say a
gentl man an old skipper like meself
amt confirm hisself to the truth. An
I've herd tell of folk long the bay Of
Fundy buildin ships way off in the
woods noways nigh the water. But thar
tide rises 60 feet an launches them ships
as slick as though they was built in a
shipyard. But, dash my skin, if | ever
herd of tide risin a thousan feet How
do they launch them ere boats?"
Lower 'em down the rocks clear into
deep water I'm son Of a sea cook if |
haven't seen them Dutchmen lower 'em
down-thousan feet. "
l chuckled over one Of the captains
best. What was my disgust to subse
quently find in Down the Islands, " by
William Agnew Patton, page 30, that the
name of this remarkable spot is Saba, a
small Dutch island rising out of the sea
in sheer walls Of rock; that the inhab-
itants really live 1000 feet up in the
air in the crater Of extinct volcano.
Mr.. Patton says in his very interesting
book:
THE people of Saba are celebrated
throughout the Caribbean islands for the
fishing boats they build in a crater-the
oldest places imaginable for a shipyard
When the boats are ready to be launched,
they are lowered down the overhanging
precipices into the sea. There is no tim
Der growing on the island, no beach
from which to launch boat when it is
built, no harbor to shelter one when
launched, and yet these Dutch West In
dians profit by their trade Of shipbuild
ing and cruise all about the Caribbean
archipelago in the stanch, seaworthy
craft they construct in the hollow Of
crater on the top Of their mountain col
ony."
Alas, the captain had but told US the
truth Let us charitably conclude that
he thought the story so improbable that
it would answer as we'll as a lie.-Phil-
adelphia Times.