Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-01-19
SHIPS BUILT IN A CRATER.
Then Lowered Hundreds of Feet to Reach
f,,a Gao

the Sea.
It's extremely difficult to tell a lie.
Fa.sisying is as easy as to roll down q
creased plane But sublime lie, in
which one hand torches the stars and
the other dives down through the earth
and cores cut tao other side. that re-
quires Genius. remember in my youth
fu. days having ca immense respect for
George tecarse he could not tell a lie.
Is ;.dvs.eed found that to do so ho
woaid have required the brilliancy Of
Hasnilto.i. tllsastuteness of Robert Nor
ris and ths oieverness CT Franklin
whsc. he did not have-bat was simply
the we'll shaped marble Washington we
know today.
'ahe difficulty consists in the fact that
truth no longer confines herself to her
proper realm Of probability. She takes
to herself such nnlimitable bounds that
the most brsssaI cymbaled lie possible
to be conceived, dreamed or manufac-
turea has lneta1horically, physically and
spiritually to take back seat.
am led to these reflections by some
remarks of my friend, Captain Ebenezer
LuThard 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 CT
ships.
DO you know" said the captain.
that slowu in the Caribbee islands peo-
pie hrild ships up on top CT an old vol
csno? Yes, sir, a thousan feet 'bove sea
level Yes, sir. Datchmen An they
launch EN- too, "
A smile went around the circle which
made the glasses jump on the table 1t
was au incredulous smile.
But, by the 'tarnal eels, I've seen
ON. A lot Of Dutchmen Live in era
ter Thousan feet up. An SO steep you
haze to Sc up steps cut in the rock to get
To it, An they build ships there in the
crater O. q volcano. An what's more,
net stick Of timber grows on the
blasted place .
''Now, cap" ventured one of his
blttl Nts,. III ~ 20 lEOil me
geatl man an cid skipper like meself
ain confinin hissclf to the truth. An
I've herd tell Of folk long tho bay of
Fundy buiidin ships way off in the
woods nowuys nigh the water. But thar
tide rises so feet an launches them ships
i.a slick as though they was built in a
shipyard. Bat, dash my skin, if ever
herd Of atisle risin tkousan feet How
dc they launch them ere boats?"
Lower 'cnl down the rocks clear into
deep water. I'm o son of q sea cook if
haven t seen them Dutchmen lower 'em
down-thousan feet. -
| chuckled over one of the captains
best What was my disgust to suisse
quently fiud i'll Down the Islands, by
William Agnew Patton, page 80, that tho
name Of this remarkable spot is Saba, a
small Dutch island rising out of the sea
in sheer walls of rock; that the inhab-
itaRts really live LOCO feet up in the
air III the crater Of extinct volcano.
Mr. Patton says in his very interesting
book:
Tho people Of Saba arc celebrated
throughout the CARL sean islands for the
fishing boats they build in erater-the
oldest places imaginable for a shipyard.
When the boats are ready to be launched,
they are lowered down the overhanging
precipices into tho sea. There is no tim
Der growing on the island, no beach
from which to launch o boat when it is
built, no harbor to shelter one when
launched, and yet these Dutch West In
dams profit by their trade of skipbuild-
ing and cruise all about the Caribbean
archipelago il the stanch, seaworthy
craft they construct in tho hollow of
crater on ito 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 well as e-Phil-
adelphia Times.