San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-11-04
Tbe DaiIv It0bt.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
HEMMED BY THE TIDE.
An American Girls Narrow Els
cape in Brittany.

cape in Brittany.
A letter just received by friends
of John \. Foley, a lawyer of A
Broadway, gives an account of
his daughters narrow escape
from drowning in Brittany,
France, on August %, The young
lady and an acquaintance of hers
were imprudent enough to forget
about the dangerous tides in that
vicinity, and both were hemmed
in on the beach by the rising wa
tiers, when Miss Foley's cOmpan-
ion scaled the cliffs and brought
assistance. The Foley's, pre-
viOus to their trip abroad, lived in
Hackensack, n. j., where they
have many friends. Last year
Mrs. Foley, with her two daugh-
tiers and son, went abroad in or
der to give her daughters the ben
eft of the French schools in COM
pleting their education. The fam
lily stayed in Paris until the ear
Iy part of. last summer. The
schools closed at that time, and
they went to spend the summer
in Brittany. The place at which
they stopped is on the coast near
Parnichet, a small town thirty
miles from Nantes. This part of
Brittany is very popular with the
English, and the hotel at which
the family stopped is generally
filled in summer with English
speaking people.
The coast is rocky with high
cliffs. Beneath the cliffs is a san
dy beach, part of which is expos
ed at low tide, but at other times
is covered by the water. The tide
rises very fast. On the afternoon
of Aug. % Miss Elizabeth Foley,
the younger of the two daugh-
tiers, went out walking with a girl
friend whose acquaintance she
had made at the hotel. Miss Fo-
ley is about 10 years old. Her
companion was somewhat older.
In the course of their walk they
wandered along the cliffs, which
at that point were something
over 100 feet high. At some
distance from the hotel a path
descends to the beach, and the
young ladies followed it. Few
of the guests at the hotel were
out that day, and no one observed
the direction which the young la
dies took.
They walked along the beach
for some distance, forgetting all
about the tide in the earnestness
of their conversation until one
of them observed that her feet
were getting wet. This fact led
them to note the progress the tide
had been making and they were
greatly alarmed to discover that
they were then confined to a strip
of sand scarcely five feet in
width. A glance showed them
that all chances of escaping by
the path by which they had de-
sxcended to the beach was cut
off. The tide had already cover
ed part of the beach, and the long
combers coming in were tossing
their spray about the bottom of
the path. Ahead the beach a.
gain grew narrower and they
soon saw that it was best to stay
where they were.
Above them lowered a hun
dred feet of precipituous rocks.
Before them stretched the broad
expanse of the ocean, which was
threatening to Overwhelm them.
Miss Foley was in momentary
danger of collapsing altogether,
but her companion bravely look.
ed about her for means of es.
cape. She perceived that the cliff
was broken at frequent intervals
by lodges of rock, and she deter,
mined to attempt to make the
perilous ascent. To call for help
was useless, as their voices were
drowned by the breakers. Both
girls began to scale the rocks, but
it was a difficult task. The sharp
edges cut their hands, and it was