The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-18

cease to flow, and the roar of traffic is
never still. some silent and unsupported
alley or court into which no stranger
turns aside and where any sound but
that of sinking footstep is seldom
heard, so bordering the great world
f, thoroughfare of the Thames is to be
found a spot where life seems stagnant.
and where scarcely one of the thousands
who pass within a stones throw has
ever set foot
Where the Thames swings round
within sight Of the sea there lies, we'll
out of the sweep of the current, pear
shaped island, some six miles long and
three miles broad. which is known as
Canvey.
Three hundred years ago it was prac-
tically uninhabitable, for at high tide
the marshes were flooded by the sea,
and it was not until 1923 that James |
invited Dutchman named Joas Crop
penburg and his friends 10 settle there,
offering them a third for themselves If
they could reclaim the island from the
sea. This offer the enterprising Dutch
man accepted aud Immediately set to
work to build sea wall, which so
effectually protects the low lying marsh
land that, standing inside it, one seems
to be at lower level than the water,
and can see only the topmost spars and
sails of the apparently bodiless barges
and boats which glide ghostlike by.
But the most noticeable features in
the scenery of Canvey are the evil look
ing dynamite hulks which lie scowling
on the water like huge black and red
barred coffins. Upward of dozen of
these nests of devilry are moored off the
island. and they arc the first objects TO
catch the eye as one looks out from the
sea wall.
In view of the fact that the position
of Canvey in regard to one of the great
est water highways in the world is like
that of house which lies only few
yards back from "a main road, one won
ders at first that such locality should
have been selected as the storage place
of so vast quantity of deadly explo-
sive That it was SO selected only after
the matter had received the most care
full and serious consideration of the au-
thorities is certain, and, though very
nearly the whole of the shipping which
enters the Thames must necessarily pass
almost within hail Of the island, the
spot is so remote and out of the world
that it is doubtful if any safer or securer
place could have been found.
The dynamite magazines consist, as
the name indicates, of the dismantled
hulks of old merchant vessels, which,
though long past active service, are still
water tight. One man only is in charge
of each hulk, which he is not supposed
to leave, everything that he needs being
obtained for him by the boatman, whose
sole duty it is to fetch and carry for the
hulk keepers.
Not only is a hulk keeper who hap
pens to be married forbidden to have his
children with him, but even the pres
ence of his wife is disallowed, his in
structions being that no one but himself
IL, under any circumstances, to come on
board.
These rules are not, however, very
RICHLY complied with. A hulk keeper is
only human, and as his life is lonely il
often happens that when visitors row
Dut to the ship he is by no means dis
pleased to see them, and half a crown
will frequently procure admittance not
only to his own quarters, but to the
hold where the explosive itself is stored
in small oblong wooden boxes, each
containing 80 pounds. Nor are instances
unknown where the solitude of mar
ried hulk keepers life has been cheered
by the presence of his wife, the good
lady joining her husband Immediately
after an inspection and remaining with
him until such time as another visit
may be looked for. Even if the fact Of
her presence on board becomes known
on the island, the matter is considered
as nobody's business but the inspector S,
and the love of an officer of the crown
villagers as to lead them to 20 out of
their way to assist him in the execution
of his duty.
Had l not had reason to suppose that
Mullen was somewhere in the neighbor-
hood of Southend. the possibility Of his
being on one of these hulks would never
have occurred to me. But the more !
thought of it the more was l impressed
with the facilities which such place
afforded for fugitive to lie in hiding,
and promptly decided that before I
dismissed the hulks from my considera-
tion must first satisfy myself that the
man was looking for was on none of
them.
A point which did not lose sight Of
was that it was quite possible for q
hulk keeper who was taciturn by nature
and not prone to encourage gossip to
remain in entire ignorance Of what was
taking place throughout the country,
and of the reward which had been offer
ed for the apprehension Of Captain
Shannon. In fact, there is at this mo-
ment in charge of one Of the hulks off
Canvey a man who is never known to
20 ashore, to receive visitors or to on.
ter into conversation. Whether he is un.
able to read l cannot say; but, at all
events. be never asks for newspaper,