Evening star., 1898-10-29
VANISHING ISLAND
Heligoland is Rapidly Disappearing
Into the Sea.
EVEN THE POPULATION is DWINDLIEG
The Work of Disintegration Has
Gone Steadily Onward.
MERE SPOT IN THE OCEAN
From ST. Paul's.

From St Paurs
In 1890 the little Island Of Heligoland. at
the mouth OF the Elbe changed hands. be-
ing made over to Germany in return for
certain concessions in Africa to England
The flourish of trumpets which acconpa-
MED this barter is not appreciated by all
IT'S new owners. for they consider they
nave had by no means the best of the bar
saln' AT all events. the emperor took
formal possession of it. and has ratified his
ownership by rebuilding the church stecple
It's roof Is wooden, and painted bright
green.
Hehgoland lies at the mouth OF the Elbe.
about five and twenty miles from the fiat
North German coast. Politi ,allV coustd-
cred, even within the present century. He
hgoland has undergone some sweeping
changes. In 1907 England took il from
Denmark during Napoieon's continental
system Its harborage and wells were well
worth the four batteries, the garrison, and
the lighthouse the English erected on il.
Changes in the Map.
Middle-aged folks in England probably
hardly realized this little alteration in the
map OF British possessions as they
learned IT. One wonders how many genera
Tons OF German schoolchildren. gone on to
rlper years, will have had the new name
Mcin6ed in their geography lesson before
the place Itself will have disaup.ar.d altn-
gether, for the political changes of H.Iipo
land are as nothing in comparison with its
ati pmysicaI Ncissitudes. 1t is crumblng
away INTO the sea tnat chaf,s and fr,ts
around its rocky base. effacing more rap
luIy than any other place of the same siz.
under scientific observation.
The Work of Ruin
Several great cstastrophes which dimin-
lshed the island are recorded I'm bist,r,
The first was in 500 And so lately As f75o
a channel Of ten fathoms deep was formed
cutting the remaining portion in two.
since then the work of disintegration has
gone on at such a rate that dissertations
and pictures of even sixty wears arn arc
quite misleading now. For instance IN.
Monch that curious outstanding boul-
def, mad a companion, the Nome" which
mas wasted almost beyond recognition with.
III h'hS memory. Photographs of today
compaT ed with views taken twenty ycarsa.,,
shCw plainly how quickly the work of min
Is going on. Single columns now only are IA
be seen where arches were one side 81
them having been washed quite AWAY.
Ihese arches and the caves to which they
sometimes lead are a picturesque element
in the scenery Ct Helgoland. The face of
the sea cliffs Is literally honeycombed with
them. Heligoland, as a wise little island
makes the best of itself to its summer
guests, who come here TO lounge and battle
and boat.
tnterland and Oberland
Heligoland is simply slab Of red mari.
rising very abruptly about 300 feet out of
the sea. 1t consists of two very Gistinc.
parts. There is the unterland, a fat
stretch of strand on which is a cluster OF
houses. Boats and steamers come and go.
and passengers are landed there This un-
terland runs close up under one Of the wall
like cliffs of the island proper a chn too
steep for any practicable paths TO be made
up Its face. Communication with the sum
init, or oberland, is therefore by means Of
staircase OF 1872 steps, divided into four
nights. This unique arrangement has been
supplemented of late years by a huge lift
c-oSe by. Around the point 10 which rbeSa
lead on the oberland are more houses So
close are they to the edge of the chff So
huddled together in this one corner tha.
lhey suggest the fancy that dwellings once
scattered over the whole surface of the is
land have been swept hither like dead
leaves by the wind, and that some have
dropped over to find a resting place on the
unterland below.
On Their Own Resources
On the level plain OF the oberland great
fields of potatoes are planted. TO provide
food for the people in winter They are
then cut off from the mainland and Obliged
TO depend on their own resources. often
even before the visitors have left in au
tunn there are storms that prevent the
on fish.
Inc thrifty islanders turn their position
10 good account, and reap "A harvest from
the sea. They send quantities of fish to
Hamburg, CuXhaven, and other tuU-ns
to be sold or exchanged for the turf or
wood, or other necessaries not native 10
Helgoland. They are of Frisian dasceut-
ana, though they understand low German.
they have kept their own old Language. as
well as their costume and customs There
are now only 1850 inhabitants. a startling
decrease. Sixty years ago the population
was 2.nO-and at one period of the English
occupation il rose to 1000. But as the
whole island measures less than three miles
IN circumference one can hardly call ii a
scattered population.