The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-12-25
AN OCEAN GRAVEYARD.

LFrom the New York Evening Post.1
If one prong of a. pair of compasses
be placed about the center of the Gulf
of st. Lawrence, and the other describe
a semi-circle from Labrador to the
southernmost point of Nova Scotia, the
area circumscribed might well be call
ed the graveyard of the Atlantic. Not
only is this part of the ocean subject
to all the gales of the roaring forties,
but every kind of water snare that en-
traps lucklesS sailors is found in this
section of the North Atlantic The dir
ty brOWnish fOgs that lie across the
horizon above Belle Isle are. of course,
the most treacherOus enemy for the
ocean liner. They conceal the other
dangers, and the other dangers are
neither few nor far apart. What with
icebergs ranging in size from a few
hundred feet in circumference to mon
sters nine miles in length (the exact
dimensions of one measured by the
Newfoundland superintendent of fisher
ies), with naked rock walls rising YER
tically 700 feet out of the sea, with
crumbled lodges whose saw tooth edge
stands up in pinnacles or slopes down
to a. White-capped reef, and with the
submerged shoals of the Sable and Mag
daIene Island districts, the pilot has
as difficult a piece of water to navigate
as could be found.
To enumeTate all the vessels lost in
the North Atlantic during recent years
would take up too much space; but the
record for the past few months has
been sufficiently striking to justify the
chariness of underwriters toward
northern risks. The wreck of the Scots
man in the Straits of Belle Isle is still
fresh in peoples memories, and though
the loss of life, considering the long
passenger list, was comparatively
small cargo, ship and travellers eff
fectS were total loss.
The perils of Nova Scotian waters
can be and have been Iessened. Light
houses now mark the most dangerous
points, and long ago a stop was put to
the nefariOuS work of the Wreckers who
piled successful depredatiOns with
Sable Island as a basis. Time was,
within the memory of the navigators
still living, when false lights above the
sands of Sable Island lured passing
ships to their ruin, and when the gov
eminent cruisers would come to the
ships aid not a thing would be found
but the stripped hull. Though passen-
gers might have waded ashore in some
places, the dead used to be found
stripped OF all clothing and jewels, with
the ring finger cut off and frequently
the cash of a Wrecker's weapon across
the forehead, signs plainly telling of a
conflict between the passengers strug-
Cling ashore through beating surf and
the murderOuS men who awaited them.
But all this is thing of the past on
Sable Island Not only were wreckers
driven off, but live stock was placed on
the long stretch of grass grown sand,
so that castaways could have some
means of subsistence until help came.
Belle Isle strait is by far the most
treac herOuS part of the North Atlantic
route The coast of Labrador projects
into the ocean like a barrier against
the ffinging tides and when the baff1ed
current finds resistance suddenly re-
moved, when the narrow straits open
between Newfoundland and Labrador,
the waters toss in with the siding mo-
ton that creates the beam sea so hate
full to all landsmen. The strength of
this inbursting current simply can not
be calculated or cOunteracted by any
mariner. In width the straits vary
from nine to forty miles and when the
brOWniSh fog never absent from the
northern horizon spreads southwark
obscuring eevry landmark, it is impossi-
BILE for any captain to keep up speed
and retain his bearings. He may refer
to his chart as often as he pleases and
tell himself, Thus and thus have we
come, and here is the place we are
Tide and fog may have betrayed him
in spite of his calculations, and he may
be at least a hundred miles out of his
course.
Besides the danger from fog and tide
at the entrance of the Gulf of st. Law
renee there is the peril of long, sharp
lodges that furrow all parts of the
northern coast and are only visible by
the fretted line of surface spray. No
lighthouses mark these hidden reefs
and many a schooner comes to grief
upon them during the night or in a fog.
The old rooms" or fishing harbors. of
French and Jersey fishermen have long
been deserted in the neighbOrhOOd of
the straits. Occasionally a dfsmantled
hut or a dilapidated chapel may be seen
clinging to the base of the rock wall
but all is lifeleSs desolation. There are
not a dozen settlements on either side
or the narrow channel and these are
hidden away so securely behind rock-l
guarded harbOrs no sign of life is Wis
ible to passing strangers. No aid to
navigation exists on these bleak north
ern shores. False Cape runs out from
Newfoundland in great. Jagged, tower
ing rocks, torn by the driving tide and
White Island lies off the shore bare and
lonely as a tombstone. Affair.". from other
rocky islands, comes the dull booming
Of the surf, which Indian legend Of
Labrador describes as the shrieking Of
demons over their prey. ROofiess huts
used as wind-breaks by the sealers in
the spring add to the indescribable lOneli- I
ness Of the tenantless coast; and if |
some fsherman's dory comes bounding
over the waves its sudden disappear |