Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-07-29
AN OCEAN CEMETERY.
THE MOST DEADLY TRAP FOR SH1pt
IN ALL THE WORLD.
Bare, Bleak n Treeless Quessant-
the Notorious Island of Terror. an8
the Awful Forests That supply IN
With Wood In Plenty.


the Awful Forests That supply In
With Wood In Plenty.
Far out in the Atlantic ocean, of the
northern French coast, almost due w-sst
from Brest, lies a great rocky islsIsf
that is one Of the most deadly trarf
for ships in all the world. 1t Is tts
Island of Quessant, the notorious iE
lie PEpouvaEte, the island Of terror
Bare, without a tree to break its nT~
notony, it lies In the path of the shif,s
seeking the English channel. If tfsly
steer too far north, the Hundred shoa&A
and reefs Of the British coast or4A1
their jaws fer them. If they sail taa
far south, Quessant reaches for tleir
bones.
Bleak and far away from any Other
land as the island of terror Is, it stin
has its population. What mysterious
thing is it which attracts that popua
tion and makes it cling? The infr,-
quent visitor sees funny hocks Of LITTLE
sheep, scarcely twice as large as haleA.
He sees small herds of rough cOa1eG-
ponies almost as tiny as the sbszE
These are tn. only signs Of productive
industry to he seen. There is fishing,
Of course. but fishing can be proseasns
ed better from the mainland, with less
risk and a more convenient market
What is the mysterious attraction
then? SO asked Alexander Shuette, tin
traveller, when he made his way from
the coast of Brittany to Q%uessant. The
answer came. at least in part, n ever
ing when a great storm swept In from
the Atlantic and beat at the shnree
with uneXampled fury.
He says: The daughter Of my h1sz-
ess led me UP the narrow staircase N
my room. AS | assembled l noticss&
without rem ;irking the oddly of it T.
the time. that the staircase was II
shining oak. | was ushered into nT
ROOM. Il large, low chamber, complets~
ly paneled from top to bottom. PM-
ting the lamp on a huge oak table shA1
shone like a mirror, she said:
eff you should need more tirewots5.
monsieur. you will find 1t in the ne1E
room. DC not spare it. 1t is bittsm
cold, and there will be more tt3a1
enough tirewood in Quessant in two az
three days. Good night
II sat down before the blazing fra
and prepared for a coy evening. TIE
storm ragged in the narrow streets q
the little village. The surges thunder
ed against the granite breast Of shs7
coast like endless artillery fire, anA
sometimes l imagined that the very
island trembled under the onslaught
of the hundreds Of millions Of toms II
water.
"As l sat listening l gazed into the
flames. The wood struck M as strar-e
And then wondered. On the Ell *
island there is not a single tree, ...e
yet I had Deer told not to spare
wood. There will be more than emo. i
in two or three days
II arose and opened the door into the
next room. That room was possibly
20 feet high and was filled almost 10
the top with timber. First with wOz-
der, then with growing awe, I gazna
at the piles Of wood. Truly she wass
right, the little maid, when she said
that n need not be economical with
frewood on the island Of Quessant-
There were timbers of every shape
splintered masts and spars, planks
from decks and sides, remnants Of 4
steering wheel, benches from the fczn~
castle, yellow, black, brown. white ana
red woods, even two fgureheads, some
bright, as II they were new. some crus<
ed with shells and hung with seawe<saE-
In the entire room there was b =
piece Of wood that did not come fren
some wrecked ship.
"When l returned to my room, I toax
the lamp and examined the place cEse-
ly. l noticed a strange, delicate. yef
very insistent fragrance-sandalwnsA
Thick wooden pillars supported the
ceiling. They were of a beautiful dME
b~lack-ebony. as l lived. The pansA
We're rosewood. mahogany and eea1sE-
Even an Impractical eye could see AlE2,
all these precious woods once had orHS-
mented the cabins of noble ships TLa,
heavy carved chairs. the polished &ste0
tlDlS, even tlC uCu Ill NhlN L wa n
sleep. all came from shipwrecks.
Now l understood the meaning q.
the words stand rights In favor Il
this island. far away from the We If
and murderoIs for the ships that th
the world together. .Eolus, with his
bride Of the winds. is more frIitf1
than is Ceres to the mainlands, Win
her harvest moon and her blessings 81
fruit. The blessings of Quessant c,oDas
from the gale.
1.-THE forests of Quessant! Are fhefE
such others in the entire world, s&
unique. so terrible? This forest, instead
Of trees, has the mighty masts Of shiFx
In that tremendous forest are the OAKS
and pines of Canada and Maine, tlMs
cypress of Florida. the baobabs "
Africa, the teak of Hindustan, tbs
ebony and sandalwood of South Amer