The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1901-04-06

Ear out In the Atlantic ocean, on the
northern French coast, almost due
west from Brest, lies q great rocky
island that is one Of the most deadly
traps for ships in all the world. Il 10
the island Of Quossant, the notorious
ne de lEpouVante. the island Of ter
TOR. Bare, without q tree % break
its monotony, Il lies In the path Of the
Ghips seeking the English Channel. II
they steer too far north the hundred
shoals and reefs Of the British coast
open their jaws for them. II they sail
too Tar south Quessant reaches for
their bones. Bleak and far away from
any other land as the island Of terror
h. Il still has its population. What
mysterious thing II 10 which attracts
that population and makes it elingf
The infrequent visitor sees funny
noeks Of little sheep. scarcely twice IS
large as hares. He sees small herds
Of rough-eoatsd ponies, almost a. tiny
a. the sheep. These are the only
signs Of productive industry to be
seen There Is fishing, Of course; but
fishing can be prosecuted better from
the mainland, with less risk and
more convenient market What Is the
mysterious attraction, then3 So asked
Alexander Shustte, the traveller, re-
Gently when he made his way from
the coast Of Brittany to Quessant The
answer came, at least IN part, one
evening when q great storm swept IN
from the Atlantic and beat at the
shores with unexampled fury. he
says: THE daughter Of my hostess
led me up the narrow staircase to my
room. As assembled I noticed without
remarking the Oddly OF 1t at the time.
that the staircase was Of shining OAK.
! was ushsred into my room, q large.
low chamber, completely paneled nom
top to bottom. Putting the lamp on .
huge oak table that shone like q mir
TOR, she said:
'Tf you should need more hrewood.
monsieur, you will find It In the next
room. Do not spare It. Il Is bitter
cold, and there will be more than
enough hreWood in Quessant in two or
three days. Goodnight" l sat down
before the blazing fire and prepared for
q coy evening. The storm ragged in the
narrow streets Of the little village
The surges Numbered against the
granite breast Of the coast like endless
artillery FIRE, and sometimes imagin-
ed that the very island trembled under
the onslaught Of the hundreds Of mil
lions Of tons Of water. AS I sat lis
tening I gazed into the flames. The
wood struck me as strange. And then
Z wondered. On the entire island
there is not a single tree. And yet
| had been told not to spare hrewood.
There will be more than enough In
two or three days arose and open
/ ed the door into the next room. That
room was possibly twenty feet high
and was filed almost to the top with
timber. First with wonder, then with
growing awe, I gaZed at the piles OF
wood. Truly, she was right the little
maid, when she said that one need not
/ be economical with lreWood on the
island of ouessant. There were tim
bers Of every shape-splintered masts
and spars, planks from decks and
sides, remnants Of q steering wheel,
benches from the forecastle, yellow,
black. brown, white and red woods;
even two igureheads; some bright, az
/ II they were new; some crusted with
shells and hung with seaweedB. In
the entire room there was not q piece
OF wood that did not come from some
wrecked ship. The heavy carved
chairs, the polished oaken table, even
the bed in which I was TO sleep, all
came from shipWrecks. Now Z under
stood the meaning Of the word strand
riEhts.' In favor Of this island, far
away from the world. and murderous
for the ships that tie the world to-
Eether. Aeolus with his Bride Of the
Winds "a more fruitful than Il Ceres
20 the mainlands with her harvest
moon and her Blessings Of Fruit The
Blessings Of Quessant come from the
gale. The forests Of QuessantI Are
there such others In the entire world,
10 unique, so terrible? This forest,
instead OF trees, has the mighty masts
Of ships. In that tremendous forest
are the oaks and pines Of Canada and
Maine, the cypress Of Florida. the bao-
babs OF Africa, the teak Of Hindustan,
the ebony and sandal woods OF South
America. The awful forests Of Cues
SAINT form the visible apex Of vast
cemetery that stretches from New
York 70 Cape Ia Hsgue-"-NeW York