Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-09-03

SAESGy been on the rampage for
three successive days, lashing the wa
ter into a fury of foam and turmoil, us
that part of the North sea where 1t
washes against the western coast of
the peninsula of Denmark. At such
times the air is frost laden and be-
numbing, even in midsummer. The
water itself is of an ominous, leaden
tint, like a battleship with her war
paint on. Even the foam which caps
the waves is not white and f1aky, as it
is in the southern zones, but seems to
have been adulterated with some ref
use tint suggestive of the dirty suds
of wash day. The wind is as erratic
as the waves which chop numerically.
1t bowls and shrieks and roars with
deadly energy for time and then
means sullenly while it generates new
force for q more furious onslaught.
Deep sea sailors dread this region and
avoid it when they can, but the am
phibious Norwegian and the storm
born Dane love it as savage loves the
wilderness.
If you should study one Of the older
charts Of this bad tempered sea, you
would discover that fifty-two miles off
the coast Of Denmark, by the compass
north-northwest from Tyboron, there
looms rock with an unpronounceable
Danish name, which, being translated
into English, means the DEVILS Nose.
At the present time 1t has disappeared,
for upon 1t had stranded so many YES
sells and to it was due the loss of SO
many lives and so much property that
the Danish and the German govern
ments united to destroy it. 1t is not
located on the charts in use today, and
the deepest draft war vessel may now
pass over the spot in safety.
Originally it doomed sixty-four feet
into the air and from the westward
had the appearance of a huge nose, the
more so when the tide was low, for
then at the waters edge could be seen
lamentations that had been ground out
by centuries Of pounding waves, and
these cavities were the nostrils of this
mammoth proboscis. To the eastward
it extended from the summit to the
water at an angle of % degrees. This
part OF the rock was concave In form,
and 1t broadened US it descended until
1t finally disappeared beneath the wa
ter like the tines of pitchfork, leav-
ing a sheltered bay about so feet in
length by 80 in breadth and as deep as
the sea itself. Many belated craft
returning from u fishing voyage and
overtaken by a furious nor'wester
found shelter here before the rock was
destroyed and in the little bay rode
out the gale in safety, and it was just
such an occasion as this which one
afternoon in August compelled two
men, the sole occupants of sloop
rugged craft, to seek the little haven
of refuge.
The gale had come upon them almost
without warning. They had reefed
and double reefed their sails, but the
wind, as if it enjoyed their discom-
future, increased its strength in proper
ton as they reduced the resistance to
ii, SO that ut last they were obliged to
scud before it with only sail enough
left standing to give them steerage
way.
One of these men, almost a giant In
stature, held the tiller and watched
with unerring eyes the play of the saw
age water around them. he knew
these waters as the half grown child
knows the dooryard of its birthplace.
and he loved the sea, the leaping waves
and the rushing wind with a passion
that was hereditary. He loved it, and
he delighted to defy its dangers. His
companion held the sheet rome. which.
Notwithstanding the fact that he had
taken two turns around the cleat, was.
with each fresh gust of wind, almost
snatched from his grasp.
"Wen make the DEVILS Nose. Grad
dock" said the big man at the helm.
"and we'll be there in ten minutes
time. Pass the sheet to me. I can hold
1t with nv left hand. Now take +he
heaving line and 20 forward. Make
one end fast to the capstan. tie the
other end around your waist, and when
l round to into the little bay Jump and
swim for your life. She'll have head.
way enough to carry her into the neck
of the cove, but not bit more There
is an iron ring set in the rock near the
point on the north shore and another
at the head of the cove. If YOU car
make one of them and get a hitch
through 1t before the line pulls taut, we
will be as safe US church. Put your
clasp knife in your teeth, Grad, and IL
you cannot make one of the rings in
time cut yourself adrift and swim
ashore and wait. I'll ride out the gale
alone, and then I'll come back for you
10 forward now. Not word! I'm
captain OF THIS craft.
| When the sloop was again upon the
summit Of wave, Craddock from his
position ut the DOW could see the huge
rock to which his companion had re
TERED. He mad heard him describe II
many times' put ne had never seen II
Derofe.
There IS nothing SO deadly uncertain
IN TIE life OF sailor us running