The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-17
living OFF 0F
N|SF(|RIUNES
How CorniShmen Delight in a
"Good Wreck"
MANY WRECKS OFF COAST
Dead Bodies by Score Washed
Ashore
MANY WRECKS OFF COAST

A dismal bell On the 4l--i-etCitSr oiA -
Cornish coast, tolls to warn sailors OF
the sunken reefs below. IN summer were
st not for this bell it would be hard to re-
alize that this is one of the most dreaded
ports on a dangerous coast The sea IS
blue. with that intensity Of peacock col
oring peculiar TO Cornish waters. and the
little streaks OF white foam which tell
of hidden rocks seem only pearls which
set OF the sapphire. Two Inasts, however
still stick out OF the water, the remains
O. the Mohegan, which got among the
fatal rocks ia 1898, and stranded with ter
Tible loss Of life.
To the right is the great fissure where
the city OF Paris, escaping the rocks by
z miracle. ran clean on shore, and, aGt9
many fruitless attempts had been made
no get her off. seemed likely to remain
high and dry for the rest Of her days, I'M
Ill finally a firm Of German ship-savers
blew away the stony ridge on which She
rested. released the great liner, and re
stored her TO her native element.
And so IL IS with all the Cornish coast
The inhabitants Of each fishing village
will point out place after place where a
great vessel stranded, and relate the
tragic tale A good wreck in local par
lance is one where the destruction is com
Jlete; poor wreck" is one where the
ship is not much injured, and is got off by
the tugs. In the oden days the Cornish
men throvc on sea disasters. A Cornish
parish clerk is said TO have remarked To
his vicar. Il don't see why there be
prayers in the prayer-book for rain and
for fine weather, and Thanksgiving for
them and for peace, while there's no
prayer for wrecks, nor Thanksgiving for
a really coed one when it comes.
Even better known is the story Of the
parson at Poghill. in the good old days
who saw ship laundering from his pull
pit, walked hastily down the aisle to the
door. while the audience, who expected a
christening, sat drowsily qUiescent Very
different vas the scene when the parson
turned round and shouted. There's a
wreck in the cove and wen all start
fair and. casting aside his surphce,
the congregation. eager for booty,
Each inlet of the Cornish coast has its
history of wrecks as well as its traditions
of Amanda ships sunk with untold treas
ure. Here a brig came ashore, all her
crew frozen stiff and stark; there a great
liner foundcrod in a fog; her passengers
lie together in the churchyard. many Of
them unclaimed and unknown. Each
Cornish churchyard on the coast has
many such graves, although the inter
ment of shipwrecked persons in coEse-
Grated ground is a comparatively recent
innovation. In the early years of the
last century they were buried on the
cliff near where the vessel was lost. as
there was no knowing whether they were
Christians or unbelievers. Many a mound
testifies to this day the prevalence Of the
practice
The Lizard district is one of the worst
parts of the coast. The danger lies
chiefly in the sunken rocks, and vessels
usually give the Lizard a wide birth.
Though sailors firmly believe that there
exists some magnetic quality in the ser
pcntine cliffs which defects the COM
passes and SO lures ships to their doom.
The north coast OF Cornwall is, how
ever. ALMOST as terrible
From Padstow Point to Lundy Light
Is a watery grave by day or night
50 runs the old saying. If a ship be
with certain wind and tide there is alb
Eolutely no help or hope for her. Mr..
,Barlng-Gould. writing Of that part of the
''Nicar of MorweHstow. says that not
winter passes without several wrecks oc-
curing, and that there are men alive who
can remember as many as eighty in one
wiatCr.
The scene after 4 vessel has foundered
has been graphically described by the
Rev. stephen Hawker I'm his FOOTPRINTS
OF Former Men IN Far Cornwall" After
a wreck i'm 1913 the bay was tossing and
secthiug with "a tangled mass OF rigging
and broken fragments of a shin: the hill
lows rolled mp yellow with corn. for the
cargo Of the vessel had been foreign
Whe2t: and ever and anon there came 'ip
Out of the water as though stretched ont
with life. a human hand ard arm The
rocks and water bris,led with fragments
O. mast and SPAR ana rent timbcrs. the
cordage lay about in tangled masses The
rollers tumhied iD volumes of coru-the
wheaton cargo-snd amidst it all the
bod.es of the helpless dead
Nowadays the l0atsam and ictsan, are
no longer The property of the first conner.
1t is seized Cor Ike crown bv eaglc-sv-a
coas.guords. and Il is very difficult for
a. honest Co~uishmau TO get more than
TIL merest pocket trircs from a wreck
a 'ate IS told OF one woman in the Lizard
district who picked up socks after wrecks
ana got dozens and dozens Of socks. not
one OF them matched another. and al
though she sought and sought to get
pair her labor WIS never rewarded.
IT great deal of wreczage comes
ashore an auction is held on the soor
The revenue officers start the bidding
at high hgure and come down and dow,
III someone IS willing To take IL rh,,s-
reversing the ordinary custom. A barrel
might he started in this way n = ~
ard 70 eventually for al. Sometimes mr.
tons az tho beach are let by auction for
week or more 10 th7 highest bidder. ana
thoSe who take these spheres OF influ-
ence are entitled 10 whatever hapueus
to come Cp during the time they ara NJ
lottea them. This Is very coneenfal -
Tho Cornish temperament. for 4 wrecl,
comes IN biz by bit for weeks. and no nm,
knows from tide 70 tide what may be his
luck
The instinct which teaches Cornishmen
to regard things cast up by the sea as
thelr lawful spoil is very strong. as is
illustrated by ;hc story of the innocent
eurate new 20 Cornwall and the sea. who
found man washed on shore and. anx-
ious 10 try restorative measures. he an
pealed 70 the bystanders with the query.
What do You GO when you lind a man
apparently drowncdg'' and the PROMPT
answer was; "Sarch is pocl1kets. '-I8os-
ton Journal.
Chicago. May ls,-walter Monatt, who
disappeared from Chicago September s.