The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-10-22
A NORWEGIAN TRAGEDY.

A NORWEGIAN TRAGEDY.
An island inhabited solely by wo-
men and children, the head of every
family being widow, is perhaps
unique in the geography of the world.
The island in question is called Aar-
lud, and is off the coast of Norway.
Until recently its inhabitants, who
were fisher folk, possessed no distinc-
ton above those of other islands.
The present peculiar condition of af-
fairs is the result of an accident. A
London paper tells the story, which
is a sad one.
To the island of Aarlud came not
long ago a man from the mainland.
1t was spring, and he had come to
the island to participate in the spring
egg gathering. While testing his
ropes on a cliff, preparatory to max
ing descent he took an unlucky step,
fell to the rocks below, and was in
stantly killed.
The occurrence made a deep i'm
preston upon the inhabitants. For
eleven years there had not been
death among the thirty families that
made up the population of the place,
and the people were determined to do
all in their power to show respectful
sympathy for the family of the un-
fortunate man.
The men decided to attend the
funeral in body, and accordingly
went on board a herring smack and
crossed over to Haugesund on the
mainland. 1t was in gloom and storm
that the body of their late comrade
was laid to rest, for during the burial
service tremendous gale arose. The
wind blew from the east and soon
lashed up a terrible sea.
When the men returned to their
smack the storm was at its height,
and they were strongly urged to post
pone their homeward journey until
the wind had abated. Thoughts of
their wives and children, however,
made the thirty men unwilling to
follow this advice. The women were
alone and would be anxious. 1t was
necessary to go back. So the men
only waited to provide certain house
hold necessities that the good women
at home had urgently desired to
have, and then committed themselves
to the will of the waves.
The boat was heavily laden when
all the goods were aboard, and some
of the older seafaring men on shore
shook their heads as they saw how
she labcred in the gale. Many
watched her as she made laborious
headway toward the island, and when
she was about a mile and a half from
the mainland she was seen to be in
distress.
Efforts were at once made to go to
her assistance, but the heavy sea beat
back every boat that was launched;
A few minutes later the watchers saw
the smack plunge forward into the
trough of the foaming waves. She
was never seen again. Every one of
the thirty occupants was drowned,
and the island of Aar1ud became an
island of widows.
A HERO OF THE AFGHAN WAR.
The only clergyman who has ever
won the Victoria cross was the Rev.
James Williams Adams. He was by
birth an Irishman, and won his ".
c." in the Afghan campaign OF 1879.
Lord Roberts was a witness of the
act of valor which Adams performed
in the fight in the Chardeh Valley,
near Kabul. An English magazine
quotes from Lord Roberts Forty
One Years in India" the generals ac-
count of how the chaplain, who had
accompanied him throughout the day,
first saved a wounded man of the
Ninth Lancers by dismounting and
supporting the man until he was re-
lieved by~some of his comrades.
adams rejoined me-" says General
Roberts, Sin time to assist two more
of the Ninth who were struggling
under their horses at the bottom of
ditch. Without a moments hesita-
ton, Adams jumped into the ditch.
He was an unusually powerful man,
and by sheer strength dragged the
lancers clear of their horses. The
Afghans meanwhile were so close to
the ditch that I thought my friend,
the padre Gas the British soldiers
call the chaplain), could not possibly
escape. 1 called to him to look after
himself, but he paid no attention to
my warnings until he had pulled the
almost exhausted lancers to the top
of the sliDpery bank
The men were in danger of being
drowned, as the ditch was full of
water, and the "padre" was up to his
waist in water while he was pulling
them out. He was under heavy fire,
the leading Afghans being within
few yards.
Possessing all the modesty of the
true hero, Adams was adored by
Tommy Atkins" not only as self
sacrificing minister, but also as a
sportsman. During the cholera epi-
demic in Peshawar Mr.. Adams
showed fearless devotion to duty. He
saw. service, as chaplain, in Burma,
and wore the Burma medal, as well
as the Afghan medal, with clasps, and
the Kandahar bronze star.
A Photographic Fire-Alarm.