The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-12
THE TERRORS OF
CAPE HATTERAS
Sandy Burying Ground for
Many Good Vessels
PIRATE HEADQUARTERS
In the Early Days But Later Haven for
Traders Slipping slaves Into the
United States A Quaint
Settlement
PIRATE HEADQUARTERS

From the Los Angeles Times.
Whenever a vessel becomes stranded at
Cape Hatteras and Is gradually broken to
| pieces by the incessant pounding of the
| heavy waves which exist there. 1t is gen
orally reported that the vessels timbers
were splintered on the bleak shores and
| rocks of Hatteras. Hatteras, therefore,
| suffers the burden of all evildoers; its rep
utation for cruelty has spread far and
| wide, and there is no limit to the bad
| things which may be said or believed of
1t, for in describing this part of the
North Carolina coast our geographers
do not mention its construction more th3n
| to say that it is distinct promontory,
| dangerous on account of its shoals.
| In certain senses Hatteras is bleak
shore, and in some parts a barren one,
containing all of natures strenuosity
told of 1t. From Nays Head southwark
| nearly 80 miles to the cape, it is
nothing more than q bare strip of sand
varying in width from half mile to a
mile, and but few feet above mean
high water. South of the cape, how
ever, Hatteras island looks like fairy
land of tropical growth where the
beakness is confined to the immediate
coast line. There 1t Is three miles wide
and nearly down to Hatteras town
ridges that are covered by dense growth
of pines and holly. And beneath It all
is sand With the exception of few
stones imported there by the lighthouse
authorities and a defunct lumber COM
pany. there isn't a rock on the whole
island.
But 1t is sand which makes Hatteras
the most dreaded spot on the Atlantic
coast for mariners, because 1t extends
many miles offshore from the cape I'M
der water. and it is these great sub
marine mounds. the deathbed of many n
good ship, which give the locality the
| reputation of being the graveyard of the
Atlantic.
The larger of the two shoals, known as
the Outer Diamond. lies abou. ~ miles
off shore and covers an area equal TO
about two square miles. TIE Inner Dia-
mond. smaller but more lumpy and irreg-
ular lies closer in shore. But though
these hidden creatures of destruction Use
sand, they have proven to be more dam
gerous than rocks in that they constantly
shift their positions and form with the
which signifies to mariners that it is
the dreaded quicksand. If role is thrus<
down into it, II is gripped and held as
If by a human wise. and If left alone
1t will be gradually sucked under.
The FiItcrinr sands
1t can be imagined, then. how quickly
and with something akin to fiendish glee
these travelling sands fiji in along luck
less ships keel the moment It strikes
But few cases are recorded wherein it
has not marked the ships end. When not
battered to pieces the bulk remains in
practically the same position in which il
first struck settling sostly in the soft
SAND which literally becomes it's grave.
On a mild day with a smooth sea
running It Is possible to look down
through the clear water and watch the
quivering of the Outer Diamond. At the
present time nearly dozen vessels are
still visible. among them the British
steamship Ariosto, wrecked barely 10
years ago: the American steamer, North
eastern. stranded in 1905 and the latest
victim. the German steamship Brewster
which struck last December.
There have been two attempts to build
n lighthouse on the Outer Diamond shoal
But Hatteras has so far defied mankind