Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1911-05-25
OCEAN snip TRAPS
Deadly Shares Laid For Its Pre-
by the GIutton Sea.
KEATlsH KNOCK Is PITILEss.

W ssSO 0sUSSVJt Odd
KENTiSH KNOCK Is PITILEss.
This Trsaehercus Spot Is the Real pavy
Jones' Leeksr.-No Hope For vess.l
or Man Wtsen Neptune hsks Toll e
This Submarine Graveyard.
"Davy Jones' locker that rerilous
SPOT mention Of which 40 often cui..es
from the lips of sailors. IL i:,t shown
on any ocean chart principally be.
cause 1t ia not really II settled place.
but II nny ocean denth trap deserved
the title 1t IL the Thames estuary:
Tho British naval authorities have =
chart upon which IL markedlt he posi-.
ton Of wrecks. shown by black DOTS.
On this hart the Thames mouth irart
is u solid black spot So numerous
have been the wrecks the dots run
together. Tie point where the black
dots actually pile the one on the tup
Of another is the Kcntish Knock. AMI
this Is the place among all Of the
ocean danger spots that deserves the
title Of Davy Jones' locker.
At the Kentisll Knock It is not keel
shattering rocks nor piercing points OF
coral that wreck the ocean travellers
1t is sand-trcacherous. clinging sand
that grasps the doomed ship with a
grip of steel and holds 1t firmly while
the angry sea beats 1t to fragments.
Many vessel posted Mt I.loyd's as
missing would be duly accounted for
II the Knock sand would give up its
prey. There Is no hope for ship or
man when Neptune asks toll at the
Kcntish Knock. for the nearest land
Is twenty miles away and the nearest
lifeboat at Margate. thirty miles dis
tant.
The sands Of the ocean are far more
dangerous than rocks. The sand
banks extend over more space and
therefore offer more points Of contact
than the rocks. which usually rise in
slender pinnacles. The waters flow
over the sands in smooth waves. and
there IRE no warning breakers.
Next to the Thames mouth tract in
point Of danger is the Hooghly. the
salt water river on which Calcutta
stands. The most trying part Of
large vessels voyage from New York
to Calcutta Is the last few miles of
this calm river. In this strange stream,
In windless weather and int calm
water. vessels have been lost dashed
to pieces ON the dreaded eyer shifting
sand inaks by the force p, the tides.
The sands grassy, ~ keel Of the
s,aK..c.l vessel and She s}sps@ But the
side moves on with rclentless.force
ana che heirless ship is carried. oyer
on her beam ends. She careens over
eAd .feuHt'sss wftA al on board. Ono
AZ the worst akSais In the Hooghly
hears the name of James and Mary.
This was thsfname of great Indian
merchant ship wrecked on the sunken
sand banks.
Another danger point dreaded by the
master mariner has neither sand nor
Ucks, but great submarine water
fall In the English channel there is
a point Just beyond the Shambles bank
where there is sudden, drop in the
sea bottom. The ch9nnel tides sweep
over tile banks and down this sndden
drop. creating rapids equal in fury to
those OF Niagnrn. The American ship
Georgian. foundcred in Portland race.
the name by which this danger point
Is known. and NIL hands went down
with her.
Ships bound to New York from Eu-
rope pass near n deadly hidden shoal
which runs out from Sable island. ly-
Ing Off Cape Sable: in Nova Scotia
The snoal runs out for miles in FIVE
directions. like the fingers of n great
band reaching out for what 1t can
destroy.
When III. gales blow heavy seas
boom unon tile shoals with sufficient
force to shnttcr the stancbest vesse,
afoat. and when the wind ceases the
beaches are strewn With the bodies OF
those who have persisted. The distance
from the shore is too great and the
surf too heavy for the life savers to
reach struggling vessel. and few
lives are saved Mt this point. Ten vcs-
sells have been wrecked in this trap In
single week.
The rocky danger points In the ocean
have nearly all been classified. ard
lighthouses have been erected on the
most dangerous-except one. There is
no lighthouse on the Virgin rock. and
there never will be.
Out III the mid-Atlantic this giant
pinnacle rears its bend up from the
ocean floor and vainly seeks to reach
the surface Of the sea. 1t is short
by about eighteen feet. There It
stands. With its sharp point hidden by
the ocean waves. waiting to pierce the
bottom of some unsuspecting vessel
and send It down to Join the pile Of
ships ribs and dead mems bones that
litter the floor around its base.
The waves seem to be in league With
the rock. for II n vessel Of light draft
tries to pass over its head the waves
drop 1t down into trough ut the bot
tom Of which the point Of the rock Is
waiting to rip out it's keel.-H arper's
Weekly.
Il Was Easy.
''You didn't Clutch single fish dur
ing your trip7"
mo, but
eyes. you go. lots of bites. And