Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-05
By Cable 10 The Star.

by CaDie TO Inc star
CAPE Girls NEE, France, August
5.-On the wind-swept banks OF the
Strait of Dover there are now
gathered more Of the worlds great
swimmers than ever have been
camped along that wicked stretcf~ OF
gray water before. They are there
because they all have courage and
the same deSire--to swim across the
English Channel.
Some swimmers are training here
at Cape Gris-Nez, a restfEl little vii
lage that lies half way between Bou-
| logne and Calais, nesting among
green fields that stretch away, tree
less, toward the sand dunes and mas
sive rocks of the coast. Cape Girls
Nez is less than four hours ride by
train and automobile from Paris, but
it is so different from that city that
it seems to be in a world of its own.
There is nothing here to disturb
person training for the great ordeal
of the channel crossing, All one can
do is sleep, eat, tramp, swim, gather
flowers or mushrooms in the fields
and play golf on the sandy beach
when the waters recede at low tide.
Rocks Give 1t Name.
That sort of life is not as mo-
notonous as it might seem. You
don't tire easily of the beauty of
Gris-NeZ. which is so named because
of the huge gray rocks that Jut out
into the channel waters. Gris-Nez is
Gray Nose and further along the
coast is Blanc NeZ, White Nose.
To a city-bred persona it is interest
ing to watch the old, crippled shep-
herd, in his coat of lambs wool, lean
ing on his staff and making curious
sounds to his clever dog, who fuses
about the flock like a young school
teacher minding her kindergarten
charges.
There is beauty in the sight of
whitewashed stone houses, with their
red tile roofs and matched barns.
There are no painted houses at Cape
Gris-Nez. They all are alike; white,
topped with red tiles. like pretty
Christmas cakes, with white icing on
the sides and red on top, And the
poorest of them have gardens
English Lights Visible.
You enjoy the friendly greeting of
the Belgian hares up at the lighthouse
that sit up on their hind legs to eat
the green stuff you bring them every
morning. Even the silly geese come
up and quack agreeably at your feet
as you go through the lighthouse
keepers yard and out to the aban-
doned gunpitS on the edge of the
cliff There you can sit and watch
the coast of England that looks SO
near but is so difficult for 81 swimmer
to reach. q
The twilights are long at Girls Nez
but il YOU wait there on the cliff until
10 O'Clock or later on clear nights,
x~pl1 n coo thn street 1iy-ItS pf IFnflSA-
stone and the blinking light at South
ForeIand, on the English side of the
channel.
Here. then. at Cape Girls Nez, train
ing for this greatest possible test Of
endurance. are: Gertrude Ederle,
Americas girl wonder swimmer; Lii
liam Cannon of Baltimore, Md, and
Ishak Helmy. the giant Egyptian.
Nine Jane Sion. the F'renchWomar
who has made three attempts to swim
the channel, is training at Malo-les.
Bains, near Dunkirk. Omer Perrault,
a French Canadian swimmer, is also
training here.
Long List of Aspirants.
Mile Gade, who. i'm private life is
Mrs. Clemington Corson, an American,
and the mother of two children, is
training at Dover, England. Frank
Perks, of Birmingham. England. the
first of the swimmers to attempt the
channel this year. also trained at
Dover.
Besides those swimmers. the chan
mel aspirants this year included Clari-
belle Barrett, a swimming instructor
at a New York school. who failed in
an attempt this week; Georges Michel,
the Frenchman, who has tried the
channel seven times, Col. Bernard
Freyberg, the English war hero, who
was forced to abandon his channel
swim last year after more than II
hours in the water, and Police Can
stable Farstad of Trondhjem, Norway.
There probably will be others before
the Summer is ended.
In her swim last year. which was
her first attempt at the channel, Ger
trude Ederle covered more distance
on the course across the channel than
had ever been accomplished by any
woman swimmer. She was IN the
water eight hours and forty-siX min
utes. During more than three hours
of that time the weather was eX-
tremely rough, and the waves were
so high that, at times, she could not
be seen from the deck of the ac-
companying tug.
Confident of Success.
Gertrude Ederle is a remarkable
young person. She is only ~. she
has shoulders like prizefighter and
wonderful arm muscles, a slender
waist, straight hips and long, taper
ing legs. She is amazingly unspoiled
and has a jolly, lovable disposition.
She is slightly deaf, from an injury
to the eardrums. caused by the rush
of water while swimming.
She is determined to cross the chan
mel this year, for she declares that it
will be now or never.
Miss Cannon. who in private life
is Mrs. Edward Day, and Miss Bar
rett are the only ones among this
years aspirants who have not tried
the channel before. Miss Cannon is