The Coolidge examiner., 1936-09-11

66T TELGOLAND is falling
Wv r down" may be sung
L i sadly to the tune of
London Bridge" if there
is truth in reports that Germany is
fortifying this pinhead stronghold
in the North Sea. Firing great guns
menaces the island more than any
enemy, for at every big shot Sec
tions of its vertical sandstone sides
plunk into the surrounding sea.
Like triangular block of rasp-
berry ice on vast blue-green plat
ter, Helgoland is melting away into
the North sea. The island is liter
ally crumbling away around its pop
ulation of ,500-mainly pilots,
fsherfolk, or boarding-house-keep-
ers. Here the Helgolanders try to
hold together their island, their
fourishing summer resort buciness,
and their traditions on small bare
rock upon which would fit the Fed
eral Triangle buildings along Penn
sylvania avenue in Washington,
without too much margin.
This sea-bitten morsel is the re-
motest of the Frisian islands, which
water has gouged out from the
northern coastline of Europe, and,
within historic times, scrubbed
down until reduced in size, or in
some cases washed away altogether.
Broad submarine rocky ledges in
the shoal area around Helgoland
are submerged souvenirs of its for
mer extent, estimated to be five
times it's present size, which is
about one-ifth of a square mile.
The island lost ground to the extent
of about $50 square yards year
until 1892. Then the wave-worn
western side was ringed around
with a girdle of granite brought
from the Danish island of Born
holm. Even thus protected, it is
doomed within eight centuries, say
the pessimists. More generous geol-
ogists give it about forty to 60, but
go they all agree it will.
After ages of erosion, what re-
mains of Helgoland? A slice-of-pie-
shaped wedge of red sandstone
streaked with layers of chalk, swept
by chill salt winds and necessarily
gnawed by the North sea. It's di-
mensions are notable for their
smallness, except the height; the
sides rise sheer and dripping from
the water to a fiat top of 200 feet
above sea level. It's importance lies
in its position; as Germany's Eye
of the Empire, it watches over the
equidistant mouths of the Weser,
Jade, Elbe, and Elder rivers, COM
manding the harbors of Hamburg,
Bremen, and Cuxhaven from a van
tage point % miles from the near
est point of mainland.
Shattered by the World War
Yet Helgoland, with history prac-
tically in its hands, had been re-
ported by astute observers as re-
luctant to make history and more
concerned about making a living.
It's experience during the World
war proved that history is easy to
make but hard to survive. It's scant
pasture land was confiscated to
build forts. It's rocky cliffs, of which
there was already precious little,
crumbled off and plunged seaward
during artillery fire. The entire pop
ulation was forced into four years
of exile to make room for the mill
tary in 1914. When the living rem
nants returned in 1918, their peace
was shattered by three years of
blasting down Notifications in ac-
cordance with the Versailles treaty
and the further trimming down of
the islands slim sides. In 1922 and
in desperation, Helgoland petitioned
the League Of Nations for neutral
ity. Scheduled for perpetual bout
with the sea, it finds any other
country's fight just one too many.
Green, Red and White
Within its diminishing boundaries,
it has three parts: the massive rock
table of Oberland with its cornered
tuft of town, the shoreline shelf
projecting below like caps visor
with a second edition of town called
Unterland, and the wisp of sandy
Dune in tow a mile to the east. A
thin green belt of pasturage across
the islands top completes the
color triad which inspired the flag:
Green the land, red the rock,
white the sand:
These colors make the flag of
Helgoland."
Like a toy village on the corner
of table, at Oberland' southeast
point huddle blocklike houses,
square and solid against the recur-
rent 80-mile gales. The fiat skyline
is broken by nothing more wind
catching than the pretentious little
German postoffice of glazed brick
and the spire added during Queen
Victoria'S reign to the Church of
st. Nicholas, already centuries old.
Around the cliffs edge stands