Show APIREFUL SEA PUSS Human Sacrifices Claimed by the S Monster of the Deep FRUITLESS FIGHTS WITH DEATH The Unlucky Bather Who la 1 Once Caveat in the Tolls Rarely Escapes to Tell the Story Few persons as they sit on the shore nnd gaze on the ocean realize the whole truth uf the waves Fewer still comprehend the many dangers that lurk along the sands within two or three hundred feet of the shore The white caps chLoe each other in rolickbome frolic the waves in their un lulating motion give I restful and quieting feeling to the spectator and the fascination of plunging into the surf and toying with the breakers grows apace Who won Id suspect much less suspicion th there could be any danger within a hundred feet of the shore Why the water scarcely reaches to ones hips There Ire iimdrcds of people in the surf and a suggestion sug-gestion of peril would be treated with de ision And yet the very moment the sense of security seems greatest that moment the sea puss selects for its ork A swish of water I sinkingof the sand underones fret I Sudden current ot might strength ind the sea puss has seized the bather forts for-ts own A nATTtr WITH DEATIL Those who have seen a victim succumb to the sea puss never forget it The scene beggars description The viqtim sportively and wantonly plunges and plays In thosurf entirely unconscious of danger The shore is only a little distance away Suddenly I cry of danger is heard The victim is seized by a mighty force and finds himself powerless to reach the Much Every effort t do so not only ex tunisia his strength hut scuds him further into the ocean in the awful excitement of the moment despair comes upon him Suddenly he sinks once then twice and now all is over > The sea puss has claimed its tribute I I ft human sacrifice Lifeboat and lifeline seem too slow to effect 1 rescue The victim vic-tim has passed beyond tho pale of human assistance j I The sea puss is an outward current of great power between two sand flats This i current carves a channel of greater or less I i depth in its course which extends to the bar or ocean proper The channel is al inist always at right angles to the shore I iihd serves a a sluiceway for a great volume vol-ume of water The sea puss has several I points in common with the windyou cannot can-not tell whence it comes or whither it goes It appears without the least war ing stays a few hours u few days perhaps a few weeks and it has been known to linger in a vicinity for even 1 whole year The bather usually takes a liking to some particular spot where the shores slope easily IIi the bottom is sandy and the small wave roll in with musical cadences On a day even while ho is standing on I the spot ho feels the ground under his hand feet cut I away and lot the sea puss i at I Again the bather all go into the surf day after day and thinks himself perfectly I I perfect-ly at homo What is his surprise on entering I enter-ing the ocean a little later to find that art I a-rt channel has been cut through his accustomed place and that one misstep will perhaps send him to eternity The sea puss teems to be here and there and I everywhere and safety t the bather is only to be had at the price of eternal vigilance vigi-lance AN EXPEUT OPINION i A reporter talked with several persons I along the coast regarding the sea puss Perhaps the best account was received from Capt Lambert Edwards of the Deal Life Saving station at Loch Arbour Capt EdwarHs is I veteran in the service and has a crew of seven men under him to man i the life boat The sea puss is one of the worst enemies of the bathers erR said he and claims more victims than oven the tiger of the beach the undertow The reason so few escape from its clutches is that its operations are so sudden and unexpected that few recover from their fright at its appearance in time to save themselves People go in bathing on the sand fat and bars near the shore and think themselves out of harms reach They move hither and thither driven by the big waves or the undertow when suddenly sud-denly they find themselves in I strong current cur-rent and at the same time the water becomes be-comes quite deep The current has carried them to achannel whose depth over their heads while fifteen ortwenty feet on either side the waters depth is only to the waist Of course the bather becomes frightened beyond measure at this sudden turn of affairs and loses all presence of mind He wildly strikes out vainly endeavoring to make headway against the force that is driving him seaward I he understood the nature of the sea puss and would keep cool he might save himself But it almost invariably happens that ho loses his head and doc the thing which most surely hastens his destruction namely tries to oppose his strength to that of the current The best swimmer is powerless in the arm of the tea puss His only salvation is to swim along with it but nt the same time to head for the flats on either side In this way he gets Out of the dangerous channel and consequently the tremendous strength of the current and soon lands on one of the sand bars Our experience with the sea puss covers many years and we know no more about it nowthan when we first saw its work ings It appears suddenly along our strips of beach stays maybe a few hours and then disappears only to turn up again at ngjin an unlocked for moment and in an unexpected pected place We have known it to remain in one spot all sunyner yri all the year and then again to tarry hardly an hour It seems to be caused by fats of sand like a gridiron over which the waves dash as they plunge toward shore The volume of water in the intervening spaces must find an outlet to the sea Accordingly all i the eddying currents north and south unite in one grand channel with which to return this vast volume of water to the sea The sea puss is in fact nothing more than 1 might undertow concentrated < in one small ditch leading seaward As a general thing a sea puss Is not more than fifty feet wide so that i you were over caught in the center the chan i 9 I n > I nel you would i have only twentylive feet I to swim on either side Spring Lake Cork New York World I |