IN SHIFTING SANDS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 35, 10 August 1925, Page 7

IN SHIFTING SANDS

CAUGHT BY THE TIDE

FRENCH BEACH TRAGEDY

MANY CHILDREN DROWNED,

(usnn rims association—comtam.) (AUSTRAUAJ.-NSW ZEALAND CABLE ASSOCIATION.) PARIS, Bth.August. A shocking bathing tragedy is report' ed from Roubaix.

Thirty-five small children whose parents work in Roubaix factories were enjoying a seaside treat, in charge of Father De la Porte. The Father warned the children that the tide was rising, and some who tried to take a short cut to the sand dunes were caught by the incoming tide, and fell into a deep hollow in the shifting sands. Father de la Porte and two abbes plunged into the sea and saved several children unconscious. Other onlookers made fruitless attempts to rescue others.. Later 'eight of the children recovered consciousness, but at least eighteen were drowned.

The sand near Roubaix is most deceptive. It often appears flat, though when the rise and fall of the surface may measure several feet. The sand alters with every tide when the sea is rough.

As received, the above report implied that -the tragedy occurred at Roubaix, and the last paragraph refers to the sand "near Roubaix." That city, however, is nearly fifty miles from the coast.