KEEPING THE TRADE ROUTES CLEAR 



mon thing to count, from any such point as the 

 cliffs at Whitby or Scarborough, forty or fifty steam- 

 boats, large and small, tramps and colliers predomi- 

 nating, for the London liners went southabout ; 

 while from Flamborough Head the number was 

 greater still. 



So vast was the peace-time traffic on this par- 

 ticular lane that one time, in Bridlington Bay, dur- 

 ing a prolonged North-Easterly gale, more than 

 seven hundred vessels had sheltered at the same 

 time. That was a gale, in November, 1S93, in 

 which there were many heavy losses in the North 

 Sea, yet it was safely ridden out by great numbers 

 of smacks and steam trawlers which had no chance 

 of running to shelter. 



From the Tyne to the Thames that lane extended, 

 and what applied to that locality applied also to the 

 entire coast. There were clearly defined tracks at 

 sea for traffic, and it was because these tracks were 

 so well swept and protected that it was possible for 

 the Admiralty to make the astonishing weekly re- 

 turns of arrivals and departures of ships. These 

 were numbered by the thousand, even when the 

 unrestricted warfare of the German submarines had 

 reached its zenith. 



These lanes were of paramount importance, and 

 in so far as human skill and courage could accom- 

 plish the task they were kept clear of mines and 

 submarines. But there was one lane above all others 

 which needed the ceaseless attention of the sweep- 

 ers, and that was the lane between England and 



LSI 



