The Portland daily press., 1869-04-15
The Grace pairing of America.
IDA VALLEY zoRADIA LEWIS.

Harbor," whose recent acts of heroism have
called renewed attention to her:
Two weeks since, toward the close of
stormy March afternoon, Ida Lewis, the in
trepid daughter of the Lime Rock light keep
er, In Newport Or. H. harbor performed a
deed that places her side by side, in point of
self-sacrifcing courage, with the Grace Dar-
ling of England. and rounds career of even
greater usefulness in the saving OF human life.
The rain fell that day in binding torrents,
and the gale drove the sail across the harbor
with fury that taxed the full strength and
skill of the most experienced boatman. In
the midst OF this storm, a reckless boy, scare
ly IA years old, who had somehow obtained
possession OF one of the smallest and most
unsafe sailing boats in the harbor, (since
christened the Soldier drowner,") succeeded
in persuading two soldiers, Sergt. James
Adams, and Private John Mclaughlin, to let
him carry lthem across from the city, whith
er they had gone to make some purchases, to
Fort Adams, where they were Stationed
Anxious to escape the dreary three-mile
tramp by land, and believing the lads asser-
tion that he could manage the boat as well as
any one, they trusted themselves in it, and
made half the trip in safety, but about mid
way in the harbor sudden blast struck the
sail, the startled boy jammed the helm in the
wrong direction, the boat capsized in an in
stant, and the waves rolled It twice over, like
the veriest cookie shell. For long half hour
its luckless occupants cluDg to the keel, and
wrestled against the binding rain ard the
fierce salt waves with all the energy of des-
pair; but finally the boys strength was ex-
hausted. His hold relaxed-one clutch at
McLaughlin's shoulder, and, with a frenzied
laugh upon his lip, he was gone!-nor has
any trace of him since been seen. Fast par
alyzing with cold and almost bereft of hope
the two soldiers saw no choice left but to
clasp each other in last embrace, and sink
to mutual grave-when suddenly, out from
the Lime Rock, half mile away, shot little
boat, Griven by rapid strokes and sure,
straight over the bounding waves toward the
drowning men. Hope kindled in their
breasts again, but faded when they saw il
the boat only slender youth, and still slen-
derer woman plying the oars. On it swiftly
came, however, and the boy was almost
reaching over the side to grasp the nearest
soldier, when the quick witted sister, crying,
"Stop, Hosey we shall be capsized that wayp
turned the boat with a Well-timed stroke,
backed it up, one man was drawn safely in
over the stern, another backward pull, anoth-
er lift, and the next moment the craft, with
its freight of rescued lives, was scudding
swiftly through the spray back to the Rock
again. The sergeant was able to stagger OH
shore, but private Mclaughlin had to be car
ried into the lighthouse, where both of them
received the utmost care and kindness, and
were safely conveyed to Fort Adams the
next day.
The heroine of this daring exploit was born
February 25, 1912, and is thus in her twenty
eighth year but her first rescue of imperiled
life dates back to September, 1859, when she
was only seventeen. Four gay young fellows,
all about eighteen OF twenty years of age, and
a Of xuaatthv phil
adelphia and the rest from Newport, welt
out for an evening sail, and one of them,
more full of mischief than the others, climb
ed the mast and upset the boat half mile
from the nearest shore. None of them could
swim that distance, night was rapidly coming
on, the capsized boat was too light to support
more than two or three of them at once, and
they were ruefully awaiting the bitter conse-
quences of their mad frolic, when the keepers
daughter, spying them through the dusk,
hastened to their relief, and rescued them all
from their impending fate. The one who
climbed the mast enlisted at the opening of
the war, and received a mortal wound at the
disastrous battle of Bull Run, but the others
are still living, and doubtless cherish CRATE
fully the memory of their youthful preserver.
During the intervening period of ten years,
this heroine of the harbor has saved five 9TH
er lives. One cold and windy February day,
Uurc6 IllOAfCdtcu SOiulcTS SDOlc u 6klu duu SCI
out for the fort. BY some drunken reckless
ness they stove hole in the bottom, and the
boat rapidly filled. Two OF the men succeed
ed in swimming ashore again. and were so
alarmed at their adventure that they ran
away and never came back; but the third
clung to the submerged skiff and tried to pad
die it with his feet across the harbor. When
discovered and picked up, with his hat in his
teeth and a bottle of whiskey in each pocket,
he was stiff with cold, and barely escaped
perishing in his desperate attempt. The next
rescue was in January, 1867. A valuable
sheep escaped from those who had it in
charge, dived off one of the wharves, and
started to swim around the harbor. Three
men, who went in pursuit along the fort
road, found skif and put out to rescue the
animal. But the fierce southeast gale was
too much for them, the boat began to swamp
rapidly, they could not re ain the shore, and
were staring death in the face when the tear-
less Ida went to their relief, carried them and
the skif to land, and then went out and saw
ed the sheep! In the remaining instance, it
seems that fine looking but reckless young
fellow stole large sail-boat from one of the
wharves one winter evening and put to sea
with 1T, but the gale drove the craft upon the
Little Lime Rock" about "a mile from the
light, where it sunk, leaving the unlucky thief
clinging to the halyards from midnight till
dawn, when the heroine reached and picked
him up. "There he was" says Miss Lewis,
in relating the incident, Shaking, and God
blessing me, and begging to be set on shore,
and the last saw OF him he was crawling up
the wharf on his hands and kneesp
In personal appearance this Newport hero
inc scarcely attains the average height of wo-
men, is remarkably slender, and would be
thought much nearer twenty than twenty
seven. Light brown hair, blue eyes keen but
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