The Portland daily press., 1871-12-18
The Dangerous Jersey Coast.

The New York Journal of Commerce has
an interesting article on life-saving stations
and apparatus on the Jersey coast, from
which we extract the following:
Stations have been established at an aver
age distance of from three to five miles apart.
Where an old station house is in location
suited to the new arrangement, it is being
made water and wind tight, stove put in to
make the crew comfortable in winter, and
hunks are being erected for the accommoda-
ton of the surimen at night when on duty.
Heretofore persons rescued had no place to
dry themselves, but the stove will remedy
that difficulty. Arrangements are progress
ing whereby one man OF each crew will re-
main at the station all summer, and all the
crew remain there during fall, winter and
spring. Building new houses, repovating old
ones, and supplying some of the apparatus,
will consume ali the 100000 appropriated by
Congress last year.
The equipment of life-saving station in a
manner that will make it useful for the pur-
poses intended will be as follows: One surf
boat, one life-car, shot-line, mortar, shot,
shot-springs, hawser, hauling-line, rockets,
rocket.line, sand-anchor with its appurtenan-
ces, blue-lights, port-fire, fag-pole, with spun
yarn and other small matters.
The surl.boat is metallic lfe-boat. Its
uses are well known. The hfe-car is a car
which is perfectly water-tight when the lid is
shut down. 1t is intended to hold six per-
sons Its usefulness was illustrated in the
case of the brig c. III. Kennedy, of Portland,
Maine On the morning of the 18th of last
month, during very heavy wind storm, this
brig was driven to the beach on the Jersey
coast The surf was running SO high that no
surf boat could live in the sea. The surimen
took mortar carrying 24-pound shot and
hnf inn
attached to ring in the mortar shot by a
long wire spring, which gives when the shot
starts, and prevents breaking the line. The
shot-line was then shot across the brig
The crew caught it up, and pulled out a
81 inch hauling line, made fast in the CEN
tire to the lite-car. Then they drew large
hawser aboard. They ran this hawser through
windlass on the vessel, and when the Other
end was made fast to well-secured sand an.
chor ON shore, the briggs crew frightened it by
means OF the windlass. The car, which wa.
supported on the hawser by two large iror
! rings, was then pulled to the vessel. The
| crew, numbering seven men and one woman
got in, shut the door, the surfmen pulled the
hauling line, and they were safely ashore IL
| about three minutes. The rockets and rocke'
lines are for shooting lines across vessei at
\ short distance to make use OF tno iue1Tar'
4 Rockets are also to be used 1or siShaiins
| from the beach to the crew on the nam
| when only one of the crew is at the station
and danger arises, or for calling assistance
f.on, other stations. The gun is also to be
| fred fred in some such cases. The blue lights
are also for signalling. The port fire is 8
kind of fire that burns brightly for long
| time. and is intended as signal to vesse
at night when the sea is too high to launch q
| surf-boat, and the vessel is noticed by the
Tapping of sail or other indications. 1t in
forms the mariner that friends are at hand
anxiously awaiting daylight or flash o
lightning to determine their whereabouts an,
condition, and render assistance.
The fiag-pole is for the purpose of runningu
flag containing the number of the station,
These numbers will be marked on the mex