Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-01-21


-soEsEs AMONG THE sURdEs-A WILD LIFE AND
BRAVE EsoAPks-OOLD AND STORMS ny LAND AND
sEA- u ~ TsFl
Special Correspondence fhe Commercial.
CAPE MAY, N. J. Jan. 1s.
Christmas night aud the next day were very
stormy here. heavy snow fell and drifted with
sieet, rain, and strong wind and sea. The surf
on the shore was high, and huge pillows broke
on the shoal called Uncle Eph," about a mile
out at sea, parallel with tho Island. The waves
run milo or more and then tOpple over bean
their crest backward
No vessels ventnred out, but largo white sea
4 guils IN numbers breasted the storm, flying TO
wnoWaEu and sl1mlnng low over the rough
seas, nowlse inoOnVenenced by he storm or
gold In ordinary weather they are seen in
Hooks wadlng on the beach or swimming on the
sea IN lonely parts Of the shore, The wild geese
sleet by keeping in lee of bank or bushep. Two
were shot by one of the life saving pat,olmen
| on the bech. He had his double gun along and
knocked one with each barrel. They we're as
much AZ he could carry, (weighing about TWEEN
| tty-hye pounds) with his gun and storm. clothes
| pnrdenlng him, in the bowling gale. The wealth
or was so severe, the patrolmen looldng for YES.
| lieved each other frequently. o.
Government has life saving stations every five
miles along these beaches ffom here to SANDY
Hook, with houses TO shelter the crews, and life
| bohtpt iit0 cars, mOfthfb, powder. and
apparatus Tor assisting vessels. In bad weather.
they walk the shore. to see vessels in need OF
help, and give notice to their comrades They
are very useful aud save many lives aud vessels.
On December 23rd, the schooner Carrie D. |
Webb anchored on here with her crew 10 frost
bitten they could not manage her They SET sig |
mails OF distress, and the crews of two stations |
u0aTded her; Two OF the crew volunteered to /
Lake her Dack to New York, Messrs Sooy and |
ltobt Chambers, residents OF Cape Island. but |
After starting they took heavy gale ALI put TO |
sea before it. II lasted tifty-six hours. and on
aoathB they steeIed for Charleston, s. c., |
their destination reaching there in safety. The
men have returned to their station, bearing a
grateful letter. from Capt. Homan to our Super
intendent Ex-senator Ware, in which he attr-
butes the safety OF vessel and crew. nnder
Providence to the courage and skill Of these two
sailors, all his crew being nearly helpless from
freezing.
The boats crews are brave skIful men, noted
TOT their knowledge of our dangerous surf in
winter. The wild goose shooter above IA hv
business master carpenter and builder, Is now
member OF our City Council has been a sailor
~ 10 a fearless snftman, an excellent gunner and
nsher, aud makes All affable, courteous hotel |
clerk, as our guests can testify, having aided in
running the Atlantic" in Summer ia that |
capacity; Most of the Life saving crews and
nearly all watermon are Masons-the Graft |
VAL upderstand why they 80 willingly brave old |
Neptune's wrath to help one another One
would think, with all the above accompaniment
our suriman might "declare dividend, and 80
acA .io VI tllS WOflu goods BUtlgienf. |
Two OF our Cape May people reached home last |
week badly injured by exposure. Their sehoen-
or hannah Lutte, became 30 encased with ice
as as 70 , 20 ,uhmanageable and they bore away to
the dulfstream TO thaw her out-the tempera-
nJe any " %%eatferebaE tsy tiy" struck on Of Hstteras
shoals and capsized and for twenty-six hours
Capt VIM. Crawford his brother Theodore, and [
the crew, secured themselves by lines to the
hull and, though frequently washed oil,
hauled themselves back, aud fought for
their lives until rescued by the steamer q
iequldtor, Captain Freeman. Theodore l
gave up to die, asserting they were only proong-
ing suffering uselessly at they could get no aid,
but the Captain possessing resolnte spirit, ell a
couraged his brother and pounded aud chafed his S
limbs until lie himself became numb or paraly2- a
ed from his waist down, and deslsed to sleep tif-
teen minutes, begging them to awake him then +
for fear he would die from the cold, and he did
sleep and says it was the sweetest nap he ever
had, Our Informant saw them on the cars COM Il
ing here, and said they had to bathe Theodores +
frozen hmbs with cold water the train to alay i
his suffering, but all viii recover. I'll 4
The life-saving stations have been greatly in !
creased this Winter, and many new houses built
along the coasts. Capt. Merryrnan and DR.. /
5awtelle haveljust been entertained by us, on a
tour OF inspection OF the houses and their crews
The men must be sound, and pass examina-
ton by a May Surgeon. The cutter Coga1 has
since rescued tue Hannah Little and towed her | 4
into Norfolk dlsmasted, lumber laden. Il
Days D0Lays, of Jan. llth, has whole page | !
wood cut OF Nmter bathing at Cape May, gem | h
tlenlan ana VIE emerging from their daily win 4
ter bath amid heavy snow shower, ice heaped
on shore, deep snow on bath houses, and speeta- .
tors wrapped in overcOats furs and gloves look 4
ing on IN wonder. 1t orlginated from my letter
to the COMMERCIAL, describing the young French | h
gentleman aud his mother who remained here | !,
until lst OF November, and bathed daily, up to
that time. The description states az much. That n
letter was quite widely copied, Yes, aud not
CoMMERCLAL- The sailors above
were two who stood in the surf all
day, November 22d, with eight others being the |
Mrecking crew wing the schooner LoUeriag, OF I
Wilmington, ashore here.
There is to be "neck-tie soeable" at the At
lantic Hotel, ON Tuesday, under the auspices of
the young folks Ui Cape Island, Baptist Church.
proceeds to be appropriated to church benefit.
The plan Is thai each young gentleman buy q
neck-tie, for hfty cents, and the number upon it
Corresponds with a. number assigned TO some
young lady present whom the purchaser must
take 20 the ice cream table, the price of the tie
ehtltlltB them to. the cream. AS the numbers A
are secret, the fun Of course is tremendous. |
DO you not wish we would smut up? This let |
ter is like the Irish Sailors rope. On board ship
waggish comrades spliced two ends of hawzer a
together alter passing it under the vessel, and I
got him to "haul it on board" As he pulled it |
in one side 1t passed out over the other and af-
ter a long and tiresome pull, he exclaimed, ''some
one has cut of tine other end !"
The surf, to-day, was high and beautiful
elicting admiration from our household, old
residents though they be. 1t would have made a
glorious bathing. If warm enough. Uncle Eph .
bhoal was line display, also, as the seas were I
gamboling for miles and toppling over, in beauty.
JoHs MoMAEiN.