The daily gazette., 1878-12-02
The Delaware Sea-Coast.

~ ifc."t", WHICH SIMPLY Stauc t1at
the United States Government had ord
cred several life saving stations, upon the
Atlantic coast of the Peninsula, compos-
ed OF Delaware, and parts of Maryland
ana virginia. That these life saving
stations were established through nv
exertions; and that through my calling
the attention of the United States gov
ernment to the loss of life and property
there, and recommending their establish
ment, the new ones lately, directed to be
built by the United States government,
owes the order for construction.
Mr.. Townsend in his reply, says -
"This is all bosh. That bill was
brought into Congress in 1871 to establish
lie saving stations on Long Island
That John G. Calhoun proposed to
amend 1t, by aiding the Carolina coast.
That the Delaware Senators took part in
the discussion, but that all amendments
were stricken out, and finally the bill
passed" which confined the life saving
stations to Long Island. Again, he says
$40 doubt the old people at Lewes had
petitioned years before that, for 'ife saw
ing boats and Iewstown pilot boats
have been watching the coast, and that
from Cape Henlopen to Rehoboth, does
not furnish a hedry death record" He
then goes over list of vessels, of which
he had furnished the timber, describing
how long they lasted, (Which, as it has
nothing to do with the question, as to
whether was or was not, instrumental
in establishing life saving stations at
Lewes,) omit. lie also recites the loss
of the bark 1nne, about 80 years ago,
which had an elephant on board, in which
no lives were lost; and, he '.pres,m,es,"
that Mr.. Laban Lyons and other old
people of Lewes, took an active part in
saving lives. lie finished by saying that,
''as this is the age of benefactors and
disinterested philosophers, almost hated
to call in question the fine-spun yarn, in
the Herald, trying to palm off such won
dertul foresight on the poor sailor"
Now, / would respectfully ask Mr..
Townsend, what has all he has said to do
with whether l did or did not have life
saving stations established on the Della
ware sea-coast? The discussion in 1S41
did not establish life saving stations in
Delaware. Thepart the Delaware Sena-
tors took in the discussion thirty-seyen
years ago did not cause their erec-
tion. Nor the presumed saving of
life by Mr.. Laban Lyons. Nor the wreck
of the Bark Ann. Nor the swimming
ashore of the elephant, (for in nearly all
wrecks the four footed animals get safe
to the land). Nor the excellence of the
timber frames which he furnished the
Government, (and | do not doubt but
that they were very good). None of
these things brought the life saving sta
tions to the Delaware sea coast. Not
even the petition of which he has "no
doubt" the old people of Lewes sent to
Washington, if ever there was such
a one. Not even that caused their erec-
tion. But if he has no doubt of the send
ing of this petition, Others have. For al
ter inquiring | could not find that any
previous attempt bad been made TO get
the life saving stations established upon
our coast. And if they had, they failed,
for they were not established until sent
my application, and the record of the
wrecks to the department al Washington.
Even his statement that the coast from
Cape Henlopen TO Rehoboth "does not
furnish u hedry death record" is incor-
rect. For as many (if not more wrecks
have occurred, and Tires been lost on the
Delaware sea coast as on any similar eX-
tent of ocean shore in the country, as the
reader will see, if he will read what fol-
lows. Not only have the northeast
storms wrecked ship on ship, and strewed
the sea coast of our State with sailors
bodies, but it has swept away large por-
ton of the State itself. One storm alone
about 80 years ago, $50 am informed)
swept away the long line of hills of sand
from forty TO fifty feet high, which ex-
tended from near Lewes to the boundary
of the State, but also destroyed several
hundred acres of the farm of Nm. New
bold aid Join Rhodes and drowned a
number of people. The same storm SO
encroached on the shores of Rehoboth
and Indian River Bay, as to change the
nature OF their waters, and to make them
so salt as to dies roy the oysters that
abeunded there. Out in the ocean still
may be seen jumps Of trees, fixed in the
ground, that once were portions of forests.
As ii may not prove uninteresting VIII
give YOU an account Of how L learned the
necessity for the
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIFE SAVING STA
TIoNS
on the Delaware sea coast.
The winter of the beginning OF the
wear 1873, visited the sea coast of Del
aware, below Lewes to inquire into the
truth of matter which l stated in my
history of Delaware "that the Hen and
Chicken Shoals" now in the Atlantic
were once part of the State. This had
been doubted by Mr. Mustard, one OF the
Senators from Kent. He inquired of the
oldest pilots, and they stated that was
correct in my statement, for their fathers
had to ID them that it was once land, and
that they had anchored under it. l then
found that numerous wrecks had occur
red there, brought about by the northeast
storms that blew directly upon our shores,
anddashed vessels that attemptedto TO rounu
the Cape, bound for Philadelphia land
| to seek a harbor under the breakwater),
upon our land Also that numerous
| ives had been lost, and that there were
no boats, or any other means for sdg'ng tge
and nroperty nearer than Lewistown.
several miles away. | then determined,
If nossible, 10 get life-saving stations es-
tablished to save some ot the numerous
lives thai were annually lost on our
coast. For that purpose l collected the
STATISTICS OF THE WRECKS
that occurred on the Delaware sea coast /,
sant them TO the Secretary of the Trea-
| -, anJ had them published IN the sew