New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-09-09
HOW KANY LIVES ARE SAVED

I 49,
EXPLoiTs-FoR TIE PUBLIC Goop-sxy1,ss
HORSES AND MEN.
| " do you know a man named Robert Peach % =
quired reporter the other day of South-st 60
You don't mean Peach the life sayerf ~,
Why, don't you know him 7 He keeps an ov.,e,s
stall In Coenties-slip. Just jump into the river he.
and he'll have you out fore you know youre NO, -
In an open stall in COenties-sip the reporter fopna
spare. tai man. little past forty. with 500
MIR and light mustache. He wore a checked sbir,
and straw hat, and was busiIy engaged in opeDiDs
clans to minister to the appetite of customers rs
stood awaiting their turns
! Ihey tell me, Mr. Peach, that you have invenfes
new hfe-saving apparatus" said the reporter.
Well" said Mr. Peach, quietly " can't saw tn.
1t is very new, as it has been on the wharf IT,
for upward of two months. Come Over here ana
VIII show II TO you" lie led the way TO the edoa
! OF the dock, where there appeared AN odd-loolis.
frame which casual observer might have rpistal.
1or an unsuccessful plagiarism upon the hook-and
ladder company, had 1t not been for painted SIGN
| announcing that this was a " Life-Saying AupaT.-
tus" There light ladder less than ten feet in
length, armed with strong iron hooks at one end
anu with two lanterns hanging from a round in the
middle 10 one of the lanterns was attached LONG
line with small noat at the end. Another rope.
which was thrown over the ladder, was tied to a
circular hfe-p reserver.
You see," he said, when ANYBODY falls i'm tho
preserver then we hook the ladder on the edge OF
the wharf and up he climbs. If he misses the life.
preserver we fling him the lifeline and pull him in
Simple enough, you see but il takes a sharp eye 10
be always ready in time to save a man when he falls
into the water. These two men," lac said, pointing
70 the nelghborng vendors of the bivalve, arc
my assistants. Here Tom, show the gentleman how
the apparatus works; must 60 to my stand.D
TON" came from the next stand and took nm the
hfe-preserver He is "A man well on in his fortes
large and with fun beard. ITS good many
lives Peach has saved" he said while he went
through the show of hauling drowning man ont Of
the water. " He never misses a man il he on,a
makes up bis mind to get him ont"
How long have you been here :" asked the 10
porter, later, taking profered chair in Robert
Peach's STALL
why. bless you, was born here and Pve been
here ever since. 1t would take a long time TO tell al
Pve seen and done. started out when was eight
years old 10 my living in a scow that made nv
self Ihave always lived about the and ths
water bottom and top. have been in this slim for
eight years OF more. and should not like o. leave IL
now. You see understand pretty well how tosave
man from drowning, and feel that owe il To the
Is the most dangerous place in NswYorE CtT cEPa
pect to stay here. People come walking up South
st. at night when it's dark and they walk right OF
into the water for there isn't any railing prevent
them, It's the same way on the 9th 7 SIDE TOO.
Pretty well filled with lager, are they. Gen.
orally ~ suggested the reporter.
Well, don't know what they have inside them.
hut matter of fact man doesn't VERY often OF
in the river when he's sober But il is dangerous
place to the best of people on dark night The Sip
is full OF canalDoats, and the men sometimes fan
| overheard from them, There was drunken fellow
! year or two ago who fell into the water from a
canalboat. These canal-boatnen can generally
swim, You see hut he was full of liquor aud helpless
rs log So l had to go IN and Dull lnm out lie
sent TO tho New-York Hospital. One night police
man walked into the river, and had TO pull him
fellow who fell in and went under canalboat but
got hold of him and swan him into the shall.
| low water under the wharf. Last summer a little
Italian ragpicker fell from the pier and "A man who
standing by iumped IN TO save him. hut missed
the boy and had to hang upon log 10 save himself
| | saw the boy would drown unless hclped him so
went IN and pulled him under thc piers
" How many lives have YOU saved altogether ?"
well, that is hard to say. l have been in gangs
| that have saved good many. and have helped in
that way 20 save more than can remember; but [
| suppose thaj py myself alone have saved SOle-
| thing like twelve. And besides men, / have saved
rs many as forty horses from drowning. | swan two
horses rom mere down 10 the Battery one day,
! where l could lead them up the slope. And there
was an other pair worth 5000 that fell IN from lie
straps around them and hosting them up vii der.
rick that was used 10 load and unload canaiboa.s
They belonged TO merchant in Nall-St and ne paid
me handsomely for saving them. never take any
| reward for saving man or woman OF for graphing
| LOT deau oody; but lor other things take what
anyone VIII give me. / have saved thousands Of
| dollars worth OF valuable property that has been
| lost nom teirN boats and m otler ways. After
| the explosion of the Nestfield was AT WORK for
| three DAYS hshng for the dead bodies and |
dragged the North River FOR long time i'm search
OF the body Of Preston King, who committed suicide
there.
Here have another invention" said Mr. Peach
diving into a recess under his counter aud prsduc-
ing an ordnarN-ooling wastcoat, which he put on.
This Is Il safety vest. You this little nine in
| the shoulder with its mOutlpieco man nntS this
vest and " hen he falls ia the water ali he lis
to do is 10 blow INTO this mouthpece, aad he can't
sink ii he tries"
| Mr. Peach blew in the tube for a few seconds and
! the waStcoat sWcllcd 10 amUnstrous size Between
| the cloth and the lining was "A rubber bag which
| when nled with ar WOuld serve most effectively
| the purposes of a hfc-pr server.
" Here. James, lac said. addressing tall youth II
eighteen, put this on and Jump IN the water 80 IS
James demuiTcd at FIRST, cut Of respect 10 an a.
legged new pair of trousers. hut last persuaded
10 comply with the request. Plunge from "a C.ld-
boat INTO the water he hOateo upon the surface and
outly main AIMED that lac couldn't go under IL ne
| tried.
That safety vest will keep two or three persons
above the surface" said Mr. Peach; they cat sink
on when he Is near the wa.er he has his life-pGe-
| server always ready"
What do you 90 with the lanterns on your Ito
saving apparatusf
| =" / keep a man here all the time Thomas Lynch
takes my place al the stand after dark and Keeps
| open all night. And James OCounor keeps the
VIII he ready. There are five of us altogether you
| see: Thomas Lynch who watches at night; Jauos
OConnor the boy that has charge of the lamps;
Thomas Mitchell who carries the ladder when there
| is an accident; John LarkIns, Who takes the hle-
| line and myself. Mitchell and IaTkinS keep these
two oysteI-stalls by mine. l carry the liic-pre-
server We have a regular order FOR going 10 work.
| ana we drill twice week We have drilled 20
much that we get to that corner, he said, point
| ing TO "A spot "A hundred yards away, an less than
half "A minute after the alarm Is given. When there
get the drowning man out if they can while stand
cool aud collected like waiting 10 see If there is any