Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1882-02-18
THE LIFE.SAvING SERVICE.
An Interesting A count Of the Gu ardians
OF Our Cast.

An Interesting Account Of the Gu ardians
OfOur Cast.
IT is no longer q marvel that the
American life-saving institution has
taken so firm hold of the public heart.
The territory which it guards-ten
thousand or more miles-is divided into
twelve districts. The Atlantic coast
presents one long succession of varied
dangers, beginning with Maine, where
the capricious currents are forever play
ing sly games about the narrow capes.
reefs, sunken rocks, and peaks of islands
half submerged, paving the coast like
the teeth in sharks jaw, taking in
Cape God, that great arm of sand forty
miles outward and upward, with its
the islands and the rough. rocky points
on the Rhode Island coast-dreadful
to mariners and the long, unpeopled
six hundred miles of beach from Mon
tauk Point, Long Island, to Cape Fear,
North Carolina, terminating with the
arid coral formation of the coast of
Florida, five hundred miles in extent.
The great lakes, a group of enormous
inland seas, with twenty-five hundred
miles of American coast-line, are subject
to sudden and violent gales, which pile
up seas so stupendous that anchored
vessels are swept fore and aft, often
causing their complete destruction
while others, running for shelter in
harbors, miss the narrow entrances, and
are blown helplessly upon iutting piers,
or the still more dangerous beach. The
stations consist of three classes, sever
ally denominated life-saving stations,
life-boat stations, and houses of refuge.
Each of the twelve districts is provided
with local superintendent, who must
be resident of the district and famili-
arly acquainted with its Inhabitants.
His compensation is one thousand dol
lars per annum, with the exception of
those on the coasts of Long Island and
New Jersey, who, having too many
stations to look after to attend to other
business, are paid fifteen hundred
dollars apiece. These officers are
required to give from twenty to thirty
thousand dollar bon0Svas disbursing
agents, being intrusted with the pay
ment of the men under them in addi.
tion to their general duties. They are
responsible for the selection of the
keepers of the stations-a duty requiring
much knowledge and excellent judg-
ment--who are not, however, confined
without the acquiescence of the inspec-
tor, who is supposed to have no local
interests or prejudices. The crews are
chosen by the keepers. The keepers
c,,J orox1o ora ov a m oI bv q hoord ~
inspectors, consisting of an officer OF
the revenue marine, surgeon of ths
Marine Hospital Service, and an expert
surfman whose qualifications are we'll
known, to determine by Judgment
wholly impartial their character, good
health, and general fitness. This board
is empowered to dismiss all incompe-
tent men on the spot, and require the
keeper to employ others without delay.
The whole work is under constant in
speotion. An officer of the revenue
marine, Captain James. H. MerrymaD,
is this chief inspector, and assigns from
his Office in New York, an assistant in
spector to every district. The stations
are visited frequently, and the men
examined in the exercises of the appar-
atus drill, and obliged to give verbal
reasons for every step in their opera
tions. They are trained with their
life boats in the surf, in the use of the
life. dress, in saving drowning persons
by swimming to their relief, in the
methods of restoring the partially
drowned, and in signaling. Everything
in and about the stations moves with
military precision. When q wreck is
attended with loss of life, rigid exam
ination follows to see if any of the men
have been guilty of misconduct or neg
lect of duty. The keepers are en-
powered to protect the interests of the
government from smuggling, and they
guard all property that comes ashore
from a wreck until it's rightful owner
appears. They are charged with the
care and order of the stations and the
boats and apparatus and they must
keep accurate accounts of all receipts
and expenditures, journalize all transac-
tions. and maintain all necessary cor-
respondence with superior officers.
Thus it appears they must possess q
certain amount of education and high
integrity, as we'll as surfmanship, in
trepidity, and commanding qualities
They are paid four hundred dollars
each per annum. The crews receive
forty dollars per month during the
active season, which upon the sea-c coast
is from September to May l, and
upon the lakes from the opening to the
close of navigation, or from about May
1 to December 15.-Harper's Magazine.
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Recent botanical research has shown