Wichita eagle., 1888-02-22
LIFE ON THE BEACH.
LAUNCHING A LIFEBOAT At OAK
ISLAND STATION.


Throwing the Life Line-The Life Saw
/ ing Anchor-The Breeches Buoy-Re-
! suscitating q Drowning Han.
! Ever morning after breakfast the lifeboat
I Is launched for practice. The boat lay on
the beach Just beyond reach OF the waves. It
was shaped Ike ali Indian canoe. twenty
! eight feet long and six feet wide. The cap
tain steers the boat with an oar twenty-five
feet long There are places for twelve oars
men in the boat. and each man handles an
oar sixteen feet long. The boat IS rolled
/ down to the water on wooden rollers. Five
{ rows OF great green seahoTses were tumbling
! in, waving their white names. when the re-
/ porter climbed into the boat ard took a seat
I in the bow. Six men ranged themselves on
! either side and Capt Arnold stood at the
{ stern As {. great wave receded sullenly the
! captain cried:
! Now, boys. let her go!'
/ The boat forged slowly ahead. thrusting her
! nose into topping wal OF foaming water.
( The men jumped in and grabbed their oars.
! The next wave lifted the boat on its foaming
crest and hurled il back. Before the life
/ savers could recover their lost ground q great
green monster slipped his mighty shoulder
under the keel and threw the boat high and
I dry upon the beach. Deluged with water and
painting like hounds the men bailed out the
water and rested for a moment But they
were not disnayed. Once more they placed
the boat On an even keel. This time they
succeeded in getting through three lines OF
the oceans guards, but the fourth was what
one of the men called an old dunderskin."
1t seemed to froth with rage at the audacity
of those puny Hfe savers. The men threw
their whole weight on the oars. They tugged
until the stout wood groaned in pain; but it
was no use The crew were pretty well
tagged out by this time, and were inclined IN
giveup the attempt; but Capt. Arnold's blood
was up. He decided on trying it once more
| This time great care was taken in the selec
ton of receding wave. Just at the right
moment the boat was launched and forced
through the breakers in one, two, three order,
and the gallant craft at last shot through the
last foaming sea wall and rode on the long
swell outside the siIrf
The regulations of the service require that
the life boat shall be launched every day from
the 1st of September to the lst of May, but
in very rough weather this rule can be modi-
fed at the discretion of the captain. But
throwing the life line is practiced only twice
a week. This is a very interesting operation.
After dinner, which consisted of apple pot
pie, coffee boiled in a three gallon coffee pot,
a big pitcherful of milk with real, genuine
cream half an inch deep on top, mealy pota-
toes and juicy bluefish the stove was black
ened with molasses and vinegar and then the
cart containing the life lines was run out
into meadow back of the station house. The
little cannon was carried out into the field
and sighted so that the life line, or whip as
it is called would be shot over a post about
500 feet away The captain took from
leather cartridge box swung around his
shoulder little red flannel bag containing
one ounce and half OF coarse powder. This
bag was placed in the cannon and rammed
home. No wadding was used. Then all iron
or steel weight about one foot long, and hay
ing OH one end a thin piece of iron resembling
a section of poker with ring in the end, was
dropped into the cannon. 1t weighed about
fourteen pounds. While the cannon was being
prepared for use the anchor had been placed
in position.
A life saving anchor is a very curious con
trivance 1t consists of two very heavy oak
planks about six feet long and bolted to-
gether in the middle with ring bolt. These
planks are spread apart until they resemble
a cross. They are then buried in the sand
from two to three feet deep. The strain
comes upon toe center of the anchor, and
Capt Arnold said the anchor would stand n
sufficient strain to part an inch line. When
the anchor had been properly buried, the
cannon was fired by means of lanyard and
a patent fuse. The iron weight shot up in
the air to an elevation Of sixty feet carrying
the whip with it, which was about the size of
clothes line, but much stronger, and
pumped down into the sand. The line har.
been carried directly over the post and was
caught by a man on ladder, who repre-
sented a shipwrecked sailor. He hauled away
Oh the small line until he had pulled in an
other lire about an inch in thickness. Fast
ened to the larger line was what is called a
tally board" This board was about l3xG
inches in size. Upon one side of the board
was printed in English the following words:
Make the hawser fast about two feet above the
tail block See all clear and that the rope in the
block runs free, and show signal to the shore
After the hawser was made fast by means |
of blocks hreeches buoy was pulled over to
the fictitious wreck. This buoy is an ordin-
AIRY life saving buoy, pendant from which |
was pair of knckerbOcker trousers made |
of stout canvas. Seven men heaved away on |
the hawser until it was stretched perfectly |
straight. Then prop made of two forked |
pieces of wood was placed under the shore /
end of the line, which raised it up in much |
the same way that a clothes line is raised |
into the air The breeches buoy was pulled |
over the line, swinging fran block and |
tackle, the make believe castaway swung |
himself into it and was pulled ashore and the
practice was over. The process of winding |
up the whip line so that it will not snarl was
very ingenious. A board about two by three
feet in size was placed upon the ground.
Into the outer edge of this board pegs were
set about an inch apart. The rope was
wound up on these pegs in such way that
when the weight flew from the lannon's
mouth the rope was unwound in way
which prevented snarl such as occurred
before this process was invented. The longest
line in the station was 200 feet. If a case
should occur in which the breeches buoy
would be required, six ounces Of powder
would be used in the cannon
After the life line practice the men went
into the station house and practiced resusci-
tating drowning man Each one OF the
men is required TO commit 70 memory two or
three pages of printed matter from book |
instructions as 90 ms duties when
a half drowned person is rescued. These re
hearSals are sometimes very funny, for no
matter how we'll the life saver understands
bis duties practically, when he tries TO oper-
etc on living man and repeat his lines ct
the same time, he is apt TO become confused
and forget what to say. 1t was 50 in this in
stance. \ big. brawny, bearded life saver
lay upon his back upon the floor Another
man krelt beside him and placed one hand
upon the PROSTATE mans breast bone, Then
be began to repeat his lines in a sing song