The Dickinson press., 1888-01-28
LIFE ON THE BEACH.
LAUNCHING A LlFEBoAT At OAK
ISLAND STATION.
Regulations of the Life Saving Service.
Throwing the Life Linc-The Life Saw
ing Anc'or-Thc Brccclles Buoy-Rc-
suscitatins - Drowning Man.

lHS IAicuof@1uG brccCueS ltuOy-kSCs
suscitatinS i. Drowning Man.
Every morning after breakfast tho lifeboat
is launched for practice Tho boat lay Oh
the beach just beyond reach of the waves. It
was shaped like an Indian canoe, twenty
eight feet long and six feet wide. Tho cap
tain steers the boat with an oar twenty-five
fc'; long. There are places for twelve oars
mon III tho boat. and each man handles an
oar sixteen feet long. The boat is rolled
down To the water wooden rollers Five
rows 'I ,,i'eat green seahorscs We're tumbling
in, wa iug their white names, when the re-
porter ciinbcl into the boat and took seat
in tl,' i,''r. Six men ranged themselves on
'i','"' ,'in and Capt. Arnold stood at the
s, s,';';,. n, u great wave rcceded sullcnly the
ci,,.,in cried:
''.,"w, hoys, let her go!"
The bost forged slowly ahead, thr,,stingler
hose into Il topplin;s wall of foaming water.
! Ta' men jumpe'l in and grabbed their oars.
The ncxt wave lifted the boat on its fuaning
crest and hurled it back. Before the life
savers could recover their lost ground great
green monster Slipped his mighty shoulder
under the keel and threw the boat high and
dry upon the beach Delugel with water and
painting like hounds, the men bailc'l out the
werc not dismavc;l. Once moro they placed
the boat on an even keel. This time they
succeeded i'll getting through tllr" lines of
the oceans guards; but the fourth was what
one Of the men called all sold dundcrskin."
1t seemed to froth with rage at the autlacity
OF those puny life savers. The men threw
their whole weight on the OARS They tuggcd
until the stout wood sroaled in pain; but it
WIS no ,>s,. Th" crew were pretty well
tagged ont lay this time, and were inclined to
give rup the attempt; but Capt. .lrn"lds blood
va, M. III" decided on trying it once more.
This tiinc great caro- was taken in the selcc-
ton of IL rccrtlng wave Just at the right
moment the boat was launched and forced
through til" breakers i'll ono, two, three order,
and the gallant craft at last shot through tho
last fnulnin, sea wall and rode on the long
swell outside he sIlrf
Tho regulations of tho service require that
The lli" boat shall he launched every day from
the lst of September to the lst of May, but
in very rough weather this rule can be modi-
fled AT the discretion of the captain. But
, throwing tn" life line is practiccl only twice
IL week. This isl very interesting operation.
After dinner, which consisted of apple pot
| pie, coffee holc, i'll Il three gallon coffee pot,
big pitc!lcrful of milk with real, genuine
cream half an inch deep on top, mealy pot;,-
toes and juicy blu"tish, the stove was black
rTcl with moasscS and vinegar, and then the
cart containing the life lines was run out
into II meadow l,lck Of the station house. The
little cannon was carried out into the field
and sighted SO that the life line, or whip, rs
it j., called, would be shot over a post about
500 fee, away. The captain took from u
leather cartridge box swung around his
shoulder IL littl" red flannel bag containing
one ounce and II half of coarse powder This
bag was placed in the cannon and rammel
home. No wad1ing was used Then an iron
or steel weight about one foot long, and hav-
Ing on one end Il thin piece of iron resembling
81 section of poker with II ring in the end, was
dropped int" 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 II very curious con-
trivnncc. 1t consists Of two very heavy oak
planks about six feet long und bolted to-
getlcr in IA" middle with II ring bolt. These
llanks are spread apart until they resemble
II cross. They arc then buried in the sand
from two to three feet deep. The strain
comes upon the center OF the anchor, and
Capt Arnold said the anchor would stand u
sufficient strain toart an inch line. When
the anchor had been properly buried, the
cannon was fired hy means Of lanyard and
- 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
IL clothes line, but much stronger, and
pumped down into the sand. The line had
been carried directly over the post and was
caught by man II ladder, who repre-
scntc'l u slil,wrcckrd sailor. He hauled away
t,,tI I,,.S small linn. Intil l,n Ind, lal
other line about an inch in thickness. Fast
cnel to the larger line was what is called u
"tnlly board This board was about l3xG
inches in size. Upon one side Of the board
wa, printed in English the following Words
Max" til" hawscr fast about two feet above the
tail block. S,'' 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 Il brcechcs buoy was pulled over to
tine lirlti"lls wreck This buoy is an ortlin-
ary life saving buoy, pendant from which
wa, pair of knirkerl,ocker trousers made
OF stout canvas. Seven mon hnavetl away ON
the hawscr until it was stretched perfectly
straight. Then prop made of two forked
picfr, "f wood wits placed under the shore
end "I the line, which raised it up in much
the sir way that a clothes line is raised
into The air The ibrccrhcs buoy was pulled
tackle, Til" make believe castaway swung
himself into it and was pulled ashore, and tho
practice WAS OVER. The process of winding
up the whip line 50 hat il will not snarl was
very ingenious. a board about two by three
feet in size placed upon the ground
into the outer c'l9e Of this board pegs were
set about an inch apart. Tho rope was
wound up ON these pes i'll such Il way that
wllcu the weight flew from the cnnnons
mouth the rop" vas uilwound in a way
whi"il prevented Il snarl such as occurred
before ,niS process was invented. The longest
liz" i'll h.. station was POO feet If case
sEod,l occur III which the breeches buoy
would be required, six ounces of powder
w"li.t bc used in the cannon.
..icr the life line practice the men went
INTO the station house and practiced resusci
tatlnS Il drowning man. Each one of the
men is required to commit to memory two or
three pages of printed matter from book
containing Instructions as to his duties when
II half drowned person is rescued These re-
hcaiSal, are sometimes very funny, for no
matter how we'll the life saver understands
his dutie, practically, when he tries to oper-
ate on Il living man and repeat his lines at
the same time he is apt to become confused
and forget wla: to say. 1t was SO i'll this in
stance y bis, brawny, bearded life saver
lay l;,o. his back upon the floor. Another
i!!an l:l!.it beside him and placed one hand
upon the PROSTATE mans breast bone. Then
lie began to repeat his lines in sing song
lasL.on. running his words together without
a.y regard to pause or infection. He came
to Z Sudden halt. He scratched his head and
reflected for a minute I'm stuck. said he.
The captain logged his memory, but it was
Of no use, and he had to give up the attempt.
The captain took the patient in hand and fin
i>,cl the job ly comprising the lower ribs
OF the patient to induce artificial respiration.
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