The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-16

S7A % AiliIlAlSlt, tue SURF boat IS uSe1. III
Is heavy boat, % feet long. about S feet
wide, aad weighing ], 100 pounds
1t is built Of the bsst
materials aud fully equipped with
noaIs and life preservers for the use of the
crew and those passengers who may be
taken aboard. In the boat house, it rests on
hight wagon which Is easily run out to
the surf, and the boat is launched from it
into the waves, the crew leaping in as she
glIdes out. The surf boat has a capacity
for carrying at least dozsn persons con-
yeniently, besides her crew of six men.
Inc best surf boat is one with deep belly
from gunwale to keel, and with broad fat
bottom, which catches the sea and prevents
her from rolling. Such a boat rides the
breakers ike a sea gull and will brea5 {
waves that would swamp any other craft
The largest surf or life boat in use on the
Atlantic asst is that on Fire Island. which
is 30 feet long and nearly 10 feet wide.
These boats are Sheathed with me- al and
bouyed all round under the gunwales.
Nne the. last passenger OF seaman has
come ashore from the wreck, the station
men make a trip il the breeches buoy or
surf boat, lest there SHOULD be any D lpers or
valuable property to be saved. When they
are satisfied that everything has bean done
and when the comfort of the rescued has
been attended TO, their work is finished and
the vessel lies until the wrecking steamers
come to their relief, unless she breaks up
meanwhile, and goes 10 pieces.
When a wreck CONES ashore at night, the
station men signal her with Cos5on lights
and rockets. Ia a fog. the stations are
helpless; for with the exception of firing a
gun, they have no means of commune ting
with stranded vessel in thick weather.
The use of the line is impossible till the
| weather clears, and the only way to render
| assistance is by the life boat, which can be-
steered in the direction indicated by the
sound of the ships guns. A steamer, how
ever, can direct tae station men during a
| fog ny her whistle or bells, and therefore is
much mora likely to secure assistance than
a sailing VESSEL.
"A wreck might come ashore il a fog"
said Capt. Reinhart, land we couldn't
assist them. Noue of the stations have
fog signals; only lighthouses have them"
"How often do you use the metallic life
car, eaptaia?" was asked.
Very seldom. You see its an unwieldly
| affair and hard 20 manage. 1t has been
! seldom used along the Atlantic coast. The
lass nccasIon, 1 think, was during wreck
| of the New Jersey coast about twenty years
| ago. She was a passenger ship called the
| Ayrshire-one of the old liners-and $50
| persons We're taken off in the life car. The
car weighs 300 pounds and is calculated to
mold about dozsn persons, although more
| might be crowded into it at a pinca. 1t is
fitted with handles on the inside so that
passengers can hold on while it is battling
with the surf, otherwise they might be
dashed about and very badly hurt. The
wide door at the top closes almost hermeti
| cally, and there is little danger of the sea
breaking in.
Speaking of wrecks continued tho
captain, looking off to seward, "there
have been some pretty severe ones on this
coast here. Yet the loss Of life has bssn
| exceedingly small, and where the surf boa
mas been used, All have been saved. There
was the ship j. K, Lawrence. which was
| total loss, although all on board were
| brought ashoresby ts9elife boat The Mary
| Eterna, Flying SGtfd and Stella we're each
| a to al loss, aud we had hard work to get
| the folks ashore; bu5 we did it without the
sacrifice of a siugte life. There was a small
slooD, too, which9xas wrecked some time
ago, and the crewofw which we got off with
| some trouo e. AflIthese owe their lives to
the surf boat mainly But we don't des-
pise any of the inRahtions, and we think
| they're all good in ttieiT way
DO you oftepv lose Eour tackle in reliev-
| Ing the wreclIs2a IA
| Sometimes. We do, Eof course but we keep
| duplicate tackle on hand always. Ia fact.
everything in life saving station is dupli-
Gated"
|
| crews are usually in toe rear Of the station
itself. Here alpstseps The men are allowed
one day off per<wee}z, but all are supposed
| TO report for duty by nigbtfall. The beach
| patrol is kept up iacesssntly. ANY uufor-
| tunate women cast Hp1by the sea fad gem
| tie care and skillful treatment at the hands
| of the women of the station for there is al
ways some one of fhe sex in attendance.
either the wife Of the captain or that of
| If +0raBr
| stations along the coasts of the country, Of
| which 1865 are on the Atlantic side, forty
| four on the lakes, ssven on the Pacific and
one at the Fall Of Ohio The wages Of tae
men are $50 per month and thai Of the cao-
| tain 800 a year.lesE0 10 e
ut is a life Of danger ana very poorly
| paid" said Capt. Reinhart "The married
nave practically to keep two homes off
| their little wages, for they have to fad
their own food here at the station Their
| quarters are furnished and the government
| allows us 81 per month for the keep of a
horse, and supplies us without fuel. Then,
while the first uniform is supplied to US.
we have to pay for all the others, and as
| we have to keep two suits it is rather ex-
| pensive. The two cost me about $50 and
| the men about $40. They consider it a
great hardship
tain?"
Well-no. 1t is the best proiectile vet
| devised. OF course it does not throw line
very far, only about 450 or 500 yards. but
it throws it very accurately aud that is a
| great thing when life is at stake. You
| see, the vessels that come ashore generally
! come within reach OF the Lyle gun, unless
| the coast be rocky one, and then | doubt
| whether any projectile would reach them.
| The oalY case where the Lyle failed TO help
US was that of an ocean steamer, which
went ashore on a saudbank off Amagansett
some four winters ago, and stuck there till
| the wreckers took her off next day. She
was never in any serious danger The gun
| failed to reach her, for she was zoe or 800
| ya"ds out from US
eve have tried the Fletcher rocket three
times within the last few months right here
on this beach, twice at Far. R0ckaway
and again where we stand, and | cannot
say that it comes up TO the Lyle, either for
accuracy or utility. | can fire line ten
times straighter with the Lyle Besides, the
Fletcher rocket is too cumbersome to take
on the cart, and if you shoot it and miss
which you are very liable to do--you have
nothing left but to stand and see the wreck
| go to pieces, unless you have another rocket,
and two would be a fearful load. On the
| first two trials, the rope line was burned,
and such an accident, when you are trying
| to reach sinking ship, would be something
dreadful. It can shoot about $50 PAGES
with number 8 line, while the Lyle can
1 Sand M n