Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-10-09
THE COAST PATROL.
LOOKING OUT FOR WRECKS
AND DROWNING SAILORS,
All Along the Atlantic Coast They
Tramp Through Wind and Rain
How They Save Lives,

Tramp Through Wind and Rain
How They Save Lives.
From the first of September through
the eight months to come the coast of
New Jersey will he patrolled by the surf
men OF the United States Life Saving
Service as faithfully as is Broadway by
the metropolitan police. There are no
Railways for the surfmen to stand in nor
back doors of saloons into which they
can slip for shelter. There is nothing
but sand hills on one side, the waves on
the other, and heavy sand under foot;
but no matter how sharp the rain or slcet
or the binding snow, the captains of
coast vessels can see the lanterns of the
patrol tossing about in the wind, and
can rest assured that there are men on
shore ready to come to them whenever
they signal for help.
Not only along the jersey shore, but
almost all along the Atlantic coast the
Life Saving Service has planted its houses
and marches its men.
The improvement of the service has
been wonderfully rapid, and so little has
been written about it that not one out of
a hundred of those who live in the big
cities or away from the coast has any
idea of the good done and the terrible
risks run by the crews of these stations
and the number of lives they rescue and
the value of the property they save.
If you go down to Seabright on the II
o'clock Sandy Hook boat and get off at
Galllee Station you can get very good
idea of how a wrecked vessel is rescued,
and just how her passengers are taken
safely from the rigging of the sinking
boat to the shore through and over
waves as high as a two-story house. The
crew of the station of Galilee drill every
Monday and Thursday at two o'clock,
until the end of this month and
go through the manGuvres of saw
ing life so realistically that there is al
ways Il crowd of summer boarders and
natives to watch them The least imag-
NATIVE mind will delight in the orderly
rush and the rapidity of the drill, and it
takes very little to picture what real
rescue looks like.
The life saving station at Monmouth
Beach is built of wood and divided up
inside something after the manner of a
fire engine house. The first floor, facing
the sea- is where the life-saving appara-
tus, the boats, gun carriages and mortars
are stored; back of this is the kitchen
where the men eat and smoke, and over
head is the long sleeping room.
The surfmen take up their residence
here on September l, and remain in quar-
tiers for eight months. They are kept as
close to the station as city firemen are,
and their duties, when in action and
when patrolling the beach, are quite as
severe and dangerous. The patrol con-
sists of two men from each station, one
to follow the beach to the right and the
other to the left. Whenever the stations
are near enough the patrolmen meet
those of the adjoining houses half
way, so that the beach is
thoroughly covered. When they start
out they receive certain number of
checks, which they exchange with the
patrolmen whom they meet, so that in
the morning the checks of one station
will all be in the possession of the next
station on the left or right, and vice
versa. Each patrolman carries a beach
lantern and two or three red nandlights.
AS soon as he sees wreck or vessel in
distress he burns one of these red lights
both to alarm the station and to give
notice to the wreck that help is near at
hand. This patrol duty is considered
ono of the most important features OF
the service, and any neglect of duty is
punished with instant dismissal, with nc
chance of re-appointment. Inside the
station are three great factors in saving
life-the ordinary surf boat, the breeches
buoy and the life car.
The surf boat rests on two sets of heav-
lily built wheels with broad ties sixinches
| Whom thn hOot ic runpto1 tha
men harness themselves to it by thick
beach. This is what they do at the ex-
hibition drills, and it is as exciting as
the sudden exit of a fire engine from its
fire house. The keeper of the house,
who ranks first in command and who is
the only officer, calls halt when the
wheels strike the beach as near the water
as it is possible for it to go.
Then the drag-ropes are dropped from
the shoulders of the men and the boat is
lifted by means of two wooden bars from
the wheels and dropped into the sand.
"Take life belts ~ shouts the Captain,
and the men scramble into their big
cork Jackets. "Take oars ~ is the next
order, and the 14-foot oars rise in the air
simultaneously and drop together into
the rowlocks, with the handles under the
risings at the side. Then the prcttiest
part of the show follows as the men run
the boat through the first breakers. The
two bowmen spring in first and the others
stand to their waist in the water, waiting
for the Captain to give the order to shove.
At just the proper moment he shouts and
they drive the big boat out into the
breakers and vault over the sides, whip
out their oars and pull her up over the
first rows of breakers.
After that they toss the oars, stow
them away, cross them and drop them
into their places again as easily as a
housemaid handles broom.
The return is as exciting and as risky
performance, as the launch and the
beaching of the boat shows a skill and q
knowledge of the surf which fills the
landsman with admiring awe.
The other drill is the one with the
beach apparatus, and is even more inter
esting.
The beach wagon is pulled out as the
surf boat is, by the crew themselves, and
as soon as it is in place two men begin
to dig deep grave in the shape of a
cross in which to bury the sand anchor,
and the keeper and first surfman prepare
the cannon with which they shoot the
lifeline to a sinking ship. This line is
fastened to an oblong projectile, which
the captain aims in such manner as to
shoot it over the vessel, and in such a
way as to drop the line across the deck.
At tbo ,,ro cticn drille tho proiaotilo io