Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-04-02
GONE TO The BofToM'
VIRGINIA LIFE-sAvERs DO NO.
BILE WORK.

A Captains Wife and Chi q and SIX of =
Norwegian Banks crew Find Wafsfy
Graves on Cape n nry-Thrifiing De-
scrlption.
The Norwegian lark Dictator, from
Pensacola, Fla, to West Hartlepool.
England, laden with pine lumber.
with a crew Of fifteen and the
captains young wife and little boy
OF years, went ashore In q strong east
erly gale four miles south I Cape Henry,
Va and two m les north OF the Virginia
Beach Hotel. The weather was 80 thick
that the vessel was not seen until
o'clock a. m, and then she wan In tho
breakers broadside ON, within quarter
OF mile of the shore. Full crews from
two lIfe-saving stations, those OF Cape
Henry and Seatick, under command OF
Captain Drinkwater, were promptly on
hand and began firing lines to the Inflated
bark. The guns could not deliver the
lines so far, though they were repeated
ly fired. The ship finally succeeded In
getting line ashore tied to a barrel,
which the surf carried 10 the life-savers.
The breeches buoy was quickly rugged
and sent to the vessel, but unfortunately
the bark's crew were ignorant OF its
use, and the rescue was delayed until
Captain Drinkwayor, OF the life-saving
crew, wrote Instructions put them I'm a
bottle, and sent II TO the Dictator by the
line connecting the vessel with the shore.
The men on board broke the bottle at
once, as could be seen by glasses from
the shore, and proceeded to carry out
the directions.
The first man was delivered ashore In
eight minutes, and seven others were
res .ued before sunset, four Of whom
came ashore in a life boat which was
capsized, but the men succeeded In
reaching the shore I'm half dead condi-
ton, one man having his arm broken.
During the entire day the ship 70 led
and pitched terribly, and made the work
of rescuing the unhappy sailors exceed
ingly difficult and slow, as the life line
would tighten or s'acken In response to
the motion Of the vessel. Once the Inns
broke with a man midway to the sht re.
and he was hauled back to the bark half
dead. The line was mended and the
same man safely landed. Tho
beach was lined with people who
had come from the country houses
and the hotel, and to the spec
tators the anxiety and suspense was
awful, as they could plainly see the
people on the bark and hear their con.
slant cries for succor. At nightfafs
there were still nine persons on the
| bark, and among the number the cap
tain, his wife, and little child. The
captain had urged his wife all during
the day to take the buoy and come
ashore, but She steadily refused, as she
would not leave her husband and child,
and only one could take the buoy at a
time. The wife and child were already
| greatly exhausted, according to the re-
fnf fIn A nj hn L.
| of rescue was continued, and the captain
vainIy besought his wife to make the at
tempt for life. 1t has been impossible to
| get the names OF the rescued tonight,
owing to the fact that they are entirely
exhausted and all are foreigners.
Lloyd's register gives the captains
name as Jorgonson. The bark is a COM
| plete wreck and went to pieces fast; the
| sea was tremendous. All that could be
| gathered from the half-dead sailors as to
| the cause OF the stranding OF the vessel
was that they did not know where they
were, the sun not having been seen for
| four days, and the weather so thick last
| night and this morning that they struck
| the breakers before thoy could see the
coast The life savers worked all day with
great heroism without food since morn
ing. The apparently slow progress OF the
work Of rescue Is due to the fact that a
| life-boat could not live In the surf, and
| that the guns would not reach the bark,
and that the crew could not use tho
breeches buoy until they were instructed
from shore, which caused great delay
The captain, just before the snip went
to pieces, sprang into the sea with his
son strapped to his back and reached the
shore alive. but the boy was lost, making
q total Of eight lives The Dictator was
trying to make Hampton Roads, having
been fifteen days disabled by hurricanes.