The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1891-04-02
BATTLED WITH WAVES.
WRECKED ON VIRGINIA'S DES-
OLATE COAST.

The Captains Wife and Child and Six
Sailors Find Watery Graves-Heroic
Rescue of Nine of the Crew of the III
Fated Vessel
The Norwegian bark Dictator. from
Pensacola, Fla, to West Hartlepool.
England, laden with pine lumber.
with crew of fifteen and the
captains young wife and little boy
Of 3 years, went ashore in strong east
erly gale four miles south of Cape Henry,
Va and two miles north of the Virginia
Beach Hotel. The weather was so thick
that the vessel was not seen until 8
o'clock a. m, and then she was in the
breakers broadsde on, within a 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 to the life-savers.
The breeches buoy was quickly rugged
and sent to the vessel, but unfortunately
the bark's crew were ignorant of it's
Captain Drnkwayer, of the life-Saving
crew, wrote instructions, put them in a
bottle, and sent it 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
rescued before sunset, four of whom
came ashore in d life boat which was
capSiZed, but the men succeeded in
reaching the shore in half dead condi-
ton, one man having his arm broken,
During the entire day the ship rolled
and pitched terribly, and made the work
of rescuing the unhappy sailors exceed
ingly difficult and slow, as the life line
would tighten or slacken in response to
the motion Of the vessel. Once the line
broke with a man midway to the shore,
and he was hauled back to the bark half
dead. The line was mended and the
same man safely landed. The
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 nightfall
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
I,ox F. L i oJ,, 7
greatly exhausted, according to the re-
port Of the sailors At night the work
of rescue was continued, and the captain
vainly 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 they 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 the
breaches 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
a total Of eight lives The Dictator was
trying to make Hampton Roads, having
been fifteen days disabled by hurricanes.