The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-03-28
SHIPWRECK NEAR CAPE HENRY.
Eight of the Crew of Fifteen
Rescued.
Heroic Devotion of the Captains Wife.
Who Refuses to Leave Her Husband
and Child-ProbabilitY That no Ship
VIII be In Sight This Morning, and
the Remainder of the Crew VIII be
Lost -HerOic Efforts of the Life Savers.


The Norwegian Bark dictator from Pen
sacola, Fla, to West Hartlepool, Eng
land, laden with pine lumber, with q
crew OF fifteen and the captains young
wife and little boy of years, camo
ashore in strong easterly gaze this
morning, four miles south of Cape
Henry and two miles north OF Virginia
Beach Hotel.
The weather was so thick that the
vessel was not seen until 0 o'clock, and
then sho was in breakers broadside
within quarter of a mile of the shore.
Full crews from two life saving stations,
those of Cape Henry and Sea Tack,
under command of Captain Drinkwater,
were promptly on hand and began firing
lines to the Inflated bark. The guns
could not deliver lines so far, though
they were repeatedly fred
The ship finally succeeded in getting
line ashore, tied to q barrel, which
the surf carried to the life savers. A
breaches buoy was quickly rugged and
seEc to the vessel, but unfortunately
and the rescue was delayed until
Captain Drinkwater, of the life saving
crew, wrote instructions, put them in a
bottle and sent it to the Dictator by tho
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 de-
livered ashore in eight minutes and
seven others were rescued before sun
set four of whom came ashore in tho
| life boat, which was capsized; but tho
men succeeded in reaching the shore in
o half dead condition. one man having
his arm broken.
During tho entire day the ship rolled
and pitched terribly, and made the work
OF rescuing the unhappy sailors exceed
ing difficult and slow, as the life line
would Tighten or slacken in response to
the motion of the vessel. Once the limo
broke with man midway to the shore,
and he was hauled back to the bark half
dead The line was mended and tho
same man was safely landed.
The beach was lined with people who
had come from tho country houses and
the hotel, and to spectators tho anxiety
and suspense was awful. as they could
plainly see the people on the bark and
hear their constant cries for succor. AT
nightfall there were still nine persons
on the bark. and among tho number the
captain, his wife and little child. The
captain had urged his wife all during
the day to take tho buoy and come
ashore, but She steadily refused, as she
could not leave her husband and child,
and only one could take the buoy at a
time. Tho wife and child were already
greatly exhausted according to tho re-
port of tho sailors.
Tonight work of rescuing was con-
tinued and the captain, after vainly be-
Seechlng his wife to make the attem pt
for life, took his half dead child and
climbed into the buoy The father
reached the shore, but his son was lost.
Il has been impossible to get the
names of the rescued tonight owing to
the fact that they are entirely exhaus-
ted and seem to be foreigners. Lloyd s
register gives the captains name as
johnson. The bark will be complete
wreck, as She is fast going to pieces and
the sea is still tremendous. The chances
are that by daylight tomorrow there
will be no vessel in sight and all re-
naming on board tonight will be lost.
All that could be gathered from the
half dead sailors as to tho cause of tho
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 was so thick last night and
this morning that they struck breakers
before they could see the coast.
The life savers have worked all day
with great diligence and heroism, and
without food since early this morning.
The apparently slow progress of the
work of rescue is due to tho fact that
the 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 in
structed from tho shore, which caused
great delay.