The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-07-25
THE MISSING MAN.

THE MISSING MAN.
The inspection Of the life saving sta
ton was finished, and was compli-
the captain upon the efficiency
of his crew when 1t suddenly occurred
to me that one Of them, whom had es-
pecially remarked ct my last visit, was
"What has become of the man you
used TO call Harry l inquired. "He
was the strongest and handsomest fell
low ever saw-quick as cat and light
on his feet as feather. Has he left
your
Tho captain looked at me aghast.
"Whstl Haven's you heard about it2"
he faltered. "No? Well. it's quite @
story. II you've plenty of time I'll tell
you about It."
had plenty Of time and wanted to
hear the story, so we sat down near the
door. and the captain began;
II suppose you recollect that long,
fierce southeast gale we had last winter,
don't your Well, 1t blew from the south
east for two days, with heavy squalls Of
snow. 1t was bitter cold. Everything
was covered with ice and snow, and the
worst sea that have heard Of began
tumbling mp on the rocks.
"On the morning of the third day the
clouds began to break away and the
wind died down to light gale. Almost
all of the schooners in the roads got I'M
der way and started for Harchy harbor.
Some Of the smaller ones had TO put
back, the sen being too heavy, but the
larger ones kept on, and suppose they
made q good run Of it, as the wind was
fair.
"That night Il started in to blow as
IL 1t was possessed to blow the earth of
its foundation. At 10 o'clock it began
showing. The flakes were about as big
as q fifty cent piece, meking it impossi-
BILE to recognize anything over five feet
away. The snow fell until about 10, /
think. After that It slowly began to
clear up and the wind came in gusts OF
diminished strength. AT daylight IL
was blowing a moderate southerly
breeze and the sky was clear We
searched the shore and sea for signs of q
wreck, but could not find any.
81 was just going to put the glass
away when my eye caught tho waving
of something on Daming's island. AS
soon as the glass was brought to bear ]
saw three or four men running around
there. i suppose they were trying tc
keep themselves from freezing. There's
the island off there-the one that is al.
most round.
1.-THE island rises about twenty feet
out Of the water. The cliffs are almost
straight up and down, with twenty-one
fathoms of water at their base. But on
the southern side there is a small beach,
which Is bare at low water. From this
beach are projected two reefs. that are
awash at low tide. They form natural
jetties, and they are about fifteen feet
apart and parallel to each other. They
extend out from the beach in a south
ern direction for about two hundred
feet.
81 had the crew called, and every.
thing was soon ready for starting. We
decided that the only safe way for us tc
get the men off from the island would
be for us to go as close as possible and
,
and haul them through the surf to the
boat. 1t was q rough way, but as there
was no other feasible plan we made
our preparations for its execution. The
only place on which q boat could land
on the island was on that small beach
and to get there we would have to &c
between those jetties, and even In fine
weather it was risky job with such O
large boat. With the sea then running
it was not to be thought OF.
Gas soon as had seen every arrange.
ment completed and the gear in place
we ran the boat out of the house and
succeeded in launching her without
taking drop of water on board We
had long, tedious pull. 1t was like
walking in deep, loose sand. When we
arrived at the island we pulled around
1t once, looking for the most favorable
position for us to work from. We de
cided that the mouth of the jetties
would be the best place. So taking oui
station there we boated the two bow
oars, and Harry uncovered the gun and
got her ready for use, while Bill looked
ont for the line.
the sea was q mass of froth and foam
as the waves dashed themselves on the
reefs. Seeing big wave coming, and
looking as if it was about to break, ]
sung out, Stern alll' but owing to the
noise they did not hear me, and seeing
me working as if for dear life at the
steering oar, they gave stroke ahead
30 that the wave would break astern
of us.
THAT stroke carried US between the
reefs, and in the next instant the wave
was upon us. Its light green and semi.
transparent sides lowered high above us
while the foam on its crest overhung
the boat, threatening to swamp us. The
spectacle was SO awe inspiring that we
were unable to move, but sat in our
places with our eyes fixed on this al
most irresistible mass. Each second
was like an age. Would the boat never
rise? She started to rise so suddenly
that she was almost perpendicular be-
fore We could realize it, and we were
thrown in confused heap against the
forward bulkhead. We were now afraid
that she would be thrown end over end,
and for few seconds we hung In that
awful position, hurried along at an in
credible speed Then slowly the wave
began to pass under u.s. aud soon rs
,ould grasped the steering oar and
tried to steady her. When the wave
had passed US we found ourselves about
two-thirds Of the distance toward the
beach and between the two reefs.
"Our cars, except the steering ono,
were broken. Before we could get the
spare set out the next wave was close
sstarn. We were forced to drop every
thing and hold on for life. had my
foot jammed in the straps and laid her
fair so that the wave would DO broken on
the stern. 1t broke, however. just be.
fore it reached us, and in mass Of
foam. Our boat was filed with water