The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-07-25

10 One Oi tu6 oXnlDltS In the ITanS-
portation building ut the Worlds
10 q little old boat. A placard upon it
| gives the history in brief as follows
|
/: In this boat, on the morning Of
. Sept. @, 1888,
GRACE DARLING,
Then % years Of age, with her
father, rescued nine people
from the wreck Of the
FORFARSHIRE
AT Longstone on the Farne
Islands.
The name OF Grace Darling has been
famous ever since. From q sketch In
the Inter-Ocean we give the main facts
Of the heroic deed:
In 1888 Grace Darling was living
with her father, the keeper Of the
lighthouse on the Longstone, n of
the Farne Islands, located of the coast
OF northumberland, England. On the
morning Of September 6 of that year,
he and his daughter arose at four
Of the tide. just before five O'clock
Grace saw that O vessel had been
wrecked during the night upon the
point called Harker's rock. But the
tossing spray and furious waves, COM
bined with the obscurity Of early morn
ing, prevented either father or daugh-
ter from distinguishing whether or not
any living persons. remained on the
wreck. At seven o'clock, with the
turn of the tide, Grace, with effort,
was able to see that men were clinging
to the vessel.
With the instant decision OF those
born for noble deeds, the young woman
urged her father to attempt q rescue.
effort should be made, and finally the
boat that all now can see in the Trans
p%ortation building vas launched, and
father and daughter rowed to the
stranded vessel and saved those surviv-
ing Of passengers and crew.
The wreck was that of the FOrfar-
shire, of Hull, bound for Dundee. A
high sea and strong northwest wind,
combined with the effects of o leak,
which put out the fires under the
boilers, had forced the ship out of her
course, and just before Grace and her
father had arisen the vessel had struck.
Afterward she was forced on o sharp
rock, the result being that she was cut
literally in twain. OF the sixty-three
persons on board. many left the ship
Al oio Va oLS pOsUos AVN puooOhSOto
persisted in attempting to enter the
small boat. Those remaining chung to
the wreck, waiting for the aid it
seemed hardly probable man could
give them.
The situation was appalling. Only
the fore part of the ship remained on the
rocks, the rear portion having been
washed away by the rapid current.
Such was the conflict of the elements
that the captain could not see how help
could reach him, even If stout hearts
and strong hands were found willing
for the attempt.
1t remained for Grace Darling to
prove that courage, dwelling In gent.
leads to great deeds. Her father
resisted her first appeal, the chroniclers
of the event state, declaring it but
madness to make the attempt. He
was a brave man too, and one accus'
toned to the dangers of the sea. His
daughter prevailed, however, and the
two from thence to the end were as q
unit in their efforts. Grace's mother
helped to launch the boat, sending her
daughter and husband to what she
must have thought were certain de-
struction, but which the Ruler of the
elements decreed to be lasting fame.
Each took an oar, and the dreadful
course, a mile in length, was safely
passed, although every fathom seemed
to open a path to the grave. When
the wreck was reached nine survivors
were found, one @ weaver's wife, in
whose arms were the corpses Of hel
two children. All were taken into the
boat and carried safely to the light
house, where stress Of weather detained
them two days
AS one views Grace Darling's boat al
the Exposition the feat of father and
daughter appears impossible. 1t Is OF
the old lifeboat model, and is about
twenty-five feet long and five feet wide
at tho point of greatest width. AS the
survivors testified, father and daughter
would W have returned had they
failed to reach"the wreck. They went
before the wind on the outward voyage,
the return trip requiring all the power
OF q number of rOwers Assisted as
were Grace and her father by the wind
In their progress, almost superhumau
efforts must have been required to
propel the boat through the wild
waves.
If the title of heroic properly applies
to Grace Darling's deed the story OF
her life before and after the event
shows her to have been possessed OF
such gentle simplicity and truth as to
give full warrant to her fame as one of
the great women of all times. The
people of Great Britain, when they
heard of Grace's heroism, would have
thrust fortune on her. Tourists came
from far and neal to see the Longstone
lighthouse and the girl that had made
it known.
Attentions were lavished upon her
by those in place and power. She was
given a gold watch by the Duke and
Duchess of Northumberland; the silver
medal at the Shipwreck Institution
was presented to her O purse Of G7OO
was raised by popular subscription
Bnd presented to her; celebrated
artists took her picture, and to-day in
thousands of homes in England and
America Grace Darling's features are
as familiar as those of any celebrity,
living or dead. Suitors came to win
her hand In marriage, and she had
offers to 90 on the stage.
But Grace was a womanly woman,
and no allurement tempted her. She
remained with her father and mother
at the lighthouse, retaining her gentle
demeanor and her modest and retiring
manner to the close of her short life.
She died of consumption October 20,
1912, aged twenty-seven years. She
lies buried in q simple but fine tomb,
near the seashore at scarborough,
within sight of that spot where she
had won renown by her bravery.
~<m--
FOUND HIS UMBRELLA.-HL LAST