The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1894-09-06

>--s-~>=- ming or the burn
Ing of signals by passing vessel When
the patrols reported what they had seen to
their comrades of the crew at the break
fast table at o'clock, the circumstance
was the sole topic of conversation, and
after a hurried meal the keeper and his
assistant went out on the beach and kept
| sharp watch seward until daylight.
| The first rays Of dawn revealed on the
southerly edge of Barnegat shoals the rig
cling of a vessel whose condition could
not be made out through the dense fog.
| The men hurried back, and while the surf
men were getting the lifeboat to the beach
Keeper Ridgeway telephoned to Keeper
Grimm Of Loveladies' island, the station
south of Barnegat asking for men. AS
the tide was low and favorable for surf
boat, the keeper concluded not to wait for
/ help and at 20 minutes of the launch
was made in a new boat Of the most inn
proved model. Keeper Ridgeway took the
steering oar in his own hands, and six
picked men, the most expert rowers in the
crew, handled the paddles. The sea ran
high before the gale, heavy breakers tum-
bling over the shoals and forming pow
erful current along the shore, but the boat
got off in sheltered spot, and all went
well until she reached the first line of
UfcStkCIS. 4 lulu UllG oCst Was 1uIAOuS OC-
! yond anything the men had experienced
in years. The boat in mounting the ridges
sometimes stood almost perpendicular and
feathers weight at the right point could
4 have sent it topping over backward. The
rudder became plaything of the seas, and
the stout keeper was frequently lifted and
tossed about as he chung to the steering
oar. The sea steadily increased in violence
as the tide arose, but by almost superhu
man efforts the rowers put the boat with
in SO yards of the wreck, which could now
be made out through the shifting fog She
was a bark settled deeply in the sand,
the waves riding completely over her decks
and the hull showing every appearance OF
} breaking up. No sign of life appeared up
on the bark, and one of her boats was gone
from the davits; hence it was plain that
the shipwrecked crew had abandoned the
, luckless craft, whatever their fate subse-
) quently.
= Although there was no prospect OF saw
, ing Life from the wreck, Keeper Ridgeway
gage orders to his oarsmen to make 1t If
!. for no other reason than to get a breathing
spell for themselves before attempting to
hattie with the surf on the return trip.
) But the men were already too exhausted
: to make Roadway against that formidable
= sea. There was no recourse but to get back
Z to shore, yet how to do that was a problem
v almost as difficult as going ahead Ridge
v way decided that the boat could only be
handled by keeping her head to sea, and
, in order to do that she must back toward
r the beach, Running before that terrible
v sea would be extremely hazardous, and, in
= fact, the boat would be as unmanageable
- in the driving surf log and quite as
q unsafe for the men on board. Backing thu
; boat proved slow work, as she shipped vol
u umes of water, keeping one oarsman bus,
all the time with the baling bucket. Final
10 ly the keeper saw that the plan was hope
1T less. The boat could not live through th
" breakers on the shore edge of the shoals
- and warning his comrades he awaited al
opportunity to slew tho craft around. TIL
le feat was accomplished without accident
e. and the oarsmen united III q strong pull
y for shore Before the next ld.l Of breaker
overlook them after the turn, they mad
- $50 yards; then, holding the boat in chez
y. until the danger was past they made al1
f. other dash of 100 yards The brave surf
- men had made half the distance back be
=, tween the wreck and the shore. Their CON
al rades Of the Barneget station and also TIL
on crew of Loveladies' island, who had con,
n up at the call of Keeper Ridgeway, stoo
:, upon the beach watching with anxiou
DuU nOpelul ucttrGS Glle uSSpciStUo SGiuSS1
al in the surf. The new lifeboat was on tria
% with seven gallant souls in her keeping
\ and the worst place Of all had yet to
49, passed, a ridge Of continuous breaker
IL which could not be avoided. The on
lr- way was for the surfmen to hold the DO;
q against the mountainous waves and i
: them sweep past. To attempt to ride the
ne crests would be madness. Equally hazar
Gus, as it proved, was the method adopts
for at last, when the brave little bar
were pulling for dear life to outstrip
towering wave combing the sea behi1
tn, them, it lifted hollow crest close aster
to which the boat could not possibly ris
;ell .t,
for sSfiWN;,A
lis -'SSxsgg. Asa
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