The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-12-04
ROMANTIC STORY
OF THE LATE STORM ON THE
NEW JERSEY COAST.

factory Way.
A Cape May On. j. special says: The
neavy winds that prevailed along the
Jersey shore two weeks ago blew into
the sandbar near Hernford inlet a 70
nance quite as interesting and unique
as any born in the minds of professional
novelists.
To tell the whole story it is necessary
to 60 back two years when the three
characters playing part in the romance
lived in the little town of Cape May.
They were Dorothy Mosher, a young
woman of nineteen years; Alexander
Whit, a farmer, and John Christopher.
a young oysterman. Dorothy was the
belle of the town, and there was q
strong rivalry for her favors between
Whit and Christopher. The girl en-
j0yed the contest and refused to en-
courage n more than she did another.
The young men kept up the siege
several months and finally lost their
temper. The young oysterman met
Whit One day and said: "Alex, l am
getting tired Of this fight between us
for Dorothy. I'm willin' t o go into the
ring with you and see who's the best
man. If you are, I'll get out of the
way, and If I'm a better man than you,
then you must leave Dorothy to me-"
Whit agreed to the proposition, and
in the presence of a large number of
their friends the young men stripped
one night in a fish house ON the beach
and fought like tigers for the girl they
loved. They were pretty evenly
matched, and it was a long time before
the contest ended. 1t finally came to a
close with the knocking out of Christie
pher. Whit vas declared the winner.
Christopher took his defeat deeply to
heart and he left the town. He had
saved money and invested it in a
schooner that was engaged in the coast
ing business. He sailed a few weeks as
m tie of the vessel, and then became
her captain. Meantime Whit wooed
Dorothy more ardently than ever, but
he got but little satisfaction from the
girl, who blamed him for driving Chris
TOPPER away. He believed that he
would win her for his wife sooner or
later, and persisted in giving her atten-
ton. He was not a little surprised one
morning that the night before Dorothy
had disappeared from town. Her
friends went in search for her, and
found that she had been secretly mar
ried to Christopher, who had taken her
aboard the schooner to live.
The discovery that the girl loved his
rival best was a severe blow to Whit,
who found it impossible to content
himself on the farm. He finally found
his surroundings uncongenial, and,
dispcsing of the farm, joined the life
saving station at Hereford inlet. In
the excitement of this wild life he did
his best to forget Dorothy He vas
considered the bravest of the crew.
There was no wind or weather in which
he was afraid to putout in the life boat,
and he seemed happiest when in the
midst of a storm on the ca. Some
| thought that his mind was unbalanced,
and the advisability of discharging
him from the service had been consid-
cred, but the faithfulness with which
he always performed his duties argued
strongly in his favor.
Last Thursday was a stormy day or
the Jersey coast. The wind blew fear
fully inland, and the wreckers kept a
sharp lookout for vessels in distress.
All day the rain came down, but at
shutdown the clouds broke and fed,
but the wind increased it's STRENGTH,
and the surf at Hereford Inlet ran
higher by many feet than the roof of
the life saving station. About midnight
the patrol on the beach saw a rocket
curve through the darkness. 1t wa
quickly followed by a second and a
third. A vessel of some sort was In
distress in the vicinity of North Bar.
The crew was aroused and the lifebOat
got in readiness, but it was impossible
to launch it, so terrific was the surf.
Answering signals were given to IN
courage the unfortunates on the foun-
dering vessel. When day broke the
wind began to die out, and by sunrise
the surf had lessened in force.
Nearly a mile from the shore the
masts and rigging of a schooner were
visible ABOVE the tumbling waters and
at the head of the mainmast was seen
a dark object. The vessel was com
completely submerged and the masts
were swaying like reeds. Evidently
! nnn Of tho nrom hnd hnnn laahnd To the