The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-14

yers and society bellies. Whom the slender,
blue eyed, brown haired daughter of the
keeper of Lime Rock light disclosed a pen
chant for dashing forth in frail skiff
which she propelled with the speed of the
wind, to rescue strong men whom fate
somehow placed at the mercy of the waves,
morulists, with n touch of righteousness,
exclaimed, Where is the emancipation of
women to cnd2' for that was long ago,
before some Of the attributes attached TO
prominent names in the woman's ency-
clopodia were coined. Charlotte COrday,
joan of Arc and even Grace Darling were
but PARKWAY and altogether unlovcly
myths Woman plying the dagger and
sword was dramatic, but horrible to CON
template, and woman plying the oar, even
TO rescue life was coarscly ama2unian.
Wheeler the outbreak of the lighthouse
keepers daughter led to that wild STAN
pcdc of her sisters over the bars of conserv-
atiye custom which has been going on
since the sixties is a question, hut Ger
tainly her exploits have served to point
the moral for countless arguments in favor
Of sex emancipation.
As the pioneer life saver and the one
"hcroinc" among lao famous Ameri-
can women Ida Lewis claims II place in
the annals of daring deeds.
Her first rescue was made in 1859, and
the lucky benedciaries of her girlish valor
were four young men whose boat was
swamped in Newport harbor Ida saw the
disaster from the lighthouse, put off in her
slziff and helped the drowning wrctches To
dry land, Probably the reason that she
didn marry one of the crowd, again re
versing the order Of things, was her hon
est contempt for "A man who couldnt
Tho npyt rpGN1p was that of "A in
toxicated soldier whose plight was well de
served. The generous girl not only saved
him. but let him off without curtain lee.
turc on the evils of drinking. Three able
bodied men were the beneliciaries of hel
next exploit Their boat was swamped
by sou woster, which, it seems, had ne
terror for Ida, thoroughbred sailor that she
was A boat thief overtaken by n sudden
gale was the next rescue. Ida found hin
clinging to the mast of the wreck, quakinl
with fear and praying with all the fervol
of a discounted satan.
A stormy day in March, 1862 it wa!
that revealed the Newport heroine to {
world surfeited with contemplation o
manly exploits on the field of Mars. Tw,
soldiers attempted to cross from Newpor
to Fort Adams in skitf managed by
boy A sudden gale capsized the boat, anC
TO the keel and were finally rescued by Ida
who as usual was on the lookout and pu
off from the rock in her lifeboat. In rec
ogn'eion Of that exploit II new boat wa
presented her by admiring citizens, anC
General Grant, then president, made tn
gift n the name of the donors. Jim Fisk
Jr, ordered a boathouse built to shelte
the Rescue and also presented the hero
inc with a silk flag. Sorosis elected her t,
membership and sent her an elaborate PHI
bearing the legend, "Sorosis to Ida Lewis
Heroine"
Ida Lewis name was long ago place
upon the medal of honor roll of Uncl
Sam 5 life savers. She was the first of he
sex to receive the gold medal, which wa
awarded to her in 1881. Up to that tim
she lad saved 10 lives and nearly all of tn
rescues had called for great daring an
had involved the risk of her own life. He
last achievement before receiving the med
al was the rescue of two members of tn
United States military band of Fort Ad
ans. They were crossing the harbor o.
the ice, and when near Lime Rock light
house the ice gave way beneath them. Id
heard cries for help, seized n line and ra
to their aid There was the double DANCE
of her being pulled into the hole by tn
struggling, half frantic men and of tn
sound ice breaking beneath the combine
weight as she stood upon the frail cdg
hauling at the shore end of the rope. Sine