The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-26
Fisherman Fouish Almost
Drowned in the Cliff
House Surf.
Unknown Bicyclist Disrobed and
Heroically Swan to the
Rescue.
Excited Crowd on the Beach and a
Christmas Catch of Crabs
Sings Merrily.

Nancio Fouish's early catch of crabs are
now singing merriIy in the bot tom OF the
sea instead of composing the salads of fes-
tive Christmas dinners last evening
Fouish himself very narrowly escaped fur
nishing his friends with Christmas
funeral.
Fouish is an Italian crab fisherman, 26
years old. He lives at Vallejo and San
some streets. There is quite crab fleet
that pulls up its nets early every morn
ing off the Cliff House beach, and Fouish
is one of them. He did not have his
weather eve open yesterday morning and
sudden high roller of strong surf, which
was running, wrecked his boat and almost
drowned him. 1t happened about $3.50
o'clock, and was the sensation of the day
at the Cliff House.
Fouish was busily engaged dragging in
heavy net when large wave rose on the
seward side. He did not see it until its
curling name was pouring into the boat.
Over went the boat and Fouish and a
large catch of crabs were pitched into the
sea.
Surf is a tickle thing. Sometimes it will
begin to break 200 yards from the shore,
and at other times it will break much
further out. This is what it did yesterday
morning.
Several persons saw the boat capsize,
and soon there was an excited crowd look
ing at Fouish battling for his life. He
chung desperately to the boat. and shouted
in desperate Italian to the people ashore.
Each succeeding wave raised the boat on
high, tossing it about as though it were
nothing but chip. But it did not ride
the waves smoothly and gracefully as
chip does. The surf turned it over and
| over. Fouish's battle was to keep hold OF
| the boat. He managed to catch the gun
vale with either one or both hands nearly
every time it rolled over. The boat and
man were working slowly toward the
beach. Several times he disappeared alto
gether. Once he was seen to let go his
hold with one hand. The boat had struck
him a terrible blow on the shoulder and
side and disabled one arm.
This was more thar the sympathy of
one among the excited crowd ashore
could bear. A young man in a bicycle
suit disrobed. Then he plunged into the
surf to the rescue. He was encouraged by
shouts of 'bravol" The boat in the
meantime had been rolled and pushed by
the waves much nearer the shore, and the
brave wheelman reached the exhaus ted
| fisherman not minute too soon. The
boat was lifted high by a wave carried
aloft on its crest and with the two men
dumped on the sand in shallow water.
| In the meantime another wheelman
scorched down the beach drive to the
Golden Gate PARK life-saving station.
Captain Varney and crew of six men
| hurried lifeboat to the scene.
| When they arrived Fouish lay almost
unconscious on the sand. He was quickly
| carried to the life saving station, given a
drink of liquor from flask which saloon
man had donated TO the exigencies of the
occasion, and swathed in warm blankets.
| He was very sore in the side where the
| boat struck him, but no bones were
broken. He went home at noon. Fouish
was struggling in the water fully half an
hour. When taken to the life saving sta
| ton he was so cold and stiff he could not
speak.
The brave wheelman dressed and rode
away. Nobody asked him his name. 1t
is lost to recognition as completely as
Fouish's crabs were lost to the Christmas
market.