The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27
OLD DAYS ATSQUAN BEACH
A sPoRTsMAN's MEMORIES OF HALF
4 CENTURY AGO.
Tall ships That Were Wrecked There and
Their Tragedies - Glorious Sport for
wild Fowiers, to Which Hnrdships Gnvo
Va~s- haAwvN,lt1 h, re- G.-lu IA.

Their Tragedies Glorious Sport for
Wild Fowiers, to Which Hnrdahips Gnvo
Zept Chndwick'n In Its Early Days.
sQuan Beach, New Jersey. in the days of old
sailing ships. before steam had driven them from
the ocean. was the terror OF the mariner and
the shipowner, for many a gallant argosy, bear
ing with her plittering visions of fortune real
ICED. has left her bones rotting at the very por-
tails of her harhor of destination. Squan Reach
forms one of the legs OF n triangle, of which tho
Long Island coast Is the other and Sandy Hook
the apex. which was n very denth-trnp for
the sailing vessel caught within Its limits dur
Ing n heavy easterly gale, for, unable TO beat
out Of II, she must perforce strike either
upon the outlying shoals of Fire Island
or upon the trcacherous sands OF Squan Beach.
and rarely indeed in those days did she succeed
In " getting off" when once stranded, for there
was no life-saving service and no wrecking
company In those times, so that Squan Beach
became practically marine graveyard. Often
times when signal lights fRrod and guns
doomed from doomed vessels no help could be
lent by the daring haymen, so fierce would DO
the gale. 30 tremendous the breaking seas. rs to
defy all effort to launch their frail skiTs. Tho
men would stand awc-strickcn beside their
watchfires awaiting the supreme moment, which
they knew was near, when all on board would
be swept into eternity.
Later the marine underwriters and tho shin
owners established rough station houses in con-
nection with the baymen, and this feeble begin
ming was the nucleus OF our national life-suving
service. Meanwhile the baymen did noble
work with their frail boats and insu m Client ap-
paratus, as may be Judged from tho fact that
William Chadwick. captain Of one of the early
station houses. was certified personally to hnve
assisted in saving twelve hundred lives from a
WutpTy crave. There Is DTDnn bly nlopC tho
beacl, not a space OF half II mile that has not
been the scene of wreck. and II would be
difficult to estimate the amount OF human life
and treasure lost here. Many n noble packet
ship bound to New York. emigrant laden, has
left her own bones and the bones of hundreds OF
emigrants bleaching on the sands. One OF
these wrecks was the packet ship Asia
with her large crew and 400 emigrants, all of
whom persisted. Then there was no help
available. but as the sea slowly gave up tho
dead the bnymen tenderly laid them side by
side in rows. 1t was indeed q sight to move
the stoutest heart, rs II also served to feed tho
who. although they would not hesitate to i'm
peril their lives in boarding a sinking ship,
could never he induced to pass this improvised
cemetery after niGhtfall. Many a blood -curd-
ling tale of apparitions In this locality Is told
by them in good faith and with minute tesnil.
The strong impression made upon them by these
constantly recurring tragedies naturally ex-
cited them to an extraordinary degree. and
their overwrought imaginings were tho lcgiti-
mate result. In fact every one of the hundreds
of great sand dunes had its foundation in the
skeleton of some old wreck. and on the occasion
of an unusually violent gale the CHASTITY timbers
of n long-forgotten wreck would suddenly be
unearthed by the encroaching sea and go sailing
along the beach, looking for all the world like
some uncanny marine monster as it doomed
up through the misty gloom. Many q queer and
startling tale of wreck is treasured mp on the
beach. and one coincidence is worth repeating.
In the year 1870 George Ashton. n we'll
known English importer. who had realized a
fortune in New York. went home to England TO
claim his bride. and on his return passage. ac-
companied by his wife. in the packet ship Gar
rick, the vessel went ashore on Squan Beach
during n heavy easterly snowstorm and lay
there all night. with a mutinous crew. in the
heavy break of the sea which momentarily
threatened her destruction. With daylight
however. came snccor. and the fishermen sue
ceeded in boarding the ship and rescuing the
passengers. but with great difficulty. Years
after, In the course of some business trans
action, Mr.. Ashton came into possession OF some
scashore property. which. however. lie never
saw. What was his astonishment after a lapse
OF time to find that the seaside resort Manto-
lokGnE. built upon the property thus acquired,
was the Identical place where in 1910 he and
his wife on their bridal trip had been so un-
ccrem9n iously bundled ashore in the arms of
An old sportsman got talking about Squan
Beach the other day. and naturally had to begin
with his first wreck:
One OF tho most thrilling casualties and sad
dest tragedy. the wreck of n Norwegian vessel.
had Just arisen one November morning. and
were looking f~oriornly at the weather. when we
close at hand. as it sounded distIincti1' over tHss
roar of the breakers. In n moment we were all
rushing to tho beach through n binding hur-
rtcnne. which drove tho snow into our faces
like so many flint stones. One look seward
through a rift iii the gloom disclosed n vessel
lying helpless and d!smasted on the outer bar.
We stood aghast. powerless to help. for no boat
could be launched into such a boiling Caldron
closer and closer. and we could discern the
crew crouch!ng on the bow. while n man and
woman. apparently dashed to a backstay. were
In less time than IL TAX es to write it. the vessel
struck on the inner bar and broke in twain. the
altogether from view. while the man and
woman, with the piece Of wreck tn which they
', Were reo iSs ,MSln; was and wH nhn , up close IS e enough nc for Us
With them, attached to tho same piece OF
wreck, came the, ships bell, tolIing asst were a
requiem; To-" both man and wife. as trey
proved To be, clasped in each others arms. were
stIif aud stark in death. Reverently we bore
the bodies. both young and handsome, tho
sweet G!rlish face OF the woman. So appealing
M to draw tears not only from MS but from tho
rough fishers also. used "a they mad become TO
these oft-rccurrinG scenes. Gently we laid them
in their seaside scpulchre. one OF us repeating
the burial service OF the English ritual, white
tolled n funeral dirge on the little ships
bell, which now hangs in the helfry of n little
seaside chapel. that OF st. Elizabeth by the Sea,
Mt Ordley. n seaside resort near by.
4" Squan Beach as n sportsmnn's resort was In
those days known TO n few New York sports
men. but to the rest OF the world was a very
terra iicO0nitd-a narrow strip OF sand lying
between B%arnegat Bay and the ocean. and less
than q I mile wide. with but half a dozen fisher
mems houses on its entire length. .Undeterrcd,
however. by the difficulty of reaching It and
the rough life there encountered. these enthusi-
astic gunners considered themselves fully COM
by the magnificent sport afforded by
tho myrlads OF Wild fowl, swan, geese. brant,
aud ducks. which tarricd to feed in the bay
during their annual miyrations.
But n very different style of spOrtsmen were
those of threc-scoro years ngo from the duck
shooters OF to-day, who, perhaps better all
shots. have entirely divorced them
selves from the true pleasures OF tho sport,
which really lay in tho sportsmen's finding
their own game and enduring the ~fatigueS md
exposure Incidental thereto. The duck hunter
to-day. correctly Rttired In his sporting cos
tune. not iufreuucntly aCcOuiDaniel bV his