The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-21
DROWNED NEAR Shore
Nine Lives Lost on the
Schooner Nahum Chaplin,
Stranded at 0uogue.
WOMAN AND CHILD AMONG THEN
Lifeboat Smashed and Eager Res
cuers Rendered Helpless
Heartrending Tragedy.
WOMAN AND CHILD AMONG THEM

QUOGUE, Jan. 81 1S97.-The three-mast-
ed schooner Nahum Chaplin, Captain Arey,
of Rockland, Me-, from Baltimore for Bos-
ton, was lost within 800 yards of the shore
at this place early this morning, and her
crew of nine men perish.d miserably with
in sight of hundreds of men and women
who could do nothing to help them.
The vessel went ashore here at four
o'clock. For three hours she pounded up
higher and higher upon the hard, sandy
beach. Then with a crash she went to
pieces, and one by one the nine sailors on
her. who could plainly be seen clinging to
her rigging, were engulfed with the
wreckage and died within hailing distance
of the life savers on shore.
It was raining hard when the Chaplin
came ashore. 1t was not exactly foggy,
but the rain was fine and thick, and sort
of white mist enveloped the face of the
ocean and hid from vitw even the tops of
the huge waves as they came tulnbling
in. A stiff breeze of about thirty miles an
hour was blowing from the southeast The
surf was unusually high and the waves
beat in upon the beach with great fury.
The town of Quogue stretches down to
the ocean side. The sandy stretch of Fire
Island Is away some miles to the east and
nothing interposes to save the town from
the beat of the ocean. The beach here is
hard and wide. About 400 or 500 yards out
to sea Is sandy bar which is not to be
seen even at very low tide. The waves
ripple over it when the sea is calm. but in
a gale or in a high sea such as there was
this morning the waves run high above
- bar.
1t was at few minutes before four
o'clock this morning that the wreck oc-
CURED. The storm was at its worst at
that time. The villagers say that It was
the worst storm that part of Long Island
has known in years.
The patrol from the life saving station
was on his beat Suddenly above the
cal, weird and fun OF meaning 70 me
practised ear of the patrol, for 1T was the
ne # 1og tha Hssned
an instant the white mist disappeared,
and, coming madly before the gale, the
man on the beach saw three-masted
schooner, her sails In shreds, beating in
shore.
She struck the bar and then careened
over on one side. It was the work of but
the signal to the station to which he be-
longed, and in a few minutes at the most
the life saving crew was on ats way to
the place, its cannon and lifeboat bound
: ing over the beach, with the men pushing
and tugging at them and denning their
By the t time they hey reached the spot near
est the vessel the alarm had reached the
village and dozens of townsfolk had
gathered to watch the work of the crew
and to help if possible. too.
The vessel had come ashore almost in
& The very centre Of the l village, + =, From Ere the
the people could look down the main
street and on the. life savers ON the
beach and few hundred yards furteF
the men clinging to the rigging.
AT, first the life savers built a fire on
the beach, and then they placed a signal
to let those on the ship know that they
We're about to send them rope. At that
tim time only the dun outlines Of the vessel,
out. but it soon began to get little
brighter, and the crew of the vessel
could aobe be seen taa elingng to the rigging
1t struck the vessel and hung for a sec
ond across her yards, but then it slipped
and fell into the sea. Then another rope
was fired. This time the rope landed safe
and secure in the rigging. The men on
the vessel managed to secure it, but
could not make it fast to the vessel This
rope was lost, as was a third that was
sent out short time later. The men on
the vessel could catch the ropes, but they
could not secure them to the schooner.
The storm was at its worst and the
mastS of the vessel were swinging to
and fro, striking the surf almost at every
dip.
The vessel in the meantime had been
made out to be a three-masted schooner.
She was at daybreak within $50 yards of
the shore and beating in further and fur
ther every minute.
The life savers and those on the beach
could make out at daybreak nine men
In the rigging: Six of the men were
clinging to the forenlast rigging and three
men were on the jibboom If there were
others on the vessel they could not be
made out, and had probably been lost
It is not known whether the vessel had
lost her bearings. or whether she had
sprung leak and had been beached by
her captain in a vain hope of saving her.
The life savers on the beach and the
crowd, which by this time had grown to
great size, cried out from time to time
to those on the vessel to hold on, that
help was near. and that just as soon as
the sea went down, as it would with the
day, all would be well, and a faint cry
came back every now and then from the
wreck.
Several attempts were made to launch
boat, but the sea was SO terrific that it
was nothing but death to dare venture
out into such a sea, and the boats could
not pass the first breaker.
When six O'Clock came it was seen
that the vessel was undoubtedly doomed
and that there was but little hope for
the men, who could now be plainly seen
ciing1ng to the rigging.
The sea was worse than ever. the gale
was something terrific, and to make
matters worse it could plainly be seen
that the vessel was rapidly breaking up
She was then hardly more than 300 Yards
from the shore, and the whole village had
turned out in the rain to watch the strug-
Cling vessel in her last throes.
In another hour the men of the life
saving station did all in their power to
get assistance out to the doomed men.
but it was impossible, and finally at a
few minutes before seven o'clock, it was
evident to all that the end was near at
hand.
The vessel had at that time beaten her
way up upon the beach to within 900
yards of the village and every sea drove
her further up the sand
The vessel had been sinking her decks
were all under water only the masts
and jib-boomss S end. to which three of the
men were clinging could be seen. With
every wave these men on the jib-boom
were buried in the sea and hidden from
the sight of those on the beach. At last
huge wave came along and when it had
passed over the jib-boom one man was
missing
Three men had been on the spar before
that wave dashed over it, Now only
two could be seen. One man had been
washed away. He was never seen again.
Other waves swept over the ship, and
i've minutes later another man was swept
from the jib-boom, and but one man.
sould be seen clinging to the Spar He;
= lz1e 70 the rigging OF the foremast had
n<ov,z so fc t11f, "a ftfc fi111a h,1f tho Gao