The Portland daily press., 1898-12-10
suRFMEN BREAKING DOWN.
The Awful strain on the Patrolmen Along
the Cape Cod Coast.

Iron nerves cannot endure every strain,
and the ceaseless quest for the dead If
telling upon those engaged in it. says q
Boston Herald correspondent at Chatham
For 10 days now, the shores OF Cape Cod
have been patrolled by sturdy men In
search of bodies from the ste mer Port
land. The surfmen aud ratrolmen of the
life-saying stations, from Wood end to
Monomoy have in that time been called
upon to face narrowing details of the
pathos and tragedy that Is inseparable
from great ocean disaster. Many of the
bereft have CONE to them and told in
simple fashion the story of a grief that
will last as long IS life endures. Uncon
soiously the life-savers have come to share
in the search with sense of almost per-
sonal loss. They are on q constant look
ut for bodies nf any description. but they
never succeed in wrestling one from the
breakers with ut the unpsoken wish in
their hearts that it shall be the beloved
wife, the faithful daughter or the noble
son of whom they have been told over
and over again. By day the ssarch is not
SO much calculated to strain the nsrves,
but at night it has come to have terrors
for many man usually accounted stout
hearted.
The work has told especially upon one
of the men at Capt. Eldredge's station
near Chatham. One of the patrollmen
on Wednesday had to give up his duties
temporarily, as his physician declare d
him to be on the verge of nervous pros.
tration. He has felt 1t coming on for
several days In boat in a storm when
there are lives to save there is no better
man along the coast. But his highly
strung nerves have been SO wrought upon
by the scenes he has witnessed that they
have given way, and he 1s subject to fits
of trem bling that he has vainly tried to
conquer, and cannot Danish from his
nina the vision of the surf rolling and
tossing up to his very feet the battered
and perhaps unrecognizable remains of
what was once instinct with life and en-
ergy. This patrolman' 8 trouble came to q
climax Iu sday night. All day, in his
hours off duty. he had been sitting in the
station displaying great nervousness,
starting at the opening of door and his
limbs occasionally twitching and tremb-
ling in an involuntary manner. When
night came. his turn to go on four-hour
patrol of the beach approached. He was
TO go alone in one direction, and his
wa climate in the other. Seeing his con-
dition, kind hearted member of the
crew proposed that they all double up that
night and two men go out in each direc-
ton. This was at once agreed to, al
though it meant the giving up of half a
nights rest by one-half of the crew. No
bodies were found that night, but the
oyerwrought mans condition did not
improve He could not be accused of a
lack sof bravery. His real character was
too well known for that. He even protest.
ed against the doubling up of watches,
saving: ssDon't mind me, boys If l find
q body I'll get out all right, though
YOU may come along and find me beside
it,'' When morning came he was advised
TO see physician, and did SO, with the
result that he was advised to take COM
pleue rest.
Another patrolman on the coast said
that no one who has not experienced them
can fully appreciate what o man goes
thr ugh who engages in this nightly
search He told of an experience OF his
own. 81 was out one night when the
moon was shining brightly. tramped
along briskly, keeping sharp eye on the