The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-12-31
FROM TIE DEsoLATE COAST.
James Merriman Gives Up liant for
His Brothers Body.

He Thinks Very Few More Bodies From
the Wreck of the Portland Will Be
Found Until the wreck Itself Is
Located-Mrs. Fisher Heard Signals
of Distress ON That Fatal Sunday
Morning.
Mr.. James Merriman of South Portland
has returned within day or SO from the
black and dssolate coast of Cape Cod. AS
soon as communication with the Cape
was opened after the big storm which
caused the loss of the steamer Portland.
Mr.. James Merriman, whose brother
Hugh was a fireman ON the Portland,
hurried to Orleans, Mass, in hopes OF
finding the body of his brother. he re-
manned there week or more and then
ca me to Portland. A few days after he
reached home he once more started for the
Cape and has been there ever since,
patrolling the dreary stretches of the bar
rem coast from Highland Light to Chat
ham, day and night, in pleasant weather
and in stormy. He says that now the
friends of those whose bodies have yet to
be tossed up by the sea on the sands of
the Cape have given up all hope of find
ing any more bodies until big storm
dislodges them from their graves in the
sand and casts them up on the beach.
The last body to be found was that OF
Sergeant O'Connell. This was picked up
a week ago last Wednesday off the Maui
sett lights. It was buried in the sand and
only small portion of it could be seen.
1t is the opinion of Mr.. Merrlman that
no more bodies will be found for some
time He thinks that big blow from the
eastward may bring some of the wreckage
of the steamer ashore and q few more
bodies He believes that the body of his
brother is still in the hull of the Portland
and that many of the women and children
who were in the ladies cabin are still in
the hull
Mr.. Merriman thinks that great many
bodies are buried in the sand little dis
tance from the beach between Highland
Light and Peaked Hill Bar life saving
station. During the mild weather the
life savers do not patrol the beach as care
fully as they do when the weather is
stormy and Mr.. Merriman thinks that
possibly many bodies have been cast upon
the shore and then washed away again or
buried in the sand before they were dis.
covered. 1t is long dreary stretcn to
patrol and now that the vigilance of the
men who have been patrolling the coast
in search of bodies is somewhat relaxed
he thinks that if any bodies are washed
ashore very few of them will be picked
up.
Those bodies which have been picked up
are SO weighted down with sand that it
REQUIRES several men to move them, and
undoubtedly great many lie buried IN
the sand along the shore and will not be
found until big storm exhumes than
from their graves.
While at Orleans Mr.. Merriman ex-
plored every inch of the shore from Chat
ham to Highland light several times. He
talked with ali the people who were along
the coast the night of the wreck and some
of the information he obtained is of great
value and throws considerable light upon
this great mystery of the sea. One OF the
persons he saw and talked with was Mrs.
Fisher, the wife of Captain Fisher of Race
Point life saving station. She told Mr..
Merriman that about seven O'Clock Sun
day morning she distinctly heard four
long blasts of steamers whistle. The
vessel seemed to be near at hand and
she believed it was two miles OF the
shore. Although she told her husband
and the men at the station of what she
heard and they all listened intently for
some time no more whistles were heard.
At Orleans Mr.. Merriman was told by
MIR. Fulcher, a blacksmith who lives
there, that on Sunday morning about
noon he walked down to the beach.
Through the snow, which was then TAIL