The Washington weekly post., 1899-05-09

LETT her dock at Eureka for San Francisco
with crew of thirteen and half a dozen
passengers. An hour later ten dead bodies
were the playthings Of the leaping waves,
and when the tide turned shoreward the
beach was thickly strewn with debris
The Chilhat had at last turned turtle
Humboldt bar was for years the dread
OF mariners. Those who entered the beau.
tifui country 10 which IL was the ocean
gateway did so at their peril. Then the
government sent out some engineering ex.
perts' who did vast deal of scientific
t1nkering. and the bar began to live down
us former reputation. Since then. acct.
dents have been few and far between
tVe-wltnesses say that Capt. h. r An
derson, Of the Chilkat, invited disaster nv
taking a short cut over the bar instead ot
I0lloWlng out 10 sea before turning sou+b
ne Captains side of the story will neve,
tell no tales uedu men
nat Is certain IS. that the oueer-Iool-
me sea crank known on the COAST as the
Cnllkat perched that morning on ,ba e,,,lI
ol me Ireacherous bar turned and Wac
stove her sides in. Then she son,a-',illi. MiiicH
ca IN the traction Of a minute rna i,,,a,n;
Is waters put out her fires and ni,,at@.r,
people battled desperately in rba 49,
eiS Tor ne doubtful blessing called life
ON ihe signal tower of the Iife-sn1-ino
Statloh on shore an alarm was ,,oTndaT
II reached the ears of Mrs Nj -, rue "a
OF member, of the Iife-saVinrr ,,.a,.,.
Miss Shumway her sister. and NJ, Nv Nv
nls' wife of the stations Sunerintarda,It
Iney rushed from the house 10 The neenb
Hnert nI!t lhey We're Joined by The Rev Mr.
Petersen, pastor of Eureka Nnrv,e,rid. ai I. I
Methodist Episcopal Church, '~4
Surad Thrao
They saw five men cIingiag - some
wreckage which had drifted toward the
shore. They saw two Of these man loosen
their weak hold and disappear. They sa w
that the waves We're having the best of II
with the remaining three, and thar tbare
was one chance in several thousand tbat
these. too, would be gone before helm
could reach them.
The three women took the one rbanoa
bravely in hand. Along the sand tbat
clogged their footsteps they ran ,yi,b
what speed they could, The pastor scnom-
panying them Into the chur1jny foam
they rushed, and waded out 10 the half
drowned creatures clutching at tossing
bits of driftwood
wonder If those women iid not look
like angels OF mercy 10 the eyes of Tba
men who had been facing death?
Angels or not, each took a big man nm,
der her protecting wing and brought bi,,
ashore. Just how three pairs If feminina
arms could perform 80 great a fear
doesn't matter. Enough 10 know tbat
they did H.
Miss SnumWdy narrowly esCaDeJ being
carried out TO sea, For a few fatefnl
minutes II was a question Whicn UouId
Win-the tide flowing out toward The
treacherous bar, or the brave girl s1rIIr-
Cling To keep her footing. Vas 81
afraid? Not a bit Of H. There yasp's
time for even thinking Of such a hing
His companions say that the Rev 9ir
Petersen rendered them assistance in
their perilous venture, but he disclsjms
any credit for the rescue
When this trio Of intrepid women had
made the survivors comfortable thav ala
not even stay 10 change their Jwn 3rin-
ping garments. There might be Others 70
save. SO they dashed the salt water ouf
of their eyes and promenaded The beach
for half an hour. eagerly watching the
turbulent sea.
Afterward some of the Chilkars life
preserYers came ashore. Said one who
saw them:
.sThey should have been called Hfe-de-
stroyers. Made OF tuiss and saturated
with water they weighed a ntiu0red
pounds. There was noI enough cork in
an OF the life preseryeTs aboard ;he boar
10 n0at a fish line