The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-11

has not formed clear across the bay, their
are many months when he cannot see any
save thOse Of his own family. and with hii
pipe and his newspapers of ancient date ht
must be content.
In 1897 the winter came on very suddenly
and the Government tug that carried pro-
visions to the keeper was unable TO cross
the bay, The keeper. man named Geo
was on the verge of starvation for nearly q
week. freshet having washed out his
celkr. The opportune arrival Of the Lone
Point Company's tug from Port Burwel
prevented the adding Of another tragedy
to the long list fer which Long Point has
been responsible.
Most Of Long Points fame has come from
its tragedies. The island lies in such po-
sition as to be natural menace to navi'
cation, no matter from what direction
gale blows. The prevailing wind on Lake
Erie is from the southwest, and the long
waves. getting their impetus at Toledo
and paced by sixty mile breeze. strike
the south shore with tremendous force
ship caught in strong wind cannot
avoid being forced from it's course, and If 1t
fetches up against Long Point there Is
little hope for it. All along the south shore
the bottom Of the lake seems to be quick
sand. and a thousand anchors could hardly
prevent boat from drifting.
Within the point there is excellent anchor
age. The bottom Is Of firm clay, and not
even in the strongest northeast gales have
vessels drifted. Let there arise south
west storm and every vessel on the lake
Immediately puts for Long Point Bay.
and often in the fall one can count score
or moro Of ships, from 40O-footers to
eighty-ton schooners, all waiting for the
wind to 90 down.
During the great November storm OF
1897 sixty-nine vessels lay waiting there
for week, hiding behind the sand hills,
against which thunderous waves were
beating on the other side, not more than
quarter of mile distant Not once was
enough wind or sea felt aboard them to
cause ones coffee to culver in the cup till
the waves running below the point had
thrilled the inner bay.
Men on the decks of the vessels in the
feet one night early in that storm were
suddenly startled by the sound of gun.
The report was followed in few minutes
by rocket that shot far above the sand
hills.
Immediately number OF sailors put OF
and clambered up the side Of the hills
They saw big boat wallowing in the waves
She was headed down the lake. and not a
man among the crowd but prayed that she
might win her race and make the shelter
under the point After half an hours
struggling however, she sank.
The next morning one could see two
spars standing out Of the water ten miles
above the lower point. To one two men
chung; to the other third man was hang
Ing. Two hundred men saw them, but not
all the 200 were able to help the three.
Occasionally one of the three changed
his position one could imagine he was look
ing for boat. The next day one ap-
peared, a big ore boat. She sighted the
men and started to rescue them. Three
time she sailed around them before she
was able to get close enough to pick them
of. They were actually frozen to the spars
The steamer that sank was the Idaho
carrying a crew of twenty two men. Her
captain had run past the shelter Long Point
held out to him and it was only when he
had nearly reached the upper light that he
saw his danger.
In coming about to run under the point
the Idaho sprung a leak. and the race against
death then lasted only half an hour. He
was making good Roadway against the leak
but the wind threw him upon one OF Long
Points bars, and the graveyard received a
score more corpses.
In the hundred years OF navigation it is
estimated, and the estimate is probably
low, that 1900 men have been drowned
near Long Point. Nearly every year there
has been a serious wreck Of the island.
At seven places on the beach there are
whole hulls OF vessels, cast high and dry
by the waves. A dozen lie on the bars
and there are perhaps forty wholly sub
merged. Some of them have been there
so long that their names are forgotten other.
still retain the paint.
A few years ago planks Of the Dean Rich
mond were cast ashore there, though the
Dean Richmond sank, no one knows where
almost score Of years ago. Few people
are rescued from vessels that sink of the
Point.
The crew of the John r. Noyes, which
sank in 1888, escaped by finding foothold
on the side Of the hills, only to be starved
to death through their inability to find the
hut OF a keeper. A sailor who continually
repeats the words John Dennis" and is
now in Canadian insane asy lum, was cast
ashore year later in almost the same place
and was found to be crazy. Three vessels
went down that night, but no one knows
from which one he was rescued. One negro
only has been cast ashore there. to live
and Immediately after he saw his rescuers
approaching he jumped again into the
water. to drown.
One tragedy of the island, with dash OF
comedy, deserves to be chronicled A
fisherman of the mainland, Helmer by name
an octogenarian, dreamed Of box of gold
underneath the only beech tree on the island
Finding no one who believed him, he set
of alone to paddle around the point forty
miles to the scene of his dream There he
excavated about the beech trees roots, the
marks of his digging still remaining, and
he found, not box of gold. but a cask OF
old port wine.
Lightning played around him as he heaved
the cask aboard his skiff. Childishy, he
disregarded it and set off. In half an hour
the storm caught him, and the skiff and the
cask, washed ashore next day, told of his
death.
1t was not, however. the fault of the storm
alone; the bunghole of the cask had beer
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