Evening star., 1903-12-19
PERILS OF LIFE SAVING.
Thrilling Incident of Christmas Sea-
SON. 1885

1uIliilnS 1nc1dent OF christmas Sea-
son, 1885.
| The whole state OF Rhode Island spent
one Christmas day in deep anxiety because
| of the perils confronting the life saving
! crew at Point Judith station" said CAPTAIN
| ). |. kimball, superintendent of the life saw
! nS service, as he leaned back in his chair
| and went over in his mind The heroic deeds
and exploits Of the life savers of the coun-
| try. a score of deeds since he has had
| charge of the service came to his mind but
| Cppermost in the list was the exploit of
! herbert NJ. Knowles and his crew of surf
| men. captain Knowles is the superntend-
| ent of one of the life saving districts on the
! Atlantic coast, but in 1888 lie was keeper of
/ the lie saving station at Point judith
! which is about seven miles from Narragan-
| sett Pier and fifteen miles from Block ISL
and.
| 1t was the day before Christmas in 1885,
/ as / remember now," said Captain kimball.
"A furious gale ragged on the coast The
| crew at Point Judith had remarked upon
Inc dangers of the sea the night before. So
| as soon as day came the morning before
Christmas Captain knowles took his glass
and went out to look about. Several miles
from shore he discovered a capsized schoon-
er, apparently water-logGed. and rniie or
! so further out the maStS of Il Sunken
schooner sticking out of-the water 1t was
| judged at once that they had been in col
! lision. An examination with the glass show
! ed what appeared to be people clingiug to
| both VesselS.
Keeper Knowles, despite the furious gale
| that was raging, ordered the life boat out.
The surf was terrible, but in fifteen min
utes the crew, with a mea ger supply of food
and clothing and some articles from the
| medicine chest, got off in good shape. The
| boat was almost capSiZed a dozen times,
put alter hard pull the nearest schooner
l nod Sl1.a lN.a1- hoo,
| almost submerged, and the water to lee
! ward was thickly strewn with wreckage,
| and with lumber and laths, with which the
vessel had been laden. The submerged boat
| was held by her anchors, which her crew
! had let go soon after they were run into
! and before the boat capsized. There was
| not a sign of life about the vessel, the OBJ
| jects that had been taken for being
projecting portions of the hull and rigging.
| AS the yawl gone it was supposed the
! people had escaped. although this seemed to
! be impossible, in view of the conditions of
| the sea.
In Grave Danger.
The life saving crew then headed for
! the sunken vessel to the leeward. The
! wind had steadily increased since they
! left the shore and all realized the grave
/ danger they were in The utmost care
+ was necessary to prevent the boat from
swamping. They pulled steadily for the
sunken vessel, however, reaching it after
| the most laborious efforts and in an al
most exhausted condition. No life was
: found upon the other vessel. and then
! Keeper Knowles ordered his men to turn
! toward home. For an hour they tugged
| at the oars against wind and water with
| ont gaining anything. In fact, they stead
! lily lost ground. Drowning stared them
| in the face. 1t was now late in the day,
| and they determined to try to reach Block
! Island, ten miles to leeward. They start
! ed in that direction and made some head
| way, but ii looked as if they would make
| no material progress. Darkness overlook
| them 70 miss Block Island was to be
| taken out to sea, with inevitable death
| by drowning or starvation.
The men thought of their humble
| homes and of the little ones on shore
/ looking 10 the appearance of Santa Claus
| that night. Their hearts were sad, but
| they did not lose their courage. BY this
| time the story of the brave deeds of the
! crew and of their situation had been
| telegraphed all over Rhode Island and
! volunteer expeditions were being made
I up to search for them The people every
where felt an intense interest in the out
come and prayers were offered that the
| brave men might be saved. FL.
Night of Suspense.
After night of suspense they reached
| Block Island and were welcomed by their
| brethren of the station at New Shore
ham. At this station they found some of
| the men of the sunken vessels. The crews
| had landed there early in the morning
| before in their own boats. The tele-
| graphic cable line between Block Island
| and the mainland was out of order and
| rot working, and the people all over the
| state feared that the Point Judith crew
| had been lost. on the 26th and 27th al
| though the storm showed no signs of
| abatement relief vessels were sent out
| which learned of the safety of the men
| The members of the crew of life savers
| did not get back to their station for
| three or four days"
| The surf boat used by the crew at that
| time is carefully preserved by the crew
| of the Point Judith station. II is visited
| by thousands of people who go to the
| coast each summer. The same vessel was
| the principal factor in the rescue of
| many a shipwrecked crew at the same
| place before il was finally retired from
| the service. The Yeneration with which
| is something wonderful. They do every
| thing they to prevent their destruc-
| tion.
| Historic Boat at Thunder Island.
| One of the most historic of the old boats
| in the hands of life saving crews, and
| sacredly priced. Is that at Thunder Bay
| Island tation, Lake Huron twelve miles
from Alpena, Mich. Two years ago Capt
]. III. Rogers, the assistant inspector saw
| the old life boat, and ordered her con-
| demned With tears in his eyes The keeper
| wrote the following official letter to the de-
| partment:
| This is the old life boat that had been
| repaired and used by the citizens of Athena
| in Fourth of July celebrat ton / could
/ not bear to think of any harm coming 10
that cid end ever reliable boat 1t slould