Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-01-10
UNCLE SANS HEROES.


One Of Uncle Sans occupations that has
given him a great reputation throughout
the world is his work as 4 liie-saver. Soma
Of bis very hravest 0 are in his en-
ploy 10 Do nothing else exeeps 70 watch the
yea and go out 10 save sailors and travel
ers if taeir ship is wrecked anywhere with
IN reach.
Every hour Of their lives these men are
Ike soldiers in war-t;4ne-always ready to
go to death in the attempt to rescue 9TH
ers. Their enemy Is an enemy far more
cruel and far more terrible than ever q
human foe. When the great storms beat
! upon the sea and the great surf mounts
and comes roaring toward the beach, when
the gale blows 50 cold that every drop Of
spray freezes AZ it falls; when the winds
are 10 mighty that q strong man often
can hardly make his way against them
then is the time that the life-savegs Of
Uncle Sam lock for the rocket shining
against the black sky, or the faint boom
Of a ship that needs then help.
Some day some one viii write a history
for Uncle Sam, and in it the glorious story
Of their deeds VIII lead ali the stories Of
war by sea and land. That story wall tell
the world how simple devotion TO duty has
made heroes who were as truly great as
ever the men who charged on stricken
fields.
Uncle Sam has 1876 lfe-saving stations on
the Atlantic and Gulf Of Mexico coasts, Is
on the Pacific coast and IS on the great
lakes, and in every one of them there are
heroes-such heroes, for instance, as w.
w. Griesser, the keeper Of the Buffalo hie-
saving station, who got a gold medal from
Uncle Sam for this deed:
In the end Of November, 1900, a ter
rible gale swept over the great lakes. OH
the Buffalo station it blew at the rate of
so miles an hour, faster than the fastest
express train, piling up before it wave that
rolled on each other and Nsmashed what
ever they struck.
A surfman, watching from the tower of
the station, suddenly saw two craft with
men on them break from their m~oorings
and drift swiftly toward the surf, tossing
and wallowing ia the white seas and roll
ing as if every moment would be their last.
The life-savers did not hesitate. They
launched their boat straight into the toss
ing sea. But two great combers broke over
her, and before she could shake herself
clear a third wave caught the bow, tossed
it high into the air and threw the boat end
over end. The crew had a hard swim Of
it, and reached the land more than a
quarter of a mile down the beach. They had
scarcely erawled out of the water when
they heard OF a man who had tried to
swim ashore from one OF the Sir fessed
craft, and who had reached soaae slippery
spiles nearly a third OF a mic l~artser
away. With the water dripping Il tAesl.
the l~ife-savers ran to a locomotive sat was
passing and sped down the shore, tall they
saw the man holding for his life to the
slippery spiles 500 feet from shore. The
seas were breaking over him again and
again, and without end, so that it was only
now and then that he could be seen at all.
Griesser seized a long line and started for
the surf. The crowd on the shore cried out
to him to come back. Experienced lakemen
shouted that he would surely be killed. But
he never turned. Behind him, brave as he
was himself, ran a surfman named Green
land. To the circumstances from the spec
tators the two heroes replied: Wait until
we try"
Griesser tied one end Of the line around
his arm and fought his way into the lake,
with Greenland sticking to him like a bull
dog. A great wave rose far out at sea, tow
cred nightly and fell upon them both,
throwing them back to the beach as if they
WC4C llblAC "a VI WOO4s Lac GQOA 90 tLNg
had their breath again, they rushed back
into the sea. And another heavy sea broke
over them. 1t whirled poor Greenland
around like a top, threw him bodily against
a Spite, and then rolled him over and over
till he was swept so near the beach that
willing hands could seize and bring him
ashore.
Griesser had withstood the huge wave sue
cessfully. For Is minutes he waded and
swan, sometimes being dragged under,
again being thrown back, until he reached
d Spite 200 feet away, where be held on a
few moments to rest.
That was the only rest that he was to get
during his fight, which lasted three-quar-
tiers of an hour.
In that three-quarters of an hour what
prayers rose from the beach, Rough, hard
men stood there and cried with sympathy
and exultation at the splendid fight Of that
lonely human being in that war Of waters.
Sometimes the bobbing head would disap-
pear, and there would be a groan among
the watchers. But every time it was fol-
lowed by a cheer, for every time the brave
head and the strong shoulders would re-
appear. And every time they were bat
ting To gee to the helpless man who was
looking at death. Waves tore along with
that s0-mile wind behind them, and threw
Griesser back. But as soon as he rose TO
the surface the watchers saw him turn
again toward the object Of his efforts. Oft
EN- he would dive far under a coming break
er and swim under water to escape being
thrown back again.
At last he was near enough to throw his
line to the man. He instructed the sailor
to make it East around his waist, and then
to drop into the water. But the poor fell
low had so little strength left that he could
only whip the line around his wrist, and
before he could let go the spiles the waves
had caught the blight Of the line and fouled
it among the timbers. At the same time
a breaker threw the life-saver nearly a
hundred feet away.
The people on shore set up a loud cry OF
pity, for in that moment they were sure
that both men must surely perish.
The imperiled sailor was begging piteous-
ly for help, and saving that he could hold