The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-10-13
HEROIC LIFEsAvER SUCCEEDS IN
REscuINc THREE MEN FRoM
THE RAGING SEA.
A! ONG THE VIRGINIA COAST
WREckAGE sTREWN FOR MILES
ON THE BEACH AND HEAVY
DAMAGE INLAND.

Norfolk, Va, Oct. 12.-The north
east gale that has ragged over this re-
gion since Thursday has practically
spent it's power, but for miles and
miles along the Virginia coast the
beach is Uttered with wreckage and
throughout this entire section of the
| country devastation lies in the wake
of the storm. Thousands of people
crowded trains to the coast Sunday
and saw the wrecks of the big barges
Ocean Belle and Georgia near Vir-
ginia Beach. There is nothing left
but an indiscriminate tangle Of de-
bris along the shore at Dam Neck to
mark the end of the t~hree-nasted
schooner Nellie w. Hewlett. The
body of Captain George Evans of the
Georgia washed ashore late Saturday
night two miles south of Sea Tack
~lifesaving station, and is now at that
stat On. The body Of George Peters,
the colored seaman of the same yes
sci, has not been recovered. The res
cue of the remaining three negroes of
the crew by SurfE4an William Caps
of Sea Tack station was n of the
most heroic acts in the history of the
surfmen on the Virginia coast.
Risks His Life Three Times.
Surfman Capps, while two miles
from any other human being, and pa
trolling his. stretch between the sta
tions, saw mi negro over 100 yards off
shore in the roaring surf. Without q
moments consideration of the peril
he was facing, he stripped and plunged
into the sea that vas already a seeth-
ing mass of wreckage from the barges
and after a half-hour battle, single
handed and alone, brought the I'M
conscious man ashore. He had not re-
covered his breath before he dis
cerned through a rift in the spume an
other form and once more he went
into the surf. This time, by reason Of
his exhaustion, his struggle was a
harder one, but he eventually succeed
ed In saving the negro. Placing both
men under the lee Of a Cliff,
he started back to the station to give
the alarm when he saw the third ne
gro in the waves, and for a third time
plunged in and brought an uncOn-
scious man ashore. Caps did not
cease his work until all three men
had been cared for at the station and
at midnight he resumed his regular
trick at patrolling the storm-swept
coast.
While nothing new is reported in
the way of wrecks on the coast there
is absolutely no method of securing
information from points more than six
miles south of Virginia Beach. The
entire coast telegraph system is pros
trated and it will be some days before
~, =, ,,n;oo4 oo., ~ ,Nc+0roS AsGa4eNSF
Terrible Experience in the Gale.
The passenger steamer reported OH
the Capes last night in a dangerous
position is thought to be the Old Do
m'nion steamer Hamilton. from New
York Friday. The Hamilton reached
Norfolk at 4 o'clock Sunday morning
after a terrible experience in the gale.
The steamer was not damaged to
any great extent and will continue her
schedule, but the suffering of the
passengers, particularly those in the
steerage. was h~eartrending.
Locked in the bowels of the plung-
ing and lurcEing ship, these foreign
ers, men, ONE and children. be-
came panic-stricken and their shrieks
of terror could be heard above the
gale. Many of them were bruised by
the tossing of the boat and three re-
ceived fractured limbs, aside from
other hurts. These three are at the
hospital here, two. men and n wo-
a
Anchored off Virginia Beach with
TO sign of life aboard, are two large
seagoing barees.~ Both are slowly but
surely dragging toward the beach and
unless there is a further break in the
\ - - Tho ~~1~ l,0%l ~ x1yv041ve,
before morning. What fate has be-
fallen their crew is yet to develop.
Pleasure Pier a Total Wreck.
At Ocean View. the immense pleas
ure pier is a total wreck and the
damage to the clubhouses, cottages
and extensive bulkheads will run far
into the thousands.
At Cape Henry. the bay and ocean
beach is covered with the wreckage
from small craft and the mammoth
double deck pavilion is badly dem
aged. The loss at Virginia Beach ex-
ceeds that of any other place here
abouts.
Washed by the waves, still rolling
upon the beach at an enormous size,
part of the Ocean Bellies hulk, with
n mast standing, tells the tale of
that crafts fate, while for miles to
the south the beach is strewn with the
giant timbers of the unfortunate
barges, twisted and smashed into
kindling wood.
From the inland points the reports
of great damage are constantly being
received. At Suffolk and Napsimond
counties the peanut crop is ruined to
a great extent and in Eastern North
Carolina great damage has been done
to growing cotton. Big manufacturing