The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02
HHR BAYMEN'S HARVEST TINE.
LONG ISLANDERS GET BUSY WIEN
A SNIP STRANDS.

Gathering In the Cargo Thrown
OVerbOard-A Tide Of Lemons and
PBnLco At0ne Last June-The Coed
Otd Days When Fishermen Drank wine.
Extending the entire length OF the south
shore Of Long Island there IL a narrow fin
Of sand which is one Of the most dangerous
reefs in tho world. Almost every year q
vessel goes ashore on the bar somewhere
between Long Beach and Montauk Point.
When such "a thing happens the baymen
who live along the south shore Of the MAIN
land. five miles across Great South BayJ
get busy.
AZ daybrenk the next morning, for vessels
rs a rule go ashore during the night, a
fotilla OF fishing boats puts of from Long
Island filled with baymen armed with boats
hooks, scapnets INT anything else that
comes handy. By the time they reach thu
beach the captain has, as a rule, started 90
tighten the vessel by throwing cargo over
board. WHding into the surf they work
for hours, sometimes all day, trying to save
whatever comes within reach.
The last ship to 60 ashore on the bar was
the Vinoenzo Bonnano, an Italian fruiter
bearing its owners name. She had q full
cargo OF lines, lemons, r~aisins, wine and
pumicestone.
One morning early in June OF this year
a thick fog blotted out ell Of the coast. 10
was 80 dense that the skipper did not see
the Fire Island light, not n half a mile away.
until the growl of the breakers told him
he had grounded.
Thu sailors sent up rockets, and a life
boat manned by some of the summer cot
tagers living at Point o. Woods, a little to
thu aoku.nnA sM,R .<,,V 18Th 4, H.. tn
frightened sailors did not see them coming
and were making frantic efforts TO get the
ship afioat by throwing boxes of lemons
overheard. Some OF the boxes narrowly
missed the lifeboat. !
Altogether some 5000 boxes Of fine Mes
sina lemons vent into the sea Lefore the
captain realized his helplessncss and de-
cided to do nothing more until the morning.
With daylight the fog lifted. The tide had
receded and the big vessel was nearly high
and dry upon the narrow strip OF sand.
Fire Island beach was only a few rods
away.
BY 8 o'clock the captain was surprised
to see the beach opposite the ship alive
with men who were working like mad drag
ging the boxes Of lemons out of the surf.
Some OF the boxes had broken open, and
there was a line of the yellow fruit as far
as the eye could see. Tn baymen with
their nets were gathering the floating
lemons like crabs and piling them in heaps
upon the sand.
The captain decided to go ashore, and
hailed some Of the men through a mega
phone asking to have the lifeboat launched
again. The baymen knew what that
meant; that the captain would forbid any
Of them taking the salvage away.
Across the island, a quarter Of a mile
away behind the dunes, their boats were
drawn up on the shore OF the bay. The
half clad dripping baymen worked like
ants, and by the time the captain got ashore
not a box Of the fruit was left. From their
boats, loaded TO the gunwales, the grinning
baymen waved the disconnected captain
farewell.
The Vincenzo Bonnano did not get on
the reef for over a week. Lighters from
New York, sent by a wrccking house, took
on most OF the cargo,
Hundreds Of bags Of pumicestone, thoughy
were tumbled into the sea. The waves
tore them open and washed bushels OF
the gray stones upon the beach. The
captain took more care OF the rest OF the
cargo. particularly the wine, and none OF
After waiting for days with watering
mouths, watching the unloading OF the
wine, the disappointed baymen were forced
to be satisfied with the pumicestone, and
gathered it up so clean that not a piece
as big as a marble was left. They shipped
It to New York and divided the money.
There have been other wrecks from
which the baymen have Jared even better.
A few years g a coal barge went ashore
some miles below Point o. Woods. The
barge went to pieces on the reef and many
a ton of coal was laboriouslv carried across
the bay and stored in a bayman's wood
shed.
Among other wrecks remembered by old
Inhabitants OF the south shore OF Long
Island was that of a schooner Tigyed
freighter laden with a cargo of wine that
went ashore away back in the '70s. Hun
dreds OF cases of champagne were washed
ashore but the inhabitants had little time to
carry II away.
The vessel was stranded enrly In the
morning and word was sent Immediately to
the company's agents in New York. They
sent a man by the first train to the beach
opposite the wreck to save as much OF the
wine az possible.
But news of his coming did not take long
to spread. While some of the boats put
back across the bay TO get a supply OF
shovels, gangs Of mon dug deep holes in the
and with sticks and shells and buried the
precious bottles as fast as they came
ashore. When the agent reached the beach.
there was not a case nor a bottle visibleL n
except a heap of empty ones. One glance
at the staggering fishermen told plainly
enough what had become Of their contents.
The vessel ultimately went to pieces and
further consign ments of the liquid cargo
fioated in on the waves. BY that time
however, the agent had obtained men from
the city TO assist him, and most Of IL was
recovered. :
The baymen were afraid to dig UP their
caches While the agent was around, but "a
soon as he had gone a mile Of the beach was
dug up. Anxious searchers were digging
for days after all trace Of the vessel had,
disappeared. .
For the balance OF that winter many q
meal Of fish was eked out with a bottle Of
old wine.
The island at this point il considerably
narrower now than II formerly was and
high dunes Of SAND overlook the water.
Old fishermen to this day will tell you THAI
the change in the topography Of the beach
was caused by the e~xcavating that went on
there to recover the hidden plumber.
PENALTIES or AUTHORSHIP.