Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-01

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| schedule. Chocolay Beach,
near Marquette, Michigan,
one hundred and ten miles
i distant, made by
midnight. The crew car
ried surf boat and
complete outfit of beach apparatus. Through
binding snow storm, and with the thermometer ten
degrees below zero, the men launched their little
shell in the boiling surf and boarded two stranded
vessels, saving twenty-tour people, after the re-
peated failure of the citizens to render aid
Shorter trips averaging fifteen miles are by no
means uncommon, but the incidents here mentioned
are the banner rescues of the service.
The United States life saving service has
than nine thousand miles of seaboard and inland
coast to look after, twice that of the royal life
savers of England There complete equipment
and apparatus on two hundred and seventy-two
The service costs million and half dollars year,
but IN this time saves average value OF twelve
million dollars in property and more than three
thousand lives There is average of one disaster
day, and yet the average annual loss in ships is
only forty-eight, and in lives only forty-fve Com
pairing this result with the conditions obtaining
average of more than one thousand lives were lost
by drowning the coast north of Sandy Hook only,
the marvellous efficiency of our surf fighters is a
matter to be proud Of
A Strenuous Time on Lake Huron
MAYBE it's forgotten by the public now" said
A Captain Carpenter of the VerInillion Point life
saving station on Lake Huron but it isn't fer
gotten by the service anyone that lived through
it. One day in the last week of November, 1906
we heard four long whistles. 1t like
big COW believing through the storm started out
with my men. We dragged the boat and ap-
paratus ourselves By the time had tramped
five miles against the heavy weather the car was
stuck to the hubs in and sand. We men had
clods under our boots. That big below sounded
every now and then; but couldn't locate it. l
secured horse from farmer, and along we went
another five miles, dragging and tramping before
we found the wreck. All hands played out,
and here the real job of the day cut out in
front of us.
We'll, it what call double wrec1k-two
schooners with bursted tow lines smashing away
reef about three hundred yards out. A steam barge
which had lost them in tow, was laying by in the
ofing; but the only help it could give to sound
that cow whistle, and as soon as we got in
hand the barge hove off to sea.
We built signal fire on the beach. The wrecks
were now so close together that the of the
smallest schooner Mite just piled aboard the larger
Dexter. l sighted the gun and got the shot lire
over her quarter. By the time it took them to
pull aboard the whip line knew had to deal
with a WORKOUT crew. When paying cut TIE
breeches buoy on the hawser, a heavy sea struck
the wreck amidships she rolled over her side.
and the hawser went adrift in the urdertow, pretty
nearly dragging us to sea with it. If we had had a
life car we should have given them that instead ef
the buoy, which afraid would smctfCr
them in going through the surf half of the dis
lance We gave up the buoy, and tried twice
launch the surf boat. The undertow finished Us