Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-28

AA ALL OF Iueu WHO go
down to the sea in ships there is
" none so replete with danger and toll
as that OF the wreckers, who might be
aptly termed the ambulance men Of the
deep, for they work in conjunction with
the marine surgeons of the ship hospitals,
the shipyards.
In centuries gone by the wrecker was
q beach comber, a smuggler or whatnot.
He was man who deliberately set false
beacons that a vessel might be wrecked
and that he and his comrades might plum
der her when her crew had deserted her,
If the latter were so fortunate as to even
get the chance.
The wrecker had no particular territory.
He worked in all countries and on all
coasts but for many years the chief field
was along the coast of the Atlantic where
he was practically safe as in those days
there were no coast patrols.
During the past century there has come
a change. The wrecker, like the pirate,
has disappeared and, while piracy is
piracy no matter under what name,
wrecking, in the accepted term Of today,
Is an occupation of honor.
The present definition of a wrecker is
one who takes charge of a wrecked YES
sci and either floats her or strips her of
all OF value which is turned over to the
owners of the illfated craft.
With the great growth Of the merchant
and naval marine the business of wreck
ing has become an extensive one and
there are In this country more than
dozen we'll organized and equipped com
panies that maintain large fleets of pow
erful tugs, barges and requisite parapha-
malta and are ever on the alert.
While the Atlantic coast affords the
most profitable field for wreckers there is
plenty Of work for them on the Great
Lakes and there have been some remark
able examples of salvage performed on the
inland seas.
The wrecking companies maintain reg
ular stations, pretty much upon the prin-
ctples employed in fire engine houses. The
men sleep either on board the various
vessels or In quarters on shore and there
is a man who sits up every night in the
office waiting for the coming of the tele-
graph messenger or the ring Of the tele-
phone bell.
At the wharf are the huge wrecking
tugs, powerful, ocean going steamers ca
pable of riding almost any gale and yet
quick and handy. While they are appa-
rently out Of commission they are never
theless lying with banked fires, with a
fair head of steam In their boilers and
within half an hour after the summons to
the aid Of q wreck is received they are on
their way to the rescue.
There Is keen rivalry in the business,
too. In Some ports there are two or more
OF these wrecking concerns and they
watch each other constantly. When one
sees the other becoming active and clouds
OF smoke Issuing from the tunnels Of the
tugs they too get busy, although they
may not at the time know just why.
1t frequently occurs that each company
learns Of stranding at the same time
and then there is presented to the OBJ
server a race that far excels in energy
and desperation any other competition.
1t may be the middle OF the night.
there may be sweeping on the cunst II
50-mile-an-hour Northeaster laden w,th
snow and the thermometer standing M
zero but that makes no difference. There
is a vessel ashore, there are lives nj
stake and there is money to he made If
they arrive on time.
Like fremen answering the gong the
crew OF the wrecker pile out of their
warm beds and, jumping into their oilers
and boots, rush for the tug. Already the
men on the vessel, notified by telephone
from the Office, are at work. The lres
are being raked and the steam gauge
slowly indicates that pressure is increas-
ing. When there is enough steam to turn
the propeller the skipper orders the lines
cast off and the voyage begins, the fire.
men working like mad to make the fires
burn nercer while the forced draught is
piled to its limit"
1t takes the skipper but a moment to
notice that his rival has been just as
quick as he and that looming through
the darkness, his side lights cleaning
family through the swirlipg snow, there