The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-03-06
SERVICE
 ALWAYS READY Valuable Work of American
 Coast Patrol. HISTORY OF THE SERVICE Renders Invaluable Assistance to ships in Distress on Lakes and Border ing Oceans-Has Twenty
 Vessels.
By SIDNEY EsPEY.

By SIDNEY ESPEY.
 Washington, March 5.-(Special )-"sem- per paratus" (always ready) is the motto borne by the United States revenue cutter service of which much has been heard lately in connection with the search of the ill-fated naval tug Nina and of the rescue of storm-tossed vessels engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States.
 This organization, which is composed of 20 vessels, 23O commissioned officers and 150O petty officers and enlisted men, guard the coast of the United States, Hawaii, Porto Rico, Alaska, and does patrol duty on the great lakes During the past year the cutters assisted 156 vessels, the value of which, together with their cargoes, amounted to $14000,000. During the last five years the entire service has assisted 1902 vessels unable to help themselves, representing approximately from ap- praisements of vessels and cargoes s43,- coo, ,000
 Not only is this important branch of the treasury department confined to the assistance rendered to disabled, wrecked or stranded vessels, but the work of the revenue cutter service extends to the col
 lection of customs, prevention of snug gling, life saving and a hundred and one different things incident to water commerce and navigation.
 Especially during the winter season, from December 1 to April l, the service
 is in constant demand. This is a season when dangers of all kinds beset ships at sea- particularly those cruising off the Atlantic coast states. During the past winter the weather on this coast has been severe and numerous strong gales and high seas have brought disaster to an unusually large number of vessels. In some cases numbers of persons have been reported as missing and 1t is not un- til months afterwards sometimes that re- ports are obtained concerning their whereabouts.
 When information is received of a ves- sel in distress-usualy a wireless mes sage-several revenue cutters at once re- spond. Captains of vessels know that the calls meet with instant response, no mat ter how the sea may be running and whether gale is blowing or not. The service was created to succor disabled vessels of all kinds and the men who are employed on this mission fully expect to cope with conditions under any cir cumstances.
 Each winter the President by special direction commissions the revenue cutters on the Atlantic coast to cruise actively for the assistance of distressed shipping. That the work Is zealously performed and with much efficiency is attested by the large shipping industries of the coun- try in letters sent by them to the Secre- tary of the Treasury. The work Is car ried on now under much better condi- tions and circumstances than in the past by the general adoption of wireless out fits by many merchant vessels. All dis asters at sea are promptly reported and responded to by the cutters.
 The wonderful utility of the wireless was demonstrated at the time of the dis
 aster to the steamship Republic. When
 the call was received four cutters re- sponded from the various stations, start ing from distant points along the coast to the assistance of the sinking ship.
 boat from the cutter Gresham rescued the last survivor as the ship went down. According to the officials of the ser vice one of the greatest dangers of the service is the existence of derelicts-hulks of wrecked vessels that drift aimlessly in the paths of commerce. One half of the accidents, it Is reported, that brings
 disaster to vessels is brought about by
 collision with one of these hulks To re-
 move these dangers to navigation the government has specially commissioned the revenue cutter Seneca for this pur- pOSCs
 Instructions to navigation anywhere along the Atlantic seaboard. She has
 been specially fitted out with various
 kinds of wrecking apparatus and has a full complement of high explosives which
 are utilized for the purpose of tearing
 hulk to pieces when necessary. The arduous part of the work per formed by the cutters naturally falls in the winter time, when seas run high ana | gales and storms are everyday occur ances. To rescue passengers from steam ers, to fasten lines to vessel and tow | it into port and to remove dangerous | derelicts from the sea are "all in the | days work" To secure number Of | large charges of high explosive to a | floating dereiict by means of small whale | boats whe nthe seas run from 20 to 30 and often 50 feet high, at temperature com monly experienced in the winter off the New England coast, is task calling for nerve and judgment of an exceptional | character.
 | An incident of this kind described in | service report by the captain of the revenue cutter Androscoggin, during the | search for the steam lighter Columbia. | whe nthe cutter cruised from the coast | of Maine to as far south as Cape Hat | teras He says "a remarkable feat of en- | durance was performed by Carpenter
 
 | Abrahamson, attached to this cutter, when an effort was being made to get a | line fast to derelict found off Diamond | shoals" For several hours 1t appears Abrahamson was dashed to the upturned | keel of the derelict while a number of | sharks swam near by. Big seas swept over the bottom of the derelict and had Abrahamson not dashed himself to the | hulk he would have been swept into the
 sea with little chance of being saved | The Androscoggin discovered the dere-
 lict on the morning of January 21 and 1 launched one of her small boats contain | ing Abrahamson. who carried a large auger with him for the purpose of bor- | ing a hole in the keel of the derelict l through which line might be drove and the wreck lowed into port. The boat couldn't lie alongside of the derelict as | the seas were tremenduous and for a | time If was thought that the boat would