Rock Island Argus., 1911-07-13
angels In 0IISkins," Who
Offer Their Lives For
Others.
BY JAMES A. EDeERToN.


"a sou'westers" and heroes O
"a the surf are some of tn
pet names applied to the lif'
saving crews along our coasts, but no
by the crews themselves. They detes
the word hero" as does every rea
man worthy Of wearing Fl, and, as 70,
angels and saints, the life savers ma!
have a vague notion that there ar
such beings, but not among seafarin;
men To refer to the average sailo
strike that worthy as about the mos
absurd thing ever. AS well look 70,
transcendentaI coal beavers or III,
Hcd Carriers Association For the I'D
vancement Of Fine Arts.
Nevertheless the life savers arC
"apgeIs in oilskins." whether they
want TO be or not. That is too good q
phrase to let go. We viii not insist OF
their being heroes or saints, as the
hero business Is rather overdone any
way, and the saint proposition is rath
er too puritanical 10 fit any kind OF
seafaring man. But an angel is diff
ferent We think of en angel as 8
rather vigorous being who goes about
doing good. That is your life saver al
over again. The name fits him like 6
glove. or rather IKE his oilskins. He
may use language and do other thing,
that red blOoded sailors do, but wha-
Of that2 He risks his life for others
and we are told on the highest au
thOrity that greater love has no man
than this. Therefore an "angel in oil
skins the life saver must and shall be
The United States life saving sery-
ice consists OF 2S1 stations distribUt,d d
along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
the gulf and the great lakes. At each
station are q keeper and number of
surfmen. The business Of these men
is 10 patrol the coasts, especially al
danger points, and TO rescue those i'm
periled by the sea. whether they be
the passengers on a wrecked liner or
some venturesome swimmer that goes
too far.
Along Every Coast.
The 2s1 life saving stations are
grouped in thirteen districts. rs fol
lows: First district, the coasts OF
daine and New Ham pShire: Second
district, Massachusetts; Third district,
Rhode Island and Fishers island;
Fourth district. Long Island; Fifth
district. New Jersey; Sixth district.
from Cape Henlopen. Delaware, to
Cape Charles. Maryland; Seventh dis
trict. from Cape Henry. Virginia, TO
Cape Fear. North Carolina: Eighth dis
trict. South Carolina. Georgia and
eastern Florida; Ninth district, gulf
coast. Tenth district, Lakes Erie and
Ontario: Eleventh district. Lakes Hu-
ron and Superior; Twelfth district.
Lake Michigan; Thirteenth district,
Pacific coast. In addition to these,
there Is q station mt the falls of the
Ohio river at Louisville and another at
Nome Alaska.
The report Of the life saving service
for 1910 is just out. From this we
learn many interesting and thrilling
The details of this dry report
are as fascinating as story by w.
Clark Russell or Laura Jeau Iibbey.
In q perfectly matter Of fact manner
it recounts tales of daring. heroism
and adventure that would make a
wooden Indian quiyer with excite
nent.
For the whole year the number of
vessels reported as seriously disabled
or wrecked was 1,463. OF these only
seventy -four were lost The number
Of persons aboard was G.G61. Only
dfty-three, or less than one IN a hun
dred, lost their lives. This IS a re
narkable showing, and much Of the
credit is due to the life saving serv-
Ice.
Money TO Destroy Life, Not Save 1t.
During the last congress an effort
was made to increase the pay Of the
keepers and men; also to pension those
who had grown old in the service.
Strange as IT may seem. this attempt
failed. Millions were voted for the
of new battlsships with
which to destroy life, but a mere pit
tance in comparison was refused for
the saving of life. During the months
Of June and July of each year the
surfmen are laid OF Only the keep
ers remain at the stations In effect
the entire coast is unguaricd during
these two months. OstensibIy the
men are on a vacation. Yet no money
Is appropriated to supply their places.
So far as Uncle Sam is concerned.
anybody can drown or any ship can
be wrecked during June or July. Yet
this is the very season when thou
sands OF surf bathers and hundreds OF
motor and other pleasure craft are In
danger. In some happier era yet TO
Ne. when peace has really come 10
abide among men. people VIII look
back At this civilization with surprise
md amusement They will say that
n our age everybody talked about
life. but nobody believed in
L; otherwise the legislative body Of
he most progressive nation OF the
world would not have appropriated
1,yIIfnnu for xx-nr while -afr,sfprr m lrrx-