Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-09-20

| service as were their
forefathers. 1t is stu possible to find
father and son serving In the same
crew, and there are Long Island fam
lies that can boast of having every
male member a coast guard; but
these instances are by no means as
frequent as they used to be. The
surfmen are beginning to doubt the
value Of service that pays, at most,
a salary Of $1,104 year, with no pros
pect of pension or naturalization If
q man dies in the performance Of his
duty. Why should a man adopt such
a lie when he can do better and live
safely as fisherman or oysterman, or
combination carpenter and yacht
skipper in the summer months? Why,
indeed?
Along the $4,000 miles Of coast line
there Is no stretch that is SO uniform
~ dangerous as the tenuous sand spit
that runs along the south side of Long
Island. projecting 120 miles into the
Atlantic The Great South beach. 1t
Is called, or Fire Island beach; but to
men Of the sea It Is known as "the
Graveyard Of the Atlantic because
OF the ships that have broken their
backs on the shifting bars that dot its
length
Since the white man first sailed
these seas, the Great South beach has
taken it's toll Bluff-bowed Dutchmen
out Of Rotterdam; Spanish galIeons
from Cuba; high-pooped English
merchantmen that traded to the loyal
colony Of New York; kings ships and
fishing boats Of the old days; stout
clippers and ocean iners-aIl these
and many more have driven In with
the flying scud, setting their stems
deep In the clingfng sand that has so
seldom let loose fits prey.
You find evidences of them In the
shattered thimbers that line the beach
rom Fire island to the Hamptons
and beyond-stout spars, sections of
planktng, water-soaked timbers Of |
many shapes and ages; and off-shore,
sometimes one catches a glimpse of a
shattered hull, draped with the green |
'eaWeed or a sunken mass of engines
md boilers and twisted pipes.
The government long ago recognized
he peculiar dangers of the Long Is
and shore. with its menace to the
liners that ply between New York and
European ports. and measures to safe
yuard 1t were taken At intervals of
I've miles along the most dangerous
'ecdon. tiny stations are planted.
There are IL Of them, each manned
y eight men from the first of August
o the first of June. Between these
lates all the crews, except captains
II keepers, go on duty-without pay.
these are are stations at New York's
COR. They are also the stations
Fhich do the greatest amount of work
nd bear the heaviest responsibility
a statement that casts no reflection
n the remainder of the 800 stations.
Some of the men In these stations
ave performed noteworthy deeds of
alor, but the most they have ever re-
eived IN recognition has been a few
ledals. and In one instance the
hanks Of the New York Legislature.
'espite the undoubted hardship of
1eir work, and the fact that they are
allied upon to risk their lives more Z
item than soldiers or sailors. or even I
remen probably, the government has {
OF seen ut to raise their pay or in q
rease the comforts of their surround I
lgs- One wonders how long such an c
tutude VIII be preserved. It seems .
nfair and unwise, inasmuch as It has t
ready begun to react by curtailing L
le supply Of recruits
1t should be borne In mind that in Il
i the history Of the life-saving serv- c
e there has never been an instance a
cowardice-not once. There has p
sver been q time when a CAPTAIN L
Va any difficulty In getting his men Il
follow him into the surf. There has c
'ver been a time when It was neces- s
ny for the captain to repeat an or. II
II. Now and then, men have been q
iown 70 drink and neglect patrol q
lty, but even these have never
lowed themselves to be towards. 81
I'd perhaps. after all, that Is the D
Ing the service Is most proud of. s
Yes. they do say IT'S a hard life" Ii
ID old Capt. George Goddard of Lone fl
H. when some one once asked him al
~ he sim stuck to his Job at sew. Al
ty. Yes. IT may be hard life," he D,
used But / Ike It. Thirty-odd 81
airs I've been on the beach, for I Il
Is a middle-aged man when l Joined Ii
service But I'm good for G spell III
t and then I've laid aside a little. Sc
8 can live comfortable. They IA
mt give US pension, you know" tn
This last was not a complaint, but a OF
It 1t was spoken. too. by a man lie
10 had reached three-score years
d ten and who was stin able to- st
md up In the stern Of a big surf II
1t and handle a kicking steering. p,
:, with the seas piling In higher at
sry minute and the North German m
'yd liner Princess Irene fast on the an
ter bar. His tones expressed a Or
tain amount NJ aurnrfsa huf ~ 49,