The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-08-22
muda. and wondering if these were of the

And all the while was bracinp myself
with both bare feet wide aparr. and
working the wheel with all the apilitv
and strength there was in me, anticipat-
ing her tendency to yaw and irving to
keep her from broaching to and rolling
over, and at the same time to follow the
general direction of the man in the
power-dory who had not, of course. at
tempted to run all the way out to us.
DuI after coming as far as he dared had
inoicated with his arms and hat the gem
eral northerly trend of the channel.
we may have been three minutes
gong, through the worst of it, and we
may have been fifteen. | shall never
know exactly, but finally we were in
comparatively smooth waters, and as the
dory came alongside the man in her
shouted Don't never do that again
sonnyL This harbor is closing up. and
that's what I'm here for!" Then catch
ing sight OF the letters U. S. L, S. S. on
his boats bow, understood it all and
went to the rail to thank him.
Inc !lfe-saver, to my establishment.
was trail, consumptive-looking speci-
men who came to Florida, doubtless, like
many others, for his health" He had
nothing on but the proverbial pair of
kahkl trousers; his face was blue and his
teeth were chattering; for the NORTH
ers' blow both cold air and water to the
Florida coast in the early spring. He
had good headpiece, however, and was
the right man in the right place that day,
all right. After one glance at his shiv,
erlng form dove into the cabin and
came up with bottle of Irish whiskey
Capt. White had given me on our de-
parture. mo thanks" he said, 81 don't
take, nothin' on duty A bit taken
aback. but moved by an impulse of graft
tude, | drew a five dollar bill out Of my
pocket and held it out to him. He only
shook his head, with 'No, the govern
parley he went on, leading the way
ed between sand-bars, and tree trunks
with long roots that had floated down
from the lumber camp at New River and
sunk, their bleached roots sticking up in
the twilight like ghosts. Finally we
reached the anchorage off the House Of
Refuge" where his wife was waiting for
US on the boat landing. her red shawl
now held down tightly on her head in the
fresh breeze that was blowing even down
here in the lee of the sand dunes; and
later, when loaded up the children, a
handful Of scantily-clad, bare-legged
boys and girls who came to gaze at US
bashfully, with Naussauvian fruit from
under our tender, he looked on with dis
approval; saying, THAT amt necessary,
you know"
1t seems that the government, in lieu
OF llfe-saving stations along the Florida
coast, maintains these Houses Of Ref
uge, manned by one man only, who
with his family makes his home in them.
Their duties are to assist persons and
vessels in distress in every way they can,
with food, shelter, ETC., and to report
wrecks to the nearest settlement by tele-
phone. where they have one; but without
crew they are never obliged. unless
they wish, to go out to vessel or GO
into the water in any way, for the gov
eminent supplies these stations with
neither boat, gun, nor crew. They rem
der valuable service, however, and their
wives and children take willing hand at
it, as can testify from personal expert
ence.
| This, our first rescuer's name, was ]. B.
Vreeland, captain of the U. S. L. S. S.
at Fort Lauderdale, and | wish to give
him good, long white mark right here
now. | asked him if we could speak
good word for him at Washington, but
his interest was only for his harbor, and
he said there was nothing to do to i'm
prove matters but to build jetties to
keep the channel open and make it stay
in one fixed place, as has been done at
Charleston and elsewhere on this coast
of shifting sand. l asked why the chan
mel was not buoyed, and he said, "buoys
would be of no use" the channel chang
ed so often they would only be mislead-
ing Where the channel flowed out a
year ago was now a dry sandpit. On
looking around wistfully, he said "Well,
! there's one thing wish the government
would give me; if l only had bigger
power boat | could get out to you fellows
better"
Another lone life-saver whom would
like to say few words about is Capt
E. o. Coutant of Oak Hill, Florida, in
charge of Mosquito Lagoon. U. S. L. S.
S., whom got to know later when we
were blown by gale into the cove where
his picturesque gray shingled little
House of Refuge" with its red awnings
and morning glories on the porch, is
perched halfway up the sand dune. He
has an enviable record, extending over
thirty years, for pulling people, both
/ dead and alive, out of the surf, and his
wife is close second to him. She was
in charge when We blew in, having prac-
tically lost our way in the rain and mist
and thoroughly soaked with the flying
spray of the gale, which kicked up a
nasty sea in the imposingly large but
shallow lagoon, 20 odd miles long. Tie
captain was away on his weekly absence,
across the wide lagoon to get supplies at
coax Hill" She was on the lookout for
trouble, however, for she seemed to think
the work as much her business as his. In
fact. some years ago together they
picked up the body of Capt. Hawthorne OF
Portland, Maine, when the Merchants
and Miners steamer he commanded was
lost off their beach. Betweenthem they
hauled twelve bodies out of the wreck
ashore through the surf, and she got that
of an oiler and one other later, alone.
Together, though now old people, they
still patrol the beach after every storm.
They are miles from human habita.
ton, and sometimes these two alone are
cut off from one to three weeks from the
outside world; their children, raised ION
the beach," having grown up and gone
abroad TO shift for themselves. Thus
shut off from social intercourse, anc
from the things that for most people
make life worth living, and having tt
contend every time they step off theil
broad, iow-roofed, tightly-screened porch
with rattlesnakes, mosquitoes and loneli