Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1912-06-13

and the beach that lay before It was well-nigh
impossible After twenty minutes of grim effort
1t was finally gained only to find that the vessel
had passed 1t and was drifting on
Perhaps the best account of the remainder OF
the terrible march to Its ultimate end is given
In the report Of the service OF 1880, which says
of It:
From first to last the difficulties of the life
savers and the perils which beset them never
slackened moment. The wheels Of the cart,
in coast phrase 'sanded down so rapidly-that
is, sank SO quickly in the lnhtrated soil-that the
conveyance had to be kept on the move lest 1t
should be lost. Often the cart had to be partial
ly unloaded and portions Of the apparatus car
ried by the crews to tighten 1t sufficiently to make
progress possible, and at other times the men
would have to fling themselves upon the wheels
and hold them with all their strength to prevent
the cart from being capslzed by the inequalities
Of the submerged ground or the overwhelming
inburst Of the sea rushing high over the axles
THE escapes were numerous. II was with
great difficulty that the could keep their feet
In this constant onslaught and pelting Of drift
wood But not man fell away or 1inched from
the work before him.
Not the least difficult OF their tasks was that
Of keeping the lines, and especially the guns and
powder, dry in the universal drench around them,
and 1t Is difficult to understand how they con-
trived 1t; for. aside from the number Of actual
frings, wherever momentary pause Of the yes
sci as she grazed bottom, or slowing Of her
motion, offered opportunity for action at least
dozen times, and probably more, the cart was
hurriedly unloaded on the nearest eminence, the
gun planted and the shot-ne arranged for the
effort, when the wreck would suddenly roll away
upon her course. and the men would have to re-
load the cart and toll again after her. In this
way and with these Interruptions, they worked
d0un oIO t1,a ooab kn ataktN No
quarter Of a mile beyond 1t, when chance Of
fered for another shot, but the line parted. The
crew again moved stubbornly on 1t was now
noon and suddenly the man so long seen hang
ing in the rigging fell into the sea and was gone.
The crew still followed the vessel with unslack-
ened activity Half an hour later they saw an
other man drop lifeless from the ratlines
"Laboring forward now for the rescue OF the re-
naming five, they suffered misfortune. In stag
gering and laundering through one Of the worst
sluceways with the cart, the gun toppled off into
the food and was lost A desperate search was
made at once, and finally 1t was found in four or
five feet Of water. ished up and wiped dry, and
carried thenceforth by the stout keeper his
shoulder. man was dispatched back to No ~
for a dry shotlne, while the crew, moved on to
a point three-quarters Of a mile below the sta
ton, where they got another chance to FIRE a
shot, which, however, fell short, the tide having
on the hills as they advanced. and the line. too.
being weighted with moisture.
The cart was again reloaded, and the march
resumed. mile below the station the man over
took them with the dry shotline and, chance Of
fering the last shot was fired This time 1t was
a success! The line few between the foremost
and the jlb,stay, and. the cut sweeping the blight
Of the line in to the side Of the vessel the sailors
got hold Of It and fastened 1t to the fore and
main rigging.
"As the schooner still continued to drift and
roll, nothing could yet be done, but while the
greater part Of the force loaded up the cart and
trudged on with 1t, three or four kept fast hold
of the shore end Of the shot-line, and kept pace
with the wreck In leash At the end OF another
quarter of mile the vessel suddenly struck the
tide setting north, stopped, swung head offshore
and worked back to her anchors under the comb
of the breakers. The time had come at last; and
the whipline, with its appurtenances was bent
on to the shotline, hauled aboard, and made fast
by the tail of the block to the mainmast head.
The wreck now sued around broadsde to the
sea and rolled frghtfully The hawser followed
the whip-line on board, and the breeches-buoy
was rugged on. but the vessel rolled 80 that 1t
was impossible to set the hawser up on shore in
the usual manner, SO 1t was rove through the
bulPs-eye in the sandanchor while several men
held to the end to give and take with each roll
of the vessel The work Of hauling the sailors
from the wreck now begun with electric en-
ergy. After two men were landed, the vessel
took the ground, but the circumstances increased
rather than diminished her rolling, and some con-
cepton OF this powerful motion may be derived
from the fact that in one instance the breeches-
buoy with man in Il swung in the off-shore roll
fully fifty feet in the air.
THE strain and friction upon the hawser were
so great that the lIgnum-yitae bulseye through
which 1t ran at the sand-anchor, despite the hard
ness Of the wood, was worn fully half an inch
deep during 30 minutes of use. Within those 80
however, the five men were safely land
past two"
And 30 closes the story Of that which in the
department at Washington, is spoken of casually