The Elbert County tribune., 1912-05-10

IL p yards of ships and men, These
lS--tSJ beaches bulwark Long Island
proper from the fury of the sea
in winter. and since the early
days OF Atlantic commerce they have been the
nnal restng-places of countless craft and crews
To protect the lives OF seafarng men from the
treachery of this coast the United States govern
ment has built and manned thrty-three lifesav-
Ing stations along Its length The crews of these
number two hundred and sxty-four men.
men and keeper, captain. to each station
On the eighth day of February, 1896 the ther-
mometer at the weather bureau in New York
city stood at zero. In Florida the temperature
was the lowest ever recorded there 1t was the
coldest day of the year from the Gulf to Maine
and screaming hurricane raging along the
entire Atlantic seaboard.
The Louis " Place. three-masted schooner
sailed from Baltimore for New York on january
28th. On board were Captain William soures
and seven men.
The Place left the mouth OF Chesapeake Bay
Monday, February 4th The wind was strong
from the southwest and heavy swell was run
ming An hour after reaching the open sea the
gale hauled to the northward and freshened
alarmingly. while the sky became overcast and
all signs Of storm were evident. At daybreak
the storm had become reality, and the sails of
the Place were close reefed, with the exception
OF the foresail which was stiff with ice that It
could not be handled by the sailors
As the heavy seas drenched over the forward
part of the schooner they froze to everything
they touched.
wara
kept on watch ready for emergency while the
vessel labored nearly helpless in the bitter fem,
pest ON the morning OF the sixth she was dis
covered to be leaking, and Captain Squires real
lied that the situation grave He held tho
craft as well possible to her course and on tbe
next day she met the full fury of the hurricane
which added the last touches to her desperate
condition.
BY this time her crew were in a helpless con
dition, tottering about the decks worn out from
sleepless watching and dued by the fearful cold
There was but one thing left to do. Captain
Squires believed his ship to be Sandy Hook
If the water was not too deep he could anchor
and chance riding out the storm. He cast the
lead and found eight fathoms. Then he called
the crew aft told them his intention gave each
double portion of grog. and sent them forward
to the cables.
But the Ice had bound the anchors SO deep that
try as they might in their weakened condition,
the men could not chop them out and after fu.
tile attempts the captain called them aft again
Realizing now that the prospect was hopeless he
told them to shift for themselves
They had not long to wait. Lifting above the
rush OF the gale. the crash of breakers soon came
from ahead and the sound told all that their fate
was at hand. A moment later the Place lay ham
mering across the bar just east Of the Lone Hill
life-saving station on Great South Beach, Long
island coast Gigantic waves combed her decks
from stem to stern. and her crew fed to the
shrouds for their lives.
The lifesavers of the Lone Hill station had
gone eastward earlier in the morning to assist the
men of the Blue Point station in landing the crew
from another schooner which had stranded dur
Ing the night Consequently there was no one at
Lone Hill save one man. Surfman Saunders who
had been left on guard. Hardly had the Place
struck. when she discovered by Saunders
He telephoned the Blue Point station imme
diateiy, then called the Point o. Woods station to
the west
In five minutes the Lone Hill and Blue Point
crews. having finished with the wreck OF the first
schooner were fighting their way back westward
in the face OF the hurricane.
The Place lay three hundred yards from the
beach on the outer bar giant gray seas sweeping
half way up her masts as they broke astern of
her. At times she invisible in the scud and
the leaden rush of the snow. Through lulls in
the storm the fe-savers the beach occasion
ally caught glimpses of her In the port miz
zen rigging where they were clinging for their
lives There appeared to be eight in all. Two
stood on the crossrees. six in the shrouds
The three life-saving crews at once grasped
this desperate chance. A surf gun was placed
In position, but before 1t could be fired cry of
horror went up from those on shore Through
rift In the whirling storm. the two men lowest In
the shrouds Of the doomed vessel were seen to
have vanished in a mountainous sea that swent
her fore and aft.
An instant later the gun was fired CARRYING a
line across the foretopmast stay out of reach Of
The men who remained in the mizzen rigging
other lines were at fired falling almost with
n arms reach of the sbipwrecked sailors but
hey made no effort to them. Evidently
hey were so stinened from the intense cold that
hey unable to move from their positiora
Noon came. The snow flung along the beach in
'lsld:ng sheets. So heavy was the wind that the s
rews of the life-saving stations were forced to
rouch down at times to keep from being blown
rom their feet.
vas fired but the line did not fall aboard the
essel. Almost Immediately the storm shut in
losely, concealing the Place from view until late
ffernoon. When the next lull came It seen