Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1912-06-07

recognized by those on shore. Surfman Pot
ter leaped to his assistance. only to be himself
unfooted and flung 10 floating of drift
As he lay there struggling to get to his feet the
line suddenly tautened in the current. and falling
across his breast held him pinioned under water
For fully minute he lay there helpless In sight
of his comrades and slowly drowning. At last
nearly dead, wave washed him free.
Meantime one Of the two sailors was torn from
his hold on the rope and washed ashore uncon
scious Surfman Ferguson went for the other
and brought him in Surfman Lockwood rescued
the fourth man.
And So one by one. in grim hand-to-hand COM
bat with the storm, the crew of the wrecked brig
were rescued. Hours later she boarded in
the surfboat. In the cabin. lying in his bunk.
a pistol bullet through his head. they found the
captain He had been part owner of the vessel.
and when he had seen that she was lost, he had
gone below, scrawled note in Spanish saying
he ruined and shot himself.
While the men OF Station No. were battling
at these two wrecks, those Of Station No. were
rescuing seven men and the captains wife from
the three-masted schooner Stephen Harding.
While five miles off shore the Harding had been
in collision with the schooner Kate Newman.
which had gone down with all hands,
man. who, the vessels came together. leaped
the, bulwarks of the Newman on to the deck
of the Harding.
At the same time Stations Nos II and ~ were
waging of the grimmest and gamest fights
against maSterful OOdS IN the history OF the
service
This struggle was at the wreck of the schooner
George Taulane. The night before the big storm
she off Navesnk, running steadily in the
growing wind An hour found the snow shutting
thick the rim of the sea. and the gale in
creased to a hurricane. 1t two in the morn
ing when the craft found herself in distress At
that hour the deck load of lumber. piled high.
broke loose. The terrific roll of the schooner
in the high sea sent huge timbers tumbing about
her decks. making It almost impossible for the
crew to stay above matches Twenty minutes
later fire was discovered on board. Flames shot
aft from the forecastle. igniting the deck load
With her progress somewhat arrested toward
shore by the dragging anchors, the Taulane be
gan drifting parallel to the shore, getting in close
to it very slowly. At this time she was discov-
cred by the life savers of Station No. IL
This crew, leaving beach apparatus behind
and knowing that no lifeboat could live in the
breakers, followed the craft she drifted along
the coast, calculating that she would ground near
Station No. IL and depending on that station for
apparatus Shortly afterward the wreck was seen
by Keeper Chadwick of Station IL. who ordered
out his crew with beach cart and gun.
At this time the vessel was about halfway be-
tween the two stations. On side the OF
Station IL were following her along the beach:
on the other the crew of No. IL were coming in to
meet her.
1t was between nine and ten O'Clock when the
two crews met. The horses that had started
with the beach cart of the men from Station IL
had refused ford the sluices between the hills
and had been left behind. the men dragging the
cart themselves. The helpless Taulane was then
still holding of the bar by her dragging anchors
and still drifting along shore. The two life-sav
ing crews now Joined forces in strange and ter
rible battle
The vessel was 400 yards off shore, her men
in her rigging, the breaking and tumbling
white all her hull But she still moving
steadily, surely. alongshore her keel free of the
sand.
The life savers at placed the surf gun
and line which fired fell across the Tau
lane out of reach of her shipwrecked crew. Be-
fore another could be fred the vessel had drifted
southwark out of range.
Loading the gun and apparatus into the beach
cart, the two lifesaving crews started after her
alongshore laboring manfully in the sand and
flooded sluices to keep pace with the drift of the
obliged to proceed at what almost a run
were again opposite her. the gun was once more
planted, and another shot fired
At this portion of the beach the sand dunes
which the gun could be shot the top of the
knolls. The knoll which the effort was made
was in an indentation in the Shore making 1t
farther from the vessel. and. the line being wet
and heavy, it failed to reach the Taulane.
Once more the of Stations IL and 12
loaded the heavy beach cart and staggered on
after the fast drifting schooner. As the chase
led to the south. the conditions on the beach
became worse. The surf washed in higher the
slulces became more numerous, and the dry sand
dune tops further separated.
The next dry hill 400 yards farther on