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

and the beach that lay before 1t was wellnigh
impossible. After twenty minutes of grim effort
1t was finally gained only 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
sackened a moment. The wheels of the cart
in coast phrase, 'sanded down so rapidly-that
Is sank SO quickly in the intiltrated so-that the
conveyance had to be kept the move lest 1t
should be lost. Often the cart had to be partial
ly unloaded and portions of the apparatus car
red by the to tighten it 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 the overwhelming
inburst of the sea rushing high over the axles
THE escapes were numerous It was with
great difficulty that the men could keep their feet
In this constant onslaught and pelting of drift
wood. But not man fell away or flinched 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 it; for, aside from the number OF actual
frings. wherever momentary pause of the YES
sci she grazed bottom. or slowing OF her
motion. offered opportunity for action. at least
II dozen times, and probably more. the cart was
hurriedly unloaded on the nearest eminence. the
gun planted and the shot-line 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 on again after her In this
way and with these interruptions, they worked
down along the beach to station No. IL and
quarter of a mile beyond it, when chance Of
fered for another shot; but the line parted. The
again moved stubbornly on 1t was now
noon. and suddenly the man SO long seen hang
ing in the rigging fell into the and 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 for the rescue OF the re-
naming Ave, they suffered misfortune. In stag
gering and founderng through one of the worst
sideways with the cart, the gun toppled of into
the flood and lost. desperate search was
made once. and finally 1t was found in four or
nve feet of water. fshed up and wiped dry. and
carried thenceforh by the stout keeper on his
shoulder. man was dispatched back to No. IL
for dry shot.line. while the crew. moved on TO
a point three-quarters of mile below the sta
ton where they got another chance to FIRE
shot which, however, fell short. the tide having
forced the firing party farther and farther back
on the hills 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 shot-line and, chance Of
fering, the last shot was fired. This time it was
a success, The line flew between the foremost
and the jib.stay and. the cut sweeping the blight
of the line in the side of the vessel the sailors
got hold of 1t and fastened it 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
trtdged on with 1t, three 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 a mile the vessel suddenly struck the
tide setting north. stopped. swung head offshore
and worked back 10 her anchors under the comb
of the breakers. The time had come at last; and
the whiplne with its appurtenances, was bent
on to the shot-line. hauled aboard. and made fast
by the tail of the block to the manmast head
THE wreck nov slued around broadside to the
sea and rolled friEhtfully. Tho hawser followed
the whip-.ine on board, and the breeches buoy
was rugged on, but the vessel rolled so that 1t
was impossible to set the hawser up on shore in
the usual manner. 1t through the
bull'seye in the saud-anchor while several men
held on to the end 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 landed. the vessel
took the ground but the circumstances increased
rather than dimiui he'd her rolling and some con-
ception of this powerful motion may be derived
buoy with a man 10 it swung in the off-shore roll
fully fifty feet in the air
THE strain and friction upon the hawser were
so great that the llenum-vitae bullseye through
which Il ran at the sand-anchor despite the hard
ness of the wood. was worn fully half an inch
deep during 80 minutes OF use. Within those 80
minutes however The Ave men were safely land
ed the last man getting out OF the buoy at half
past two"
And so closes The story of that which in the
department at Washington. liz spoken of casually
AZ "A nights work on the Jersey coast"