Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1912-06-19

and the beach that lay before It was wellnigh
impossible After twenty minutes OF grim effort
It was finally gained only TO find that the vessel
had passed II and was drifting on.
Perhaps the best account OF the remainder OF
the terrible march to It's ultimate end is given
In the report OF the service OF 1880, which says
of Il:
From first 10 last the difficulties OF the life
savers and the perils which beset them never
slackened a moment. The wheels OF the cart
in coast phrase, sanded down rapdly-that
is sank so quickly In the inhltrated soil-that the
conveyance had to be kept on the move lest II
should be lost. Often the cart had TO be partial
ly unloaded and portions of the apparatus car
rled by the crews to tighten II 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 capsized by the inequalities
OF the submerged ground or the overwhelming
inburst of the sea rushing high over the axleA
THE escapes were numerous. 1t was with
great difficulty that the men could keep their feet
in this constant onslaught and pelting Of drift
wood. But not q man fell away or hinched from
the work before him.
mot 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
sci she graZed bottom, or slowing OF her
motion. offered an opportunity for action, at least
a 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 10 and q
quarter Of a mile beyond IT, when a 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
other drop lifeless from the ratlines.
"Laboring forward now for the rescue Of the no
naming five, they suffered misfortune. In stag
gering and laundering through one Of the worst
sluiceways with the cart, the gun toppled of into
the food and was lost. desperate search was
made at once, and finally 1t was found in four or
FIVE feet Of water, fshed up and wiped dry and
carried thenceforth by the stout keeper his
shoulder. man was dispatched back to No. IL
for 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
shot, which, however, fell short, the tide having
forced the firing party farther and farther back
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 fred. This time 1t was
a sucoess! The line few between the foremost
and the jib-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
he
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 a 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 whip-line with its appurtenances, was bent
on to the shot-line hauled aboard and made fast
by the tail Of the block to the mainmast head
The wreck now slued around broadsde to the
sea and rolled frightfully. The hawser followed
the whip-line on board, and the breeches-buoy
was rugged on, but the vessel rolled SO that II
was impossible to set the hawser up shore in
the usual manner, so 1t was rove through the
bullseye in the sand-anchor while several meT
held on to the end to give and take with each roll
Of the vessel. The work of hauling the sailor
from the wreck was now begun with electric en-
ergy After two men were landed the vesse
took the ground but the circumstances increased
rather than diminished her rolling, and some con
cepdon Of this powerful motion may be derived
from the fact that in one instance the breeches
buoy with man in It swung in the offshore rol
fully fifty feet in the air
1.-THE strain and friction upon the hawser wert
30 great that the lignum-vitae bullseye through
which 1t ran at the sandanchor despite the hard
ness Of the wood, was worn fully half an incl
deep during 80 minutes OF use. Within those 81
minutes, however, the five men were safely land
ed the last man getting out Of the buoy a. hall
past two"
And 80 closes the story Of that which in tn
department at Washington is spoken OF casual
as "A nights work on the Jersey coast"