The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-08-09

N count or the particularly heavy
- sea.tradic In the vicinity, but II
II chiefly due 10 Cape Cod II
Is this crooked hngor OF land that has beckoned
Thousand ships 70 their doom and which In the
holiows 81 It's dunes holds many tragic story
Of lives snaifed out In desperate grapple with
wave and wind
The night or Tuesday March Ill, 1907 was
Wild and stormstrewn. Running up along the
coast the oeeangoing tug Sweepstakes was max.
Ing had weather with her tow OF the two big
bargss. Wadena and John @, Fitzpatrick, For
hours the trpls-expansion engines OF the tug had
been churnlng her screw Ia the drift OF the
heavy head sea and shortly before daylight her
captain discovered that she was making no head.
way lilo then decided to lie to and. while feel.
lbg about for an anchorabo in the gloom. tho
harEas ran aground on the edge OF shoyelful
Shoal. on The southern end OF Monomoy island.
Massachusetts,
When daylight came, the crew OF the Monomoy
life saving station boarded the barges, but finding
\ Inrosaihle 20 float them on the food tide took
their eTewa ashore
u was six days later that the disaster oc.
CURED Wreekers sent from Boston were at
work on the bargea The tug Peter Smith was
On the ground, having replaced the Sweepstakes.
ON the night Of the 10th the weather thickened
and sale swept In from the sea
The night passed without incident, but early
on tho morning Of the nth Keeper EIdrldgo of
the Monomoy station received telephone from
AIN NAVtAiu VI tho SHflih ASKING MIN " every
thing was all right on the Wadena. This alarmed
EdFtdge, as he did not know any one had been
leit on the barge all night Ho started at once
Tor the point Of the island. three miles away to
look over the situation. The Wadena lay hair
a mile on shore from the point She seemed TO
be riding easily on the bar but the distress was
nyiag from her rigging. This was signal ED.
ridge could not Ignore,
Il was a terriHe pub through the breakers that
rolled in across the shoals TO the WadenR, but
the lite.sayers accomplished Il aud put their boat
under the leo OF the barge at about noon. Keep
er Eldridge then directed the men 70 get into the
surtboat and told thin that he would take them
ashore. The rail- OF the biz barge dozen
feet from the water and II here that the
trouble began
The men on the barge lowered themselves over.
side on a rope, but az Captain Olsen. very large
man was halfway down, he Lost his hold and fell
pn tho second thwart Of the hfeboat breaking
Il, and making II impossible for the rowers TO
nso T. In addition, tho boat was crowded and
the wind. which had been momsntnry Increas.
Ing. was tumbling huge combers into the wind.
ward Of the barge. II was into this maelstrom
Of breakers that II was necessary for the hRndl.
capped crew OF the ufs,saying station to pull
their overloaded boat, and they made swift
and able attempt TO accomplish Il. AT the instant
the starboard oarsmen were swinging the head of
the fe.boat TO meet the sen. giant comber lifted
under the quarter and dashed barrel OF water
oversize. That was the signal for u panic among
the rescued men that, before II subsidized, cost
twelve lives
The Portuguese wreckers, In frenzy OF fear,
stood up ID the boat. rocking II to and fro In
their endsayors to escape the momentRry thrush
Of water. and though the Hfesavers fought to
force them into the bottom Of the craft this
could not be done before the next shouldernE
wave caught the bow OF the boat, swung her
hroadside and turned her over
Then ensued desperate struggle for life
hundred yards to leeward the breakers were
smashing themselves into white foam on the bar
There WAS just one chance in million that the
boat could be righted before the sea carried her
into them. Once she reached them It would be
all over Hampered by the wreekers. the life
savers fought desperately In those few minutes
left before the combers should be reached Three
times they righted the boat and strove herocally
TO bail her but each time she was again over
turned. They were fighting the last tragic fight
when they We're swept into the smothering foam
of the bar.
At that instant seven men. including all from
the Wadena, went to face their maker Five of
the hardest of the lifesavers stil chung to the
capsized boat They were Keeper Eldridge and
SurfmeH Ellis, Kendrick. Foye and Rogers. By a
superhumap effort Kendrick crawled to the bot
tom of the overturned craft but the next sea
swept him TO join she seven who had gone a mo
ment before, Foye was the next. "Good-by
boys" he gasped smother of foam took him
That left Ellis, Rogers and Eldridge the keeper
and Eldridge was fast losing strength
In brief lull in the wash of the sea. Ellis
crawled to the bottom of the boat Below him q
foot away, was the keeper a friend since boy
hood. At the risk of his own life Ellis droppe6
into the water again, pushed Eldridge up on the
bottom with his last strength and again crawlet
out himself. The next second sea washed botl
on and the keeper, after losing and regaining HI