Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-22
THE EIFE-SAVING SERVICE.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

| of Maine to Race Point on Cape Cod
| there are AS miles which abound with
stony headlands, jagged islets, rocks and
reefs and tortuous channels. Cape Cod
itself reaches out into the ocean forty
miles. Its sand bars have seen the muir
| der of hundreds of vessels and their pre-
cious freight by the ruthless elements.
| The coasts of Long Island and Jersey are
exposed to all the eastern storms and
their shifting sands offer further dangers
to the life-saving crew On the Gulf of
Mexico terrific "northers'' must be
braved. Sudden storms of great violence
| on the great lakes take their annual toll
of life and ships and defy Uncle Sans
| fighters.
| The life-saving stations are plain but
solid buildings which shelter the keeper
and his crew of six or seven men and
give storage space to supplies and life
saving equipment. In the majority of
stations the first floor is divided into
four rooms: A boat room, mess room
(Which is also the general living room,
the keepers room and a storeroom. Wide
double-leafed doors and sloping plat
form running from the sils to the ground
facilitate the running out of the heavier
equipment. The two rooms of the second
story are for sleeping quarters and for
the refuge of shipwrecked persons. y
few large stations have two extra rooms,
d kitchen and bedroom for visitors.
On each station is lookout, where a
day watch is kept. The roofs of the sta
tons which face the sea are painted
dark red that they may be seen afar.
They are also distinguished by a flag
staff sixty feet high, from which signals
are sent to vessels in the international
code.
Houses of refuge are, as the name i'm
plies, simply furnished little places inter
spersed among
Houses of Refuge the stations.
Among the Stations. a au;nns senei Of
a station consists Of two surfboats with
oars, lifeboat, compass etc, a boat car
riage, two sets OF breeches-buoy ap-
paratus, including q Lyle gun and ac-
cessories, a transportation cart, life
car, twenty cork jackets, twelve Coston
signals, twelve signal rockets. a set of
signal flags of the international code,
medicine chest, barometer, tools, etc.
Horses are sometimes used to facilitate
the transportation of boats and supplies
to the scene of a wreck. Wherever it is
possible all stations are connected by
telephone
The station at Louisville is a peculiar
affair, and the only river station in the
service. 1t is a floating scow-shaped hull
which supports two-story house with
it's lookout on the roof. 1t is equipped
with two life skiffs and two reels, each
with capacity 10 holu COLI or nve-lnch
manila rope. The station is usually ,
moored above the dam, where boats are
in the greatest danger. But it can be
towed from place to place, and by being
SO handled during the great floods of
1884 it rescued helpless persons from
the roofs of houses and altogether saved
500 people and supplied food to over 10000
sufferers. 1t is one of the show places
of the kentucky metropolis. The life
stations proper are very strong and have
been known to be carried a half mile in
land by a storm without being severely
damaged.
Eight months is the average active
season in which the crews are on daily
duty. The crews go through drill every |
week day, the most important of which |
is practice with the beach apparatus. A |
spar or wreck pole represents a stranded |