The daily Alaskan., 1913-04-16
Humble Heroes Who Do Brave
 Work Along Our Coast
DARING DEEDS IN THE SURF.

guards were out hunChlng into Che gale nutroIIng the beaches, alert for signs of disaster Just before mid. night one Of them east Of Belport sta-
 lion. 0n Long Island, saw schooner
 douudcrIng in the gray spindrift oG- shore. lJ wus the Benjamin Cromwell |nud us lhu alarm swept down the beach Che crews of three stations hur
 ripd Co the scene Their wor, was to luke seven men from the rigging oi
 Jhc wrecked vessel
 ] Am efforts through Che night and the forenoon following failed. The wind was too high Then at noon Che scho0ner's masts, except thc fOremast
 on which 0u.of the crew save one had taken refuge. crashed overheard. This man went down In a weItcr of wreck |ugc. and to those on shore lt seemed |us lf he must surely be battered to death. but as the breakers raced in
 they saw him clinEing to a plank that |hnd been swept away with hlm. ! A furious surf was running, and tim ! ber with which Che Cromwell had been laden was pitched up on the beach Fro add to Che danger thick fee cakes, ! houvcd by Che breakers, lifted their Iurged ends high lu the a,r and crashed down. spllutorluE one upon the other land always Che awful drive of snow land sect, ripping Che onrushIng waves
 Into tatters of foam and spindrift Surely no mun could live in that
 msuncuvoIy the life savers moved nearer Che edge of the surf and peered abeud for some sign Of lie The beach was rrIneed with skim fee, sharp and pointed. tHat cut through rubber boots and clothing as it through parchment Helpless to aid the man whom they ! knew must be p0ungIng somewhere out . lu thut angry water lhcy huddIcd to. ] gether 0s men win when a lIfclcss ! body Is about to be cast up before ! them They heard lee and wrcckage ! grind harsh0y: scattered debris washed un Go their feet Brave mon an, yet they saw nothing to do They knew not Co what lengths the ocean would go . before glvlng up Its victim.
 l At this Iuucurc a Ggurc sprng trom among them and, wrapping a line about . his waist ran Co the edge of tbe surf Hc was Frank Bayucr Of the Blue
 Point station. and be was about to commit what the other surfmen iu- sGnctlycIy told themselves was suicide . The service demands courage, not f0oI- ! hardness. For moment Keeper ! Rorkc hcsltated, undecided whether to
 order Rayncr back to the beach or not but be couldn't Gnd it In his heart Co doIt It was a venture too heroic, too splendid
 They watched Raynor as he stood
 lu thc whlrI of ley spray awaiting his chance. He was half naked His l clothes be had thrown or as he ran ] The cold. biting luto bis flesh, tortured . him. SdU the chance held 0T. Then ] It comc-thc blt of wrockggc, Che cling ing sailor crashing into tho boiling breakers, and Rayuer dushcd forward . Foot by foot through tbat roaring tu- mutt of water. of pIuuglnE beams and timber dodg0ng the splIutered 8par5 ] that. IoaDmg from gi1nt combcrs, made as If to pin him, Rayuer worked to- ward his man. To those on shore he
 was hidden the greater part of the time Finally they saw his head bob above a big pillow Near him ao0tei the wrccEagc bearing its suG, motion. ! less burden. The next instant R0yuer
 vanished. swept under by a rcmcu.
 dous wave.
 From the hudilcd group on shore
 men started forward, but Albert Lu- l tham, also of lbe Blue Point station, was 0rst to plunge into the tumbling sens. Tearing through them, he reached RUyuer, who, just crcstIng a breaker. snatchcd at tho sailor now unconscious. And together these be.
 r0cs of Che coast hauled their man
 through Che rearing dmbers and lee to . ihe beach and to safety.
 Not ten minutes Inter the Cromwell broke lu pieces From shore the life savers saw men falI from the rigging,
 Ave of them, who fell, one by onc like black pIummcts Into tho sea- One re. maincd aboard. Then be went too
 a d0rl, form cllngiug to the wrecked
 mast, now 0drIft And again Rayner
 and Latham plunged into the surf
 Now, weakened by their efforts and
 the cold, they faced an even harder
 nsk. The man torn from the mast
 nearly drowned them with his frgn-
 HeI struggling For twenty minutes
 the uneven Gght between the sailor and che surf on one side and the two weakened life savers on Che other was w0rcd. Then great green comber lifted beneath them and bore ou three through the fo0ming sea to
 che shore
 For weeks Latham lay abed, and Rayuer never performed duty again Subsequently commented by Wash. Ingtou, they considered that honor suf. dclent
 Such is the typical life saver the man who patrols the coasts from Ban