Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-06-07

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VkSSu of the storm of January
IL, 1850, If it came from
| eye-witnesses, recalling at this far
distant date the binding snow and the
mountainous waves. but when the SO
Der encyclopedia and the local histo-
ries both speak OF this tremendous
| blizzard as Of "unheard-of violence
and beyond the power of words, IL
| is fair inference that it really was
remarkable as a storm, even an At
lantic winter storm.
The snow was both thick and
whirled in great clouds by a terrific
! gale. which parted the white flakes
one minute for a gaze far to sea, only
to hide the waves themselves from
those on shore the next The cold
was bitter, and the wind such that
men had difficulty standing in it, To
ISalk with long coat or Oilskins was
/ impossible. The sea, according to de
scription. was such that no boat
/ could live, no matter what brave
hearts her crew might carry"
In this storm the British ship Ayr
shire. carrying immigrants to this
country. foundered and struck, two
hundred yards from shore at SQuan
Beach. New Jersey. Government life
saving service there was none at that
time, such wrecking service as Was
done being managed by individuals
and charitable organizations. The
government had not yet awakened to
/ the need of coast protection for its
shipping. nor were life-saving devices
perfected then as they are now. OF
self-baling, self-righting and buoyant
life boats there were none. No one
had ever heard of power life boats.
But-luckily for the two hundred
and one people on the Ayrshire-one
James Francis. who invented CORFU
gated iron had made what he termed
life car" which was stored in a
shed near the beach, waiting some
such opportunity for demonstration
The Ayrshire and the Cray" Car.
The life car was not looked upon
with favor by those stout hearts which
had been accustomed to brave the sea
in open dories, doing what rescue
work they could with inefficient equip
ment and depending on high courage
and strong arms to snatch live bodies
from wreck and sea: it was new
tangled" It was foolish idea;" it
was mot strong enough or big
enough" to do the work.
But on this twelfth of January not
the stoutest heart that ever beat could
take a dory through the breakers, nor
any strength in human arms beat out
to sea against such wind and waves.
So that when John Maxon, wreck
master" proposed using the iron car,
there were willing II incredulous help
ers in plenty to try the forlorn hope.
The car was dragged from its shed
the mortar made ready-the Lyle gun
had not then been invented-and the
round ball with it's slender line
rammed home. And II those on the
shaking hulk six hundred feet away
caught glimpses of activities on the
beach, it is doubtful II they had either
hope of rescue or comprehension Of
what was being done, for it needed no
mariner to say this was no ordinary
storm. The most ignorant OF immi-
grants must have known that his
chance of reaching in safety that new
country he had come so far to seek
was small, though but short distance
remained of the oversee journey.
AS for knowing what they were about
no one had ever heard of life car
at that time.
But they knew on shipboard what
to do with the ball and line when it
came aboard, which 1t barely did. after
several trials. It seems a peculiar CO
incidence that the utmost strength of
powder they could exert was Just so
balanced by wind that the ball should
fall directly on the deck of the Ayr
shire and not short, or beyond; yet
so II was. as after events proved.
The light line yielded heavier one,
the heavier one hauled out a cable and
a whip. Luckily the Ayrshire was
stout and strong, and had struck too
far in and with too much force to
pound. She was safe enough for a
short time, strongly built, and deep
enough in the sand to form a firm sup
port for the car and the ropes.
One can imagine the Joy Of the igno
rant at having communication thus es-
tablished with the shore. and the
added horror to captain and crew,
who knew we'll enough that neither
breeches buoy nor boat could live in
that sea, cable or no cable. Nor would
there be time for breeches-buoy work
There were two hundred and one pas
sengers and crew, many of them wom-