New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-14

Nerve, Quick VII
and a Rugged
Body Are
Among His
Assets.

with a helmsman and an extra man on
duty ready for any emergency. Down
beiow the other men have tumbled into
their curtained hunks 10 grab a few
winks before their turn. The only
sound that breaks the stiffness Is the
.brobbing engine and the gentle swish
OF the water as the craft plows its
way.
OFF I'm the direction OF the jersey
Coast Navesink light flashes intermi
tentlv. while a short distance 10 the
east the Ambrose lightship CLEANS. One
occasionally catches the reiterated
warning of the whistIing buoy.
Somewhere out in the vast darkness
a blue light burns for few moments
and is extinguished, but the quick eye
Of the pilot in the wheelhouse has
caught it and the pilot boat responds
with a waving torch. phere IL Wire
less apparatus aboard the pilot boat
lint these signals are sufficient The
patrol has changed its course and IS
heading for the incoming vessel In
the meantime the apprentice lads are
lowering the little yawl and che piloi
whose turn has arrived rolls out Of
his bunk. hastily attires himself and
goes down Jacobs ladder" A small
lantern in the tiny craft is the only
illumination used as they silently pull
away from the pilot boat.
The nerve-trying season for the bar
pilot begins in January and lasts Until
the mild spring days come. When the
stormy winter gales are blowing and
the ladders are ice-laden a stout heart
is demanded to put out for the side Of
a vessel when the chances are about
even for slipping into the frigid water.
TwENTY-oNE PILOTS LOST IN
BLIZZARD OF 1888.
During the blizzard of 1888 three
boats, with twenty-one pilots, disap-
reared, Between 1889 and 1880 forty
six pilot boats were lost during various
storms and fully as many pilots. The
pilot himself is reticent when one
suggests the dangers of his vocation
He merely shrugs his shoulders and
saws it's all in the days work. He at
hors the limelight, and thus ii is that
comparatively few are intimately se-
ouainted with his life and duties. Many
lives are saved annually cue TO his
eternal vigilance, but instances are
rare when the public hears of them.
In the summer season small pleasure
craft frequently cruise beyond the
bounds of safety, either guided by
venturesome spirit or loss of direction.
Only last summer, among numerous
other cases, small naphtha launch
containing man was dlscoFerea
speeding seward. A pilot, observing
the boat, hailed IL and inquired whittier
it was bound, and was told that the
craft was going to New York. The man
was at once ordered to come aboard
the pilot boat, and was amazed 10
learn that had he been permitted 10
pursue his course he would have found
himself at the mercy of the ocean
Both man and launch were taken %
New York that evening, but no one
except the pilots and the grateful pas
senger were aware of what might have
been a tragedy.
These men Of the sea might tel
strange tales of daring and herosm
could they be induced to talk Shtu'
their work, but they regard this caH-
ing as a daily task to be done, SO why
talk about it? AS one pilot said TO me-
There is a whole lot of satisfaction
just in bringing your ship into por
without an accident. You feel that
you have accomplished something
And there you have il.