The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-03-10


OF the wind in his ears and
the spatter of the sleet
- upon his windows it would
ITSS seem good to the reader to
reflect that the men OF the
/ soast-guard patrol, in relays that in
/ terlock from sunset to sunrise on
clear nights and through all the hours
Of the twenty-four on days and nights
OF darkness and danger, are tramping
the beaches of the whole United
States in an almost unbroken success.
sion from Quoddy Head to Cape Fear,
from Oswego to Duluth, and from Pc
terson's Point to the Golden Gate.
Nightly the members of this hardy
and heroic band of men patrol a thou
sand miles of the coast of this coun.
try. They oscillate like a big pendu-
lum. Away at the far North a man
swathed in oil skins starts south and
at the same time a guard at the far
South starts north, and between these
two end links of the long chain there
are hundreds of other watchers, each
tramping his beat to the midway
point where he meets the patrol from
the adjoining station, and then tramp
ing back to his quarters, alert every
minute. peering through darkness and
fog binding rack and flying spray,
ready any instant to burn a Coston
light, to hurry to the wire with re-
port of a ship in trouble, or to leap
into the hfeboat for a race through
the surf to a vessel in distress.
A Hard Life.
The coastguardsman's life is a hard
one. 1t abounds in peril. But it has
the fascination Of the lure of danger,
and no enlisted man of the army or
navy surpasses the beach patrol in
fidelity to duty or ingenuity in devils
ing ways to help the helpless 1t is
no unusual thing for a guard to be
blown off his feet by gale and some
times he is washed out to sea. No
wonder his face is hard as leather,
for he has to make his way through
rain, sleet and sand many nights ev-
cry winter, and through the driving
blast he must see all that a keen and
trained pair of good eyes can see in
the midst of storm that would leave
the landlubber helpless, Many a time
in the teeth of stiff northeaster he
pulls his tired legs through sodden
sand into which he sinks to his boot
tops at every step, stumbling over
half-buried casks and timbers that
have been thrown up by the sea. On
clear and cold nights the beach may
be hard and smooth, but such nights
often enough are of freezing tempera.
ture. But the guard never falters. He
bucks the gale and endures the cold,
his eyes always watchful and all his
senses quick to catch the tokens of
human need and possible rescue.
A Visit to the Station.
It is an Illuminating experience to
visit one Of these stations, 1t matters |
but little which one you may choose
% see Every station has its history
ind it's traditions, but all are similar
n their methods of work and in gen.
eral equipment.
Probably you would appreciate a
isit to the Peaked Hill Bars station.
t is a brown wooden building which
stranger unaided might have hard
work. in finding. 1t is but few hun
Ireds Of feet from the shore line, and
,et is invisible both from the beach
nd from off shore. Big hummocks Of
and have been piled about it by the
hitting winds, and on every side
hese make the entire view which the
ye of the undiscerning would per
eive. There is no beaten track to
he door; the winds and the sands OBJ.
terate trails very quickly. You
ramp several miles of desolate dunes
efore you reach the door, but when
le door is reached and you look into
le faces of the husky guardsmen you