The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1916-04-22

:
reflect that the men of the
coast-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
tersons Point to the Golden Gate
Nightly the members of this hardy
and heroic band of men patrol thou
sand miles Of the coast of this coun
try. They oscillate like a big pendu-
lum. Away at the far North 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 a re-
port of ship in trouble, or to leap
into the lifeboat for race through
the surf to a vessel in distress.
A Hard Life.
The coastguardsman' 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 keen and
trained pair of good eyes can see In
the midst of storm that would leave
the landlubber helpless Many 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
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
out little which one you may choose
o see Every station has it's history
ind its traditions. but all are similar
n their methods of work and in gen.
,ral 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
york In finding 1t is but few hun
reds Of feet from the shore line, and
ct 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
we of the undiscerning would per
Give. There is no beaten track to
he door; the winds and the sands oh
terate trails very quickly. You
ramp several miles of desolate dunes
efore you reach the door, but when
ne door is reached and you look into
1e faces Of the husky guardsmen YOU