The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-02-26

(Note: October, 1889, was in
general a very tempestuous
month, but there can be little
! doubt that the most destructive
storm experienced on the middle
Atlantic coast of the United
States during the month was that
which reached the shores of Vlr-
GINA and North Carolina on the
afternoon of the 23rd, and ragged
with great violence and with but
slight intermission until the
evening of the 9th. The easterly
wind blew at times with the vlo-
lence of hurricane, and drove
the sea into mountainous pillows
! which endangered all craft so I'M
fortunate as to be within its in
fluence. The low beaches of Vlr-
ginia and North Carolina were
literally strewn with wrecks, and
the hardy crews of the Sixth Dis
trict were kept exceedingly busy
saving life and property. The
storm had come with such
suddenness that many coasters
were unable to reach a harbor,
and this will account for the
great number of casualties. Other
accounts of the rescue of the
crews of several vessels will be
found from time to time in these
columns. In three instances, how
ever, there was lamentable loss
of life, the particulars of which
will follow in this newspaper.
The vessels involved were the
schooners Henry P. Simmons,
Francis E. Waters, and Lizzie S.
Haynes; all three being wrecked
within few miles of each other,
the first two in the night OF
October 23rd and the Haynes on
the following day. The case of
the Simmons was a peculiarly
narrowing one, as, owing to the
long duration of the storm and
the great distance from the shore
at which she sunk, it was not
until the morning of the 18th
that anything could be done by
the crews of the neighboring
stations and then only one man
was saved. The rest of her peo-
pie were lost.)
The Henry P. Simmons was a
fine, staunch thr Ell a e d
schooner, of about six hundred
and fifty tons, hailing from Phil
adelphia, Pennsylvania, and val
ued at $4,000. She carried crew
of eight men all told, and was
commanded by Robert c. Grace,
who owned an interest in her.
She had sailed from Charleston,
South Carolina, ON or about
October 18th, on her way to
Baltimore, Maryland, deeply Ia
den with a cargo of phosphate
rock valued at $500, for use in
the manufacture of fertilizers.
The place where she sunk is a
mile and a half to the northward
and eastward of the Wash Woods
Station, Sixth District,) and a
little north of the boundary line
between the States of Virginia
and North Carolina.
The voyage was without spe-
cial incident until the afternoon
of the 23rd, when the gale set in
from the northeast and with it
a high and dangerous sea, which
caused the vessel to plunge deep
ly and ship great deal of water.
The sole survivor, Robert Lee
Garrett, colored man, says that
at 8 o'clock, when the fury of the
storm made it necessary to take
in the already close reefed main
sail, the men were unable to
handle it for fear of being wash
ed overheard, and all hands were
driven to the rigging for safety.
The helm was lashed amidships,
and with no one to guide her
the schooner was thus practically
helpless, and drifted completely
at the mercy of the wind and
waves. Rain was also falling in
torrents, so that it was impossible
to see anything around them,
and the poor fellows were quite
ignorant of their distance from
the shore, knowing only that
they must be in the vicinity of
False Cape, Virginia,
The laboring of the vessel had
also caused her to spring leak,
and this added to the peril of the
situation, for she was liable to
sink at any moment. In the midst
of these dangers the men, by
watching their opportunity
would descend to the deck and
work the pumps until again
driven to the rigging by the seas.
At halfpast ten o'clock that night
the schooner struck with a crash
on what is known as Pebble
Shoal, one of the many small
outlying shoal Jumps in the vi
cinity of False Cape, and there