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

| AS last resort d IIleSSdSS ldu
been forwarded by way of Cape
Henry for the dispatch of a tug
or other vessel from Norfolk to
the aid of the people from out
side. In response to this a small
revenue steamer in Hampton
Roads, the Lot M. Morrill,, made
the attempt, but the sea outside
the capes was too rough and she
was driven back. The beach was
vigilantly patroled that night, an
extra force of men being out
watching for a lull to enable the
boat to go off.
On the 26th, the crew of the
Little Island Station arrived.
These men had done good work
at the wreck of the schooner F.
o. Dame, in their own precinct,
ten miles away, on the night of
the 23d and morning of the Oath.
The vessel having stranded close
in they had saved the entire
crew by means of the breaches
buoy. Three attempts were made
on this date (26th) to reach the
Simmons, but every time the
boat was driven back full of
water, the wind having changed
to the southeast and set in more
fiercely than before, with, if pos
sible, higher sea.
Two of the remaining men
were washed out of the rigging
during the day in plain view of
the people on the beach, and the
day closed with but one man left
on the wreck. The weather on
the morning of the 9th was no
more favorable, the rain falling
in torrents, with a continuance
of the southeasterly gale. To-
wards evening, however, the
storm had nearly spent itself,
and there was promise of shift
of wind to the westward. This
was what the life-savers had
been hoping for and it gave them
encouragement, though there
must necessarily be one more
night of horror for the sufferer
in the rigging before the sea
could run down sufficiently for
him to be reached. If he could
hold on a few hours longer he
would be saved.
Keeper Corbel Goes to Sea.
By midnight the wind had
canted to the southwest and SUBJ
sided to a moderate breeze. The
sea also fell rapidly, so that at
5 o'clock in the morning of the
18th, before daylight, the surf
boat was again moved down to
the edge of the water in readi-
ness for a launch. Life belts were
then strapped on by the picked
crew of oarsmen from the Wash
Woods and False Cape crews, in
Guiding Keeper O'Neal of the
last-named station, and with the
veteran keeper, Malachi Corbel,
at the steering oar, a bold and
successful dash was ma de
through the heavy line of break
ers on the bar. Once through
these the boat was not long in
reaching the sunken wreck,
which, in the darkness, had to be
approached with some caution to
avoid ENHANCEMENT in the cor
dage hanging from the spars. To
the great relief of every man in
the boat a faint response came
to the keepers hail, and pre-
sently there crept out into view
the form of the sole survivor of
the dreadful tragedy, and Robert
Lee Garrett was saved.
He had been ensconced within
the sheltering folds of the mizzen
gafftopsail, and this protection,
with the aid of a splendid ply
sique, had enabled him to with
stand the great hardships to
which he had been exposed. He
had been without food of any
kind for over four days, his only
sustenance having been rain
water caught in the sail, and his
survival was simply marvellous.
Once in the boat no time was lost
in transferring him to the shore,
where restoratives from the
medicine chest were quickly adj
ministered, and he was then con-
Quoted to the station, comfort
ably clad in warm garments from
the supply box of the Woman's
National Relief Association, and
otherwise cared for. The mans
wonderful powers of endurance
and his great recuperative energy
may be illustrated by statement
of the fact that in two days from
the time of his deliverance he
was ready to leave for Virginia
Beach, there to take the train for
Norfolk en- route to Baltimore,
his home. Five of the bodies of
the drowned seamen were SUBJ
sequently recovered at various
points along the shore, that of
A.