The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1959-01-23

pletely at the mercy of the wind
and waves. Rain was also falling
in torrents, so that it was impos-
sible 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 a 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 decks and work the
pumps until again driven to the
rigging by the seas. At half-past
ten o'clock that night the schooner
struck with crash on what is
known as Pebble Shoal, one of the
many small outlying shoal Jumps
in the vicinity False Cape, and
there she bilged and quickly filled
with water.
The top of the cabin was almost
Immediately swept away, and the
vessel settled into the sand until
the hull was wholly submerged,
leaving nothing but the masts
above water. What passed during
the remaining hours of that dread
full night is a blank, beyond the
statement of Garrett that at
o'clock in the morning of the oath,
the steward, a colored man, unable
to hold on any longer, fell into
the storm-lashed sea and was lost.
This greatly shocked the rest.
When day dawned the scene from
the rigging of the wreck was a
wild and terrifying one. The wind
still ragged and the waves broke
into surf as far offshore as the
eye could see through the pelting
rain and spume drift, while to the
leeward lay the low sand hills,
which ever and anon came into
sight and were then hidden by the
towering pillows that madly
chased one another shoreward, and
were there scattered with thunder
Gus roar into smother of foam
and spray upon the desolate beach.
Tide OH Station Floors
The first intimation the Wash
Woods crew had of there being a
craft in the offing was after mid
night, when the incoming patrol
man from the north beat reported
"a faint white light, apparently
some distance off. This he had
answered with his Coston danger
signal. 1t should be stated here
that the storm tide had risen so
high that it swept completely
across the lower floors of the sta
tions. Under these conditions pa
troll duty was attended with the
greatest difficulty and danger, the
men having in places to wade hip
deep and being frequently driven
to the knobs for safety. The next
patrol upon returning at daylight
brought news that a vessel had
sunk during the night well off
shore; the masts at that time show
ing above water about two-thirds
of their length, while the end of
the jib boom was just visible be-
tween the seas. The vessel lay
with her head shoreward. AS it
was scarcely light when the pa
trolman passed her, he saw moth
ing of the crew. Another surfman
was at once dispatched up the
beach to obtain more definite infor-
nation, and returned with the re-
port that he could see several men
in the rigging. 1t was impossible
to handle the beach apparatus just
then, by reason of the condition of
the beach, but as soon as the water
fell off on the ebb tide the men
set out with the long-range gear
and after hard tug reached the
scene at about 10 o'clock in the
forenoon. In the meantime, at
about 9 o'clock, according to Gar