Show w y i A f 1 1 l str i y i i t t A y 1 v v 7 r s LL JS A s m J s aaa LAUNCHING A people know the wide range and systematic organization ol 01 FEW the united states alte saveng service in ita work of saving lives along shore superintend ent sumner I 1 kemball has been its father and friend has made it bis religion for 40 years and he has so far succeeded as to have placed upon miles of our coast nearly alte saveng stations fitted up with the most modem rescuing apparatus and taken care of by 2000 men under deml military discipline twenty five thousand vessels have been given aid in this time and property valued at saved with far less loss of life than in the single case of the titanic which was sunk in crews ordinarily number eight or nine with the keeper of the station in eluded though under civil service reading and writing are about all that Is required educationally physical endurance and experience of the life along shore properly being the main requirement day watch is from sunrise to sunset and the night patrol is divided into tour watches strict system constant drilling simple food and simple living make men upon whom it Is a pleasure to look only fishermen born and bred to the loneliness of the life can stand it however and along the pacific where sta alons are tar apart they are mostly norwegians Norwegia ns and swedes of those old viking races whose hardihood and primal manner of living have never died in the blood of their sons not always peaceful that it has but 19 lifesaving life saving stations to the atlantic s is evident of the fact that the pacific coast is not generally considered more dangerous than it was when balboa gazing first upon the clear blue world of its waters named it the sea of peace the wreck of the rosecrans about a year ago stands out in consequence ts though the ocean mocked the mem ory of its discovery as a pacific body the rosecrans Rose crana started from mont erey cal a 2 ton ship bound for portland ore with 19 barrels of crude oil on the third night out the bleamer drew near the mouth of the columbia river A southerly gale sprang up and there was a heavy fall ing sea it began to rain and the lighthouse beacons could scarcely be seen aba columbia river lightship did its beet to warn the men of their danger it never had burned more brightly but the somber rain shut it out and the ship unaware kept nearing the peacock split of the terrors of the pacific coast the river light wrapped in rain stood like a dumb cyclops whose single eye was of no avail suddenly the rosecrans Rose crana grounded in the breakers flashes 8 0 S the crew sprang to the deck as one man an there flashed up the coast the dread S 0 S three times the cry was repeated then darted through the captain s mind the fear of fire from flying sparks of the wireless fire with 19 barrels of oil on board batter to perish in the jaws of the ocean but the astoria ore operator bad got the call and he flashed back now the mercy of a promise of help the rosecrans dared replying the water is now in the cabins we cant stay but the mes gage was never finished the wireless operator at astoria had sent out a general distress call there was no response from ship or station he begged the puget sound tugboat company at astoria to notify by some means the lifesaving life saving stations at capt disappointment and point adams the operator at north head was also beseeches beseeched ched to notify the cape disappointment people the telephone wires were out of order the agent 0 the tugboat company finally got a message to point adams but could offer no information as to the scene of the wreck since the ship had not been able to see the beacon through the storm the surf men of course could not hea a shout from the break ers of split it was nine 0 clock nearly tour hours after the stranding of the steamer that the keeping the watch from cape disappointment lookout tower telephoned his chief at the main station a quarter of a mile away that there was a ship in the breakers off mckenzie Mc Kenzle head A furious gale had risen the crew rounding the cape bad to fight both storm and rising tide so they turned back toward a cutoff cut off on a near by island here too the tide met them then the keeper spied a tug being towed over the bar and asked to be taken to the wreck there was a sharp refusal so the crew renewed its efforts singly it was man and man s humanity that gave them strength to struggle to reach the wreck it was useless the crew grew exhausted and it was more fight ing to get back to the station to wait tor low tide noon had come when they arrived disheartened dis only as men who spend their lives in the busl ness of saving other mens lives can be when they fail keeper at point adams after receiving the word early in the morning had commanded all his men to get ready tor sea with the tug a thorough search over the bar was made hut the vessel was hid den from their view and not the trace of a mast could be seen upon their return fort stevens telephoned that the rosecrans bad ground ed on peacock spit keeper wick lund left tor cape disappointment station where he tried again to reach the ship whose three survivors could now be seen hanging to the rigging but found it impossible captain rimer met him as he pulled in shore desperate now and deters mined to save those three men cling ing to the mast that swayed like a willow in the wind the two chiefs manned their boats and started back the gale tearing like a fury aba cape disappointment boat tenacious reached the wreck first but got herself into trouble by it and it was the point adams crew that signaled to the half dead men aloft to jump by continued circling the boat got pretty close to the ruined rosecrans the men on the mast were afraid tc leave it the rescuers kept circling closer when without warning a sea piled over their boat it was overturned and tour of the crew and the keeper shot into the water where they clung to the wreckage until the others who had sat tight while the boat made the dive managed to get all but one back abo crews of the tugs which did so much to help in the disaster that claimed the lives of 33 men were deeply appreciated by the department and letters of thanks were written them by the secretary of the treasury every member of the two ilfe sav ing creah has been awarded the highest sigh of praise within the province of the service a gold medal that is only given in exceptional cases of heroism in saving life along the shore |