Chapter III: Part 3

Capt. William W. Cook, keeper of the Peaked Hill Bars Station, one of the most dangerous of all, was born in Provincetown, within sight of his station, Nov. 3, 1852. He has been in the life-saving service for twenty years, fourteen years as a surfman and six as keeper at this station. When a boy he evidenced great love for boats, and after leaving school, until he entered the life-saving service, he spent nearly all his time at sea. He was first in the merchant service, but later joined the fleet of whaling vessels that cruised on the north and south Atlantic grounds, gaining a wide experience as a whaleman, and becoming thoroughly familiar with the handling of boats under the most trying conditions and roughest weather. When he decided to enter the life-saving service the department was glad to secure him, and as an evidence of their faith in his ability, they assigned him to the dangerous Peaked Hill Bars Station, under the late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher.

For fourteen years Captain Cook patrolled the beaches and faithfully performed the duties of a surfman, and then succeeded Captain Fisher as keeper, when the latter was transferred to the Wood End Station. In all his years of experience, both as a surfman and keeper of this station, Captain Cook has never had his boat capsized, has never been overboard from his boat, and has never lost or had a member of his crew seriously injured in the performance of duty.

Of all the wrecks which Captain Cook and his crew have gone to, one of the most hazardous undertakings was at the wreck of the three-masted schooner _Willie H. Higgins_, in March, 1898, from which they rescued seven men and one woman in the surf-boat. At the wreck of the schooner _Theta_, Captain Cook and his crew made a most daring rescue of her crew of seven, and the captain’s wife. The rescue was made in the surf-boat in a riotous sea that threatened to engulf the boat and drown both rescued and rescuers. The thrilling rescue was witnessed by a vast multitude that had assembled on the beach, and a mighty cheer was sent up as willing hands pulled the surf-boat out of the maddened waters onto the beach.

Captain Cook uses a twenty-one foot steering oar when going to a wreck in the surf boat, and to this he attributes his great success in handling the craft under the worst conditions of wind or wave. The steering oar is the same kind as he used when a whaleman. That he is skilled in the use of it is evidenced by the enviable record he has made since he has been keeper of the station. He is a warrior of the sea who knows no fear when duty calls, and who is ever ready to put off from the beach to aid distressed seafarers, when it is possible for a boat to live. He married Annie Young Snow, and is the father of a daughter.

PEAKED HILL BARS STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Levi A. Kelley. He was born in Provincetown, and is forty years of age. Surfman Kelley entered the service in 1884, and was assigned to this station. He is an expert boatman, and the life of a life saver has not the least terror for him. He followed the sea for a number of years as a fisherman and sailor, and became well accustomed to the hardships similar to those of a surfman before he joined the service. He married Nona B. Lewis, and is the father of a boy.

The No. 2 surfman is Benjamin S. Henderson. He was born in Wellfleet in 1855, and has been a member of this station crew for seventeen years, or since he entered the service. Surfman Henderson came from a sea-going family, and took naturally to the hard and perilous work that life savers are called upon to perform. He followed the sea for a number of years before entering the service. He married Mary Dears, and is the father of two girls and two boys.

Left to right: LEVY KELLEY. JAS. F. FISH. WM. D. CARLOS.
CAPT. W. W. COOK (seated). CHAS. HIGGINS. WM. E. SYLVIA
BENJ. R. KELLEY.

PEAKED HILL BARS CREW.]

The No. 3 surfman is James F. Fish. Surfman Fish was born in East Boston in 1853. When a young man he went to sea, making a number of trips on fishing vessels, and later entering the merchant service. He entered the life-saving service in 1881, being assigned to this station, and has served faithfully in the capacity of a surfman for nearly twenty-two years. Surfman Fish served his apprenticeship as a life saver under the late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher. He has had many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes from death in the service. He is an expert boatman and as fearless a surfman as patrols the shores of Cape Cod. He married Mary L. Enos.

The No. 4 surfman is William D. Carlos. He was born in Provincetown in 1870, and has been in the life-saving service for five years. Surfman Carlos went to sea when he was seventeen years of age, engaging in boating and fishing from that time until he entered the service. He was first assigned to the Chatham Station, where he remained for one year, being transferred to this station in 1898. He gained a thorough knowledge of handling boats in the roughest water while a fisherman, and was well fitted for the work of a surfman along the dangerous coast of Cape Cod. He married Matilda B. Travis, and is the father of a boy.

The No. 5 surfman is Charles A. Higgins. He was born in Provincetown in 1862, and has been in the life-saving service for seven years. Surfman Higgins followed the vocation of a boat fisherman from the time he was a young man until he joined the crew at Peaked Hill Bars. He is an expert boatman and a brave and faithful surfman. He married Bessie L. Bangs.

The No. 6 surfman is William E. Sylvia. He was born in Provincetown, and is thirty-two years of age. Surfman Sylvia is a new man, but has had a wide experience as a sailor and fisherman, and possesses the other qualities that go to make a successful surfman. He married Louise Smith.

The No. 7 surfman is Benjamin R. Kelley. He was born in Truro, and is fifty-seven years of age, the oldest surfman, in point of years, at this station. Surfman Kelley was assigned to this station when he entered the service eighteen years ago, and has remained a member of the crew ever since. He followed the sea for a number of years before entering the service, and is an old and tried surfman.

RACE POINT STATION.

This station is one of the original nine stations erected on Cape Cod in 1872, and was manned in the winter of 1873. The station is one and five-eighths miles east of Race Point, from which it derives its name. Its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude north 42° 04′ 45″, longitude west 70° 13′ 15″. From Provincetown the station is about four miles distant, and easy of access over a highway across the sand dunes. The coast at Race Point is very treacherous, and has been the scene of many wrecks. The tides run past the point with great velocity, and vessels are frequently swept to destruction on the sunken rips which lie along the coast there.

The surfmen of this station go over a patrol westward of two and one-half miles, and eastward about one and three-quarters miles. On the eastward patrol the surfmen meet and exchange checks with the surfmen from Peaked Hill Bars Station; on the westward patrol the surfmen use a time clock, as “Race Run” so called, an inlet through the beach, prevents them from meeting the surfmen from Wood End Station. The station is supplied with three surf-boats of the Race Point model, two beach carts, with guns, breeches-buoys, etc., and a life-car.

Ninety-two vessels, of all descriptions, have met with disaster near this station since Capt. “Sam” Fisher has been keeper. On these vessels there were over six hundred seafarers, including two women. Of this number of persons taken ashore, thirty-seven were landed by the breeches-buoy, the surf-boat being employed to bring the others that were saved to the shore.

“Nigger,” the horse which is on duty at the Race Point Station, is a noble and intelligent animal. When storms are sweeping the coast, “Nigger” shows a restlessness that is not dispelled until fair weather again prevails. As the surfmen return from their patrol at night, “Nigger” always gives evidence in some way or another that he is awake and ready for duty. “Nigger” takes kindly to the work of dragging the heavy beach apparatus and surf-boat through the sands, and responds to the call “ship ashore” as lively as the surfmen. “Nigger” is the pet of all the surfmen, and seems to enjoy having visitors call to see him.

CAPT. SAMUEL O. FISHER.

Capt. Samuel O. Fisher, keeper of the Race Point Life-Saving Station, was born in Provincetown in 1861, and has been in the life-saving service twenty-three years, eight of which he spent as surfman at Peaked Hill Bars Station and fifteen as keeper of this station. “Sam” Fisher came from a seafaring family and is a near relative of the late Isaac G. Fisher, a noted life saver. He went to sea as a sailor on a coasting vessel when a young man. He left the coastwise trade to go tow boating, which he followed for a short time, when he again entered the coastwise trade. He was also a fisherman and boatman off the shores of Cape Cod. He entered the life-saving service when nineteen years of age, being assigned to the Peaked Hill Bars Station under the late Captain Atkins. He was then an experienced boatman, strong and robust. He had been a member of the station crew but a short time when he came near losing his life in a terrible tragedy that took place on the bars near the station.

It was at the time the sloop _C. M. Trumbull_ stranded on Peaked Hill Bars. Captain Atkins and his brave crew had pulled out to the stranded sloop and was about to effect the rescue of the imperiled crew when the surf-boat was capsized, throwing all hands into the raging sea. Captain Atkins and two members of the crew perished, Fisher and two others managing to reach the shore after a desperate struggle. After the death of Captain Atkins, the late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher was prevailed upon to take charge of the station. Capt. “Sam” Fisher remained as surfman under Capt. Isaac Fisher until he was appointed keeper of the Race Point Station, succeeding John W. Young.

From his experience at Peaked Hill Bars Station Capt. “Sam” Fisher was well fitted for the arduous duties of keeper of the Race Point Station. During the fifteen years that he has been keeper of the Race Point Station he has led his crew to deeds of great heroism. He has had many narrow escapes from serious injury and death in the performance of his duty, and was once obliged to retire for a period of fifty days on account of injuries received while working on a wrecked schooner. Once he was obliged to swim ashore from an overturned boat, and several times he has narrowly escaped losing his life going to wrecks. Lawrence Maddocks, a member of the crew who was thrown out of the boat with Captain Fisher at the time of the wreck of the schooner _Julia Bailey_, died shortly after from the effects of exposure.

He married Myra L. Pierce.

RACE POINT STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Edwin B. Tyler. He was born in Provincetown, is thirty-two years of age, and has been in the United States Life-Saving Service five years. Prior to his joining the service he engaged in boating and fishing. In this way he obtained a thorough knowledge of the coast about the tip end of the Cape, and became skilled in the management of boats in the surf, all of which has been of great value to him since he entered the service. Surfman Tyler, in the few years that he has been in the service, has had his full share of the hardship that is part of the life of a life saver on Cape Cod. He married Pauline Ryder.

The No. 2 surfman is George H. Burch. Surfman Burch was born in Provincetown fifty years ago, and in point of years of service he is the oldest member of the crew of the Race Point Station. He has been a member of the Race Point Station crew for fifteen years, joining the station when he entered the service. Surfman Burch went to sea when a boy, and followed it until he entered the life-saving service. In addition to being a coastwise sailor, he also went in pursuit of the whale. He is an old and tried life saver who knows no fear, and on whom the fifteen years of hardship has left no visible trace. He married Mary Sylva of Provincetown, and is the father of a son.

Left to right: FRANK BROWN. MARTIN NELSON. EDWIN B. TYLER.
CAPTAIN FISHER (seated). GEO. H. BURCH. JOHN B. BANGS.

RACE POINT CREW.]

The No. 3 surfman is Henry I. Collins. He was born in Truro in 1871. Surfman Collins entered the life-saving service three years ago, being assigned to this station. Before entering the service he had followed the sea as a boatman and fisherman from the time he was a small boy. He is an expert boatman, and was not long in the service before he demonstrated his worth as a life saver. He married Nellie Lombard, and is the father of two girls.

The No. 4 surfman is Frank Brown. Surfman Brown was born in Provincetown in 1866. He joined the life-saving service in 1899, being assigned to the Muskeget Station at Nantucket. After serving there for several months he was transferred to this station. Surfman Brown from his long experience as a fisherman and in the coasting trade is an expert boatman, and also possesses all the other qualifications necessary to make a life saver. He married Margaret Sullivan of Provincetown.

The No. 5 man is John B. Bangs. He was born in Provincetown and is twenty-nine years of age. Surfman Bangs has been in the service seven years. He was first assigned to the High Head Station under Captain Kelly and has been connected with this station but one year. Surfman Bangs from his experience as a coastwise sailor, fisherman, and boatman found no difficulty in passing the rigid examination necessary to enter the service, and is a skilled and intrepid life saver.

The No. 6 surfman is Martin Nelson. Surfman Nelson was born in Sweden in 1869. He went to sea when about fifteen years of age and sailed over a great part of the world before he reached the shores of Cape Cod. He has been in the service four years, being assigned to the Monomoy Station under the late Captain Tuttle when he entered the service. Surfman Nelson was also a member of the crew of the Monomoy Station under the late Captain Eldredge, being transferred to the Race Point Station but a short time before. Captain Eldredge and all but one of his boat’s crew lost their lives. Surfman Nelson came of a seafaring family and seems especially fitted for the hard life that he has chosen. He married Louise C. Smith, of Provincetown, and is the father of a boy.

The No. 7 surfman is Eugene R. Conwell. He was born in Provincetown in 1880, and is the youngest member of the crew of this station. Surfman Conwell entered the service in June, 1902, being stationed on the floating station at City Point during the summer season, coming to this station in December, 1902. Surfman Conwell, while a young man, is an experienced boatman and has the youth and vigor that will help to make him a valuable member of any life-saving crew to which he may become attached.

HIGH HEAD STATION.

This station was established and manned in 1883 by Captain Kelley and a crew of trained surfmen. The station is three and one-half miles northwest of Cape Cod Highland Light, and its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude 42° 03′ 55″ longitude west 70° 06′ 50″. From Provincetown the station is about five miles distant. The eastern end of the dreaded Peaked Hill Bars extend along the coast at this station, and from wrecks that have taken place on these bars the crew of the station have made many daring rescues. The surfmen at this station exchange checks with the surfmen from the Highland Station on the east and the Peaked Hill Bars Station on the west.

The patrol is about one and one-half miles each way, the shortest patrol on the entire coast of Cape Cod. The station is supplied with two surf-boats, a practice-boat, three beach carts with guns, breeches-buoys, etc., and a life-car.

The practice-boat came from the Peaked Hill Bars Station, and is the one which was capsized at the wreck of the schooner _C. M. Trumbull_ at the time the late Captain Atkins, keeper of the Peaked Hill Bars Station, and two members of his crew lost their lives. A surf-boat and beach cart are kept in a house near the beach to be near at hand in the event of disaster. The horse kept at the station is owned by Captain Kelley, and is employed by the government during the winter season, to help drag the apparatus at the time of a wreck.

Capt. Charles P. Kelley, keeper of the High Head Station, with his crew of life savers, have taken thirty-seven persons ashore in their surf-boat during the twenty years that Captain Kelley has been in charge. The breeches-buoy has not been used in active service within the patrol of the station, however, since Captain Kelley assumed command. From the schooner _Laura Brown_ five men were rescued and the vessel saved; from the brig _Emily T. Sheldon_ eight men were taken ashore, the vessel becoming a total loss. The schooner _Oliver Ames_, which stranded near the station, was saved with her crew of seven.

From the schooner _Plymouth Rock_, which became a total wreck near the station, the crew of six were saved. The crew of the _Abbie H. Hodgman_, five in number, were saved and the vessel floated. The sloop _Red Rover_, which was a total wreck, had her crew of two men rescued. The schooner _Lucia Porter_, with a crew of six men, were saved by the crew of this station, as was the schooner _William H. Oler_ and her crew, eight in number.

From the schooner _Jennie C. May_ three persons were taken ashore, the vessel finally becoming a total loss. The schooner _Carrie Richardson_ had her crew of four men taken off by the life savers, the vessel becoming a total wreck, and from the schooner _Job H. Jackson_, which, also, became a total wreck, the life savers, under Captain Kelley, rescued the crew of four men.

CAPT. CHARLES P. KELLEY.

Capt. Charles P. Kelley, keeper of the High Head Life-Saving Station, was born in the village of South Yarmouth, Mass., in the year 1850.

He attended the public schools in his native village until he was a young man, when he went to sea. His first experience being on a fishing vessel. Later he engaged in the coastwise service, and after a number of years joined the fleet of merchantmen which, at that time, carried on an extensive trade with the West Indies.

At the age of twenty-nine, Captain Kelley left the merchant service and joined the crew of life savers under the late Capt. David H. Atkins, at the Peaked Hill Bars Life-Saving Station.

Captain Kelley was attached to the Peaked Hill Bars Station for about three years, during which time he had a number of thrilling experiences and narrow escapes from death in the performance of his duty.

At the time of the wreck of the sloop _C. M. Trumbull_, on Peaked Hill Bars, Captain Kelley was in the life-boat with Captain Atkins going off to the rescue of the imperiled crew, when the latter and two members of the crew lost their lives.

It was Captain Kelley who discovered the sloop stranded on the bars. The life-boat was quickly manned and put off to the wrecked vessel, and in a short time three of the crew were landed on the beach. A second trip through the breakers was safely made, and the boat was alongside the sloop, ready to take off the remaining two members, when the boom of the sloop caught the life-boat under the belt, and capsized it, throwing all hands into the boiling sea.

The night was intensely dark and the weather freezing cold. Captain Atkins was never seen, and the other two members of the boat’s crew perished after repeated attempts to get into their boat.

Captain Kelley, surfman as he was then, together with “Sam” Fisher, now keeper of the Race Point Station, and Isaiah H. Young reached the shore after a terrible struggle, and were pulled out of the surf by the members of the crew who had remained ashore.

All three were more dead than alive. The bodies of Captain Atkins and the two members of the crew, Elisha Taylor and Frank A. Mayo, were afterwards found on the beach by the life savers of an adjoining station.

Captain Kelley had been in the service but about a year when he passed through this terrible experience, yet he remained at the dangerous Peaked Hill Bars Station for three years under the late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher, being transferred to the High Head Station as keeper when the station was first manned in 1883.

Captain Kelley had such a wide and varied experience when following the sea, and later as a surfman attached to the Peaked Hill Bars Station, that he was especially well qualified for the responsible position of keeper of the High Head Station, where he has been in command for over twenty years.

During his long term of service as keeper he has been called upon at times to face the elements when they were in their greatest fury, yet he has unflinchingly responded to every call, and, with the surfmen under his charge, have had many thrilling experiences, and endured untold hardship. Captain Kelley was twice married; his present wife was Hannah C. Graham. He is the father of one child, a daughter.

HIGH HEAD STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Fred C. Franzer. He was born in Provincetown, Aug. 19, 1863, and has been a member of the crew of this station for sixteen years, or ever since he joined the service. He had been a boatman, fisherman, coastwise sailor, and whaleman before entering the service. He is a most experienced life saver, an expert surfman, and a faithful coast guardian. He married Catherine Sylvey, of Provincetown.

The No. 2 surfman is Benjamin Kelley. He was born in West Dennis, and is forty-eight years of age. He went to sea at an early age and made a number of voyages to the Atlantic whaling grounds, and until he joined the service, sixteen years ago, had followed the sea in one capacity or another. Surfman Kelley is at present on sick leave, suffering from injuries received in the performance of duty, his place at the station being filled by his son. Until he received the injuries which compelled him to retire temporarily from the service, he had faithfully performed the arduous duties of the life of a surfman, and was an efficient and trustworthy life saver. He married Susan C. Snow, and is the father of two children, a son and daughter.

Left to right: A. A. BAKER. L. C. MULLET. H. H. KELLEY.
CAPTAIN KELLEY (seated). DAVID B. SNOW. CURTIS F. HIGGINS.
ROB’T E. ELLIS.

HIGH HEAD CREW.]

The No. 3 surfman is Robert E. Ellis. He was born in Woburn, Mass., is thirty-four years of age, and has been a member of this crew for three years. He was a boatman and fisherman before entering the service, and under the instruction of Captain Kelley has made an able and fearless life saver.

The No. 4 surfman is Albert A. Baker. He was born in Chatham, and is thirty-four years of age. Surfman Baker has been in the service four years, joining this station when he entered. He was a coastwise sailor, boatman, and fisherman before entering the service, and has made an efficient and faithful life saver. He married Susie A. Pratt, and is the father of three boys.

The No. 5 surfman is David B. Snow. He was born in Wellfleet, is twenty-five years of age, and has been in the service two years. He followed the sea from the time he was fourteen years of age until he entered the life-saving service. He is a skilful boatman and an efficient life saver.

The No. 6 surfman is Curtis F. Higgins. He was born in Orleans, and is thirty-two years of age. He has been a member of this crew for two years, entering the service after following the sea as a boatman, yachtsman, towboatman, and a steamshipman. From his experience in the different kinds of work on the water in which he had engaged, he was well prepared for the work of a surfman, and has made an able and faithful life saver. He married Leonora B. Jason.

The No. 7 surfman is Samuel C. Mullett. He was born in Chatham, and is thirty-four years of age. Surfman Mullett is the winter man at this station, joining the station in December and remaining until May following. He has been in the service for three years. During the summer seasons he is a member of the City Point Station, South Boston. Surfman Mullett followed the sea from the time that he was a boy until he entered the service. He is an experienced surfman and well fitted for the hardships that he is called upon to endure as a life saver. He married Mrs. Bessie Cash.

WOOD END STATION.

This station is one of the new type of life-saving stations, with commodious quarters for the keeper and crew, large boat room and lookout. It was built in 1896, and manned in 1897. The late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher, who was keeper of the Peaked Hill Bars Station at the time, was placed in charge of the station and a picked crew of surfmen. Captain Fisher continued as keeper until ill-health caused him to resign from the service. Capt. William Sparrow, now keeper of the Point Allerton Station, who was No. 1 man under Captain Fisher, acted as temporary keeper until Captain Bickers was placed in charge. The station is located on the narrow strip of beach at the tip end of Cape Cod, Provincetown, one-eighth of a mile east from the Wood End lighthouse. Its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude north 42° 01′ 15″, longitude west 70° 11′ 30″. From Provincetown the distance to the station over the sand dunes and along the beach is about three and one-half miles. Across the head of the harbor, a way that is accessible when the tide has ebbed, the distance is much shorter. The station is supplied with two five-oared surf-boats of the Race Point model, two beach carts, with guns, breeches-buoys, etc., and one life-car. The patrol from this station extends three and three-quarters miles north, and two and one-quarter miles south. This is the only station on Cape Cod where the surfmen do not meet and exchange checks with the surfmen from other stations, time clocks being employed to record the performance of duty of the patrol.

No total wrecks have occurred within the province of this station since Captain Bickers has been in command, and no persons have been taken ashore by the crew either in the surf-boat or breeches-buoy, although a large number of vessels have met with disaster near there. The following vessels have been assisted and floated by Captain Bickers and crew: the yawl _Adventurer_, the barge _Paxnos_, and the schooners _Clara_, _Zephyr_, _Caviar_, _Manomet_, _Joseph I. Johnson_, _St. Bernard_, _Marjorie Brown_, _Gladstone_, and _Lewis H. Giles_. Captain Bickers and his crew also assisted in the rescue of the two men, members of the crew of the schooner _Two Forty_, who had been adrift in an open boat for fourteen hours.

“Tom,” the pet cat at the Wood End Station, while not being able to aid in the work of life saving, often goes out with the surfmen on their lonely patrol along the beaches to keep them company. “Tom” knows every foot of the beaches and seems to delight in going out with the surfmen, whether the weather is fair or stormy. “Tom” often meets the surfmen half-way along the beach as they are returning from their patrol, running along ahead of the men as if to show them the way to the station. “Tom” is the pet of the crew and is well taken care of by them.

“Jim,” the horse which is at the Wood End Station, is owned by Captain Bickers, the keeper. He was raised on Cape Cod, and has been connected with the station for one year or since Captain Bickers assumed charge of the station. “Jim” is an intelligent animal, and has upon more than one occasion been of valuable service to the crew, by hauling apparatus to scenes of disaster. “Jim” knows when bad weather prevails, and is ever ready to do his share in the work of saving life or property.

CAPT. GEORGE H. BICKERS.

Capt. George H. Bickers, keeper of the Wood End Life-Saving Station, was born in Charlestown, Mass., in 1858. He has been in the life-saving service for eleven years, ten as a surfman at Race Point and one as keeper of the Wood End Station. After leaving school, when a young boy, Captain Bickers shipped before the mast on a coasting schooner. He followed coasting for a few years, when he went whaling. As a whaleman he learned the art of handling boats in riotous waters as well as seamanship in all its branches. Captain Bickers followed the sea until he was thirty-three years of age, when he entered the life-saving service, being assigned to the Race Point Station under Capt. “Sam” Fisher. From his experience as a sailor and whaleman he was well fitted for the duties of a life saver. He remained a member of the Race Point crew until the death of Capt. Isaac G. Fisher, keeper of the Wood End Station, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy. Captain Bickers enjoyed an enviable record as a surfman, and has made a record since being keeper of the Wood End Station that places him in the front rank of life savers. One disaster followed another near his station soon after he assumed command, yet not a life was lost, and nearly every craft was saved from destruction by his brave and vigilant crew. But one mishap has occurred since Captain Bickers took charge of the station, the capsizing of the surf-boat while going to a wrecked fishing vessel. The crew quickly righted their boat, bailed her out, went to the wreck, and saved the craft from destruction. Captain Bickers has a crew of skilled and fearless life savers who are ever ready to obey his commands.

He married Abbie L. Cahoon, and is the father of a son.

WOOD END STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Francesco A. Silva. He was born in Fayal, Azore Islands, in 1863, and has been in the life-saving service for six years, all of which have been spent at this station. Surfman Silva went to sea when a boy, sailing before the mast on a merchant ship. Later he became a whaleman, voyaging from one part of the world to the other in pursuit of the monsters of the deep. Surfman Silva performed his first work as a life saver under the late Capt. Isaac G. Fisher, and soon became an experienced and efficient surfman. He married Julia A. Lornes, and is the father of a son.

Left to right: CAPTAIN BICKERS. FRANCESCO A. SILVA.
JONATHAN C. SMALL. FRANK C. WAGES. ALBERT G. MABBETT.
WILLIE F. ELDREDGE. JAMES E. WORTH.

WOOD END CREW.]

The No. 2 surfman is Jonathan C. Small. He was born in Provincetown, and is twenty-six years of age. Surfman Small engaged in boating and fishing off the shores of Cape Cod from the time he was a boy until he entered the life-saving service, and was well fitted for the position he now holds. He has been in the service five years, and is an experienced and fearless life saver.

The No. 3 surfman is Frank C. Wages. He was born in Provincetown in 1869, and has been in the life-saving service at this station since it was manned in 1897. Surfman Wages was a sailor and fisherman along the shores of Cape Cod before entering the service, and has made an able and faithful life saver. He married Phœbe Silva, and is the father of a son.

The No. 4 surfman is Albert G. Mabbett. He was born in Whitehall, N. Y., in 1872, and has been in the life-saving service for six years. He shipped as a sailor before the mast on a coasting vessel when he was a boy, and spent several years in the coasting trade. Later he made a number of trips on the United States school ship _St. Mary_, going on cruises to England, Ireland, and through the Straits of Gibraltar to the ports along the Mediterranean Sea. Prior to entering the life-saving service as a regular surfman, he had substituted at other stations along the shores of Cape Cod. As a substitute he performed meritorious service, and has made an efficient and brave life saver. He married Grace May Henderson, and is the father of two daughters and a son.

The No. 5 surfman is Willie F. Eldredge. He was born in Chatham, is thirty-six years of age, and has been in the life-saving service three years. Before entering the service he was a boatman and fisherman along the Chatham shores, and from his experience in that work was well prepared for the duties of a surfman. He also substituted at many of the life-saving stations along the shores of Cape Cod, and is an experienced and efficient life saver.

The No. 6 surfman is James E. Worth. He was born in Provincetown in 1861, and has been in the life-saving service one year. When a boy Surfman Worth went cod fishing to the Grand Banks, and later shipped on a merchant vessel and made a great number of trips to the West Indies Islands and South American ports. After a few years in the merchant service he became a whaleman, and in that service had a number of thrilling experiences. After giving up going to sea he became a baggage-master on the Old Colony Railroad. Later he entered the employ of the Cold Storage Plant at Provincetown, remaining there until he entered this service. When he entered the service he was assigned to the Muskeget Station on Nantucket, and was later transferred to this station. He is an expert boatman and a brave and hardy life saver. He married Nellie P. Lewis, and is the father of two daughters and four sons.

The No. 7 surfman is John N. Lewis. He was born in Provincetown, and is thirty-eight years of age. Until he entered the service four years ago, he had followed the sea from a boy. For three years he was a member of the City Point Station, South Boston, during the summer seasons, and also spent one season at the Straitsmouth Station, Cape Ann. Surfman Lewis is a skilled boatman, and has proved that he can be depended upon to do his duty in any emergency.

PAMET RIVER STATION.

The Pamet River Station is another of the original nine stations which were erected on Cape Cod in 1872. It is located three and one-half miles south of Cape Cod Highland Light, its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude north 42° 00′ 00″, longitude west 70° 01′ 15″.

The station stands on one of the high sand dunes which line the ocean shore in Truro village about three miles from the Truro railroad station. When the station was built it stood several hundred feet back from high water mark, but the sea has made such great inroads into the sand dunes at that point on the beach, that the high water mark is now less than one hundred feet distant from the station, which will soon have to be moved to insure its safety. Sand bars with but a small depth of water over them fringe the shore at this station, extending seaward for several hundred yards, and the history of the station records many fearful disasters on them. It was on these dreaded bars that the terrible ocean tragedy, the wreck of the ship _Jason_, occurred, and also where the three crafts, the _Powwow_, _Miles Standish_, and the _E. Pavey_, were wrecked at one time. The wreck of the _Jason_ was one of the most appalling disasters that has ever taken place on the shores of Cape Cod, twenty-six lives being lost. Of the whole crew, Samuel Evans, the ship’s apprentice, was the only person that managed to reach the shore. Of the whole number, thirty-four, aboard the ships _Powwow_, _Miles Standish_, and _Pavey_, twelve were lost.

The surfmen from this station have a patrol that extends two and one-half miles north and about an equal distance south, the surfmen meeting and exchanging checks on the south patrol with the surfmen from Cahoon’s Hollow on the north with the surfmen from the Highland Station.

The patrol is exceedingly hazardous and difficult. When the tide is high the surfmen are driven to the tops of the sand dunes and obliged to grope their way along the crest of the cliffs, which in many places are a hundred feet above the sea-level.

When the station was manned, Capt. Jonathan Lee was appointed keeper. He was succeeded by Capt. Nelson W. Weston, George W. Kelley, and Capt. John H. Rich, the latter being succeeded by the present keeper, Capt. George W. Bowley.

Captain Bowley has been in charge of this station but a little over one year, during which time no wrecks have occurred within the territory covered by the patrol from the station, and the crew has been called upon but twice to assist disabled vessels. The first assistance rendered by Captain Bowley after his appointment as keeper was to a big tug boat which got caught on the bars off the shore and was in great peril. The next call was to assist a steam yacht which became disabled off the shore near the station.

This station is supplied with two surf-boats of the Monomoy model, two beach carts with full sets of apparatus, and one life-car. “Johnny,” a horse owned by Captain Bowley, is employed by the government during the winter season to assist in hauling the apparatus to wrecks.

CAPT. GEORGE W. BOWLEY.

Capt. George W. Bowley, keeper of the Pamet River Life-Saving Station, was born in Provincetown, Sept. 27, 1870, and has been in the United States Life-Saving Service for eleven years, ten as a surfman at the Highland Station at North Truro, and one year as keeper of this station.

Captain Bowley came from a family of life savers, his father having been a surfman at the High Head Station, in Provincetown, for eighteen years, being forced to resign on account of ill-health caused by the hardship he had suffered in that long term of service.

Captain Bowley when a boy was employed as a messenger at the telegraph station in his native town. Later he went to sea on a coasting vessel, and afterwards made a number of voyages to the West Indies. He spent a number of years fishing along the shores of Cape Cod, entering the service when he was twenty-one years of age. The training as a life saver which he received at the Highland Station, under the veteran keeper, Captain Worthen, not only made him a No. 1 surfman, but also fitted him for the higher position which he now holds.

Since he has been keeper of the Pamet River Station, Captain Bowley has spared no pains to maintain a high standard of efficiency and discipline, and he has a crew of trained surfmen ever ready to obey his commands.

PAMET RIVER STATION CREW.

Oldest surfman in the United States Life-saving Service.]

The No. 1 surfman is Ephraim S. Dyer. He was born in Truro in 1845, and has the distinction of being the oldest surfman in point of years of service, among the life savers of Cape Cod, if not in the United States. He joined the service when it was established on Cape Cod, and has been attached to the Pamet River Station ever since that time. Before entering the service Surfman Dyer went to sea for a number of years, following the coastwise trade. He also spent a number of years as a fisherman and boatman along the shores of Cape Cod, and was in every way qualified for the position he has held for so long a time. During his long term of service Surfman Dyer has had many narrow escapes from death in the performance of his duty. Upon one occasion when three wrecks, the _Powwow_, _Miles Standish_, and _Pavey_, occurred at one time, he became entangled in the wreckage of one of the vessels, and a big rope, becoming twisted around his legs, dragged him to the bottom, nearly drowning him. During the thirty years that he has been connected with this station, Surfman Dyer has assisted at all the wrecks that have occurred near there, and beyond a sprained ankle he has never received any other injury in the work of saving life and property. The hardships which he has suffered in thirty years do not appear to have affected him in the least. He is hale and hearty and ever ready to respond to the call “vessel ashore.”

Surfman Dyer was twice married; his present wife was formerly Lydia Moore. He has one child, a daughter.

Left to right: E. S. DYER. J. H. ATWOOD. R. F. HONEY.
CAPTAIN BOWLEY (seated). G. W. PAINE. I. T. HATCH. A. NICKERSON.

PAMET RIVER CREW.]

The No. 2 surfman is Joseph H. Atwood. He was born in Weymouth, Mass., in 1845, and has been in the life-saving service for seventeen years, all of which have been spent at this station. Surfman Atwood went to sea when he was but nine years of age.

For thirty-one years he followed the sea in one capacity or another, making a number of voyages to the West Indies, in engaging in the coastwise trade. From his long years of service on the water he was especially adapted for the arduous duties of a surfman. He has had many thrilling experiences as a surfman. Once he had his leg fractured in assisting at a wreck, and later at the wreck of the schooner _Campbell_ he was hit on the head by a falling spar and nearly killed. He was twice married; his present wife was formerly Mary Dyer. He is the father of two daughters.

The No. 3 surfman is Richard Honey. He was born in Truro in 1862, and has been in the life-saving service for twelve years, all of which have been at this station. Surfman Honey was a sailor before entering the service. He was an expert boatman when a boy, and after entering the service he quickly became familiar with the work incident to a surfman’s life, and has made a faithful and fearless life saver. He married Drusilla Gray.

The No. 4 surfman is George Paine. He was born in Truro, and is forty-eight years of age. Surfman Paine has been in the life-saving service and a member of the Pamet River crew for twelve years. When a young man he went to sea on a coasting schooner. Later he became a trap fisherman and was stationed at Sandwich and other points along the bay shore for a number of years.

As a trap fisherman he was obliged to battle with the surf, and he has few equals as a boatman.

He possessed the highest qualifications when he entered the service, and has made a brave and trustworthy life saver. He married Annie Allen, and is the father of five children, three girls and two boys.

The No. 5 surfman is Isaiah T. Hatch. He was born in Truro in 1857. He first entered the life-saving service in 1888, remaining at this station for one year. He reentered the service in 1892, and again became a member of this crew. Surfman Hatch followed the sea as a sailor boatman and fisherman from the time he was a young man until he entered the service, and was familiar with the duties which he has been called upon to perform as a life saver. He is a skilled boatman and a brave and hardy son of Cape Cod, who knows no peril when duty calls. He married Katie Rogers.

The No. 6 surfman is Manuel Cory. He was born in Provincetown in 1869, and has been in the life-saving service for seven years, all of which have been spent at this station. Surfman Cory was a boatman and fisherman before he entered the service. He is a perfect type of a life saver. Of perfect physique and muscles of steel, the rigors and perils of his vocation have no terrors for him. He is skilled in boating and every branch of the work of life saving, a surfman, who knows no fear when duty calls. He married Mabel F. Snow.

The No. 7 surfman is Alonzo Nickerson. He was born in Harwich in 1871, and has been in the service five years. He was a boatman and fisherman before entering the service, and has made a skilled and faithful life-saver.

ORLEANS STATION.

This station is another of the original nine stations erected on the shores of Cape Cod in 1872. It is located on what is called Little Ponchet Island, back of the Nauset Beach, about two and one-half miles south of Nauset Harbor, and about five miles from the Orleans village. Its approximate position, as obtained from the latest coast survey charts, is latitude north 41° 45′ 35″, longitude west 69° 56′ 00″.

The first keeper of the station was the late Captain Solomon Linnell, who was succeeded by Capt. Marcus Pierce. Captain Pierce was keeper of the station for fifteen years, and upon his retiring from the service, Capt. James H. Charles was placed in command.

The station is located at one of the most dangerous sections of the coast, sunken bars stretching along the coast there for miles. The patrol north from this station extends as far as Nauset Harbor, two and one-half miles, the surfmen using time clocks. The south patrol covers two and one-half miles of beach, the surfmen meeting and exchanging checks with the surfmen from the Old Harbor Station. Before the Old Harbor Station was built, the surfmen from this station were obliged to cover the entire beach south as far as Chatham Harbor, a distance of five miles.

At this station there are three surf-boats, two beach carts with guns, breeches-buoys, etc., and a torch light, the latter which gives a tremendously powerful light and is of great benefit to the life savers while working at wrecks in the night. Captain Charles has a horse at this station which the government employs during the winter season.

Since Captain Charles has been keeper of the Orleans Station nearly one hundred lives have been saved by his crew from wrecked vessels. From the schooner _Lizzie M. Center_ sixteen men were taken ashore in the surf-boat by his crew, the schooner being saved. From the steam launch _Etta_ ten men were taken ashore in the surf-boat. Two men were rescued from a dory by the surf-boat, and from the schooner _Ann_ three men were saved by the surf-boat and the vessel floated. From the schooner _Lottie L. Haskins_ fourteen men were taken ashore in the surf-boat and the vessel saved. Two men were taken ashore from a cat-boat, but the life savers could not save the craft. From the schooner _Walter Miller_ the crew of five and one woman were taken ashore in the breeches-buoy and the vessel saved. The schooner _Iva Laffrinier_, with crew of five men, was boarded by the life savers, who took the crew ashore, the vessel becoming a total loss. From the steam launch _Zilpha_ three men were saved, and from the schooner _Zenobia_ the crew of three men were rescued by the surf-boat, and the latter craft saved. From the sloop _Carrol_ three men were taken ashore by the surf-boat and the craft saved. From the cat-boat _Mary C_ three men were taken ashore in surf-boat. One man from a dory and one from a small cat-boat were also brought ashore in the surf-boat. From the schooner _John L. Parker_, which became a total loss, the crew of six men were taken off by the breeches-buoy. From the schooner _Elsie M. Smith_, which also became a total loss, sixteen men were taken ashore by the breeches-buoy, while from the steam launch _No Name_ two men and a woman and child were taken ashore in the surf-boat.

While Captain Charles and his crew have made many daring rescues both by surf-boat and breeches-buoy, the hardest and most perilous tasks they have are going offshore to the assistance of distressed vessels. These jobs mean long and hard pulls with the perils multiplied, as after boarding the crafts they are often compelled to work them into port. No matter how far offshore the distressed vessel may be, once she is sighted with colors flying at half-mast, Captain Charles and his crew are off to her assistance. Frequently it happens that the vessels they board, after pulling in the teeth of a gale for hours, are in a sinking condition and the crews exhausted. It is then a race for life to port, and many times have the life savers felt the vessels which they have started to take into port sinking under them, before they had gotten under way.

Captain Charles and his crew have had many narrow escapes in going to the assistance of distressed vessels, and have often suffered untold hardship in the work, but that they are ever ready to battle with the wind or wave is evidenced by the great number of heroic rescues they have made.

CAPT. JAMES H. CHARLES.

Capt. James H. Charles, keeper of the Orleans Station, was born in Dennis in 1857, and has been in the life-saving service for fifteen years, six as a surfman and nine as keeper. His whole term of service has been at the Orleans Station.

His father was a well-known sea captain, and Captain Charles took naturally to the life of a sailor. When a young man his family moved to the far West.

Captain Charles remained in the West but a short time, returning to Cape Cod and engaging in boating and fishing along its shores. Later he joined the fleet of cod fishermen, and went to the Grand Banks as a skipper. After a few years as skipper of a “grand banker,” he returned to the West, taking up a government grant of land. He remained in the West but a year, returning to Cape Cod, and again joining the fishing fleet. After several seasons with the fishing fleet, he entered the life-saving service, being assigned to the Orleans Station under Capt. Marcus Pierce. As a surfman, under the veteran Captain Pierce, Captain Charles displayed exceptional ability as a boatman and life saver. The training he received with Captain Pierce soon fitted him for the position to which he was subsequently promoted, keeper of the station, succeeding Captain Pierce. Since he has had charge of the station, a high standard of efficiency has always been maintained, and the daring rescues which the crew of his station has performed testifies to their efficiency, fearlessness, and skill. Captain Charles married Lizzie Hurd, and is the father of three daughters and one son.

ORLEANS STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Abbott H. Walker. He was born in Orleans, Sept. 25, 1864, and has been in the life-saving service for eight years. Surfman Walker followed the sea from boyhood, and was a well-known boatman and fisherman. He acquired the art of handling boats in the surf when a boy and knows the location of every rip and shoal along the coast of Cape Cod. He had his first experience as a life saver under Captain Charles, and has made a skilled, fearless, and efficient coast guardian. He married Lillie Wiley, and is the father of two daughters and two sons.