Part 8

Captain Bearse labors diligently to maintain a high standard of efficiency among his crew, and is a careful and fearless warrior of the sea. Numerous disasters have occurred within the precincts of the Nauset Station since he has been in command, and many have been averted, owing to the vigilance of his surfmen.

He was twice married, his present wife was Cordelia Ellis, and he is the father of three children.

NAUSET STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Allen T. Gill. He was born in North Eastham in 1857, and has been in the life-saving service for sixteen years, all of which have been spent at this station. Surfman Gill followed the sea and was a boatman and fisherman from the time he was a boy until he joined the service. He has assisted at all the wrecks that have occurred along the Nauset beach during the past sixteen years, and is a fearless and faithful coast guardian. He married Exa E. Lewis, and is the father of a daughter and son.

The No. 2 surfman is Charles C. Daniels. He was born in Gloucester, and is forty years of age. Surfman Daniels has been a member of the Nauset crew for fifteen years, being assigned to this station when he entered the service. He went to sea when a young man as a sailor in the coastwise surface, and was also a boat fisherman for a number of years. He was especially fitted for the work of a surfman, and has made a brave and faithful life saver. He married Mary Cole, and is the father of four daughters and two sons.

The No. 3 surfman is Lewis H. Collins. He was born in North Eastham in 1865, and is serving his fourteenth year as a life saver. Surfman Collins was a fisherman and sailor before he entered the service. In the fourteen years that he has been a member of the Nauset crew he has proven himself a faithful and fearless life saver. While working at a wreck several years ago he suffered severe injuries to his leg and back by the capsizing of the surf-boat that rendered him unfit for service for a long time. He married Eva W. Wiley, and is the father of a boy.

The No. 4 surfman is Whitman F. Howes. He was born in Chatham in 1860, and has been in the life-saving service for ten years. Surfman Howes was a boat fisherman and sailor before entering the service, and was well qualified for the work of a surfman when he became a life saver. He has assisted at all the wrecks along the shore during the past ten years and has proven his worth as a life saver whenever duty called him. He married Carrie L. Penniman, and is the father of one daughter and one son.

The No. 5 surfman is Orin W. Higgins. He was born in Eastham in 1867, and has been in the life-saving service for nine years, all of which have been spent at this station. As a sailor and boat fisherman along the shores of Cape Cod, Surfman Higgins was well accustomed to the handling of boats in the roughest water, and has made an able and trustworthy life saver. He married Helen F. Higgins.

The No. 6 surfman is Warren W. Mayo. He was born in Eastham, and is thirty-three years of age. He entered the life-saving service seven years ago, being assigned to this station. Before entering the service he had followed the sea for a number of years, and was skilled in the art of handling boats. He has made a valuable man for Captain Bearse and is a faithful and fearless life saver. He married Marion M. Sparrow, and is the father of a son and daughter.

The No. 7 surfman is George F. Snow. He was born in Orleans in 1859, and has been in the life-saving service for four years. Surfman Snow is the winter man at this station, joining the crew in December, 1902. For two seasons he has been a member of the City Point, South Boston, Life-Saving Station. He was a boatman and fisherman along the shores of the Cape before entering the service, and has made an able and faithful life saver. He married Susan W. Alden, and is the father of one daughter and three sons.

OLD HARBOR STATION.

This station, at the entrance of Chatham Old Harbor, has been in commission less than five years, during which time Keeper Doane and his crew have rescued twenty-one persons in their surf-boat and taken thirteen shipwrecked sailors ashore in the breeches-buoy. Of the whole number of vessels that met with disaster within the province of the station, but two were total wrecks, viz., the _Elsie C. Smith_ of Gloucester, and the _Commerce_ of Rockland, the latter foundering off the shore near the station.

This station is provided with two surf-boats, two beach carts with guns, breeches-buoys, etc., and a life-car. One of the surf-boats, a small one, is kept in a boathouse on the point of the beach, about a half mile from the station, where it can be quickly brought into use for rescue work in the harbor and bay. The other surf-boat, the large one, for use in the open sea, is kept in the station. A horse which the government hires during the winter season is kept in a barn close to the station.

The surfmen from this station have a patrol north for a distance of two and one-half miles, meeting and exchanging checks with the surfmen from the Orleans Station. On the south patrol, which is about a mile, the surfmen use a time clock to register their patrolling of the beach at that point.

CAPT. HEZEKIAH F. DOANE.

Capt. Hezekiah F. Doane, keeper of the Old Harbor Station, was born in Chatham in 1846, and has been in the life-saving service for twenty-two years, thirteen as a surfman and nine as keeper. When he entered the service he was assigned to the Chatham Station, where he served as a surfman for thirteen years, being appointed keeper of the station in 1893. Captain Doane remained keeper of the Chatham Station for five years or until he was transferred to the Old Harbor Station in 1898. He was a fisherman, yachtsman, and mariner before he entered the life-saving service and was well prepared for the work he has since been called upon to perform. As a surfman at the Chatham Station he had much work in rescuing shipwrecked crews and assisting distressed vessels, and his appointment as keeper of the Chatham Station was meritorious reward for faithful and efficient service. While keeper of the Chatham Station, Captain Doane and his brave crew of life savers made many perilous trips out over the shoals to distressed vessels, and effected daring rescues of imperiled crews. Owing to the shallow water along the Chatham shores, nearly all the work performed by Captain Doane was with the surf-boats, the breeches-buoy having been used but twice since he has been in the service. He married Pemah B. Pierce, and is the father of two sons.

OLD HARBOR STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Robert F. Pierce. He was born in Harwich and is thirty-six years of age. Surfman Pierce has been in the life-saving service for twelve years, eight as a member of the Monomoy crew, under the late Captain Tuttle, and four years at this station. When a young man he engaged in boating and fishing, and later entered the coastwise service. From his experience as a fisherman and boatman along the shores of Cape Cod he was skilled in the art of handling boats in the surf, and took naturally to the work he has been called upon to perform since joining the life-saving service. While a member of the Monomoy crew he was repeatedly called upon to face the greatest dangers, and won for himself an enviable record as a life saver. Surfman Pierce was out of the service one year, during which time he was engaged in boating. He married Minnie A. Bearse, and is the father of a boy.

The No. 2 surfman is Edwin P. Ellis. He was born in Brewster and is forty-five years of age. Surfman Ellis has been in the life-saving service for twelve years. He was a boatman and fisherman before he joined the service. When he entered the service he was assigned to the Orleans Station, under Captain Charles, serving there for five years, when he was transferred to Coskata Station on Nantucket. He was a member of the Coskata Station crew for two years. At the end of that time he was sent to join the crew at this station. At the Orleans and Coskata stations Surfman Ellis received a thorough drilling and performed much active work in life saving. He is a skilful boatman, hardened to the rigors of a life saver’s life.

The No. 3 surfman is Benjamin O. Eldredge. He was born in Chatham, on July 10, 1878, and has been in the life-saving service for five years. Prior to his becoming a regular member of this station crew, he served as a substitute at the Monomoy Station, under the late Captains Tuttle and Eldredge. As a boatman and fisherman along the Chatham shore and a substitute life saver he acquired a thorough knowledge of the art of handling boats in the surf under the most trying conditions, and was well qualified for the duties he has to perform as a life saver.

The No. 4 surfman is Otis C. Eldredge. He was born in Chatham in 1856, and has been in the life-saving service for seven years. When he entered the service he was assigned to the Jerry’s Point Station, N. H., under Capt. Silas Harding, remaining there three years, when he was transferred to this station. Before entering the service, Surfman Eldredge was a boat fisherman and “beach comber” along the Chatham shores, and his experience in the work especially fitted him for the duties of a life saver. He married Margaret Bloomer, and is the father of two daughters.

The No. 5 surfman is Dean W. Eldredge. He was born in Brewster, and is forty-seven years of age. Surfman Eldredge has been in the life-saving service for three years. Before entering the service he was a member of the crew of the Handkerchief Lightship. For years he engaged in boating, fishing, and wrecking along the shores of Cape Cod, and is a skilled surfman and a faithful life saver. When he entered the service he was assigned to the Plum Island Station, remaining there but a short time before he was sent to the Orleans Station, from which he was transferred to this station in August, 1902. He married Lena Hallet.

The No. 6 surfman is Francis H. Bassett. He was born in Harwich in 1863, and has been in the life-saving service for three years. He served two years at the Cahoon’s Hollow Station, under Captain Cole, becoming a member of this station Dec. 1, 1901. Surfman Bassett was a boatman and fisherman on Chatham bars for a number of years and had also been a grocery man. He had a wide experience as a boatman, and has made an able and fearless life saver. He married Gertrude G. Allen, and is the father of five daughters.

The No. 7 surfman is Zebina B. Chase. He was born in Chatham in 1862, and has been in the life-saving service three years. He was first a member of the Salisbury Beach Station, where he remained one and one-half years, then joining the Floating Station at City Point, South Boston. Before entering the service as a regular surfman he had substituted at different periods for four years at the Monomoy Station. Prior to this he was a member of the crew of the Shovelful Lightship for five years. From the time that he was a boy he has been engaged in boating, or fishing, or doing service of one kind or another on the water along the shores of Cape Cod. He is the winter man at this station, joining the City Point Station crew in the summer season. He is a skilful boatman and an efficient life saver. He married Etta M. Nickerson, and is the father of one daughter and four sons.

CHATHAM STATION.

The Chatham Station is another of the original nine stations erected on Cape Cod in 1872, and is situated near where it was first located. Its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude north 41° 39′ 10″, longitude west 69° 57′ 10″, one and one-quarter miles southwest of Chatham lights. A few years after the station was established it was moved across the harbor to where the Old Harbor Station now stands. It remained there a few years when it was again moved back to its original site, where it is now located, on the northern end of Monomoy, near the “cut through,” within easy distance of Chatham village.

When this station was moved from the Old Harbor site it was believed that a new station would be built there, but not until after the wreck of the schooner _Calvin B. Orcutt_ on Old Harbor bars was the station erected. The first keeper of the station was Capt. Alpheus Mayo; he was in turn succeeded by Capt. Nathaniel Gould, Capt. Hezekiah Doane, and the present keeper, Capt. Herbert Eldredge.

The patrol, south from this station, is two and one-quarter miles; the north patrol about two miles. Checks are exchanged with the surfmen from the Monomoy Station on the south; on the north patrol time clocks are used. The station is supplied with four surf-boats, (Monomoy model), one dory, two beach carts with full sets of apparatus, and one life-car. “Baby,” a horse employed by the government, is kept at the station to assist in hauling the apparatus to wrecks.

WRECKS AT THE CHATHAM STATION.

Since Keeper Eldredge has had charge of this station he has made twenty-six trips to disabled or wrecked vessels in the station surf-boat. On board the vessels assisted by Keeper Eldredge and his crew there were seventy-four persons. Of this number eight were taken ashore in the surf-boat. Six of these comprised the crew of the schooner _Electa Bailey_, which was a total loss, one was from a crippled cat-boat, and the other was a sick sailor taken ashore from a schooner. Most of the work done by the crew of the Chatham Station was on two and three masted schooners that became stranded on the Chatham bars.

CAPT. HERBERT E. ELDREDGE.

Capt. Herbert E. Eldredge, keeper of the Chatham Station, was born in Chatham in 1863, and has been in the life-saving service for thirteen years, eight as a surfman and five as keeper, all of which have been spent at this station. Captain Eldredge began his career on the water along the Chatham shore when a boy of thirteen years, and was an expert boatman, fisherman, and wrecker before he was twenty years of age. For six years he went fishing on the rips off Chatham, one of the most perilous occupations along the coast. As a member of Capt. Joseph Bloomer’s wrecking crew, Captain Eldredge had a wide experience working on wrecked vessels along the coast, and was especially fitted for the responsible position that he now holds. He has a crew of brave and hardy life savers for whom the rips and shoals that abound along the Chatham shore have no terrors. Not a life has been lost within the province of the Chatham Station during the time that Captain Eldredge has been keeper.

He married Mary A. Nye, and is the father of two daughters and a son.

CHATHAM STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Bradford N. Bloomer. He was born in Chatham in 1871, and has been in the life-saving service for six years, all of which have been spent at this station. Before entering the service Surfman Bloomer was a Monomoy fisherman, so called. In this work he became skilled in the art of handling boats in the surf, and obtained a knowledge of the shoals that lie hidden along the coast off Chatham that especially fitted him for the work of a surfman. He married Julia Pitts, and is the father of two daughters.

The No. 2 surfman is Charles H. Howes. He was born in Chatham, is thirty-six years of age, and has been in the life-saving service five years. Surfman Howes was assigned to the Coskata Station on Nantucket when he entered the service; later he was transferred here. He was a boatman and fisherman over the Old Harbor bars from boyhood until he entered the life-saving service. The experience he gained in that hazardous work fully prepared him for the duties of a surfman, and he has made a brave and trustworthy life saver. He married Henrietta Jones, and is the father of a daughter and son.

The No. 3 surfman is Samuel D. Eldredge. Surfman Eldredge was born in East Harwich in 1859, and has been in the life-saving service for five years, all of that time at this station. He was a boatman and fisherman from the time that he was a boy until he entered the service, and was in every way qualified for the work of a life saver. He married Sarah J. Eldredge.

The No. 4 surfman is John W. Crowell. He was born in East Harwich, and is twenty-six years of age. Surfman Crowell has been in the life-saving service six years, serving four years at the Monomoy Station under the late Captain Eldredge, the remaining time at this station. Before entering the service he was a boatman and fisherman on the Chatham bars. As a member of the Monomoy crew he was called upon to face the greatest perils in the work of rescuing lives from wrecked vessels, and proved a faithful and brave surfman. He married Elsie Nickerson, and is the father of a son.

The No. 5 surfman is Nathaniel Hamilton. He was born in Foxboro, Mass., in 1872, and has been in the life-saving service for four years. Surfman Hamilton was formerly a member of the Coskata Station, Nantucket. Owing to injuries received by falling on a piece of wreckage, while on patrol duty at that station, he was on sick leave for one year. When he reentered the service he was assigned to this station. He was a boatman and fisherman before entering the service, and has made a brave and efficient life saver. He married Abbie L. Johnson, and is the father of three daughters.

The No. 6 surfman is Franklin W. Eldredge. He was born in Chatham in 1859, and has been in the life-saving service one year. Surfman Eldredge joined the Coskata Station crew when he entered the service, and after five months at that station was transferred here. He was a boatman and fisherman before he entered the service, spending thirteen years as a fisherman over Chatham bars. He entered the life-saving service fully prepared for the most perilous work, and has proved to be a skilled and faithful life saver. He married Modena B. Jerauld, and is the father of three daughters and two sons.

The No. 7 surfman is Herbert P. Smith. He was born in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, in 1877, and has been in the life-saving service five years. Surfman Smith was a boatman and fisherman along the shores of Martha’s Vineyard from boyhood. In addition to being an expert boatman, he received a thorough nautical training, having made several foreign cruises as a cadet on the United States training ship _Enterprise_. Surfman Smith also served on the repair ship _Vulcan_ during the war with Spain.

He is skilled in the art of boating through the surf and has made a faithful and fearless life saver.

MONOMOY STATION.

The Monomoy Station is another of the original nine stations erected on Cape Cod when the United States Life-Saving Service was extended to these shores. It is located two and one-half miles north of Monomoy Light. Its approximate position as obtained from the latest coast survey charts is latitude north 41° 35′ 25″, longitude west 69° 59′ 10″. When the station was manned, March 20, 1873, Capt. George W. Baxter, of West Harwich, was placed in command. He resigned on account of ill-health in 1882, and his successor was Capt. William Tuttle. His death occurred July 1, 1899, and the late Capt. Marshall W. Eldredge was appointed to fill the vacancy Aug. 4, 1899. Captain Eldredge perished in an attempt to rescue five persons from the stranded barge _Wadena_, March 17, 1902.

The patrol north of this station is about two and one-half miles, the surfmen meeting and exchanging checks with the surfmen from the Chatham Station. The patrol south is about one and one-half miles, the surfmen meeting and exchanging checks with the surfmen from the Monomoy Point Station.

There is no more dangerous stretch of coast on Cape Cod than off Monomoy. Disaster follows disaster in that region, and the work of the life savers is attended with the greatest peril at all times.

The following disasters have occurred at the Monomoy Station since Captain Ellis has been in command: Schooner _Elwood Burton_, of New York, stranded on the Handkerchief Shoal, the life savers rescuing her crew of six men in their surf-boat. Five men, the crew of the barge _Paxinos_, which had struck on Pollock Rip, were rescued from a sinking boat by the Monomoy crew. They were later placed aboard the barge, which was soon floated by the life savers. From the schooner _Dora Mathews_, which stranded on the beach near the station, three men were taken ashore in the breeches-buoy. A number of other crafts which met with disaster along the shore were assisted by Captain Ellis and his crew.

CAPT. SETH L. ELLIS.

Capt. Seth L. Ellis, keeper of the Monomoy Station and sole survivor of the Monomoy disaster, was born in Harwich Port, Oct. 12, 1858, and has been in the life-saving service seven years, all of which have been at this station.

Captain Ellis came from a family of seafaring people. His father, Capt. Seth N. Ellis, was an old West Indies tradesman.

Captain Ellis went to sea with his father when but nine years of age. When fifteen years of age Captain Ellis joined the fleet of mackerel fishermen, remaining with the fleet until he went coasting. While a member of the crew of the three-masted schooner _Enos B. Phillips_, of Boston, Capt. T. Reuben Allen, of Harwich Port, master, the vessel was struck by a blizzard that made her a helpless wreck. With her jibboom, bowsprit, foremast, and maintop masts gone, all her head sails lost, and the cabin and forecastle wrecked, the schooner was blown across the gulf stream and out of the track of all shipping. After many days, during which the crew suffered terribly, Captain Allen finally triumphed and brought the vessel into port.

Captain Ellis has been master of sailing and steam vessels, and now carries a captain’s first-class steamboat license for the Atlantic coast. Captain Ellis was also a well-known mackerel fisherman, being a member of the crew of the first steam fishing vessel employed in mackerel fishery, the _Novelty_, of Boston. Later Captain Ellis engaged in boat fishing along the shores of the Cape near Chatham, continuing in that work until he joined the Monomoy crew of life savers.

MONOMOY STATION CREW.

The No. 1 surfman is Walter C. Bloomer. He was born in Chatham in 1867, and has been in the life-saving service for five years. Surfman Bloomer was a “Monomoy” fisherman, boatman, and wrecker before entering the service. When he joined the service he was assigned to the Brant Rock Station, where he remained three years, being transferred to this station. At this station, under the late Captain Eldredge, he saw much active service and proved himself a fearless and skilful surfman. On the occasion of the terrible Monomoy disaster, when his keeper and six of his comrades lost their lives, Surfman Bloomer was doing cook duty, and remained at the station. He married Velma Stevens, and is the father of two girls and two boys.