THE UNITED STATES LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. i 95 



and on the Lakes from the opening to the close of navigation. Strict 

 watch and ward is maintained during this period at the life-boat 

 stations by lookout, and at the complete life-saving stations by patrol. 

 The period between sunset and dawn is divided into watches, each 

 kept by two men of the crew of six at the several stations. In con- 

 formity with this routine, two men issue at sunset from each coast sta- 

 tion. They carry beach lanterns and are provided with Coston signals, 

 which are cylindrical cases of combustible materials, fitted into percus- 

 sion holders. One man goes to the right, the other to the left, each 

 continuing along the beach, keeping watch to seaward, until he meets 

 a similar patrolman from the next station, when he returns to the 

 starting-point, where he sets out again, keeping up his march until the 

 term of his watch expires and that of the next patrol begins. Thus, 

 every night, along the ocean beaches, in moonlight, starlight, thick 

 darkness, driving tempest, wind, rain, snow, or hail, a file of sentinels 

 is strung out, steadily marching, on the lookout for endangered ves- 

 sels. The duty is arduous, often terrible. Storm tides flooding the 

 beach, quicksands, the bewildering snowfall, overwhelming blasts, bit- 

 ter cold, are often conditions to the journey. The residt is that, should 

 a vessel strand, which usually takes place on some shoal or bar at from 

 one to four hundred yards' distance from the beach, instead of being 

 left unnoticed for many hours, to be torn to pieces by the furious surf, 

 she is sure to be soon discovered by the patrolman. Seeing her, he at 

 once strikes the bottom of his percussion holder, driving its spike into 

 the Coston cartridge, which ignites with a fierce deflagration, redden- 

 ing the darkness, and notifying those on board the wreck that they are 

 seen. The patrolman then races to his station and brings the crew. 

 The keeper knows by the state of the surf whether the boat can be 

 used, or whether to resort to the life-car, or breeches-buoy. The boat 

 always puts out if possible, this being the speediest mode of succor. 

 If the surf be impassable, the wreck-gun casts its lariat over the wreck, 

 the hawser and hauling-lines are set up, and the imperiled seafarers 

 are drawn ashore. By whatever mode the rescue is effected, it involves 

 hours of racking labor, protracted exposure to the roughest weather, 

 and a mental and bodily strain under the spur of exigency and the 

 curb of discipline which greatly exhausts the life-saving crews. In 

 the case of the boat-service, whether by surf-boat or life-boat, tremen- 

 dous perils are added to new hardships. The result of these gallant 

 toils in the rigors of the winter beach' and the drench of the surf, since 

 the date of original organization in 1871, has been extraordinary. Dur- 

 ing this period of eight years statistics show that there have been, 

 within the scope of life-saving operations, 6,287 persons imperiled on 

 stranded vessels. Of these, 5,981 were saved, and only 306 lost 197 

 of these at wrecks remote from stations, or at times when they were 

 closed, and the others, in nearly every instance, under circumstano s 

 which rendered human aid impossible. During this period the sta- 



