116 fishermen's memorial and record book. 



The prospect, however, was a cheerless one, as there was but little 

 hope of the lives on board the vessels, if they once got into the terri- 

 ble breakers of the lee shore. Along about three or four o'clock the 

 vessels began to go adrift, and the scene was one never to be forgot- 

 ten by the large crowd who had gathered on the beach. Many a 

 silent, heartfelt prayer went up from that throng, in behalf of those 

 whose lives were in such imminent danger, to aid which, human arms 

 were almost powerless. Some of the vessels sunk at their anchors, 

 and all hands perished. Others came upon the rocks, where, with 

 the assistance of the strong arms of men who had baffled with the 

 storms for years — the hardy fishermen and seamen of our town — 

 most of the crews were rescued. All that afternoon the vessels con- 

 tinued to drift ashore. Many were saved from this calamity by cut- 

 ting away their masts. Darkness came down over the scene, render- 

 ing it all the more dismal, the wind howling and the sea raging 

 pitcously all through the hours of the night. Twenty wrecks were 

 strewn along the shore ere the night had come on, and the morning's 

 dawn was watched for by men who were determined to do all within 

 their power toward saving the lives of those so terribly exposed. 

 The gale abated somewhat during the night, and the faint streaks of 

 light which glimmered on the eastern horizon that Monday morning 

 revealed to sight thirty dismasted vessels riding at anchor in the 

 harbor. The wind veered round to the north-east the next day, and 

 as it moderated, Capt. William Carter, with a volunteer crew of noble- 

 hearted men, put off in the Custom House boat, and brought the 

 men ashore. They were obliged to jump on board, as it was too 

 rouo-h for the gallant little craft to board the vessels. One of the 

 vessels, just as her crew was taken off, drifted out of the harbor, and 

 was never heard of afterwards. A most miraculous escape, indeed. 

 Everything that sympathetic men and women could do was done 

 for the comfort of the living and for the recovery of the bodies of the 

 dead. The exact loss of life was never fully ascertained, but includ- 

 ing those who perished on the wreck near Pigeon Cove, twenty lives 

 were known to have been lost in this vicinity. Some of the bodies 

 wei-e taken away by friends, and the remainder were buried from the 

 Unitarian Church on the following Sunday afternoon. All the other 

 churches were closed, their pastors taking part in the funeral services. 

 An appropriate sermon was delivered by Rev. Josiah K. Waite. 



The storm occurring at a season when the fishing fleet were hauled 

 up, did not cause any loss of lives or property of our people, which 

 was indeed a most fortunate circumstance. 



