THE PITILESS GOODWINS 299 



was the case of an American skipper who was sailing 

 through the channel under a great press of canvas, in a 

 south-westerly gale. He was warned of his peril, and 

 urged to take a pilot and shorten sail. He refused to do 

 either and shortly afterwards his clipper perished on 

 the Goodwins, with all hands. Such, too, was the fate 

 of a ship which passed Ramsgate in the night, and refused 

 the offer of a pilot to take charge of her for $. The 

 weather was bad and foggy, and the captain was in a 

 hurry. He blundered on to the Sands, and every soul 

 was lost with the vessel. 



Give the lifeboat crew a chance, and they will do all 

 that mortal man can accomplish to save life and ship. 

 In these days no obstacle is put in the way of their work, 

 but there is a notorious case of obstruction on record in 

 relation to the Goodwins. On New Year's Day, 1860, a 

 German brig struck the Sands. There was a blinding 

 gale, with snow and fog, but the signals of distress were 

 seen at Deal. It was known that a Deal pilot was on 

 board, and as it was impossible for the Deal boats to put 

 off, a telegram was sent to Ramsgate, where the tug had 

 steam up, and the lifeboat was manned, to get the craft 

 out to the rescue. 



Incredible as it seems, the harbour-master refused to 

 let either tug or boat depart, because he did not know, 

 " officially," that the ship was ashore. He stubbornly 

 refused, time after time, to give permission, and it was 

 not till three hours had passed that, having " officially " 

 heard a gun from the South Sand lightship, he ordered 

 the tug to get the lifeboat out. The frantic and infuri- 

 ated men hurried to the wreck, to find that she had be- 

 come a total loss, and that of the thirty people all had 



