27128. H. R. ex. Doc. No. 58. REPORT OF THE LIFE SAVING SERVICE IN REFERENCE TO THE LOSS OF THE STEAMER METROPOLIS. March 1, 1878.
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27128. H. R. ex. Doc. No. 58. REPORT OF THE LIFE SAVING SERVICE IN REFERENCE TO THE LOSS OF THE STEAMER METROPOLIS. March 1, 1878.
27128. H. R. ex. Doc. No. 58. REPORT OF THE LIFE SAVING SERVICE IN REFERENCE TO THE LOSS OF THE STEAMER METROPOLIS. March 1, 1878. 19p. Disbound. Peering through a thick blanket of fog on the morning of January 31, 1878, local fishermen were the first to spot the grounded vessel. Acting quickly, they pulled half a dozen survivors from the sea and dispatched a rider to notify the lifesavers. When the rider, a Mr. Brock, arrived at the lifesaving station about 10 a.m., Keeper John G. Chappell and his men readied themselves for action. Brock informed him that a vessel was fast breaking up, too fast to get the 750-pound surfboat down the beach to be serviceable. Instead, the keeper strapped the medicine chest to his back and headed for the wreck immediately. His crew of six followed along dragging the beach-cart. After reaching the shore nearest the Metropolis, Keeper Chappell set about the effective application of restoratives to a number of survivors who had already swum ashore. His crew and apparatus arrived about noon. The steamer lay head-in one hundred yards offshore and, thus, presented a small target for the mortar. Nevertheless, the second shot was true and landed across the port fore-topsail yardarm. But the man who took the line “was no seaman,” according to Surfman Piggott Gillikin, and the line was not dropped under the stays and therefore chafed in two before the whip-line could be drawn out to the vessel. Having run out of his own powder, Chappell improvised with some quick-burning black powder. But two additional shots failed when each time the shot-line parted from the ball upon firing. Keeper Chappell then donned the Merriman life-saving dress and made two valiant attempts to carry a line out to the vessel. When he was unable to get past the breakers, those on board the vessel who had looked on in horror began to jump overboard and take their chances at swimming ashore. For three hours keeper and crew struggled to save them in the surf while battling a treacherous undertow; all were badly bruised by the mass of bobbing timbers about them. All worked as hard at it as possible . . . until it was all over. One hundred and sixty lives were drawn out of the water on that dismal morning. Detailed account includes reports by: Captain J. H. Merryman, U. S. Revenue Cutter Service; John G. Chappell, Keeper of Station No. 4 Jones Hill; Surfman Piggott Gillikin; N. G. Burris, Keeper Currituck Light House, and more. Excellent account. (VG). $65