[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1126-E1127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PREFACE TO ``THE RESCUE OF THE SARAH D.J. RAWSON''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. WALTER B. JONES

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 2016

  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, commencing first in 1848, the United States 
Life Saving Service was a federal government agency that grew out of 
private and local humanitarian efforts to create and man rescue 
stations along the coast. These outposts were often remote. The men 
stationed there took great pride in their deep commitment to save the 
lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers, often against 
overwhelming odds. In 1874, life saving stations were added along the 
coast of Maine, Cape Cod, and the famed Outer Banks of North Carolina. 
In 1878, this network of stations was formally organized as a separate 
agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. In 1915, the 
Service formally merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the 
United States Coast Guard. These lonely, isolated outposts were always 
manned by the bravest of men who knew no fear, and who were dedicated 
to their sworn duty of rescuing seamen in distress. Their motto was 
``to always go, but not always return''. Even now, many stories are 
told about the daring rescues by such men, some admittedly embellished 
a bit for literary interest. Proudly beat the hearts today of all who 
can call themselves their descendants.
  One of the most notable of these rescues occurred on a cold, blustery 
winter's night in February of 1905. The three-masted schooner, Sarah 
D.J. Rawson, two days out of Georgetown, South Carolina and bound for 
New York with a cargo of lumber, ``stoved up'' hard on Cape Lookout 
Shoals in a heavy winter squall. A complete report of the Rawson rescue 
appears at: http://www.coastalguide.com/helmsman/rawson-rescue.shtml. 
The names of the men who were attached to Life Saving Station, Cape 
Lookout and who participated in this rescue party were: William H. 
Gaskill (``Keeper''), Kilby Guthrie, Walter M. Yeomans (grandfather of 
the author's wife), Tyre Moore, John A. Guthrie, James W. Fulcher, John 
E. Kirkman, Calupt T. Jarvis, and Joseph L. Lewis--some of the bravest 
sons ever hatched out of Car'tret County homes. Each received a gold 
medal from the Service in recognition of their heroism in this rescue. 
During World War II, the U.S. Government made a request of these men to 
return their gold medals to support the war effort. The medals have 
never been reissued to the men or their families.


                   History of Sarah D.J Rawson Rescue

       The 387-ton, three-masted schooner Sarah D.J. Rawson, with 
     a crew of seven, sailed from Georgetown, SC for New York with 
     a full cargo of lumber on 2 February 1905. While standing 
     under short canvas in a SSE gale at 5:30 PM on the 9th, the 
     vessel stranded in the breakers on the south side of Lookout 
     Shoals. She became a total loss. As soon as the schooner 
     struck the master gave orders to take in sail. While the crew 
     performed this work, a heavy sea swept the decks and carried 
     Jacob Hansen, a Norwegian seaman, into the surf He soon 
     disappeared.
       The same sea struck the master and 3 other seamen. Only by 
     the most desperate efforts, did they cling to the vessel. The 
     schooner gradually worked onto the shoal and lay somewhat 
     easier. The violent onslaughts of the sea, however, broke 
     over her and soon carried away her boat. Then they swept the 
     fore and aft deckhouses, her deck load of lumber and her 
     spars. Powerless to do anything for the vessel, the crew 
     sought refuge in the highest part of the wreck. Their 
     situation appeared to be hopeless.
       At Cape Lookout (NC) Life-Saving Station, about 9 miles 
     northwest from the vessel, a vigilant lookout had been 
     maintained during the day. A surfman remained constantly on 
     watch while the keeper himself had twice visited the tower 
     during the morning. A thick mantle of fog, however, covered 
     the ocean and shut the doomed vessel from view. At noon, just 
     as the lookout had been relieved, the keeper again climbed 
     into the tower and at 12:05 PM, while scanning the sea with 
     the glasses, he caught a glimpse of the schooner's topmost 
     spars. Knowing from her bearings that she probably was upon 
     the shoal, he immediately called away the lifeboat. Every 
     member of the crew promptly responded.
       Though nearly all the men were ill, there having been an 
     epidemic of influenza at the station, not one shrank from 
     what all knew would be a long and wearisome pull in wintry 
     weather over 18 miles of rough sea. A light southwesterly 
     breeze made for a favorable wind and allowed the surfmen to 
     make sail. With 8 men at the oars, they were off to

[[Page E1127]]

     the wreck within twenty-five minutes. At 4:00 PM they reached 
     the scene of the disaster. The schooner lay upon her 
     starboard side in the midst of the breakers. Her bowsprit, 
     foremast, main topmast, and deckhouses were gone and her 
     stern to mizzen rigging carried away. She was surrounded by 
     wreckage and lumber. This pitching and beating flotsam 
     threatened the safety of the lifeboat and the lives of its 
     crew. Rawson's six remaining crewmen could be seen by the 
     surfmen. Though the latter repeatedly attempted to make their 
     way through the mass of debris, they could get no closer than 
     about 200 yards, when they would be beaten back. The master 
     of the schooner stated that he expected to see the lifeboat 
     pitched end over end in the turbulent sea. This would have 
     occurred, but for the cool and skillful management of the 
     keeper and crew.
       Night soon came and the life-saving crew anchored near the 
     edge of the breakers. They hoped, that in case of the 
     schooner's going to pieces, they still might be able to 
     rescue some or all of the sailors. They maintained a vigilant 
     lookout, frequently fending off fragments of wreckage that 
     menaced their boat. After midnight, the wind increased in 
     force and hauled to NW. With the weather still thick but much 
     colder, the crew shifted the lifeboat to an anchorage about 
     500 yards to windward. The keeper stated that he did this so 
     that should conditions worsen, they might be able to weather 
     the shoal and put to sea. Throughout the long, tedious night 
     the surfmen suffered greatly in their open boat from 
     exposure, fatigue, and hunger. The keeper, however, 
     maintained his post. He encouraged his crew and urged them 
     not to fall asleep.
       At dawn they returned to the wreck and found that, while 
     her remaining masts had been swept away, a portion of the 
     hull remained intact. This enabled the crew to survive the 
     perils of the night. The sea was still running very high and 
     the keeper decided to wait until the tide turned before 
     attempting to rescue the crew. He had rightly judged that 
     conditions would improve. About 1:00 AM the wind and sea 
     moderated and the lifesavers pulled to a position about fifty 
     yards to windward of the wreck. Here they anchored. By 
     veering carefully upon the cable, and steadying the boat with 
     the oars, they dropped in among the breakers and debris, as 
     far as possible, and succeeded in throwing a heaving line on 
     board the schooner. Then one of the seamen bent the line 
     about his waist, jumped into the sea, and was hauled into the 
     lifeboat. His companions followed his example, and, one by 
     one, all hands were rescued--drenched, chilled, and nearly 
     exhausted, but safe.
       The surfmen removed their own oil coats and wrapped them 
     about the shipwrecked men. They made the return trip to the 
     station without mishap, arriving about 5:00 PM. The crew of 
     the Rawson had been forty-eight hours without food or water. 
     The lifesaving crew had spent twenty-eight hours in an open 
     boat without food and their limbs cramped with cold. Lacking 
     room to move about, their bodies ached from maintaining a 
     sitting posture for so long. That the wrecked crew had not 
     succumbed was due to the fact that the vessel lay nearly on 
     her beam ends and afforded them something of a lee from the 
     wintry NW wind.
       The rescued men were furnished food and shelter at the 
     station. Though there was clothing from the supplies of the 
     Women's National Relief Association, this stock became 
     exhausted. The surfmen supplemented it from their own stores. 
     The master of the Rawson was cared for part of the time by a 
     personal friend at anchor in Lookout Bight. No member of the 
     crew had suffered serious injury, though one seaman was 
     afflicted by an attack of rheumatism and was transported upon 
     a stretcher. On the 12th the revenue cutter Seminole arrived 
     in Lookout Bight and the following day she took the crew of 
     the Rawson on board and carried them to Wilmington, NC. The 
     loss of one life at this disaster occurred a very short time 
     after the vessel struck. It was impossible for anyone to lend 
     a helping hand to the drowning man as he was carried to his 
     death in the breakers.
       The keeper discovered the Rawson at the first instant that 
     she became visible at the station. No other eye sighted her, 
     no one but the lifesavers went to the rescue. The shipwrecked 
     men lost their boat soon after the vessel struck. Not many 
     hours elapsed after the rescue before the vessel broke up and 
     disappeared. All hands might have been lost. The fate of the 
     Sarah D. J. Rawson and her crew would never have been known 
     but for the unflinching heroism of the crew of the Cape 
     Lookout Life-Saving Station. Each was subsequently awarded 
     the Gold Lifesaving Medal for extreme and heroic daring in 
     saving life from the perils of the sea. Those awarded for 
     their rescue of the six crewman on Sarah D. J. Rawson 
     included Keeper William H Gaskill, Surfmen Kilby Guthrie, 
     Walter M. Yeomans, Tyre Moore, John A. Guthrie, James W. 
     Fulcher, John E. Kirkman, Calupt T. Jarvis, and former 
     Surfman Joseph L. Lewis.

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