The Chatham Record/1890/A Pilot's Perils

A Pilot's Perils.

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Dangers Incurred by Men Who Board Incoming Vessels.

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Notable Disasters in the Last Fifty-two Years.

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"We never know when our time is coming. We never know when we start out on a cruise whether or not we will ever see home and family again." Tears filled the speaker's eyes. He was bronzed and grizzled and strong, a man not given to sentiment, but there was a world of pathos in his words, and his lips quivered as he spoke. His name was John Canvin, Jr., Sandy Hook pilot. He sat in a shipping office on South street, awaiting tidings of the then unknown pilot, who was swept off the icy deck of the bark Edward Cushing, after he had boarded her and was bringing her into port. An hour passed and the tidings came. The man arose from his chair, heard only enough to confirm his fears, and hastened to the street. He was no longer John Canvin, Jr., but plain John Canvin. The unknown pilot who had been swept into an angry sea was his father. There are only two or three previous cases on record where a pilot has lost his life after boarding an incoming vessel. Nearly all, however, of the many accidents to pilot-boats are accompanied by loss of life. The first recorded disaster of note was the loss of the Franklin in 1838. She was driven ashore in a gale and all hands were lost. The following year both the Gratitude and the John McKean were lost. Four pilots perished on the former, and the latter lost six men. The New Orleans ship John Minturn was driven ashore on the Jersey coast February 17, 1846. Forty-two persons lost their lives, including Pilot Thomas Freeborn. His was among the bodies recovered, and his funeral was one of the most impressive events ever known to pilots. A procession of fifteen pilot-boats, with sails hoisted, ensigns flying and all their pilots aboard, went up and down the bay in tow of the steamer Mercury. Freeborn was one of the best-known pilots of the day. In 1852 nine lives were lost on the pilot-boat Commerce, No. 3. In December of the same year Pilots Henry Budd and Robert Curtis were drowned in a yawl after leaving the pilot-boat Yankee. In 1853 the Sarah Frances, No. 7, went down with all on board, and the Jacob Bell, No. 4, met a similar fate during March of the following year. On January 10, 1856, the C. K. Collins, No. 11, ran ashore on Fire Island bar, and four of the crew were frozen to death. A fifth was washed overboard and drowned. Nine years later a similar accident befell the George Steers, No. 6, at Barnegat Island. Every man of her crew perished from the cold. Ten men were lost in 1879, on the pilot-boat Columbia, No. 8, which was run down twenty miles off Fire Island, in a heavy gale by the Alaska, the first of the ocean greyhounds. The pilot-boat Francis Perkins, No. 13, struck a wreck and sank off Barnegat Shoals on January 24, 1887. Pilots Walter A. Reddin and William Dalton were drowned. During the famous blizzard of March, 1888 the Phantom, No. 11, and the Enchantress, No. 18, were lost with all hands. Last year two pilot-boats were lost, the Bateman, No. 11, and the Charlotte Webb, No. 5. Two lives were lost with each boat. This is only a partial list of some of the more notable accidents to pilots and pilot-boats. A complete list of such calamities would be a long and appalling one. New York World.