Daily press. [volume], January 27, 1907, Page 9, Image 9

About Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
LJnparalleld Opportunity to Buy Jewelry.
I AlVf THE OINL-Y JEWELLER IN TOWN Whose safe has been burglarized. Call and see how it was clone.
-.-_ ^ ? ,- ? ? The burglary caused the Bankruptcy of Mr. Arritt. I am telling
WHAT THE BURGLARS LEFT!! While the Conditions which give you this opportunity are abnormal, there is nothing unfair about them?no
Ii nfair competition. Fortuitiou?* circumstances have thrown Mr. Arritt in Bankruptcy, and the Bankruptcy Court finds it to be its duty to admin?
ister and wind up the estate. Arritt's misfortune is your opportunity.
A STOCK OK JEWELRY, AND IT 18 NU EX AC CE KATION TO STATE THAT NO PICK SON IN THE ,115 WE LR Y BUSINESS IN THIS CITY HAS EVER
DISPLAYED SUCH TASTE IN SELECTION AS WAS USED IN Til K PURCHASE OK ARRITT'S STOi?K ? KRESI1, NKW, PKAUT1KUL ARTICLES?NOTH?
ING SHOPWORN?M I'ST ME SACRIFICED?ALL AT THE LOWEST PRICES WHICH KV Kit RULED IN THIS CITY..
Cash sales amounting to nearly $1,500.00 in six days proves what the public think of this sale.
^ . ; , vi ..... v ... . ?4* H^M?f ^4-W4**t* ; ? ? v^; . y ............. ^ .. i .. i . <. . ; s . tJ ^ . ; . . ; .- * . . , .
... <*>
I Jewelry Boxes, Ringa, Brooches, Watches, Fobs, Lockets, Beauty Pin?, Clocks, f ?yg||
Chinaware, Shaving Sets, Combs, Gold and Silverware, Cut Glass, I
I Hat Pins, Belt Buckles. Etc., Etc
and Pottery I
Dainty
OOLDEN HEARTS AT HALF RRICE
I will Undersell, wherever I have the goods, all articles featured by others at cost?at no matter what price?bring
their advertisements and be convinced; I am bound to close out, and yonr trade must come to me until I do so. It would
be almost suicide for any merchant, intending to remain in busioess, to attempt; tocompete with me. WHILE I HAVE
THE FLOOR?ONLY A SHORT TIME REMAINS, at the rate I am selling, for you to choose.
AT COST FOR CASH.
. J. J. PALMER, is in Charge.
At ARRITT'S OLD STAND, 2907 Washington Avenue
WILLIAM C. STUART,
Attorney=at-Law.
RECEIVER UNITED STATES COURT
-
Story of
Of the vnst crowds who will at?
tend the Jamestown Exposition this
year there will be thousands who
will go to Cape Henry and stand
upon the lofty sand dune and ga/.e
seaward, watching the shipping
come nnd go.
On clear summer days, when the
sky is bright azure, the sun a hall
of golden fire and the illimitable j
sea reflects in its limpid depths Wie i
beauties of the heavens, with here I
and there a glistening white cap
on its surface, there will be seen
in the offing two little steamers
swimming idly to and fro and rising
and falling in gentle cadence in the
sweet and even scend of the never-1
?quiet, waters.
Day after day the watchers from i
the hilltop will discern these craft j
and naturally someone will ask the
question "What are those boats?"
and over and upon the will see |
whisps ? of smoke and gleams of j
canvas rise out the horizon, develop i
into steamers and bailing vessels
that come grandly and majestically
up to the cape and one of the two
little steamers awaken Into life and
move rapidly toward the approaching
vessel. A small boat is lowered,,
three men jump into it, and away
it goes pitching and tossing, across
the hills of water up to the new
arrival.
As the little boats goes alongside
one of the men Is seen to jump and,
like a fly, crawl quickly up the
towering side, while the little boat
hacks off and returns.
Even beforo It Is again to its
davits the larger vessel has gotten
under way. and in a short while
she harr faded into the Chesapeake
Bay going toward the mans.
But while ships come and go in
nnd endless procession,.. the two
little steamers remain, drifting hith?
er and thither, apparently aimlessly
and without reason, nnd again the
question "What boats are they?"
To those who, by their very ques?
tion, do not know the answer is
that they are the pilot boats.
Pilots! What a word of romance
that word conjures to the imagina?
tive mind. Who has not read James
Feunlmore Cooper's famous sea yarn,
"The Pilot," and felt their blood
Pilots' D
J tingle as t?ey road the story <
I how was accomplished the seem
1 Ingly Impossible?
j And yet the men who today are |
the pilots of our coast are Just
! such sturdy, stalwart men, hut
! were one to say romance to them
I they would laugh, even as it ts
j the custom of the seafaring man to
I forget Ihe dangers and toil of his
profession t;!ie moment the harbor Is
I reached and the mudhook finds the
bottom of the Bay.
To meet the pilots as men to man
is a pleasure. Their trade is a
calling that few pursue, not because
of its hardships, but because of
circumstances of which I will tell
later, and they are. In every sense
of the word, a chosen few who
exist that the commerce of our great
country might bo all the more aid?
ed.
As in most, lines of business, that
of piloting has undergone a ?hange
during the past half century, and
now It has been placed on a plane
where it is a busines sproposition, j
but at the same (ime It represents j
a tremendous advance in the com- '?
m union interests.
From the beginning of Ihe use of,
vessels as a means of transportation ?
there ihave been pilots. Thus their
calling Is an old and honorable one.
The monarchs of the Mediterran?
ean heaped high honors upon the
pilot. Ho wore t2ie richest em?
blems of office and in his particular
sphere he was the monarch of all
he surveyed. And well he might
be, for, even in those days, there
was ever present r.he dominating
thought or what use is a vessel if?
there be no one to direct her in |
and out of the tortuour, channels, j
keep her from the threatening shoals
and rocks and bring her safolyj
home laden with precious merchan-i
rib e. It was the Instinct of coin- \
morclallsm developed abnormally
even for those times and was it
not fitting that the guiding spirit
of the great fleets he signally hon?
ored?
As the first pilots pilots were do-!
man, the word is naturally derived I
from that source, and, of course, j
its moaning is obvious, but as ship- j
ping developed and towns and olt-;
arttig mo
ies sprung up on the rivers and bays
contiguous to the ocean, there came
a class of pilots wtho acted in
that capacity only in their local
waters and gradually this system
expanded until to.lay there is is
scarcely a port of any consequence
on the face of the globe where,
upon the display of the signal, a
pilot may not be found.
The early adventures along our
coast did not have the advantage
of local pilots and they carefully
felt their way along the shore and
Into various great bays. Some of
the vessels left their Ijoiios upon ,
the rocks, and these rude beacons
marked the path of those who fol?
lowed, i >X -
In the 'early days of American his?
tory pilots were scarce, and many
a vessel was compelled to lay for,
days outside the bar awaiting the
coming of the pilot boat, and the
pilot was, indeed, a welcome guest, '
for he not only assured the skipper
of a speedy termination of his voy?
age, but he brought the current
news of the .day.
This Is even more true today than
It was then, for the pilot of those
days could only tell of the hap?
penings on his own shore as per?
haps, the vessel itself was the
bearer of the latet tidings from
tho other side of the Atlantic. To?
day, with the cables singing their
song and shouting to the newspapers
the events of the world, the skipper,
be he without tho wlrloss telegra-,
phy, is frequently astounded to learn
that history-making events have oc?
curred since he last left port, and
the few newspapers brought by the ,
pilot are, Indeed, welcomed.
When the shipping interests of
the country wore small there was
much difficulty in securing pilots
but as tho number of ships increas?
ed many young men entered the
business not only because of a love
for It, but because It was profitable.
The seaboard states soon enacted
laws whereby anyone Who could
pass the examination could become a
pilot, and it was not long before
there were a number.
Being a pilot was one thing and
having a vessel In which they could
remain at sea In weather of all
4 ^>*-<
kinds was another, and the men
handed for mutual protection and
benefit. A half dozen or more
would build a fleet little schooner
I nnd sail about off the harbor await?
ing Incoming vessels.
It was not ions bofore another set
of pilots would show up with their
schooner, and thus began the days
of competitive piloting which -.vlll
always lie remembered and of which
so much has been written. As the
number of boats on any one .station
Increased the lit He vessels would
he sent seaward In their quest, and
It was not uncommon for a pilot
boat to cruise off shore for days,
and even weeks, without, sighting a
sail, and put back into port, with
water and provisions exhausted.
"While each boat was cruising In?
dependently it sometimes occurred
that lookouts on two or more would
sight a Knit or smudge of smoke at
the same time nnd then would en?
sue a race such as would be deemed
Incredldjble at the present time.
It mattered not to the men "on
the opposing boats whether the. wind
was blowing half a gale or seas,
running mountains high, tho first
man to reach the deck of the com
Ing vessel would get the pilotage,.
und that was tho all-Important
thought to them. Wtvtching each I
other like hawks, the boats would ,
head for their quarry, and every
bit of canvas that could be carried
was set and away they went, each
boat staggering through tho sheap
Ing seas, burying her rails beneath '<
solid green water and taking the1
crests of the waves in cataracts |
across her decks. In such races JV*.
was not uncommon to blow away
sails, lo?e masts and even members
of tho crow and yet it was these
races thrit led to tho development of
fast boats and the pilot schooners
held tber'eputatlon of being the swift?
est crnft of their kind afloat.
It is stated on good authority
that the pilot boat Henry Clay, own?
ed by the Maryland pilots, war. used
as a model for the lines of the
famous schooner yacht America,
that won the Queen.'S cup.
?In calm weather, when the fleet
of pilot boats could not be sailed
toward the incoming vessel, the ?,
\ \
...... i ; . v; ... ; : ; ; . ; ; ?.,?<$. .
. ...... ... . ... i .......
I adventurous men jumped into their
! skiffs und rowed sometimes id mllee,
j racing nod contesting every inch,
i nnil not until (he fortunate pilot
was climbing up the aides of Iiis
i prl/.o did the others withdraw.
At night and in thick weathor
the pilots played all sorts of tricks
on each other. Aar each schoonor
was supposed to carry a white light
I at her masthead and set off a Hare
every few minutes It became the
j custom to curry the white light In
i a barrel, and thus, without any
lights, the vessel would cruise on
their station.
Now and then a pilot bnat would
put off from the Capes, her crew
merry and her pennant Hying proud?
ly in the breeze. . She would be
sein off the stutlon during the early
part of the evening, but there would
he no sign of her t'.e following
morning. The duysl and weeks
would go by and there would he no
tidings, and finally she would be
added to the lists of missing ships
pnd the long line of mysteries with
which the old ocean abounds.
One of the most remarkable
wrecks of a pilot schooner was
the loss of the Auteloupe. with all
but one of her crew. The schooner
was crdulsing off Cape Henry and
was caught in n northeast hurri?
cane. One by one she lost her
sails and soon drifted so far to
the south that she could not make
her way in Chesapeake Hay
for shelter. She was put under
short sail and her hatches firmly
ba'toned down; hut the mountainous
. seni; Bwept her decks, and man
I
after man of 'her crew was ,
swept. overboard and drowned
until but one was left, and the
vessel, helpless, was driven toward
the beach.
A moment before the helpless boat '?
struck the breakers the lone pilot,
sought refuge below, closing the
hatch after him, and in the dark
ness waited his fate; Thrown by |
teh terrific force of the wavos, the
schooner hit the outer bar. Her
masts broke off like pipe atoms, ana i
the hull rolled over ns It hutied
toward the beach.
?Who can imagine the feollngn of |
the prisoner or what he suffered
I
? ? ?'?$??> ?l> s t-i-i-i-i*^** '?'
IS CcipCS I
>?^t-t-?'?-?'???-?-??-???? I '' ; i f-t-W- ?'v
I mentally or physically) tossed About
t ns a spoil in n bottle and convinced
that every moment would bo his
last!
Injpellod by the strength of euch
hiiccuhhIvu surge, the little schooner
i was llually oust, botlhom tip, to
, the water's* edge, whore rfiio lay,
'? sillied lor ever. The man wllhln,
i as be felt i be lust lunge Of bis
prison, took renewed hope and.
although exhausted and bruised and
i bleeding Bel about . the> task of freu
' In? hini'ti?lf. Willi nn ax procured
from Ihe galley ho chopped hi? -way
through Die side of the bull; but
lie found that the sand bud plied
against me vessel to such a height
, tha the was compelled to tunnel
more than 20 feet, but he finally
escaped to tell his marvelous Story.
Under these circumstances i t the
people on shore began to look upon
the nailing as a daredevil trade, and
yet there were always plenty of
young men willing to Join the ranks
of the men who were not afraid.
Now and then a schooner would
run up the coast a bit and wait for
a steanior that was shortly expeclea
Another boat, would come up dur?
ing the night, see her rival, donso
her lights' and quietly sneak by in
the darkness and pick up the steam?
er, possibly several hundred miles
fun her up the coast.
So keen was the competition thilt
pilots often waived a portion of their
fee for the privlloge of boarding a
vessel far from land, and when
the steamer would (draw up to
t. e other pilot boat and notify her
that she already had a pilot there
would bo a bit of swearing, and
fhen that boat would go just a lit?
tle fn i t Ik7? out
When the Civil War broke' out
the pilots of Virginia and the South
offered their services to the Con?
federacy, for, as shipping was pa
ly/.ed, there was but little use in
their remaining off the coasts. The
Confederate government was Only
to glad to avail itself of such men.
and William Parrieh. William Clark.
George Wright and Hezeklnh Wit
j:ams wero the master bands that
guided the famous Inronclad Merrl
mac, known to Confederates as the