Here is another
tale of shipwreck on long island beach back in 1909 is taken from
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for January 18, 1909.
The little Schooner
Swallow of St. John's, Newfoundland was wrecked on the outer bar in a
storm on Sunday morning about half a mile east of the Blue Point
life saving station, directly opposite Patchogue. The entire crew of
six were drowned, and destruction happened too quickly for the life
savers to be of any assistance to the doomed crew.
The craft was
first seen
on her beam ends on the outer bar with the seas sweeping over her by
patrolman Ernest Huline, Capt. Rorke started out at once with his
crew, after calling for help from the Bellport station, and the Lone
Hill station .Both Capt. Kreamer and Capt. Goddard of those stations
responded with their crews to help out,
The breeches buoy gear was
pulled to the scene, but no signs of life were visible on the
dismantled craft and Capt Rorke and his men could only watch the
wreck as it went to pieces in the raging storm and within half an
hour all that was left of the little "swallow" was wreckage being
swept along to westward. It was the worst storm of the winter with a
pouring rain making it impossible to go more than a short distance.
It was thought from all that could be gathered that the schooner
capsized as soon as she struck the outer bar. She was deep in the
water as she carried a deck load of lumber besides a cargo of
herring in her hold.
Capt George C. Dagget of St. John's, who
chartered the schooner said she carried a crew of six men from
Newfoundland and had a cargo of frozen herring slit herring and cod,
besides the lumber.
How she came to be in the position when she ran
around off Patchogue was never known, as a schooner answering her
description passed Quogue about 3 p.m. the day before and should
have reached Sandy Hook by midnight at the latest. Another unsolved
mystery of the sea.