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'Wig Wag Man'
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Point Allerton LSS

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Men of the U.S. Life Saving Service

Harbour Lights Limited Edition #638

Joshua James and the Point Allerton Surfmen  

When Point Allerton Life Saving Station opened in 1889, Joshua James was already sixty-two years old. The maximum entry age to join the USLSS as keeper was forty-five. A year earlier, during the hurricane of 1888, James fought his way to a total of six wrecks and saved 29 lives. He was awarded two gold medals from the USLSS and the Massachusetts Humane Society. Clearly, the man was in his prime. The service had the good sense to waive the hiring age limit and appoint him as keeper of Point Allerton. Many, many future survivors of shipwrecks at Hull would be thankful it did.     

History is chock full of examples that reveal the courage of Joshua James and his Point Allerton crew. One series of particularly heroic efforts took place during The Great Storm of November 1898. This one storm took two-thirds of all the lives that were lost within the jurisdiction of the Life Saving Service that year.  

But, as the USLSS annual report stated, "wherever Joshua James and his crew went, they succeeded in getting every man that was alive at the time we started for him, and we started at the earliest moment in each case."  When the storm hit, the crew had already put in a long night of patrolling the beach. By morning, the wrecked schooner Henry R Filton was spotted a mile and a half northwest of the station. The crew pushed the beach cart across the shifting sand and successfully fired the Lyle gun through the storm, then rigged a breeches buoy (a buoy with a seat sewn into it that was suspended from a cable) and brought everyone safely ashore.     

Just as the crew returned to the station, they got word that Coal Barge Number 4 lay wrecked on outlaying rocks. By using the breeches buoy again, all five of the barge crewmen were saved. But they were in horrible condition. Knowing they wouldn't survive the trip back to the station, James’ quick and resourceful thinking once again prevailed. No one occupied the nearest house, so he broke in, built a fire, and clothed the survivors.     And so it went, rescue after rescue. Each time the crew would somehow drag themselves back to the station, only to learn of another shipwreck. They immediately set out again, and then again, and again, within their call of duty, but it would seem, beyond what most would consider humanly possible.     

It is with great pride that we present The Surfmen of the United States Life-Saving Service, four figurines that depict the heroism and tenacity required of those who served. Every detail tells part of their history: The patrol clock and punch key helped hold surfmen accountable for their assigned stretch of coast. The patrol lantern helped spot wrecks. Coston signals and Wigwag flags were used to communicate messages. The cork vest was the first life vest. (It worked wonderfully, but only for a short while. Once it became waterlogged, it turned into a death vest.)     

But most importantly, it is the expression in their faces that truly tells their story. It is one of compassion, selflessness, and a most uncommon valor.  

*  Set of 3 different Surfmen

© Harbour Lights  July 29, 2002