1879: U.S. Life Saving Service: LIFEBOAT to the RESCUE; print & story; surf car For Sale

“A Life-Boat to the Rescue
of a Wrecked Ship.”1879This is a single sheet only, which was published over 140 years ago in the Feb., 1879 issue of the American Agriculturist, a popular monthly journal for farmers. The sheet measures 9 x 12 inches in size and is in excellent, very attractive condition. The page is devoted to a general-interest illustrated article on the U.S. Life Saving Service. It features a great wood engraved scene taking up the top half of the page, titled “A Life-Boat to the Rescue of a Wrecked Ship.” Surrounded by text below this is a smaller engraving, on “A Surf-Car in the Waves.”

The rest of the page is devoted to a lengthy related article which begins on the back side of the page and runs for a total of 17 column inches of text.The article is titled “How Lives are Saved on the Coast.” It begins:“On a stormy winter’s night, when the gale is raging without, you feel a sense of comfort as you draw near the fire, and perhaps enjoy the warmth and brightness within all the more as you hear the storm fiercely beat against the windows. Those of you who live near the sea-coast . . . . know what suffering and what loss of life such storms bring . . . . You who live far inland have but little idea of the dangers a terrific gale brings to incoming vessels. . . . In view of the loss of life and property caused by wrecks on the coast every winter, the Government in 1847 established stations at the most dangerous points, where there were men and boats always in readiness to help vessels in distress. From this beginning has grown the Life-Saving Service. . . . It is no small task to launch the boat and get it beyond the rollers as they break in upon the shore. . . . the great danger is when the boat reaches the ship; if there is any mismanagement then, the boat will be dashed against the vessel and the rescuers themselves be lost . . . .” Etc.
_gsrx_vers_1836 (GS 10.1 (1836))