Capt. Daniel Cole, keeper of the Cahoon’s Hollow Life-Saving Station,
was born in Wellfleet in 1844, and has been in the life-saving service
ever since it was established on Cape Cod, with the exception of one
year. He entered the service when the Cahoon’s Hollow Station was
manned, and after serving as a surfman for a number of years was
appointed keeper twenty-three years ago.
[Illustration: CAPT. DANIEL COLE, CAHOON’S HOLLOW STATION.]
Captain Cole, in addition to being a veteran life saver, is also a
veteran of the Civil War. When a boy hardly nine years of age he went
to sea, his first trip being to the Grand Banks on a vessel that
sailed from Cape Cod. He continued to go to the Grand Banks year after
year until he went to the West, and engaged in trading on the Great
Lakes. He was a trader on the lakes when the war broke out. He was but
nineteen years of age, but of fine physique, strong, healthy, appeared
much older, and was readily accepted in the 12th Illinois Regiment,
Company K, Second Brigade, 15th Army Corps, and was soon on his way
to the front. He participated in numerous engagements, and was with
Sherman on his “march to the sea.” When his term of enlistment expired
he was discharged, at Louisville, Ky., and at once returned to his home
on Cape Cod. He again went fishing to the Banks, continuing until the
life-saving service was extended to Cape Cod, when he was prevailed
upon to join the new crew at Cahoon’s Hollow. He continued to serve as
a surfman for a number of years, joining the station crew at the close
of each fishing season. One year, while he was master of a fishing
vessel, he remained out of the service. The following season he joined
the station when the crew went on duty, and has been at the station
continuously since that time. William Newcombe, who was placed in
charge of the station when it was manned, resigned after a few years,
and Captain Cole was placed in command. As a surfman, Captain Cole had
shown rare judgment and exceptional skill in the work of saving life
and property, and his promotion to keeper of such an important station
was a merited reward. He has made an enviable record as a life saver
since keeper, but one life having been lost within the patrol of his
station since he took charge. Disasters are frequent along the shore
near his station, and the crew have made many heroic rescues, and had
numerous thrilling escapes in devotion to their duty. One of the worst
wrecks that have occurred within the province of the station happened
on Dec. 31, 1890, when the schooner _Smuggler_ became a total loss. The
vessel struck during a furious gale, and was discovered by one of the
surfmen about four o’clock in the morning. Running to the station, a
distance of about two miles, the surfman aroused the keeper and crew,
and all hands started for the wreck in the teeth of the gale, with the
beach apparatus in a wagon drawn by the station horse. The whirlwinds
of sand sweeping along the shore blinded the men, and the horse at
times refused to go. After much hardship, but with little delay,
Captain Cole and his crew reached the scene. The fifteen men, the crew
of the vessel, had been driven into the rigging, and the craft was fast
breaking up and moving along the shore. With great despatch a shot was
fired over the vessel, the breeches-buoy was put in working order, and
the men pulled through the surf from the stranded vessel to the shore.
The life savers suffered terribly from the cold, and the rescued crew
were nearly dead when they reached the shore. As the last man was
pulled out of the surf, the vessel went to pieces, not a vestige being
left to mark the spot where the disaster took place.
[Illustration: PANCHITA, DRIVEN ASHORE AT PROVINCETOWN.]
Captain Cole maintains a high standard of efficiency and discipline
at his station, and has a crew of fearless and skilled life savers.
Captain Cole married Harriet Blodget, and is the father of two sons.
He is a member of the J. C. Freeman Post, G. A. R., No. 55, of
Provincetown, the Surfmen’s Mutual Benefit Association, the Royal
Arcanum, and the Adams Lodge, F. A. M.