CAPT. DANIEL COLE.
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.
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.
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.