"Cedar Island": The Place for the Tired and Weary
CEDAR ISLAND, VA., August 24. -- Out in the Atlantic Ocean, seven miles from the main land off the coast of Virginia, is a small pleasure resort, known as Cedar Island, which appeals to every one who, fond of sport and outdoor life, desires rest and recreation and surcease from business cares. Those who were wont to rusticate at Cobb's Island, a pleasant but vanishing memory, will find Cedar Island just such a place as Cobb's was before hungry waves devoured its sandy shores and put it out of commission. Out at Cedar Island one finds practically everything one cares to amuse one's self with in the summer; that is, to bathe, to fish, to sail and to rest on the broad beach always cooled by the sea breezes, and free for the most part from the invidious presence of the mosquito. The island is shaped something like a toboggan slide, seven miles long and 150 yards broad, which gives it the appearance of a huge yellow knife.
Life-Saving Station.
Here the United States government has placed a life-saving station, in command of the veteran Captain J. A. D. Savage, probably the oldest actively employed life-saver in the service of the government.
For the whole year Captain Savage looks out for ships and vessels passing along the dangerous coast between the capes and the point of the Delaware. He has under him a staff of eight men -- Messrs. Core, Watson, Cobb, Tom Fosque, Burton, Johnson, Byrd and Hargis -- not forgetting "General Fitzhugh Lee," the enormous bay horse which drags the lifeboat from the station into the surf and knows his business as well as any of the crew. It is a pleasure to watch the life-savers and "the General" at practice; to see them handle the gigantic lifeboats and to rescue those adventurous person who desire sensations from imaginary wrecks by means of the breeches buoy; to observe them going through the practice of life-saving by resuscitation and wigwagging messages of comfort and help to imaginary wrecks far out at sea.
Wrecks of the Past.
This is the routine of those days when human life is not in danger, but the staff has played its part in giving succor in times of distress.
In the twilight a visitor can spend many pleasant hours at the station, listening to Captain Savage's tales of the wrecks that have been cast up near Cedar Island; of the great English tramp that ran her nose upon the reef five miles out, all the crew of which was safely brought ashore, of the yacht that absolutely poked her prow on the beach not 100 yards from the life-saving tower, and whose crew and passengers made the trip shoreward by means of the breeches buoy; of the lost Spanish bark that, having been at sea for ninety days, finally ran in behind the island and was wrecked in the quiet waters of the bay, every man being saved by the men from Cedar island service. Captain Savage delights to tell the story of the Spanish bark and to describe the queer antics of the Spaniards, none of whom could speak a word of English, and all of whom stayed two weeks in the dead of winter at the station on the island.
On the beach now repose the hulls of three great ships lost at sea and cast up by the angry waves, and these give silent testimony to the wisdom of the government in maintaining life stations on this dangerous coast.
Sixty Days of Danger.
It is remarkable that the government, however, should discontinue service for two months in the year. It is said that this is done for the sake of economy, but the fact remains that for the months of June and July the station is desolate except for the presence of the keeper and the big bay horse, the men being discharged for sixty days without pay. It seems strange that for the sake of a few dollars the sea-going public should be without help in time of need simply to save a mere pittance to the government, for between the Northern Virginia line and Cape Charles there are not less than ten life-saving stations scattered among the islands of the coast, and every one of these are out of commission for the months of June and July.
No Pensions for Savers.
Another fact seems strange, and that is that these faithful men, who certainly risk their lives as much as do the men of the army and navy, are not allowed a pension on account of old age, nor are they allowed but two years pay in case of being disabled in active service.
This seems unfair and certainly keeps many good men from applying for positions in the Life-Saving Service.
Captain Savage is one of the old-timers who takes great pride in his work and keeps his staff up to the very highest mark of excellence. He, together with five of his brothers, served in the Confederate Army, and all of them, ran the blockade, crossed the Chesapeake Bay on a wild night and in a small canoe in order to see active service with the Southern troops.
Wild Ponies and Cattle.
Just across a narrow channel from Cedar Island to the South is a larger island, heavily wooded, known as Parramore's Beach, and here are great herds of wild cattle, flocks of wild sheep and droves of wild ponies of the type known as Chincoteague. Once a year the penning occurs, just as it does at Chincoteague Island, when the ponies and cattle are "cut out" and branded. All these animals run wild, and make their own living from the grass, seeds and young shrubs growing on the island, and drink from small pools of land water scattered here and there among the sand hills. The ponies are even larger than those at Chincoteague, and bring from $50 to $100 apiece.
The sheep are not used for mutton, but are kept on account of their wool, which is of a superior grade.
"General Fitzhugh Lee."
On Cedar Island itself there is but one animal of the four-footed variety, namely, the life-saving horse, "General Fitzhugh Lee," who roams as he pleases, comes to a call like a dog, and eats everything from crabs to ice cream.
Three times a day a naphtha launch plies between Wachapreague, the nearest town on the mainland, and the island, where a small, yet very comfortable hotel, excellently kept by Mr. and Mrs. John B. Savage, for Mr. Mears, furnishes the attraction for guests who are fond of the amusement that the sea provides. It is lit by electricity and furnished with all the comforts of a simple home.
The fishing near the island is excellent, running from sharks to small kingfish, and it is no unusual thing to see a single boat bring in a catch of 100 to 200 fish, ranging from a pound to three pounds in size.
In the summer there is excellent shooting on the beach, there being plenty of snipe and curlew, while later in the season ducks are abundant, with a fair share of geese.
All of this is for sport, but from a commercial standpoint the location is an excellent one for oysters, clams and for sturgeon fishing, which has made the people of the section rich, one man having planted within the last few months, not less than $10,000 worth of oyster shells.
No Oyster Police.
The writer asked certain of the inhabitants if the Virginia Oyster Navy patrolled the district and kept down oyster stealing. The reply was that the entire section was practically without the least protection, and that only one small sailboat was in commission there, commanded by the oyster police, and as this boat could not keep watch, the guarding of the oyster beds was a serious matter. The fact is that scattered all over the marshes are small huts, built upon high piles, in which lives guards who look after their oyster grounds. In broad daylight the writer one day counted not less than twenty sculls, illegally engaged in raising seed oysters, and one afternoon observed a gang of men hauling seine on Parramore Beach, in violation of the fishery laws of the State.
It was explained that these people kept close watch on the one small police boat, and while it was in one part of the district they illegally operated at will at the other end of the district.
Rest for the Weary.
As a rest resort Cedar Island is without an equal in Virginia, for seven miles out from the mainland the weary and business-worn visitor escapes the news of the world, unless he desires to have it, and finds himself close to nature, surrounded by salt water, within a few yards of the surf, always alive and bold, with fishing and shooting within three minutes' walk and with air as invigorating and fresh as one finds on shipboard in the middle of the Atlantic. It is worth a trip to any tired man to see this primitive Atlantic City, free from boardwalks, crowds and excitement of the Northern resorts.