[Illustration: THE MONTE TABER--AFTER THE STORM HAS DONE ITS WORK] The bark hailed from Genoa, and carried a crew of twelve men, including the officers and two boys. She had a cargo of salt from Trapan, Island of Sicily, for Boston. The craft had been struck by a hurricane on September 9th, and when off Cape Cod on the night of the 13th, in endeavoring to make Provincetown Harbor, struck the dreaded Peaked Hill Bars. She was discovered by patrolman Silvey, of the Peaked Hill Station. The night was dark as ink and the sea was running high, and smashing over the bars with terrific force, and the bark soon gave evidence of speedy destruction. Owing to the darkness and the storm the coast guard crew could not locate the wreck; there was nothing that could be seen to shoot at and nothing to pull to, even if a boat could have been launched, which was impossible. It is believed that the Captain was so humiliated by the loss of his vessel, that he fell into a frenzy of despair and took his own life, and some of the officers and crew followed his example. Six of the crew managed to reach the shore on top of the cabin which had broken away from the ship and were pulled from the surf by the Life Savers. One of the boys said he swam ashore. An investigation conducted by the Italian government, disclosed that the Captain did commit suicide. It has been said, whether true or not, that it is a tradition among Italians that when a master of a vessel is so unfortunate as to lose the craft he is in duty bound to do away with himself, as he could never again expect to command a vessel. LOSS OF THE OAKLAND One of those sudden storms which so often develop and sweep down along the Cape Cod Coast without warning in the fall of the year, broke over the Cape on the night of the 12th of October, 1913. The tug Paoli, towing three coal laden barges, which left Vineyard Haven the day before, was caught in the rush of the gale between Wellfleet and Highland Light. Hoping to pull through and round Race Point for an anchorage, the tug struggled on through the ever increasing gale; when opposite Highland Light, with the monstrous seas sweeping over the barges every moment, the strain on the towing hawser proved too great and it snapped away from the tug when the tow was two miles from shore. The barges became separated and were drifting helplessly towards the outlying sand bars, over which a wild sea was breaking. Two of the barges were able to get up some sail, drove before the gale down the coast and escaped; not so with the Oakland, which was the third barge in the tow. Those on board finding that the barge was being forced rapidly towards the sand bars, and those on the barge hoping that the gale might moderate, dropped both anchors and brought the vessel to a stop one mile from shore and just clear of the bar.