“The stations are visited frequently, and the men examined in the exercises of the apparatus drill, and obliged to give verbal reasons for every step in their operations. They are trained with their life-boats in the surf, in the use of the life-dress, in saving drowning persons by swimming to their relief, in the methods of restoring the partially drowned, and in signalling. When a wreck is attended with loss of life, a rigid examination follows to see if any of the men have been guilty of misconduct or neglect of duty. The keepers are empowered to protect the interests of the government from smuggling, and they guard all property that comes ashore from a wreck until its rightful owners appear. They are charged with the care and order of the stations, and the boats and apparatus; and they must keep accurate accounts of all receipts and expenditures, journalize all transactions, and maintain all necessary correspondence with superior officers. Thus it appears they must possess a certain amount of education and high integrity, as well as surfmanship, intrepidity, and commanding qualities....”--_Harper’s Magazine_, February, 1882. At the close of the year 1894 the total number of stations in the Life-Saving Establishment was 247. Of this number, 182 were situated on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 51 on the coasts of the Great Lakes, 13 on the Pacific Coast, and 1 at the Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky. Their distribution by life-saving districts was as follows: First District (coasts of Maine and New Hampshire) 12 Second District (coast of Massachusetts) 24 Third District (coasts of Rhode Island and Long Island) 39 Fourth District (coast of New Jersey) 41 Fifth District (coast from Cape Henlopen to Cape Charles) 17 Sixth District (coast from Cape Henry to Cape Fear River) 29 Seventh District (coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Eastern Florida) 12 Eighth District (Gulf Coast) 8 Ninth District (Lakes Erie and Ontario, including Louisville Station) 12 Tenth District (Lakes Huron and Superior) 15 Eleventh District (Lake Michigan) 25 Twelfth District (Pacific Coast) 13 --- Total 247 --Report of the United States Life-Saving Service. [Illustration: THE LIGHTHOUSE NEAR THE STATION. _Page 8_] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. A BOY AND A DOG.