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St. Andrews Beacon, May 9, 1901
Indians' Narrow Escape
Canoe Capsizes in the Angry Sea—Two Men Battle Bravely for Life
John Nicholas, the genial old chief of the Indian camp at St. Andrews, and his son, William, had desperate battle for life in the angry seas off the entrance of Letete passage, on Sunday last. The Monday before, John and his son in one canoe and the Horaces in another, set out from St. Andrews to hunt seals and porpoises in the Bay. They went up as far as Lepreaux, but, having poor luck, decided to come home on Sunday. Soon after leaving Point Lepreaux, the wind came out from the eastward and blew a perfect gale, with showers of rain. Nicholas saw schooner craft hading for the harbors and he concluded that there was going to be a bad storm. A big three master ran into Beaver Harbor for shelter, but the Indian felt so secure in his little canoe that he pressed on towards home. With a full spread of canvas on and the sheet made fast to one of the thwarts, the canoe skimmed over the seas like a bird. Two hours from Point Lepreaux the little craft was off Green Point, Letete entrance. By this time the seas were running like race-hor St. Stephen, so that even the stout-hearted Indian quailed as he glanced around on the great waves. Light-keeper Helms also saw the predicament the men were in, and fearing disaster, made ready to hasten to the rescue, if the need should arise. When about mid-way between he White Horse and Green Point the canoe ran under in the boiling sea and when she arose she was bottom up and the two Indians were fighting for their lives in the surf. The younger Indian could not swim a stroke, but the father was a good swimmer and never lost his head. He helped his son on the upturned craft, while with the tips of his fingers he worked around the canoe until he got hold of the end, where he could support himself without endangering his companion. The mast and sail projecting straight downward also helped to keep the upturned canoe steady. The Horaces in the second canoe, who were following after, saw the accident, and ran for the drowning men. After some manoeuvring, both were picked dup. The addition of the two men to the already heavily laden canoe brought her gunwales almost to the water's edge. Though a boat could scarcely live in the sea that was running, the light-keeper, George Helms, and his assistant, Sidney Dines, bravely pushed off to the rescue. They reached the upturned craft just as the two Indians had clambered into the other canoe. The Indians wanted to try to save some of the floating wreckage, but, fearing they would forfeit the lives of all four in the attempt, Helms told them to go ashore and he would try to sae the canoe for them. The boatmen succeeded in making last to the canoe, and after a desperate pull, towed it ashore. Meanwhile, the four Indians, with their canoe almost full of water, had also effected a safe landing; Nicholas says that in forty years experience with canoeing in the Bay of Fundy and around the Penobscot he was never out in such a storm and never had such a close call for his life. He was in the water over half an hour before he was rescued. He lost his gun, 600 cartridges, his tent, camp outfit and everything else that was in the canoe. He says $60 would not pay for the loss he sustained. He says that but for Mr. Helms and his assistant they might all have been drowned.