At daylight the crew of the Cape Fear Station (Sixth District) Smith’s Island, North Carolina, discovered a large three-masted schooner ashore on Frying Pan Shoals, about nine miles south-southeast of the station. The boat was launched as soon as possible, and after a hard pull for two hours they reached the vessel to find her abandoned, her people having been taken off by a steamer which passed them on the way out. The schooner proved to be the Robbie L. Foster, of Saint George, Maine, bound from New York to Savannah with a cargo of railroad iron. She was full of water, with the sea breaking over her, and it was apparent she could not be saved. The life-saving crew returned to their station, reaching there at 3 in the afternoon, much fatigued from the trip, which had taken over eight hours. The keeper afterward learned from the captain of the steamer which took the people off, that nine men were rescued, including a passenger, and that he had landed them at Smithville, at the mouth of Cape Fear River. Although no assistance was rendered in this case, the life saving drew deserve the credit of making a gallant effort by undertaking a long and dangerous journey to the stranded vessel. The schooner became a total loss.
