Joshua James (lifesaver) - Footnotes

Footnotes

1. ^ A woman's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my delight is in her".
2. ^ It was a common practice to light a bonfire close to any shipwreck that could not be rescued immediately. This was done to let the surfmen have enough light to see the shipwreck, help keep the watching surfman warm, and let the survivors of the shipwreck know that they had not been abandoned.
3. ^ The station's surfboat was destroyed by a huge wave during the rescue. Joshua James was in the boats on all five trips, Osceola James, Alonzo L. Mitchell, John L. Mitchell, and Louis F. Galiano were in four of the five boat crews, and the eighteen others in trips of lesser number. It is also noteworthy that four members of the James family, four members of the Galiano family, and ten of the Mitchell family were members of the crew.
4. ^ The Nantasket was built by Joshua's brother Samuel. It was a very large surfboat specially built for the sea and surf conditions around Hull; its design and construction were untested.
5. ^ After Joshua James transferred to the U.S Life Saving Service, his son Osceola succeeded him as the Massachusetts Humane Society Keeper for Hull until 1928.
6. ^ While a rescue was in progress, the wives of surfman would gather at the station, stoke a roaring fire in the stove, set out blankets and dry clothing, and prepare hot beverages. When the survivors and rescuers arrived, the women would then tend to them by treating any injuries and hypothermia. Without the action of the wives, shipwrecked sailors who survived the initial rescue and their rescuers could have died from untreated hypothermia or other injuries.
7. ^ Joshua James did not provide an exact description of method and maneuvers used.
8. ^ In theory a person could remain with the U.S. Life Saving Service forever, as long as they passed the annual physical.
9. ^ In 1882 a limited compensation was put into force whereby a widow would receive one year's pay if a lifesaver was killed in the line of duty.
10. ^ Sumner Increase Kimball had lobbied Congress unsuccessfully from 1876 to 1914 to provide a pension for the Service. The lack of a pension was unfair to those who served in all kinds of weather and with a very real chance of serious injury or death only to be dismissed or forced to resign due to injury or infirmities of advancing age.