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Hedley Snook, Page 2

Snook Family

Snook was driven to the bottom by the first wave that broke over him. He was rolled and tossed , buffeted and battered, and finally he washed up onto the shore, beaten into insensibility. It took him a while to recover consciousness but, when he did, he was surrounded by French-Canadians. He was in bed in the home of a Madame Ludley. For a time he did not fully comprehend his situation, until all at once he remembered the wreck and the men still clinging to the rigging. By an almost superhuman effort, aided by a strong drink of moonshine to help him get rid of the salt water he had swallowed, he staggered back to the beach. Snook was soon involved in an effort to make the French-Canadians understand that there were still men on the wrecked vessel. He tried to convey to them that he wanted them to launch their dories and try to reach the men.

Eventually, they realized what he wanted them to do. The rope he had brought ashore must be tied to the bow of one dory, and another rope tied to the stern. This would enable the men in the Vera B. to pull the dory out to the wreck and get into the dory. The people onshore could then pull the dory back to land by means of the rope attached to its stern.

When they had grasped his idea, and fastened the ropes in place, Snook then secured the lifebelt in the middle of the dory. He left some lose ends of rope hanging free so that the men could have something to hold on to for safety, or perhaps tie themselves on with. The men on the doomed Vera B. dragged the dory out to the vessel through the raging, foaming sea.

Seaman Warren was the first to come ashore and then the dory was pulled back to the wreck, a much harder task for only two men. Next to come ashore was Mosher, and then the dory had to return for the last time. As each man left the wreck, the task of dragging the dory out again became increasingly more difficult. What had been a tough job for three men became a fatiguing effort for two. When it came time for Gillard to pull the dory out to the vessel alone, the task was almost impossible. Somehow, calling on some previously unknown reserve of strength, he managed to do it. He then scrambled aboard and was pulled through the boisterous surf to safety, the last to leave his ship, in the true tradition of the sea.

The actual task of dragging the dory ashore through the heavy seas took a seemingly endless amount of time, and a terrific amount of labour. Many times, on each trip, the small, light craft was rolled over and over in the breakers. Thanks to the lifebuoy, and the ropes which each man was securely fastened to, no one was swept away by the angry ocean. Battered and half drowned, they were seized at last by many helping hands and taken out of reach of the sea. Men had again triumphed over the ocean.

Shortly after the rescue, the Vera B. split in two from the effect of the pounding waves, and sank some time after. The men were taken to the life-saving station nearby where they remained for eight days. From there they were taken to North Sydney in a boat called the Bras D'Or, where all but Hedley Snook were sent home. Saul Mosher went on to serve as a Seaman in the Merchant Navy in World War II. He died at Fortune on 08 October 1980, at the age of 80 years.

None of the men had received half the battering that Snook had taken in getting the lifeline ashore in the first place, an act to which they all owed their lives. From North Sydney Snook was sent to Halifax for hospitalization where he remained throughout the winter of 1923-24. While in hospital, sand and tiny pieces of kelp were pumped from his stomach. This was the result of his long immersion in the sea and the rough time he had while being carried ashore by the rollers in the lifebelt.

In April 1924 Snook was discharged and sent home to Fortune where the resident doctor treated him for a time. He was then sent to the General Hospital at St. John's where he spent another couple of months. Discharged again from that institution, he was sent home to the Grand Bank Cottage Hospital where he spent a further three months. In all, Hedley Snook spent almost a year in hospital as a result of his gallant and successful efforts to save the lives of himself and his comrades. Although he received no awards for his bravery, he is no less a hero than the man who is publicly rewarded, and should be remembered as such. To the people who knew him, and knew of him, Hedley Snook is indeed a hero worthy of the name.

Story © Fay Herridge 1990

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