Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-05-15
the last I saw Of him he was crawling

and Hosea Lewis, veteran ex-reve-
nue. pilot, familiar with the coast from
Halifax to Norfolk, became its keeper
on the Sth of December, 1853. The
southern line of the harbor makes q
wide, deep-angled sweep, with the
city on one side, Fort Adams two
miles off on the opposite point, and
Lime Rock midway between, about
800 yards from the shore. This rock
commands the widest view of the
harbor, and upon 1t the keeper lived
alone three years and half Then O
substantial, square, two-story brick
house was built, and in june 1857, his
family joined him. Four months
later stroke of paralysis disabled
him from all work, and ever since, his
eldest daughter Ida has been the
mainstay of the family. 1t was she
who cared for her father, and light
ened her mothers toll, and watched
over her younger sister Harriet, and
rowed her brothers Rudolph and Ho-
sea to school, and eked out the light
keepers slender pittance with her
needle and other feminine labors, and
flew to the rescue of lmperiled life
with an instructive courage that
would not let her worst enemy sink
without her risking her life to save
him.
In personal appearance this New
port heroine scarcely attains the ave-
rage height of women, is remarkably
slender, and would he thought much
nearer 90 than 20. Light brown hair,
blue eyes, keen but kind, and cheeks
pink-flushed, though not round
enough for beauty, attract one to a
woman whose quick smile and frank
and friendly manner more than ex-
cuse the inevitable educational defic-
fences which such life must always
entail. No one can talk with her
without believing her as unselfish as
she is fearless, and the fame her hero
ism has created seems simply to
amuse her, without exciting the least
vanity. So little had she thought of
her own deeds that, when first asked,
she had to spend much time in con-
sideration before she could say exact
ly how many lives she had saved.
Her father Is still d sOciable and
pleasant old gentleman, able to walk
a little, but spending most of the
waking hours in his chair. Mrs.
Lewis Is free spoken and honorable
matron, devoted to her family, to her
four story-papers, of which Bonner's
Ledger is one, and to the care of the
lamp whose flame has glistened across
the harbor from sunset to sunrise
these many years with as sure and
unfailing a ray as CLEANS from any
light on the American coast. Rudolph
is young sailor of %, now absent on
a voyage, and glossy" (Hosea) is 20
and q teamster in Newport. Hattie
is only II, and possesses a wealth of
personal attractions that many n fair
Fifth Avenue girl might envy. Both
the sisters indulge in rings and ear
drops, and other vanities dear to the
feminine heart, and when they have
recourse to the treasures of their
wardrobe, accumulated chiefly by
Ida's industry, they might easily be
mistaken for damsels of high degree.
The house in which they live is
whitewashed till it glistens like snow,
and everything is kept scrupulously
clean. The rock itself is a jagged
pile, less than an acre i'm extent, di-
yided by q channel, which Is bare at
low tide, and so utterly barren that
not blade of grass will grow upon
it. A mischievous black poodle, two
rabbits, three plump cats (who made
an end to all the rats and mice long
ago), a couple of turkeys, and a dozen
common fowls give quite Robinson
Crusoe air to the place. The tide rises
here about seven feet, and the highest
point of rock is seventeen feet above
that line. On the landward side is a
long, high pier, capped with fifteen
massive blocks of stone, and here,
swinging from the derricks or rocking
on the tide, may be seen the small,
square-sterned, well-worn govern
ment boat, black without, and white
and green within, in which Miss
Lewis has learned to row so well that
even the brawny boatmen of the
harbor concede her superior skill, and
with which most of her rescues have
been achieved.
A portrait of the American Grace
Darling, and picture. of one of heI
exploits were published two years age
in an illustrated paper, and many
compliments and requests.for photo
graphs ensued. More than one 70,
mantle gentleman tried to persuade
ner 70 c' f',nd i ,aanh h,t 10 no n ic ano
i louno d ltieu inuvs na' nav, mo hav.
pressed their suit at Lime Rock with
more success, and ii Is quite probable
that both the sisters may DO married
before another spring.
1t Is worth noting, perhaps, thai
Miss Lewis Is rightiuliy ehtitieu u
the extraordinary ana unpreceuentee
name OF "ldawalley Horadia," whlc1
she inherits rom the quaint nancy OF
her maternal grandiather, an estima
bic but eccentric Rock Island physi
clan. This name, however, she ha'
wisely discarded, and writes hersel