Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-16
PLANTING A BUOY.
Written for t.s St. "a Globe.

cation on the shores ca tAS a. SnflC, no is
apt to bring with hin, to the pruries and
hills of the northwest Macy Impressions
and "reminiscences OF the mosa piessing
sort He still, in some measure, feels and
enjoys the stimulating influence OF TIE sea
coast, SO different in its Hay fronl what sur
rounds him here. Thee is charm TT
tsching to the ocean which cannot be ace
suately described bot must he experienced
to be realized. There is TIA broad sx-
panse, the endless waste OF waters stretch
ing out as far as the eye can see and
spreading out, to the Imagination, thous-
ands of leagues beyond. It's vast depths,
unseen, but realized Co bo belonging to
home of myriads of living forms, animal
and plant, constructed With an exquisite
aeiicacy far surprising thsss which the
land affords. And ss We wander along the
shore this is made manifest By the scat
tered remnants OF oecs living forms
sast up to earth by the waves.
We even dream Of Atlantis
Of buried cities, and serteinfy IN ocean
bed strewn with the halks Of Morse gal
legs and Spanish gallsens, pirate craft and
buried treasures never to DO given up.
We look over the blzs waters which nave
for ages becko1ed AaK TO tempt It's
treacherous depths and devouring sto- ms,
in search Of undiscovered countries. And
for ages it has been TIE nurse Who has
rocked heroes in her cradle, making men,
hardly and brave OF temper. And with
tn 7fe las stimulated, if not created the
high achievements of civil So
sisty. rs we look upon the
picture W. lis restless waves and shift
ing ooiors lights and shadows, and
feeI the refreshing sea oreezes blowing
through the HAS, we derive cur inspira-
ton Of health and { ssngtA Of body and
Hind.
We passed long vacation at Wosds'
Hall on Cape Cod, &mong the squaint
surroundings of 2 seafaring people-for
this is an old whaling coantry, once boast
ing Of seaport towns larger and richer than
was New York zach house has its balus-
traded platform OF Lhe roof, where the
people watches t3r the returning Whalers
many never return. The place is sa0u-
rated with ea-lors. We were sailing of shore
0ne brilliant, clCudLsss day, when the old
sailor said, There's q heavy fog outside"
How do V0u know III" 'Why, don't you
see, the waves show it" And he was
right, as we afterwards found, when point
ing for port q hard IS Rs could 90 with a
rec sheet, before NC wero Cysrtaken by
the fog and accompanying calm.
Well, there IS at this place a government
lighthouse station with sh0Ps, decks,
SHEDS, and O vast accumulation Of anchors,
chains, SIGNAL cannon, spar and iron, can
buoys ana steamer fit to go to sea
in the worst weather. In The
harbor are several lightships for
repair. The work Of the station IS to
supply the light houses and ships with oil,
provisions and men when needed 10 tow
the ships to their stations or pick them up
when reported a3rif5 "direlict" after a
fierce storm along the coast, and to plant
and keep in order beaoGns and buoys. The
lyht-ship, By the way, is very heavy. She
J. & massive hull, pointed fors eEc at,
constructed Of the heaviest timbers and
el8nking, braoed and reinforced, and equal
IN herself Ike Eick's wife, to any storm
that ever blow. She has immense
hawse holes for the cables, two masts
with black, iron-bRll shaped cratings at
the mast heads, fog day, sid lanterns
hoisted from the deck houses aS night.
As this monster lies wallowing in the AZ
lantc swell, apparently deserted, the
water rushing in aad pouring ont the
hawse-holss at every plunge, cha presents
picture Of solitude hardly 80 be eQutied.
and IN fsot ehA IS G solitude. The keepers
&c en- board for many Aontia as g stretch,
sworn in no event of disaster even to de-
sert her, snd there they Iiys In the midst
Of the waters, laxily rolling In fair and
fercely plungipg in bad weather.
But they are at hons, having sheir ship
duties, books and hsndiwork. The keepers
family is With him, Il Is said, on the ship
off Sandy Hook, and kis daughter had
grown TO be fourteen yesrs Of ago before
abe ever stepped on dry land. They have
piano and conTenienuss of home life.
The two anchors used are known as the
mushroom" anchor. II is OF immense
weight and shaped like mushroom. That
is, the body i OF saucer shape, with q
stem rising from It's center, and no cross
beam. This Is 50 that Is it is pulled and
rolled about On the bottom
it works its way deep into the sand and
thus increases its hold. The cable, also,
Ia of greater length, By msny fathoms,
than the depth Of wafer. This to give ad-
QkAAOudL tfa3l 'tIti 1-o- u itt-S pan tLAStOtAN
OF tripping pull. Don't 60 near her rs
she rolls; better keep away" The high
est responsibility rests IN replacing these
lights after they nave gone adrift. When
out sight OF land, the Location is known
By compass bearings aHd soundings. But
20 any one NOT having technical training
and special skill, it woRld be like hunting
for needle in p hay stack, 10 find It.
Certainly q high order Of skill is requi-
site and the government seldom changes
the command Tor the reason that the hun
dred outside indications by currents, bot
tom, etc, (for the ocean bed has as
marked characteristics as the state of Min
nesota) become to be a sort of secret prop
ty of the captain which he does not give
away. You may believe this or not as
you please IS g sea yarn. But the CAP
tain told US that the lightship on the
Great South shoal got sdrift in storm in
1873. That when she broke away the
keepers threw over small
anchor with cable and host to mark the
spot. This shoal is many lesgues out
sight of land, but he was SO accurate in
his soundings and lesrnings that when he
thought he had reached the precise stetion
and WAS about to back the engine, there
was the float right off his port bow.
Sba coast roanv