The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-12-01
HERO OF THE FARALLoNRs.

Derrick Dodd, in San Francisco. Post
 Visitors at the Cliff house, who, upon fair days, catch distant view of the ar. allones resting upon the bosom of the placid deep, like three bed bugs on a hotel counterpane, little dream that upon one of those lonely islets exists, humble and unnoticed, life-saving hero of the hrst-class-a being whose services to humanity deserves to be rewarded by the thanks of congress. and to form the basis of novel ,ha, would cause any. thing in the Mercantile Library to seem drier than an Egyptian mummy by com parison.
 fortunately, however, this benefac,or oi our species IS only q Jackass-just a plain. ordinary lackass, the only four leg ged one on the islands.
 leter was Jeff or the South Faral- lone aocsr the line the lighthouse s,a- . ,ion sas Established, and chiefly as the outcome of bet made between a couple : of Coast Survey officers as to the longev- ity of the lackass, Old Commander Skid more. of the frigate Suceo,ash," taking the odds as to this particular ackass liv- ing twenty-nine years from that date. his : age being twenty-nine years al the time. The animal was placed in this exceptional locality as sor, Of guarantee ,ha, no more juvenile member of his species should be rung in on the better. who had gone long" on the yackass market. eter sull bears his years bravely. although on the shady side of forty. while
 
 anchor at a port where neither light houses nor ackasses. lct us hope, are of much frequency.
 leter's" hermit-lke 10, Is not so cir cumscribed one as the landsman might suppose. The South Farallone. appear ing like soanty foo,hold for sea gulls from the land, Is in reality three quarters of mile long, and four hundred feet high. From the store-house a, the sea level to the summit of the rock. the oil IS once week packed by the Jackass. This IS Peters sole duty, and the iightmen say that just as sure as Wednes- day comes round, Peter" iorsakes his grazing ground and is found on the very extremity of a rock overhanging the sea at point on the island most remote from the station. There he solemnly awaits capture, evidently considering this performance. which he has repeated ftty-two times per annum for the pas, twenty years, as a sort of practical demonstration ei the theory tha, animals have sense of humor of their own.
 un one occasion. about ;fsree year. ago. Pe,er carr:ed his loke so far as 10 back oil said rock. from which he fell some two hundred feet into the sea. He was. naturally, given up for lost. Abou, two hours afterwards the keepers were astonishcd to behold the animal gravely swimming around the landing place on the other side of the island \ man swam 10 him and fastened a couple of lines around the creatures body. He was then guided under a derrick and swung on shore. no, apparently n the least affected hy his header through space.
 The burden of oil cans. with which :. e,er makes his zig-zag aseen; to ,he lighthouse. Is sufficient 10 cause him 10 pause at intervals, al which times his pace can only be accelerated by the simple device of twisting his tail. a hin, 10 which he responds by the most eNcep- ,ionally deafening bray One stormy day. about two years ago-and here comes the pith of this veraclous biog- raphy-a sudden dense fog. of the pea soup variety, was driven from the ocean, and the entire coast. including the Faral- lones, was hidden. The presence of wind and fog al the steam siren particularly necessary. lust a, this moment pipe loint blew out of the boiler, and the ma chinery was rendered useless. Al that time there was no bell a, the station. and so many ships had been sighted in the ottlng that the danger of some of them being wrecked on the island was srea, in the extreme.
 What was to be done: When the anxiety and despair of the keepers were d, their height. one of them had an in- spira,ion. old Peter was hastily driven ,o the summit. and the men took four hour watches n twisting his tail His superb basso profundo pealed over the murky waste ot water. ard many home-bound captain. hearing .ha, friendly warning, stood away from de- ssruc,ion.
 l. he deeds oi our local iackasses are so worthy of honor, does no, old pe,er deserve 10 have his pathway hencefor,h s;rewn with ,histles.