The Red Cloud chief., 1886-01-22

day was beautifully calm. A boat was
rOwed up near :frs east slope Of the
rock, and watching his chance. q sailor
named Cherry leaped ashore on the
lodges. Mr.. Trcwavas, who WAS an
active man. next jumped to the rock.
Before he cOnld gain time TO climb up,
however, q great wave suddenly mp
lifted itself and swept him of.
''Lines and buoys were ut once
| thrown to him, bat the unfortunate
| gentleman was almost instantly sucked
| down by the undertOw, and disap-
peared. Selling a lifeline. Cherry, with
a heroisn rarely ~equaled, dived boldly
OfintO the boiling maelstrom after him.
and remained for some time in the
depths of that black, dreary whirlpool,
trying to grasp him, but in vain. The
sailor was hauled out at length by
] mean Of the line, much exhausted.
s depressing an effect did the death
OF Mr.. Trewavas have at Astoria. that
when a man hired with the Lighthouse
Board TO work at Tillamook. people
told him invariably that he was going
to his death.
"a Mr.. Ballantyne succeeded Mr.
Trewavas in the effort to make the sur
yey, and about a month later the Cor
win again returned to the rock, this time
better equipped. 4 spar buoy wa now
anchored just of the east side OF the
rock; ard after Cherry had again landed
on the east slope, 4 four-inch hawser
was slang from Ike deck of the steamer
Ia the peak Of TIE rock. and along this
II 1.fln I,- ,,.arz % ,.pft.r- a.l l.,.- ..
Traveller for getting over both men and
material was rig"cd.
yet 80 profoundly did the vessel
heave on the strong, turbulent wafer,
that at every birch the middle of the
hawser, along with the traveller.
dipped under, so that everything land
dcd-the men as well-was soaked in
sca-watcr.
For hauling across the men, a de-
vice called the .Lrecches-buoy' was
rugged, consisting Of Il pair of stout
canvas brccchcs, with a large circular
life-preservcr round tie waist of them
Il, a girile. After buck!ingthese upon
the person, the passenger was pulled
over, but never failed to get aducking.
and commonly landed spiuttcring and
blowing like a porpoiSe.
1T was finally decided by the engi-
nccr to blast of twenty-six feet from
the summit of the rock, Tins reducing
lis height 10 ninety feet above sea level.
to form Il flat foundation. or site. for
the stone li-ht-towcr, which il was pro-
posed tn build on top Of the rock. The
stone courses for the tower were cut
and numbered, ready for laying, ut
Astoria.
"On the twcnty-siXth Of October, ten
workmcn. myself among them. with
Mr.. Ballantync and u good supply of
food, blankets, tools. etc. were landed
from the 'Corwin' Is previously de-
scribcd, and the work of blasting Off
the top Of the rock began i'm good earn
est. But l am free to say that I hardly
expected To get oil that ledge alive.
at took It's fifteen days TO drill in
for iron rods and ring bolts and build
a stone house for our provisions,
powder. tools, etc. For our own si:cl-
ter, a very thick, strong canvas double
ten was pitched at The top Of the rock.
dashed and secured every way by strong
lines to rin@-bOits.
''Thc work of blasting then began.
Often, while getting round the west
face of the cliff, We had to work from
swing-stagcs. suspended out ninety
feet over those boiling, roaring waves.
So tough was the basalt rock. that the
best drills of English steel required to
be- re-sharpcncd for every Two inches of
hole drilled! a blacksmith worked
constantly with us. sharpening drills.
For the blasts giant powder WAS
used; with each blast we were obliged
TO retreat down the east side of the
rock.
''Our orders at first were 10 pile the
fragments of rock from the b!astin.
into the great assure Oh the south side.
above spoken OF. SO rs to fill il up. But
that idea was 5000 Abandoned: our
filling would not stay there. for though
we tumbied rocks i'm there which
weighed many hundred pounds. the
waves whiSkcd them out is il they were
chips.
Thus we went on there. day after
day. .pcckipg' holes and blasting OF
rock which tumblcd into the depths
below. with little TO cheer us save the
scream of gulls. the harsh 'yonk!! yoWk!
gonk!r of sea-lions. and the gurgling
plunge of the water beneath us.
Not 4 nice place 10 spend Thanks
giving. Christmas and the HOLIDAYS.
Ell? Nhe work never stopped. The
cutter came down once q week in fair
weather. bringing fresh provisions and
the mail. and getting our letters for
home-folks.
On the first day of January, five
new men were added To the force.
AT last anne the storm OF which l
began to tell YOU. Ii WAS on the night
of the seventh of January. All that
day and. in fact. for three DAYS pr.yi-
ouSiy. it had been blowing, with snow
and sleet. The sky was dark and
gloomy. the winding blowing too hard
for 4 man 10 stand on the top OF the
lodges.
I'VE had not been able to do much.
and kept to our tent. wrapped up in
all the blankets We had. To keen warm.
for the wind was bitterly cold and
piercing. The site Of the tent had been
shifted about twenty feet down the
slope. on the landwa ard side. To a little
level which had been blasted out for
it. Our provi>ion-housc stood fifteen
or twenty feet lower dovn this latter
being no more than sixty feet above
the sea.
Towards night it began to blow
even harder; and as darkness settled
over us the gigantic forms of the pillows
rolling in looked terrific.
But as nine. ten and eleven O'Clock
came. the gusts yelled (for l can select
no more fitting word) louder and loud
er. Ii seemed as if even the wind
would tear us of the rock. We lay
there mutiied up. No talked much.
The new men looked wild.
mir. Ballantyne tried to reassure
them. saving that We were all riuhf