The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1886-09-24


- keen fhemaelvcs from freezing ana
waited Tor dav. The house heo
grounded Il lovr tide win the light
the tide came m. The water n &c. but
the house ala not: a. n was fllliua Ike
n sinkin~ shiD. Thu tired fscezln 2.
sfarvino keener~. instead az lookine
after their own comfort. as we'll
thew mi0ht have done when IN
such a sorry Might took advantaee Of
the little time that WAS left them-to
AZ vhatp To save their bits ~ f,,rni-
fnre. their bedding. clothing and foodP
M. thew strained every nerve 10 save
the pronertv which had been Entrusted
~ tbe;r cha First thew cast loose
the precious lens from il lsshin %. and
wr. r,,;nU n In some ~ their wet had.
ding. and this being the most costly
and FRAGILE thinO NJ the station. thew
lowered II carefully 10 the boat. When
this had been taken on shore and care
fulIv stowed away. thew brought off
the bnrnern Then the heavy iron
pedestal was unscrewed from ia fast
enings. lowered into the boat with
mucR trouble and some danger. and
RI ton was taken ashore. Then every
full packaoe Of the mineral oil thew
used for Az illuminant was saved. and
even the emptv cans were brought
awav. together with the oil measures.
the box Of wicks. and such OF the glass
chimnevs AZ had not been broken.
Then the library-that case Of fifty vol
umes provided for their reading-was
cut loose from its fastenings. and
| though the books were all soaked. that,
too. was saved. In fact, they got
everything belonging to the Govern
mcnt on shore that was not smashed
and could be used again. including the
clock and the thermometer. They
even saved q portion OF the broken
stove. to show, as they said, that it as
| not worth saving. But by this time the
| first and second stories of the house
were under water. the ice had STAYED in
| its sides, and the tide was running
through il. They had saved all the
| lighthouse stuff worth saving, but
| they had lost all their own personal be-
longings; even their cooked food. on
which they had reckoncd to break the
fast which had been so prolonged.
that. too, had been carried away. II
they had attended to their own goods
first they might have been saved; but
the keepers feared the wreck might
break away at any moment. and they
preferred to be true, entirely true, to
the trust reposed in them.
s.That was splendid conduct, true
bravery said the doctor. hut, pray,
how did they come outP"
| "A passing steamer was sent to their
aid. The inspector. the one of whom
Won spoke. doctor. in reporting the loss
4 of the lighthouse, spoke well Of them.
Let me read you what he said. This !,
from the official report: i can moi
commend too highly the admirable
conduct Of these Keepers. and their sue
ccssful efforts to save the movable
property seem most praiscworthy.
Then we wrote thus to them, =" said til,
Commodore. reading from his letter
book:
= The board has learned with pleas
ure Of your faithful and courageou,
conduct in remaining at your pos
when the Sharp's island lighthouse wa
threatened with overthrow by ice, ant
particularly in saving the lens ant
other lighthouse property after thu
house had. on February 10, been car
ried away. and after you had beer
afioat in II for more than sixteen hour
without fire or food and in constan
and imminent danger
= In recognition Of this proper per
I formance Of your duty the board ha
placed your names on the list Of thos
deserving its special commentator.
''And 1 hope the board won't forge
its PROMISE" said the doctor, 10
, those men came from my county. Blu
between ms, now, Commodore. weren'
they rather foolhardy to peril thei
lives for mere sentiment? What rea
! good could they do by staying in th
lighthouse when 1t was in actual dan
| ger? They could not show thcirligh'
and If they had il could have done n
good. No boats could be runnin
when there was 50 much ice in th
bay, you know.
= = You don't know our stcambos
i men," replied the Commodore. "The
4 60 II they can get out Of the harbor
3 the more fools they without rcgar
1 TO the ice. Why, steamer wei
: ashore on Sharp's Island within thirt,
I six hours after the light was carrie
+ away, and the absence OF the ligl
\ was alleged to be the cause Of the di