The Dickinson press., 1890-07-19
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO Be HIM,
A Man Who Gets His Food, Fuel and Light
for Nothing and IL Paid for It,

for Nothing and Is Paid for It.
"I know at least one man in this coun-
try who is able to live cheaply and get
paid for doing it, all because he lives
whore the cost of getting his food, fuel
and light to him is about five times as
much as the original cost of the sup
plies themselves" said the captain of a
schooner i'll the coastwise trade. "It
seems queer that man can get along
more economically on account of the
high cost Of getting his supplies to his
home than he could if the cost We're less
don't it? But it's q fact. This mans
nearest market is thirty miles from
where he lives, and a ton of coal will
cost him 50 in that market.
off it cost him no more than SO to lay
that ton of coal down in this mans bin
he would have to pay for both coal and
delivery, and tho ton would stand him
i'll $12. Tho same in proportion with
his beef and his pork and his potatoes
and his flour and his oil. But just be-
cause it costs in the neighborhood of
$50 IL ton to carry his coal from the yard
to his bin, and corresponding prices for
his other supplies, he gets the whole
business for nothing. His flour he gets
free, and his beef and his pork and his
potatoes and his oil, as we'll as his coal.
The entire outfit don't cost him a cent
from one years end to tho other, and he
gets 81 1,oooa year for staying where he
is and receiving the annual donations.
cit will be queer now if you are not
thinking to yourself that this man am
speaking Of has soft snap. Well,
may be he has. He is lighthouse
keeper. He lives OH big rock at Cape
Ann. No sea going vessel can get within
n quarter of q mile of his home. No
loaded boat can reach his abiding place
i'll safety. To get q ton Of coal to his
bin, which is perched on the rocks above
high water mark, it must be shipped
from Boston to as near the lighthouse as
the vessel dare approach. The coal is in
bags, and these are placed in small boats,
which carry them to the edgo of the
shoal water, inside of which the boats
dare not enter. The bags of coal arc then
carried ashore on the backs of the crew,
who wade through the surf, Chamber up
the rocks with their burdens and empty
the coal in the lighthouse bin. The other
bulky supplies arc delivered to the Cape
Ann light keeper in tho same manner,
and the government pays the expense.
May be he has q soft snap, but I'd rather
be on my vessel, tossing and pitching ON
the heaviest sea that his light ever shone
out upon than to be firmly grounded ON
that Cape Ann rock as he is. Wouldn't
you?
"But this man isn't the only ono the
government supplies with free coal, light
and rations at its lighthouses. When
ever the keepers arc located at stations
where the cost of carriage exceeds the
cost Of supplies they arc provided free;
but where the cost Of delivery does not
exceed the prico Of tho goods the keeper
is compelled to pay for both. That's a
queer rule, but government has many n
queer way Of doing things. AT all the
barren rock lighthouses, like Cape Ann,
Minots ledge and others, tho keepers
have even to be supplied with fresh wa
ter from points on the mainland. They
collect a great deal from rains in cisterns
and tanks, but in most cases it is not
sufficient for tho needs of the keepers,
and the supply from abroad must be reg
ularly taken to them, no matter what
the cost OF the difficulties arc in getting
it there. New York Evening Sun.