Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-02-20
HOW WOULD YOU Ike TO DC a,Mi
A Man Who Gets Hls Foed. Fuel and Light
for Nothing and Is Paid for II.


A Man who Gets nj. Faea. Fuel and Light
for Nothing and Is Paid for IL.
II know at least one man Ia this coun-
try who il able to live cheaply and get
paid fer doing it. all because he lives
where the cost OF getting his feed. fnal
and light 10 him il about five times as
much as the original cost of the sup
plies themselves" said the captain of
schooner in the coastwise trade. .sIt
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 were less,
don't ii? But it's fact. This mans
nearest market Is thirty miles from
where he lives, and ton Of coal win
lost him $8 in that market.
IF Ii cost him no more than 20 TO lay
that ton Of coal down in this mans bin
he would have to pay for both coal and
delivery, and the ton would stand him
in $l2. The same in proportion with
his beef and his pork and his potatoes
and his -four and his oil. But Just be-
canse Ii costs In the neighborhood of
$50 a ton 10 carry his coal from the yard
to his bin, and corresponding prices for
his other supplies, he gets the whole
business for nothing. His -four he gets
free, and his beef and his pork and his
potatoes and his oil. as well ms his coal.
The entire outfit don't cost him a cent
from one years end TO the other, and he
gets 81 900 year for staying where he
is and receiving the annual donations
lit will be queer now II You are not
thinking TO yourself that this man am
speaking Of has soft snap. Well,
may be he has. He is a lighthouse
keeper. He lives on big rock at Cape
Ann. No sea going vessel can get within
q quarter Of mile of his home. No
loaded boat can reach his abiding place
in safety. To get ton of coal to his
bin, which is perched ON the rocks above
high water mark, 1t must be shipped
from Boston TO as near the lighthouse as
the vessel dare approach. The coal sin
bags, and these are placed in small boats,
which carry them to the edge of the
shoal water. inside Of which the boats
dare not enter. The bags OF coal are then
carried ashore on the hacks 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 are delivered to the Cape
Ann light keeper in the SANG manner,
and the government pays the expense
May be he has a 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 one the
government supplies with free coal, light
and rations at its lighthouses. When
ever the keepers are located at stations
where tho cost of carriage exceeds the
cost Of supplies they are provided free;
but where the cost of delivery does not
exceed the price of the goods the keeper
IL compelled to pay for both. That's n
queer rule, but government has many
queer way of doing things. At all the
barren rock lighthouses, like Cape Ann.
Minot's ledge and others, the keepers
have even to be supplied with fresh wa
ter from points ON the mainland. They
collect great deal from rains in cisterns
and tanks, but in most cases it Ii not
sufficient for the needs OF the keepers,
and the supply from abroad must be reg.
ularly taken to them, no matter what
the cost or the difficulties are in getting
it there. New York Evening Sum.