The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-11-29
A STORY OF DUB COAST.
Battle in Lighthouse with Confederate
Deserters.
From, the Chicago Times.

From the Chicago Times.
During the last year Of the war the
lighthouse on North Island, at the en-
trance Of Winyah Bay, on the coast of
South Carolina. was destroyed by fire.
The one erected temporarily to replace
it was built by party of Federal sol
diers. Its height was about twenty-five
| feet, and the material used was stone,
brick and timber. There WASH t much
architecture about it, but it was solid
enough for fort. Indeed, it was built
as combination, and for several
weeks was in charge of sergeant of
infantry and seven or eig ht men. Or
ders were finally received to. leave two
men in charge until relieved by an ap-
pointee Of the lighthouse board: The
name of my companion was George
Wilson. We were left an abundance
of rations, two extra muskets, and
plenty of ammunition, and aside from
keeping the old-fashioned light in or
der, we had nothing to do. War was
over, but the country was unsettled,
and gangs of bad men were prowling
along the coast as we'll as through the
interior.
On the afternoon Of the fourth day
after the sergeant's departure, sloop
which had probably come out of the
Santee River, approached us from the
south and came to anchor just inside
the island. She had six men aboard,
and, after fishing for an hour or SO two
of the c:ew came ashore in small boat.
Wilson was asleep at this time, and l
had been watching them from the Ian
tern room with the glass. 1t needed
only one glance to prove that the crew
werea bad The glass brought them
so near that [ could study each indi-i
vidual face, and from the very first /
made up my mind that the fishing was
all a pretense. While they fshed they
furtively inspected the lighthouse, and
as soon as the boat put out / reused up
Wilson, and we went outside to receive
the strangers. During the war many
blockade runners had succeeded in
getting into the port at Georgetown,
at the head of the bay, but at least
half dozen had been driven ashore in
our vicinity.
WHAT THEY WERE AFTER.
There were then two wrecks on the
east side of the island andutwo on the
mainland, and unknown to US a story
was aAoat that large amount Of Eng
lish gold had been taken from ore of
the wrecks and deposited in the light
house for safe keeping until it's right
ownership could be decided. 1t was
very silly story, but found many be-
levers. We had no means Of getting
at any of the wrecks, and had any
considerable sum of money been found
it would have been turned over to the
government, Of course.
I had time before the boat landed to
tell Wilson what / thought about the
men, and we agreed on what to say,
and how weshould act. Only one man
came up to fhe lighthouse. Had he
been encountered on the mainland he
would have been called guerilla.
He was a middle-aged man with a
fierce and crafty look, and his efforts
to appear pleasant and pass for q fish
erman were lamentable failures. When
we had saluted each other he said that
he and his men were to wait where
they were for British bark called the
Harvest Home to come out of George
town, when FIVE of them were going to
ship in her. He asked if we had any
objections against their camping
ashore for the night and he wanted to
buy bacon and coffee Of US.
| pretended that / would have to ask
the sergeant before answering, and
turned and entered the lighthouse and
closed and fastened the door behind
me. We had met the stranger about
forty feet from the door and planned
not to let him enter the building, and
discover that we two were alone. The
fact must have already been known to
them, however, or at least strongly
suspected, for I had scarcely locked
the door when the man knocked Will
son head over heels by blow on the
nose and dashed at the door. Let me
tell you about the build of the light
house, and you will get clearer idea
of my situation. The door was narrow
and studded with boltheads. There
was loop-hole on either side for mus
kerry. The ground floor room was
circular, with walls over two feet
thick. Ascent to the lantern room
was made by means of wooden ladders.
There was a circular wall round the
lantern, with brick parapet four feet
high. The lighthouse stood back zoo
feet from high tide, and about the
same distance in rear of it was ridge
of sand and gravel running clear
across the island. Here and there
grew bush and patch Of grass, but
there were no trees within gunshot.
The door opened inward and was Sc
cured by heavy bar across the center.
I had intended to remain inside two or
three minutes and then return and de-
liver message from the sergeant, but
when heard some one kicking on the
door, realized that the stranger had
already shown his hand. From one of
the loop-holes I saw Wilson sprawled
out on his back, and also noticed the
small boat making off for the sloop.
Just then the stranger called to me
through the other loophole
"Look here, young fellow, don tyou
lose any time opening this door, If you
want to live to see sundown. "
"What do you want in here p lin
quired.
"None of your business. You open
this door, or I'll show you no mercy
"You can't come in here
"Open this door, I say" he shouted,
as he pounded on it with stone.
The small boat was now coming
ashore with the rest Of the fellows and
Wilson was sitting up and looking
around in dazed way. He did not
get up until the men reached him.
The leader Of the gang left the door as
they came up and all gathered about
Il