Morning journal and courier., 1894-01-12
The Destrueuen ef The Rtrst Light.

~% ~Sssf 1NGSa VI tnG
 house Built on mtnotss Ledge. lRron ~Llfe tn IArhthouse. by 0ustsv Kobee.
 in the January oenfury.l
 The Hghthouss on Minot's ledge stsnis within the shadow of e tragedy. It is the ssoond structure erected on the ledge. The frst lighthouse and the lives it held wsrs claimed by the sea- Begun in lSx7 and completed ia NoveEbsr. iS4s. it vss over whelmsd in April, 1851. fts destrnction was the most tragic event in the history of our lighthouse establishment. The stree turs wsa sn octazonal tower supported up- on wrought iron piles strengthened by brsoes. The piles penetrated five feet into the rock On the braces, thirty -four and st half feet above the rock, the keeper hAd constructed & platform for the storage of bulky articles, and had fastened to the lAntsrn-dsck, sixty-three feet above the rock, a five and-a-half-ineh hawser which he had anchored 10 seven ton granite block. Along this hswser articles were hoisted up 10 the platform and there land ed. These Improvements" were convsn- venient-and fatal; not. however, to the ACN PcE Wl1 I4A&E LAGs4sAgN 2t NkE GI tnOFG when the storm which hss become historic for its fury burst over the coast.
 On Monday. April l5, 1851, there was c strong sasterly gale blowing. At that time there were on the tower two assistant kesp- era and friend of the principal kespsr. The visitor became frightened at the first indication of . storm, and, in response 10 . signal from the tower, a boat put OF for CohaSsst and took him ashore. On Tues- day the wind swung around to the north east, the most dangerous quarter from which the clements can hurl themselves upon Minoi's, SC they then rejoice In the accumulated fury of miles of wind-toru sea. By the 18th 1t had increased to 6 hurricane, and the tower was SO complete ly buried in the heavy seas that nothing of It could be seen by the group of anxious watchers at Cohasset.
 About four o'clock In the evening of the 18th the platform was washed ashore. Then the watchers knew that the water had risen to within seven feet of the tower. At nightfall 1t was seen that the light WAS burning. Ii was observed st ftf1l inter vsls until ten o'clock that night, when 1t was finally lost to sight. At one o'clock on the morning of Thursday, April F, streaming tide and the inrushipg hurricane met at Minot's, & violent tolling of the lighthouse bell WAS heard After that no sound rose above the din of the storm. About six o'clock in the morning . man walking along the thore saw chair washed up little distance ahead of him. Er&m- ming 1t, he recognized 1t ss having been In the watch room of the tower. After this di,covery no one had any doubts of the tragedy which hsd been enacted behind the curtain of the storm. When it lifted, nsught was seen over Minot's ledge but the sea, It's white orests streaming triumphant ly tn the gala --a-
 It Is believed by those competent to judge of such matters that the destruction of the tower was dre to the surface which the platform contracted by the keeper off, cred to the waves. and to the strain of the hawser upon the structure. Every time this hawser was struck by thestA 1t actual ly rugged ct the tower. There seems also little doubt that the sum appropriated by congress for the building of the lighthouse was insufficient by about two thirds for suoh 6 structure as the perilous situation called for