The morning news., 1897-06-06

! that yield no ground that are most apt to
| fall. l have been up in this place many a
! night when the winds were bowling around
| from the blackest of skies, l have often
! seen seabirds, ducks and gulls dash them
| selves to death against the wire fence
around the lense of the lamp in a storm.
! They seem to be fleeing for refuge and are
attracted by the light and straight to it
they fly in the breath of the
gale and drop dead down on the
ground at the base of the tower"
The main light on Tybee was established
by the government in 1873. The present
lighthouse was built in 1867.
Between the lighthouse and the
beach, and not far away stands the old
Martello tower. which has historic
value, as well as being a very picturesque
bit of the Landscape of the northern end
of the island.
There has always been a mistake in the
minds of some people about the origin of
this old tower, they relying upon the ira
dition which has gained circulation to
the effect that it was built by the Span
ish before the days of Oglethorpe. In
point of fact. this is far from being true.
The tower was built long after the set
tlement Of Oglethorpe's colony, and per-
haps the most reliable account is that
which comes from the Davenport fam
lily, which Is to the effect that Mr.. Isah
Davenport, who was the grandfather or
Mrs. William Harden of this city, was
the man who had a contract from the
British government to build the Martello
tower, just prior to the war Of 1872.
Just at that time Great Britain had been
building a number of similar towers along
the coast of England and Ireland, sup
posed to have been patterned after the
tower on Martello Point, Corsica, which
stood a fearful bombardment in 1874. Dur
ing the sixteenth century there were a
great many of these towers constructed
along the coast of the Mediterranean sea.
1t certainly is safe to say that the Mar
tello tower at Tybee was built
I'M anticipation of war with
ditions of the Davenport family, as stated,
it, seems equally safe to state that Mr..
Isiah Davenport is the man who had the
contract for building the tower in the ear
ly years of the present century, Mr.. Har-
den has a joint of a whales backbone
which was handed down by members of
Mrs. Harden's family as having been dug
up on Tybee Island when the workmen
were excavating for the foundation for the
tower. This is on exhibition at the Geor-
gia Historical Society.
The tower on Tybee was not used
during the late war between the states.
In those days there was nothing there
but the bare walls, which are of shells
cemented together.
After the war the Tybee Telegraph Com
pany took possession of the tower and
used it for a signal station from which to
sight vessels and report their observations
over the wires TO Savannah. 1t was en-
gagged by the Southern Bell Telephone
Company when this company bought out
the Tybee Telegraph Company. 1t Is now
used as a signal station by the telephone
company, but Is the property of the gov
ernment and will soon be vacated by the
telephone company, which has bought
land adjacent to the government tract
upon which to build its own tower for
such purposes. Mr.. and Mrs. John Evans,
agents of the telephone company. live in
the old tower, having a comfortable little
residence upon the top Of it. The tower is
close beside the sea and is very pictures
que and quaint.
BY orders from Capt. Carter a part of
it may have to be cut off now that the
new fontiffcation Is going up between the
tower and the lighthouse. 1t is feared
that it will be in the range of the giant
guns which are to be placed in the fort.