The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-06-13
MONOTONOUS LIVES.
FOLLOWED BY THOSE WHO TEND THE
LIGHTHOUSES.

| QuanncaCious ana Kegu~
lations Which Must BE Observed To the
Letter-PrOvision Made For the Conn
fort of These Useful Servants.
A lighthouse keeper is appointed by
the secretary of the treasury on the rec
concentration of the lighthouse board,
and at first receives only all acting ap-
pointment. At the end CT three months,
if he passes an examination by the ma
val officer who is the Inspector of the
district, he receives full appointment;
if he does not pass, re is dropped from
the service. A keeper mast be able to
read and write, keep accounts. sail and
pull boat and have enough mechanic
al ability to make the necessary minor
repairs about the station and keep it III
order. There is only one grade of keep
er recognized by law but the custom of
the service has divided the keepers into
different grades, with different pay and
duties and with promotion from one
grade to another. A man may be APP
pointed to the service and assigned to a
particular station, but he may be moved
at any time if promoted or if the inter
ests of the service demand it. At sta
tons requiring but one keeper retired
seafaring man, with family, is usual
! ly selected, and i'll general men Of the
seafaring class are most wanted. At sta
lions where there is a fog signal one of
the assistants is man who has an en-
gineer's license and is something of
machinist
Keepers are paid on an average about
$500 year, but the individual sums
paid vary from 500 to$l 900 year.
according to the importance of the sta
ton and the amount of service render
ed. The principal keeper at Minot's
Ledge light, just outside of Boston. re-
ceives 81, 900 II year for his services.
and this furnishes the only instance
where the pay of a keeper is specified
by law.
The keepers who live at isolated
lighthouses and on the offshore light
ships lead a very monotonous life, bro
ken only by the sight of passing vessels
and the quarterly visit of the lighthouse
supply boat.
These keepers get considerable leave,
about two weeks i'll three months, dur
ing which time they visit their families
on full pay. A ligh thouse on an outly
ing reef, for instance, is Oh the same
status as a lightship, except that it can
not be blown away and the keepers can
not leave it except when they are re-
lieved, as a storm might come up and
prevent their return.
Much is done by the lighthouse board
to further the comfort of all its en-
ployees, but most is done for those who
endure the solitary life at the isolated
lights and on the lightships. Libraries
are furnished the keepers and their
families. Each contains about 40 vol
umes of works of history, science and
poetry, with fair supply of good nov
els. This complete library is left at
station for three months, and is then
transferred to another station by an in
spector on his quarterly visit There are
nearly 1000 of these libraries i'll circu-
lation, each in its little portable case,
and, by their judiciOus interchange, the
keepers of stations where they are fur
nished see about 200 volumes a year.
Keepers are forbidden to engage in
any business which will prevent their
presence at their stations or interfere
with the proper performance of their
duties. Many have nsefnl and nrnfit hle
occupations which they carry on at the
stations, while some fill pulpits, are
justices of the peace or teach school.
All keepers are furnished with quarters
for themselves and in some cases for
hos, IT,
furnished with food and rations. Other
stations have barns furnished for cattle
and horses, and boats are furnished all
stations inaccessible by land,
The discipline of the service has been
always rigid, as beftting a service
where negligence or inefficiency may
mean the loss of many lives and much
valuable property.
Dismissal instantly follows in two
cases-where keeper is found intoxi-
Gated and where he allows his light to
go out. Keepers are trained to consider
the care of the light and the lighthouse
property above any and all personal
considerations, and it is rare indeed
when they fail TO realize this high
ideal. There have been number of in
stances illustrating the esprit de corps
of the service-how the keepers of the
Minot's Ledge light first built went
down with the light and died at their
posts how one keeper saved his lens
and let his family look out for them
selves, and instances where they have
saved public property and lost their
own.
Fortunately the service is not ham,
: pered by any question of politics, and
this fact, coupled with the excellent
discipline maintained, accounts for the
. fine class of men now i'll the service
men who take an honest pride in their
work, and whose interest makes the eff
ficiency of the service what it is. 1t is
unfortunate that the navy has no retir-
ing laws for its seamen which would
allow men after 20, 20 Gu 30 years serv-
ice, depending ON the physical ,condi-
e ton Of the man, to be retired and
. placed in the lighthouse service for the
e rest of their lives A valuable class of
men would thus be added, and the ma
ton would be paving "A debt which now