The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-04-20
Especial Correspondence.)

Especial Correspondence.)
Raleigh, N. c. April l..
This is a continuation Of the story OF
a trip through the North Carolina
sounds. IN the last letter the reader
was left at Hatteras light house.
The prevalent opinion OF Cape Hat
teras is OF an awful. desolate. wind
swept place. with the wreck and ruin
of great ships as a feature. The reality.
on a bright day. as was April end. was
very different. The banks" or vast
barrier OF sand which separates the
ocean from the sounds, is almost tree
less north OF Hatteras. Here and there
are stunted live oaks, and at places on
The banks are the stumps and remains
OF thousands OK them. showing that,
perhaps centuries ago. the banks We're
well wooded. But while all is bare
down TO Hatteras light, yet there a new
aspect begins, and there are heavy
woods, which reach outhwar Tor,
really, westward.) all the way TO Hat
teras village and light house. twelve
miles away. These woods are pictur-
esque in the extreme, with splendid
pines and live oaks. with fan palmet-
toes among the underground and in
Vulnerable holly trees. crimson with
| berries.
luz LSHl mouse rises from q grassy
meadow 10 a height OF 200 feet. II was
built in 1870. and cost $l75, 900. The old
light stood 200 yards nearer the point
of the cape. 1t was blown up that year
and a mass Of ruins marks its site; a
great mound of brick and concrete
perhaps forty-1ve feet high, left as it
fell. The light which surmounts the
light house is of the first class, cost
$4,000. is by Lepaute, of Paris. is ten
feet high and six and one-half feet in
diameter. Kerosene oil is used. Only
a few years g it was considered inn
possible to use this oil. Now it is found
TO be the best. The feeding of the light
is effected by clock-work, the weight.
suspended from a steel rope, extending
when run down in a recess at the bot
tom of the tower. In the long nights
seven and one-half gallons of oil are
consumed. The lamp is four feet high
and has five circular wicks. These do
not reach into the oil, but the latter is
pumped UP to them. The light is fixed
that is, does not r~evolve-and is
white. 1t is often seen at Roanoke
island, fifty miles away.
The view from the top of the tower
is a wild and grand one, and the pencil
was kept busy recording Observations.
First of all, one wishes to see the
dreaded shoals, the terror OF this cape.
For two centuries or more Hatteras has
been a name dreaded by mariners. 1t
is a graveyard of ships, and we'll does
it keep the secrets of the grave. The
great steel vessels, the "tramps," which
strike these go absolutely to pieces in
twenty-four hours, not a trace remain
ing.
But, on this beautiful day, the shoals
do not show their fangs. They smile
at the kisses of the sunshine. The
shoals are known as the inner" and
outer diamond" From the point Of
the cape to the "outer diamond" is
ten miles, and the latter is only
eighteen miles from the gulf stream
he nearest point on the Atlantic coast.
The beacon, or range light. known as
the bug" is low, and stands on steel
piling. When built it was high and dry.
Now it is in the surf at ordinary high
tide. There are three keepers Of he
light house and one of the Bug" light.
Now, the aim has been to mark the
"Outer diamond" First, an attempt was
made to put a caisson there. This was
an immense steel cylinder, to be filled
with concrete and to which other sec
tons were to be riveted until it formed
a light house. But when the cylinder
of the lower part of the caisson wa,
lowed there from Norfolk there was not
enough concrete ready to fill if. nor
was there haste in boiling the other
cylinders. a storm car-le. the caisson
was tipped over and sank. The sand
literally swallowed it. Then an expert
mental structure, a Skeleton beacon,
was put UP, as a test of the power Of
he wine and water. A storm tipped it
to one side, then it sank. Now it, too
has gone.
The sand is not a quicksand. 1t is
simply in motion all the while. The
water is like a lather, with san in
stead of SOap in suspension. When a
breaker on these shoals tumbles into
a boat it leaves a large quantity of
sand. This sand adds to the natural
heaviness Of the water. Nothing can
withstand such a force.
But, April End, the shoals We're not
threatening in aspect. In a storm the
seas smite each other there and are
tossed to a height OF fifty or seventy
five feet. 1t is also a notable place
for the formation of water spouts. 1t
is true that there are often storms at
Hatteras while fifty miles away there
is bright sunshine.
Near the light house there are tho
keels Of two wooden vessels, looking
merely like a couple OF beams. Near
the life saving station Is the wreck OF
the Altoona, a big ship. These are all
the outward and visible signs.
The government ear ago kept a
light ship at Hatteras. Now another
one is to be put there. 1t is doubtful
whether it will stay. 1t does not seem
possible that it cOuld stand the awful
pounding of the seas on the outer
diamond" The light ship will have to
be put in what is known as the lead"
where ships go and where the water
is twenty-five to thirty feet in depth.
But IL must be remembered that at
Hatteras the seas break in thirty feet
water-a phenomenon.
With the powerful telescope in use
by the keepers five life saving stations
are in view. Near the light nous are
fresh water ponds and in these are
gardens, reclaimed and dyked, produc-
ing a most picturesque effect when
I viewed from the great height.
Your correspondent is the guest at
Hatteras light Of Keeper T. F. Smith
and wife. and is pleasantly entertained.