The sun., 1898-12-04
NA|RLEDT0SEA|N uGHTSH|P
Captain Jackson, Of U. ). Ship No.
As, Tells Of Thrilling Expert
ence Along Atlantic Coast.
ANCHORED IN The DELAWARE
This Gallant Government Ship will
Cast Its Beams Of Light Over the
Dangerous Shoals at Over Falls
Station Makeing Entrance
to the Bay.


to the Bay.
I'm tied States Lightship No. 46 of the
Fourth district, has been under the
shears at the Pusey & Jones Company's
works to receive thorough overhauling.
The repairs were extensive and COM
prised new windlass bits, riding bolster
and hits, fore castle deck chocks and side
vertical tenders, new seizing to rigging
and paint burnt off from the entire hull
and replaced with the lighthouse color
straw yellow.
All the odds and ends of the entire ship
have been attended to so that now being
in thoroughly frst-class condition she
can safely ride out the wild gales and
heavy seas that beat and threaten de-
struction upon the worst strip of coast
line along the Atlantic sea board.
It becomes true OF the sea as it is OF
rivers "Where the swallows muamur the
deers are dumb" Nowhere else does the
wind and waves hold higher carnival
of frolic as when the white foam tossed
in winrows of spindrft in seeming
eltin glee break and scatter upon the
dreaded sand.shoals of the North Allan
tic. Then woe to the bewildered mari
ner who, failing to read the signal OF the
lights, is caught in the treacherous sands
OF these dangerous shoals.
Victor Hugo makes fine paragraph in
the "Man Who Laughs when describ-
ing the shoals of the coast of France:
"In passing certain point if the sound
of bell is heard to larboard all is we'll,
if to starboard all is DOOM"
The famous Diamond shoals making
out to the sea thirty miles from the point
of Cape Hatteras are of this deadly de-
scription. Once caught to leeward OF
them when gales run riot all hope is
gone. and in gruesome wreckage the sea
adds another tombstone in the grave
yard of the North Atlantic.
Farther up the coast there are Others
equally as bad-Smith Point, North
east End, Five Fathom Bank, Winter
Quarter and the Over Falls. 1t is on the
latter that No. 46 will be stationed, in
fourteen fathoms OF water. Heretofore
whistling buoy has marked this dan.
gerous shoal at the entrance of Delaware
Bay, but henceforth CHEEKY light will
send its warming beams over the waste
of waters from staunch light-ship.
Captain Andrew Jackson, a veteran OF
twenty years in the lighthouse service,
will have command OF No. 46. His pre-.
vious station was on the Winter Quarter
shall in No. 45.
Captain Jackson loves, next to his
wife, his light ship. For him the nov.
city has long since passed away and the
fulfllment of stern duty REINFORCED with
philosophy born of contentment to re-
lieve an otherwise dreary monotony
Seated in his comfortable cabin the
other day he gave an intensely interest
ing description to the writer OF how one
night in December, 1896, his ship parted
her mooring cable on Winter Quarter
shoal and tore away in d binding swir
of hail, sleet and snow to the eastward
Gould have seen the lights" said he
III would have borne away for the Break.
water alter getting under way but in the
darkness and in that bowling gale it be.
came utterly impossible. very soon,
assure you, lowered my station lights
and set the underway red and green Ian.
terms in the fore rigging. All through
the night we tore away to the eastward
once catching glimpse of the Montauk
Point light, and then before us lay the
broad Atlantic.
'NO better seq boat exists than these
lightships under mainsail. foresai and
a handkerchief of jib or two. Finally
! after reaching latitude 81 degrees 54 min
utes, and west longitude 20 degrees 4 min
: utes, we sighted steamship steering
west. We made signals, when she altered
: her conrse and bore down upon Il.
within hailing distance told him wha
had happened US and offered him 81 ,OO(
to tow us into the nearest port. At tirs
he demurred. then asked the name o
, his ship. Birdoswold,' said, ,he through
his trumpet. Will the master of tn
Birdoswold please accept my thanks ant
report Inc when he reaches port of being
fully able TO take care of U. S. lightshil
No. 45 no matter how the wind blows,
, yelled back, and instead of steamine
away he put his helm hard over an(
came alongside for atow line. / wanted
to get into port as quickly, perhaps, a
steam could take me, but he never dis
covered it. However, when we did reacl
port, instead of $1,000, he libeled tn,
ship for $4,000 salvage, claiming that HI
, picked us up helpless in the trough o
. the sea and entirely out Of provisions.
! ut is needless to say that Uncle San
! refused to pay the bill on our testimony
and shortly after being returned to ou
> station on winter quarter, this yer,
English steamer haild us to know whei
, the next drift 300 miles to the nortl
v would occur. ! let him go, perhaps tina
. experience was enough for him, as I an
,, sure it was for me-"
Out.walk ed n Horso