The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-31
LIFE ON TILLAM00K ROCK.
WHERE MEN WOULD 90 MAD BECA USE
or THE SOLITUDE
Called the High school of the Lighthouse
Departmept-Ths Rock Held Together
by n Nop.Corrosiyo Metallic Band-No
Women Allowed to Live nt the station.

Called the High SchoOi OF tine bikhthouhe
Department-The Rock Held Together
By n Nop.Corrosiys Metallic Band-No
Women Allowed to Live at the station.
From IA, Morning 0ytsonfan.
The light station on 'Tillamook rock. Oregon.
ia the highest school u the lighthouse depart.
ment on the Pacific coast When a man has
served i've years on that lone rock. the rules of
the department entitle him. by way Of reward.
to promotion as keeper OF a desirable station
elsewhere. IL In the graduating school 81 the
best keepers II is a perilous post A man III
that place risks bis life and his reason. lie In
cut of from all social ties His wife Is not per
mitted TO live there. Neither il any woman al
lowed to reside amid that wild waste ~ water
and fierce storms 1T has been found by e1-
perience that their presence gives rise TO jealousy
and trouble among the men" explains a recent
writer. who describes the olation OF Minots
ledge liz hthouse. of Boston harbor
A keeper and four assistants are provided
for the double purpose Of dividing the watches
and mitigating the awful iso alton that tends
toward unseating the reason The mere mono.
tony Of seeing the same face (of man. Of course)
day In and day out for months and years amidst
the same wild scene and In the same narrow
tfeadmill OF labor, Is irritating II bcgets dislike
by its very annoyance Of munontony. II Is so
different when the face IL that Of woman--a
wife. No doubt the poets dream OF the Joy OF a
dwelling on n desert isle with ones true love
with a woman Of his choice, liz well imagined
Not 50 with the other sex. The monotony has
to be relieved TO keep the mind balanced under
such circumstances Of isolation.
The items 81 relief arc: % A monthly yisi,
OF the lighthouse tender with news. letters and
supplies: t2) months vacation after every four
months service; t8 piano and other instruments
fnKt .a.at..
practice; t6 dividing the night into three watches
instead Of two. as elsewhere: % literature for
Willing away the time or for education as each
keeper may prefer
With all these diversions tho tendency Is to
peevishncss and aversion for ones male fellows
. feeling that grows into crankiness and pushes
the limit Of insanity In some cases. One keeper
named Zauer. an old soldier became cra,ed In
1870 after three years Of service this lone rock
and died In the insane asylum at Salem, Ore
Another man, an assistant keeper. became gloomy
and Jealous hearted. one summer day he imag.
ined his young wife was on Clatsop Beach. hard
by the lighthouse. flirting with summer tourists
He took the lighthouse boat donned his bathing
suit and. rowing near the beach. lcapcd into the
surf and reached the summer resort But his
lonesome wife was not being consoled at the beach
and he hurried TO Portland. Ore where he reported
Y
mauded him and sent him back
With summer srAs the passage to the maln a nd
Is often easy, and this affords another diversion
besides giving fresh vegetables. fruits milk and
butter from the farmhoIscs. An Indian. now a
hermit at Elk Creek. tells Of the habit Of the an
Client Cintsop indian in frcqucnung Tilamook
rock 10 capture seals and sea lions for their oil
II is interesting to note Just here the difference
between seals and sea lions both ~ which are i'm
portant dcni,cns Of Tillhmook rock. and features
OF the life 81 that place. A seal IL spotted gray
and small while the sea lion Is brown and larger
They are not hostile Ia each other. In fact the
sea lions could not catch the smell seals II they
wished. A singular fact about both Of these
kinds OF animals is that they climb UP oil Tilln.
NOOK rock. their place OF birth. to die Keeper
Peson who graduated after eight years service
TO BE- keeper at North Head Light the best OH the
coast tells pathetic story Of a noble sea lion
SCARED and bloody aud ng from some subma-
rinr conflict who cra~led high up on his birth
rock " die. Is this a heaven born aspira tion TO
ascend toward the ether or Ia II the love Of native
land. Of home Of birth spot that In so dear To the
human heart Other diversions for these lonely
keepers consist In the visits of tourist parties with
ladies. who are permitted to ascend to the rocky
home In the basket or cage. Mrs Kate Hobson
Of Astoria. was the first lady who ever visited tho
lighthouse via the basket car. Lighthouse In.
spector Scbrec took his bride there on their we'd
ding tour in 1883 One keeper IL said TO have had
his wife at the lighthouse one entire summer
month. she coming in by small boat which was
derricked up alongside.
Yet with all these diversions and vacations,
the keepers life is a lonely one on TiIianook
Rock which is situated in the midst OF the surg.
ing ocean. with ninety feet depth ~ water on
AL sides al the great storm centre off Tiilamook
Head. This lone island rock 1, locatcd is
and one mite Why - " f tfom Fiiam csI
Head as,sn on The o;sson coast Columbia River
Point Adams Light ,now abandonedJ is :. by
3 n,,'. Fo., cs"6yl Light !. " !. "
!ni,es s s f. !. f. stands Farcon ROE oit U Cape
Eaicon. az Arch Cape Hail way 10 shore from
Isolated rock The least water close 10 either 81
these rocks is 30 feet deep. but the currents
should nor auemp, the Passage. The passing
OF the ships Of commerce into the Coiumb ia and
on 70 other ports iessens the sense Of isolation
~ the sea girt home. yet that isolation il there
like a spectre. threatening reason il requires
The selection Of the most sangunr spirits for This
in, the danfsT !" ,,r g. his station is still
column Of Ssss apparently s.p S .ieF iIo%
ri,amook Head on the mainland by unfold
centuries Of erosion prior 70 the days when tas
ns .ea and sncross i s'S upon ,s' 10.
land ON the Atlantic Upon the cas-, side liz
summit In 40 feet wide narrowing 10 lis west
side for distance Of 80 feet, and from, thai
point extending 40 feet further in a sharp and
abrupt ledge. where II IN only 40 feet in width
Inc rock IL PERCEPTIONS On all sides, except on
me east where u siOprs up at AN angle Of 90
degrees. The summit except the sharp ledge
ON The west side. IN enclosed all around It's edge
by a strong iron raining. The dwelling house
Is located In the centre ~ the summit. Il faces
10 the east, and Is located about due east and
west IL Is "a stone and cement structure held
down by great ron bolts. The stone tower rests
on the rock and shoots up from the centre of
The dwelling. The enclosure for this wild Sra girt
house contains some 1000 square feet or iess
than two acres in area. The focal platr Of The
lower light In the tower IL l38 feet above sea level
YET this Pacific O"ean, when in It's angrest mood
oitlmeS dashcs ils waves against this plate glass
enclosing HE light and hurls gigantic rocks high
hboyr anu drops them upon the homo Of those
iaiihiui but helpless guardians of the storm
tossed mariner The worst storms II this region
are uhe s"ltheasler and Southwestern of mid,
ing from IS IL lOt miles an hour The
gales focaliz- around TilIhmook Head in
me herc" conflict of giants They lash The
mead and the rocks and themselves with th.
greatest Jury. II Is truly a Centre Of storms
IN the nerce cbullitlOns 81 one Of which Ibr I'M
iated British bark lnpo,R went down with nh |
on board, one awful night In the year 1881, jnst |
before The completion of ihia most in,nr.,.,,,