The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-07-07
Flh0uE LIGHTHOUSES Oh THE
foIsT Or THE UNITED sIITEs
Mnots Ledge. the Nantucket Lehtship and Wave Swept
Tillamook - Love Romance Matinicus Rock
Uncle Sans Brave Nephews and Nieces
Who Te1d His Lights.

and thirty working hours could Be had
spent a week one winter oa MEnos's
Ledge. and the reYerheratIons Of the
waves against the lighthouse during
4 storm were terrific.
However. life on MInoSss Ledge Is
agreeable compared with existence on
the Nantucket. Shoals I-ightShIp.
which Is forty three miles out At sea
from Sankaty Head. Nantucket. On
which and on the vessel the Herald
win install the Marconi system. This
lightship is q tossing. rolling island.
entirely out Of sight OF land. and the
crew are cut OF from friends and
family for eight months during the
year. When / was On the Nantucket
Lightship she was one OF the old
fashioned. high-bowed schooners. but
now the Lighthouse Board maintains
q steamer there Words are almost
inadequate 10 describe the constant
motion Of the lightship. Being an
chored over the shoal the vessel is
as helpless as a dismantiei hull At the
mercy of wind and waves. She sim
ply reels and rolls and staggers a.
round her moorings.
Now she is on the crest of q tre>
mendous wave. now plunging into the
valley, now rearing up on her stern.
now pitching forward. now rolling
never for a moment, apparently. on
an even keel One morning when
was there, while the cook was frying
pork for breakfast. the vessel lurehed
so that a piece OF pork took flying
leap out of the pan and almost right
into the mouth of one of the crew.
who was snoring in his bunk. The
man awoke, looked about him. saw
what had happened. ate the pork and
thanked the steward for his expedi-
tious service.
On the Long Island and Jersey
beaches and on some OF the Southern
sands are the tall and graceful struc-
lures of which the Fire Island, Barne-
gat and Bolivar (Texas) beacons are
good types.
The Carysport Reef Lighthouse. of
the Florida coast. is tyNical coral
reef light 1t is built on screw piling.
which is screwed down into the sub
merged coral and forms a skeleton
foundation for the platform. on which
rests the keepers dwelling. and for
the iron cylinder. which rises above
this TO the watch room and the Ian
tern. A somewhat different type Of
screw pile light is the North West
Reef, while the South Pass is inter
esting. as being built on one of. the
famous jetties at the mouth of the
Mississippi River.
Storm Beaten Tillamook.
The most noted light station on the
Pacific coast is that of Tillamook
Rock. seventy miles south of the
mouth of the Columbia River. Oregon.
The rock rises in isolation to height
of ninety-two feet above the sea. yet
the spray of breaking waves often is
hurled higher than the summit, and
the sea around the base of the rock
usually is so turbulent that the keep
er has to be lowered in cage or
basket and suspended in midair over
the water, TO report to the visiting
lighthouse tender on the condition OF
himself and his assistants.
During one heavy storm a wave
loosened two pieces from the side OF
the rock near the summit and hurled
them on the roof of the keepers dwell
ling The weight of these fragments
and of the wave tore large hole in
the roof and the wave flooded the
building and knocked down two inte-
rior walls. throwing three rooms into
one The focal plane of the lantern
is hundred and thirty-six feet above
the sea, yet during one storm loosen
ed pieces of rock broke eleven panes
of glass three feet long and three
eighths of an inch thick. and the light
was put out by the waves.
Such are some of the experiences
which the keepers of lights on the ey-
posed stations of the United States
are Obliged to pass through. In all
emergencies they are heroes of peace.
and Uncle Sam may well be proud of
the nephews and nieces who tend his
lights.