Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-10-03
A DREARY EXISTENCE
THE LONELINESS OF THE ENGLISH
LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS.

LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS.
At the Bishop station the sentinel
That Lights the Waves Lives In Al
most Utter Isolation A Service
With Few EnticIng Features.
During the storms that rage intermit-
tently around the English coast in Win
ter the Iandsman's mind turns in SYM
pathy toward those who in ship or Ife-
boat are fighting the waves for dear
life. But how often does he give one
thought to the men who immure them
selves in the lighthouses that stud the
coast?
1 would rather spend my life in a
penal settlement than be 4 lighthouse
keeper" declared a man TO the writer
after visit to the Bishop lighthouse,
off the Cornish coast "A convict does
see a little of the world he lives in. but
a lighthouse keeper sees nothing but
dreary expanse Of water am not sur
prised that many of them should lose
their mental balance"
The visitor to the Bishop lighthouse
did not overcolor the picture. 1t was
only the other day that one read of the
Longships lighthouse, also off the coast
of Cornwall, having been completely
Isolated for many weeks in consequence
OF fearful storms. The keepers had
been reduced to smoking coffee, hops
and tea leaves, though, fortunately,
they lad not wanted for food.
The keepers of the famous Eddystone
lighthouse not infrequently find them
selves in a similar predicament In n
gale the waves that buffet themselves
against this wonderful monument to
the engineering skill of the country are
of such stupendous magnitude that
they rise to a height of 200 feet and
sweep right over the lantern. To those
cooped up inside the sound OF these
waves Is like that of n battery of guns
at close quarters. "At such times the
house shakes like tree with man
on the top of it," was the graphic de-
scription of one who spent many years
of his life there.
The new Eddystone is the roomiest
and most comfortable Of all our rock
lighthouses. A sectional view of 1t
| shows the various compartments, COM
mencing at the bottom with the water
tank; then the entrance, the two Oil
receptacles, the storeroom, the crane,
the living apartment, the low light, the
bedroom and the service room in the
order named Formerly only two
keepers were employed In the light
house, but n grim incident resulted In
their number being Increased. One or
the two men died. So fierce ran the
seas that the remaining keeper could
not get the body of his late comrade to
the shore, For month the tempestu-
Gus weather continued, and for a
month the surviving keeper lived alone
with the body as his only companion.
He was afraid to cast it into the
waves, for he might be accused Of MUIR
der.
Keepers OF rock lighthouses do not
last long. The incessant pounding of
the waves against the building, the
loneliness, the want of fresh air and
exercise reduce the men to state of
nervousness that IS sometimes pitiful
to behold. They require n fortnights
leave every six weeks, but this liberal
allowance does little to improve their
physical state. A medical man whose
duty it is to pay periodical visits to
one Of these lighthouses confesses that
there is no remedy for the ills peculiar
to the keepers except retirement.
The utter isolation Of the silent SEN
tinels of our coast is we'll illustrated by
the case of the Bishop lighthouse afore-
mentioned, which stands right out in
the Atlantic. Not once in a year Is 1t
calm enough for the superintendent to
land his stores at the lighthouse steps.
| They have to be hauled up by means
| Of a windlass from above. A visitor
| bold enough to visit the place Is "ad-
mitted' In a similar way. He places
one fot IN moose at the end of rope,
which is thrown down to his boat, and,
| gripping the rope firmly above his
head, he is drawn up to the "see off, +"
as the plinth around the lighthouse Is
| called Thence he climbs up per-
| pendicular ladder to the door of the
| house.
Superstition adds terror to the life
| Of the men In this lighthouse, for the
| first structure was washed away
bodily, and the keepers believe that the
rock is haunted. A fear of different
| kind keeps the men Of Muckle Flugga
| lighthouse, the most noethern point of
| Scotland, ON the tenterhooks of terri
| BILE suspense. On three occasions the
| huge black rock on which the light
| house stands has been shaken by an
earthquake.
There is something comical, though
| characteristic of the stiff neckeG Scot,
| IN story which comes from neigh
boring lighthouse which is the charge
| of two families. They live on desert
/ island. From year end to year end
| they never see visitor except the man
who brings their stores. Eighteen
| months ago the heads Of the two fami-
| lies quarreled, and ever since they have
| ceased to speak.
At the shore lighthouse of Ushinish
| the keepers family has TO travel 40
miles to "kirll." 1t IS no reflection on
| their piety to add that they are not
| regular attendants.
A lighthouse keeper receives n maxi
mum wage of f75 year, out Of which
] he has to supply his own rations. These
I consist OF such unappetizing edibles as
| timed beef and hard biscuits, usually
washed down with weak tea and con
densed milk. No Intoxicating liquors
! are allewed.-London Mail.
The children OF different countries
have different tastes. but tin swords
l re N,anfnd ell ovnr the world