The Opelousas courier., 1902-03-01
LIFE IN
Much Worse Than Prison., and Keepers
Lose Their Minds.

~"S
During the storms that rage inter-
mittently around our coasts in winter,
the landsman's mind turns in sympa-
thy toward those who in ship or life
boat are fighting the waves for dear
life. But how often does he give n
thought to the men who immune them
selves in the lighthouses that stud our
coast line?
81 would rather spend my life in a
penal settlement than be a lighthouse
keeper" declared a gentleman to the
writer, after a visit to the Bishop light.
house, off the Cornish coast. "A con-
vict does see a little of the world he
lives in, bat a lighthouse keeper sees
nothing but a dreary expanse of wa
ter. l am not surprised that many of
them should lose their mental bal
ance."
The visitor to the Bishop lighthouse
did not over color the picture. 1t was
only the other day that n read of the
Longships lighthouse, also off the coast
Of Cornwall, having been completely
isolated for many weeks in Conse-
quence of fearful storms. The keepers
had been reduced to smoking coffee.
hops and - leaves, though, fortunate
ly, the<>had not wanted for food.
The keepers of the famous Eddy
stone lighthouse not ~infrequently find
themselves in a similar predicament.
In a gale the waves that buffet them
selves against this wonderful monu-
ment to the engineering skill of the
country are of such ~stupendous magni-
tude that they rise to a height of 200
feet, and sweep right over the lam
tern. To those cooped up inside the
sound of these waves is like that of a
battery of guns at close quarters. "At
such times the house shakes like o
tree with a man on the top Of it," vas
the graphic description of one who
spent many years of life there.
The new Eddystone is the roomiest
and most comfortable of all our rock
lighthouses. A sectional view shows
the various compartments, commence
ing at the bottom with the water tank,
thSA II S4tAdAICy lAS l"O Oli lCCCpid-
cles, the store room, the crane, the liv-
ing apartment, the low light, the bed
room and the service room. Formerly
only two keepers were employed in
the lighthouse, but a grim incident re- |
suited in their number being increased.
One of the two men died. So fierce ran
the seas that the remaining keeper
could not get the body of his late COM
rade to the shore. For a month the
tempestuous weather continued and for
a month the surviving keeper lived
alone in that solitary place with the
body as has only companion. He was
afraid to cast it into the waves. for he
might be accused of murder.
Keepers of rock lighthouses do not
last long. The incessant pounding of
the raves against the building, the
loneliness, the want of fresh air and
exercise reduce the men to a state OF
nervousness that Is sometimes pitiful
to behold. They require a fo%rtnight's
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 Il lighthouses confesses that
there is no remedy for the ills pecu-
liar to the keepers except retirement.
The utter isolation of the silent SEN
tinels of our coast is well illustrated
by the case of the Bishop lighthouse
aforementioned, which stands right out
in the Atlantic. Not once in a year
is it calm enough for the superintend-
ent to land his stores at the lighthouse
They have to be hauled up by
means of a wirdlass from above. A
bold enough to visit the place
is admitted" in a similar way. He
places Il foot in a moose at the end
OF a rope, which is thrown down to his
boat, and gripping the rope firmly
above his head he is drawn up to the
'set off" as the plinth round the light
house is called. Thence he climbs up
perpendicular ladder to the door of
he lighthouse. !
Superstition adds a terror to the life
IF the men in this lighthouse, for the
irst structure was washed away bodi- !
y, and the keepers believe that the
'ock is haunted. A fear of a different
Kind keeps the men of Muckle F1ugga
ighthouse-the most northern point of
5cotland-on the tenterhooks of q ter
'ible suspense. On three occasions the
huge black rock on which the light
rouse stands has been shaken by an
There is something comical, though |
characteristic of the stiff-necked Scot
n a story which comes from a neigh
lighthouse, which is In charge /
# two different families. They live
n a desert island. From year end to
ear end they neve see a visitor, ex-
ept the man who brings their stores.
Eighteen months ago the heads of the
Wo families quarreIed and ever since
hey have ceased to speak.
at the shore lighthouse Of Usffuish
he keepers family have to travel 40 q
niles to kirk. It is no reflection on :
heir piety to add that they are not
egular attendants.
A lighthouse keeper receives a max
mum wage of 1915 a year, out of Y
'hich he has to supply his own ra- 9
ions. these consist of such unap-
edibles as timed beef and =
ard biscuits, usually washed down i
nth weak tea and condensed milk. No
intoxicating liquors are allowed.-Lon-
Mail.
.