The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-27
Like Sunbeams Dancing
on Tempestuous Seas.
LIFE ON A LIGHTSHIP
Sinister Origin of The Name Mag.
Fead. No Cost too Dear or Labor
too Arduous Which Will Lessen
the PeriIs of Diamond
Shoals.
BY THOMAS CLORKE HARRIS.

Fourteen miles to the eastward of
Cape Hatteras, and just at the point
of the noted Diamond Shoals, the
Lightship, known as No. II, rides the
waves of the Atlantic and bows to the
approaching rollers, secured to her
seven thousand pound mushroom an
Choir
This vessel is one of the guardians
of those who go down to the sea in
ships, which are scattered along the
Atlantic coast from Maine to Texas,
and controlled by the Light House
Department of our general govern
ment
No. II is a staunch and heavily built
wooden vessel, equipped with steam
power and has a crew of thirteen men,
besides the captain. Their term of sea
duty is three months, after which they
are allowed the same time ashore,
while the vessel is being overhauled.
During this period, No. u, with her
crew. takes her place on the shoals.
From the lightship, looking TO the
westward, may be seen the tower of
Cape Hatteras lighthouse. and a back
ground of white sand hills, with a
line of snow-white breakers outlin-
ing the shore.
Here and there, where the beach
soft lift of the summer seas runs
foamleSS and spends itself on the gilt
tering sands with a gentle murmur,
while the soft southern breezes come
with refreshing GOODNESS, laden with
ozone from the briny deep. 1t must
be confessed, however. that such con-
ditions OF wind and weather do not
often prevail at this most dreaded
part of the Atlantic seaboard, yet the
sea is sometimes calm there and the
wind a gentle breeze. Such conditions
make a sharp contrast with the pre-
Vailing HatteraS weather, when old
Boreas heaps up the pillows from the
east or northeast and hurries them
along in mighty ridges Of green water,
to break them on the shore with a
thunder of sound and a tremble of
sand, like an earthquake. At such
times. the wise sailor. when bound
North or South, will give the Diamond
Shoal wide berth and the welcome
beacon of No. II will show him how
much an offing he has on lee shore.
In this very localitv tradition says
that there once existed a band of
wreckers. who thrived on the pillage
of vessels lured on to destruction by
false lights displayed bv them. On
certain dark and stormy nights when
the wind was favorable to their
schemes. their beacon of destruction,
to the neck of a horse, would be seen
among the sand hills near the shore,
thus Stimulating the light of vessel
riding safely at anchor
This old tradition accounts for the
name of the place, Mays Head near
by. which is now a local summer re-
sort. Now the tall lighthouse on
the cape and the brilliant lamps oil
the masts of the lightship anchored
Of t.l,, aIe- foi nc
in mercy what had once been a cruel
curse. The sure and steady glow of
these faithful beacons, like a nations
warning finger, point out a path of
safety among these hidden pcrils:
AT the station occupied by the light
ship. the Gulf stream is not far away.
Indeed this mighty river of blue wa
ter never mixes with the darker wa
ter near the shore. but it sometimes
surges inward, until one end Of the
vessel may plainly be seen to be in
the stream, while the other end is out
of it. The line of demarcation is
distinctly visible and striking. The
nearness of the Gulf stream, with It's
warmer water, is popularity supposed
to modify the climate along there.
making snow a rare occurrence. With
a stiff northwestern the captain says
that ice will form on the deck and
rigging and all outside work is ex-
tremely ulSdSreedDle.
The dull routine of work on snip
board, from week to week, anchored
in one spot, seeing the same faces
and doing the same tasks every day,
makes three months seem q very long
time to be away from home and
friends.
The daily tasks of cleaning ship,
from keelson to truck, and other sea-
mans duties, cease at noon on Satur-
" no a
to mend their clothing, to shave and
prepare for Sunday. The Sailorman
soon becomes quite expert over the
wash tub and can handle a needle and
thread like a seamstress.
change in the weather. from calm
to, storm is not dreaded, for it serves
to vary the monotony af their eXis-
tence. for the strain of the life at this
station is very severe, being as it is,
the most isolated on the Atlantic sea-
board. In that respect, however, the
station at Cape Fear is about as bad
and the crew say that they oftentimes
do not see living thing for months,
other than an occasional seabird
Passing vessels which sight the
lightship, know its warning and do
not often pass nearer than to salute
with the steam whistle or exchange
signals with flags.
For recreation the crew have books.
Magazines ana newspapers and some
times get mail from passing vessels.
then the weather permits. but at I'M
certain intervals. Mail matter intend
ed for the lightship may pass them,
by reason of unfavorable weather to
deliver it, and the same cause may
prevent it on the return trip of the
carrier. Such a condition is especially
aGgravating to the crew longing for
q line from home and friends.
N nj 10 70 a rd h
it's dull monotony, causes them to
scan the horizon eagerly for every
passing sail and they learn to recog-
nize ell regular liners at sight. When
expecting mail by some vessel due
TO pass that way. they take great risks
10 meet it in their small boats. In
the same way they sometimes obtain
foreign fruit from some northbound
vessel from the tropics Being regu-
lar water-dogs. from Hatteras beach,
almost amphibious in their nature,