Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-08-31

the Gulf Rock lighthouse dur
- ing those weary hours were
many and various. Damp clothing, in
sufiiciency of food, interior tempera
lures ranging from the chill draft of
the entrance passage and Stairways to
the partial suffocation of rooms with
windows closed owing to the incursions
of the rising tide-this unpleasing ag-
gregate of physical misery was serious
ly augmented by an ever increasing list
of sick people, an almost total absence
of any medical comforts and a grow
ing knowledge, on the part of those not
too despondent to think, that their ulti-
mate relief might be deferred for days
rather than hours
No mere man can understand, and
woman of ordinary experience can but
dimly imagine. the difficulty and ardu-
BUSINESS of the task undertaken by
Constance and Enid.
To cook and supply food for eighty
one persons with utensils intended for
the use of three, to give each separate
individual an utterly inadequate por-
tion, so skillfully distributed that none
should have cause to grumble at his or
her neighbor's better fortune-here
were culinary problems at once COM
pleX and exhaustive.
By adopting fantastic devices, bring
ing into service empty jam pots and
sardine tins, they found it was possible
to feed twenty at time. This meant
the preparation of four distinct meals,
each requiring an hours work. Long
before the last batch, which included
themselves, was lamenting the absurd
discrepancy between appetite and an
tidote in the shape of anything to eat.
the first was ravenous again.
The women complained the least. In
the occupants of the two bedrooms the
girls encountered passive fortitude
which was admirable. 1t was an eX-
traordinary scene which met their eyes
when they entered either of these
stuffy apartments. Many of the res
cued ladies had not given thoughAto
changing the demitoilet of evening
wear on board ship for more service
able c!othiSg when the hurricane over
took the vessel. They all, it is true,
possessed cloaks or wraps of some sort,
but these garments We're still sodden
with salt water and therefore unwear-
able, even If the oppressive warmth in
each room rendered such a thing pos
sible. Their elegant costumes of mus
lin, cotton, silk or satin were utterly
ruined. Lucky We're the few whose
blouses or bodices had not been rent
into tatters.
Some of the worst sufferers in this
respect were now the best provided.
Blankets and sheets had been ruthless
ly torn up and roughly stitched into
articles of clothing. Mrs. Vansittart,
for instance, who first suggested this
via media. wore an exquisite Paris
gown and loose dressing jacket ar
rangement of yellow blanket, the COM
ponent parts of which she persuaded
two other women to sew together on
the model provided by her own elegant
figure.
A few quick witted ones who fol-
lowed her example exhausted the avail
able stock, and pillowcases and rugs
would have undergone metamorphosis
in the same way had not Constance
come to the rescue by impounding
them, declaring that they must be re-
served for the use of those sufferers
who needed warmth and rest.
The men passed their time in smok-
ing, singing, EARNING and speculating
ON the chance of the weather clearing
Ultimately, when the banging Of the
waves again made the column feel un-
safe, small section began to plan
petty attempts to pilfer the provisions.
1t is the queer mixture Of philosopher
and beast In the average human being
that makes it possible for the same
man In enc mood to risk his life quite
voluntarily to save others and in an
other to organise selfish theft.
AftsE an ingenious seaman had been
detected "a nm sttempk tn u1ek IT,