The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-07-15

the evening is set and the men knock of.
Below decks the engineers and fremen
divide the day. rs does the captain and
mate, each taking n full 12-hour shift,
but the seamen, In addition to their work.
have to stand watches of from one to
four hours, according to the weather.
Upon the officer in charge devolves the
duty Of casting the log every two hours
to ascertain the force and direction of the
current and to observe the velocity and
direction of the wind as we'll as to note
the number and character of vessels
passing. This is carefully set down In
the ships log and monthly reports are
submitted to the photographic office.
Between work and watches the men
amuse themselves as best they can. In
stormy weather they can do little except
hold themselves In position and to keep
from being shaken up like dice In n box.
but when there is a spell OF good weather
and the ship is trim they have consider
able leisure and then they endeavor to
pass away the time either by reading
fishing, playing cards or boxing. The lat
ter Is the favorite pastime and many n
good bout Is fought on the forecastle
head.
There is story told Of n young pugllist
who, wishing to drop out of the Iimelight
of publicity for few months, embarked
on cruise on lightship, and, after he
recovered from the effects of seasickness,
proceeded to take a fall out of the man
who claimed to be the champion of the
fleet. The pugiiist soon found that, de-
spite his superior knowledge, the man
against him was good and that all he
needed was training to 1T him for the
professional ring.
The sailor was a young man and he
listened to the pugilist. with the result
that he gave up the sea and for several
years he was q well-known figure at
number of bouts that attracted consider
able attention In sporting circles. Then
he, like many others born with the lust
of the sea In his blood, forsook the land
and, after making a few deep-sea voy-
ages, returned to the lightship service
where he now is.
One of the most welcome breaks In the
monotony of the outer lightships Is the
visit of the tender that comes with fresh
supplies ana a change Of crew. Very
often because of the roughness Of the
sea the tender cannot approach close
enough to put the supplies on board, and
1t has been known that the lightship
men have been compelled to eat OF the
remnants of the salt barrel while tons Of
fresh meat was jumping abou. on the
tender but half mile away.
There are a number of societies who
make a point of looking after the mental
welfare of the Iightship men. and In
every district there are offices which dis
tribute books and magazines to the men.
Ia I'm nj
II 1t Is sent to the Lighthouse Board, at
Washington. 1t Will be forwarded to
either the iightship men or lighthouse
keepers who are also glad T. receive it,
for their lives. too. are monotonous. but
not so tempestious.
In this connection It must be mentioned
that the building OF a lighthouse on Dia-
mond Shoals has been a dream for years
and years. Several attempts have been
made to plant such structure there, but
all have been unsuccessful. and hundreds
OF thousands of dollars have been ex-
pended on elaborate caissons which have
been lowed to the site in moderate
weather, but in each instance before the
structure could be sunk to a sufficient
depth to make it stable q storm has arisen
and the builders had to fee for their
lives. while the caisson disappeared be-
meath the waves and was quickly swal-
lowed by the Unsuitable Quicksands.
At present a Boston firm has succeeded
In making an agreement with the govern
ment to erect a lighthouse on the shoals.
and 1t Is expected that the attempt will
be made this summer. but oil save the
firm who will do the work regard the at
tempt as useless and are OF the opinion
that the only beacons that viii ever guard
the Graveyard OF the Atlantic will be
those on lightships.
The Ightshlps have an interesting his
tory and they have formed a portion OF
the coastwise beacon system since about
1925 when the first one was established
Off the entrance to Boston. The craft
that first acted in that capacity was of
the ordinary type of sailing craft, with
her spars cut down. and for a number of
years II was customary for the govern
ment TO either buy ships already built
and ct them out or TO build vessels for
the purpose along the lines OF vessels OF
those days.
In later years. when the service ex-
banded In numbers and the art OF ship
building advanced the lightships. too. be-
came Of different type. 1t has been the
experience Of mariners the world over