Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-12-19
LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS
Weird vigils of the Men N the
French Service.
Toll THAT BREEDS MADNESS.
The Only Wonder Is That Any of
These Lonely Workers Escape in-
& sanity PitifuI Plight Of the Isolated
Z Keeper at Four on Finisterre.

M sanity--Pttifui Pitgf1S OF Sf1e isoiaxea
kesper at Four on Einisterre.
"A French writer, telling OF the life
of the lighthouse keepers along the
coast Of Brittany, thinks 1t strange
that any OF them escape insanity
The system Of relief that prevails In
this country has no equivalent IN the
French service, and, with short inter
walls, months apart French Light
house keeper may spend forty years Of
his life tending the lamps In one sta
tion. with a single companion, and that
station may be on q rock opt in the,
channel or the bay Of Biscay, which
boats can approach only IN dIe
weather.
As 81 matter OF fact, the men often
do become insane or at least deveioK
monomania. Sometimes 1t takes thu
form Of hatred Of each other. M
In one case, at Tefennec one Of tFi9
men was found by a party VINO Can't
on from the shore tn fesp0nse 20 Il
nails lying dead In HIS bed with q EoIsg
keen bladed knife Through hia heart.
His companion's story was that be
had committed suicide after . long
period OF naelancholia. There wag no
proof to the contrary, but after exagn-
lining the wound the authorizes deapf-
ed the truth Of the story. Esss
l On another occasion, where fafhef
and son tended an isolated beacon To-
gether, the young man Was seized aattilas
an attack Of acute inania. When the
time came to light up he planted him
self iii front OF the stairway to the LAM
tern ard refused to alloW his father %
ascend. M s5fE5
i The old man attacked his son and,
finding he could subGue him Al M@
ether way, so that the lights on yhicb
so many lives depended might he klst
died, strangled him IN dea th. The Aext
day he signaled to the Thore fer. hefp
land gave himself up to the police, teaa-
4 ing what he had dane, VI
4 Sicknsss and death are no stFanSsgs
In the lighthouses. There - ninety
! nine times out OF d hundrsd no clsaiice
I Of medical aid, and the well man pEe-
4 scribes from the medicine chest sEg
"A the sick one as best he can. he alsa
Il does double duty until his partner m
!. covers or relief comes.
There are not infrequent cases when
I the survivor has to sew up his sdeRd
: comrade In hammock and launch his
weighted body from the rocks into the
sea. Then come long nights Of lonely
). watching.
In winter time the lamps must be
tended and the clockwork kept going
Z for fourteen to fifteen hours. The Ian.
!. tern is unheated except for the glow
! Of the lamps up In its ceiling. and the
government allows the watcher no
!, chair lest he fall asleep. -,
1t is no wonder that weird fancies
come to the men. They hear voices
calling from the sea and see drowned
men and women looking up at them
!, from the breakers. One OF their hor.
~ rors is of the birds that beat against
the windows of the lantern at night.
attracted by the glare. - III
Just as is the case with American light
houses, the feathered armies that mi.
crate at night beat against the walls
- and balconies of the beacons with their
wings and dash against the panes OF
the lantern, sometimes breaking the
glass with their beaks. AS their eyes
shine in the glare they seem to express
anger or bloodthirstiness to the men
;. within. Es.@ .s,gs. ...gsssss
= One of the most pitiful stories OF
lighthouse life is told Of the keeper OF
r Four en- Finisterre, who kept all alone
!. a station on an isolated rock q couple
!, of miles out from the shore, but SO
! surf beaten that only once a month
J or so was boat sent out to 1t with
| supplies. r.. = @- LA
TIE cabin in which the keeper made
his home was on the shore opposite his
!. lighthouse, and the recreation he most
: enjoyed was watching it through his
:. telescope. He could see the people &c
: in and out and the children playing ir
front of it. usa<
One day he saw something fiuttering
from the door jamb. He was puzzled
Then it flashed on him that it was
Grape and that some one had died In
the house, i
: Was it his mother, he wondered, OF
his wife or one of his brothers? He
counted the children later in the day
= and they were all right. v
:, The wind blew. and the water ragged
No boat could come near him, and BIC
! watched fha crowd of SymDa fhiyina