Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1907-06-27
keeper we soon began to ex-
plOre it's wonders.

keeper we soon began to eX-
plore its wonders.
The main building is the
residence and light tower which
is 60 by so feet at the base.
The first floor is occupied by
the keeper and his family and
consists of hall, parlor, sleeping
rooms, large kitchen and dining
room combined, and bath. The
second floor has similar rooms,
occupied by the assistant, his
wife and child. The light
tower reaches from the first
floor to a height of so feet
above the surface of the water
and is square up to the top
most room, Clamp chamber)
which is round. We were next
shown a building which affords
sleeping accommodations for
extra workmen who are
occasionally needed in making
repairs. Then to a building
where we found a boiler for
making steam and an engine
for blowing the fcg horn, which
it does, during a fog, with great
regularity several times each
minute. To be secure against
a fog coming in quickly, when
there is no steam, a clock of
intricate workmanship is pro-
vided, which rings an immense
fog bell every Is seconds.
Besides these buildings there
is a large tank which holds
100000 gallons of water for
the use of the two families.
After the area covered by all
these there is still quite a bit of
yard where the lilies bloom and
the roses nod and wave. At
$50, in the midst of our tour Of
inspection, we were called to
the evening meal, which was
certainly a splendid repast. At
six o'clock we climbed the
spiral stairway to the lamp
chamber at the very top of the
tower. In the center of this
circular room isa strongly built
pedestal on which the lamp
and lens rest. The lamp itself
is of brass, has a round wick, is
about one and a half feet high
and only its polished brightness
makes it appear other than
ordinary. The lens which
surrounds this lamp is the
wonderful part of it and we
marveled at its exquisite work
manship. This one came from
France, is a beautiful, flawless,
hand ground glass, and cost
$4,000. Graduated circular
prisms make up the whole
which is shaped something like
a lantern globe, stands 5 feet
high, is about 18 inches at its
longest diameter, and rests in a
strong, brass frame. The lamp
when lit is placed inside this
lens and it is not the amount of
light but the carrying power of
the lens that does the work.
During the earthquake this
lens was damaged to the
extent of s7,O0O)
We helped to remove the
curtains from the ten windows
and then | was given permis-
sion to lieht that wonderful
lamp for Uncle Sam; the lamp
whose great, white, steady
gleam can eseen for a distance
of Is miles. AS / touched the
match to the wick, wondered
how many lives were depending
on that simple yet important
act and ! thought how terrible
the result should the light be
extinguished for even one brief
hour of time. l had rather
have lit that lamp than
christened a dozen warships. I
HAD WARNED THE MARINER OFF
THE SHOALS! The keeper him
self watches the light one-half
the night, his assistant the re-
naming half. The government
has provided for all kinds of
emergencies and there are
extra lamps and dozens of
wicks and chimneys in the
lockers, and gallons and gallons
of oil.
We descended one flight of
stairs and stopped a short time
in the watch room. We were
given a register and asked to
write our names. 1t is here
the keeper makes his reports on
which much of our weather
bureau information depends.
A record is kept of every fog
and wind and rain; of every
hOl1r Of sunshine also of c,,y-