The San Francisco call., 1909-09-19

stands ready to take up the work
should any part of its twin suddenly
fail is kept in perfect condition by
daily inspection; but it is seldom called
on to perform extra duty. The gov
ernment. however, does not send an
experienced mechanic to repair the ma
chinery when some unexpected COM
plication arises, and so the lighthouse
keeper has come to know every cog
and wheel and running band in his
twin engines as if he had been born
to the trade. He knows them with an
eye that detects the lightest variation
in their rising and falling cylinders, and
with an ear trained to note the faint
est detection in their monotonous
drone. In the long night watches when
he sits beside them with only the hoarse
below of the big trumpet and the noise
of breaking waves to keep him COM
pany, he has studied. experimental.
pored over and puzzled out problems
in machinery and thereby gained
practical working knowledge which
has stood him In good stead in critical
moments. If you ask him about this.
with view. to praise, he will shrug
his broad shoulders and say quietly:
It's all in the job"
Should both machines be incapaci-
tated at the same time the brass throat
of the bell speaks it's signal. The bell
has been rung once in two years. The
record speaks for itself.
Fort Point is built on the Preside
government reservation. There were
Rankin took up his job The forests
are SO thick at the present time that
they look like an unbroken mass of
foliage stretching for miles up the
hillsides and literally roofing the val
leys with a glorious covering of green.
He has seen the vegetation creep down
the bare sides of the line of hills op-
nicely just what space of rock has
been covered each year, and can point
to the joinings of the different sections
which to an outsiders eye would be
untraceabIe. He has his own theories
about the formation of the gate, the
mountains and the mainland. Days
and nights of solitary watching force
a man to think. His theories are irf-
teresting Perhaps they are true At
all events communion with sea and
sky for half lifetime brings one close
to the elemental things. And there is
where true wisdom lies.
What Rankin Has Seen
Port Point was built as barrier
against possible foes outside the gate.
1t was nucleus around which grew
and ramified what are today the most
perfect, effective and ingenious de-
fenses of any harbor. Watching from
his lighthouse tower. the keeper has
seen fortifications erected repaired
and improvements added to nearly all
the forts comprising the system of de-
fense around the bay. The one nearest
to him, the Presidio military reserva-
tfon, has seen many changes in the
last 80 years. Rankin has seen the an
t!que armament of the fort replaced by
weapons of modern construction and
demonstrated efficiency marine hos
pital established. roads built. grounds
laid out, trees planted. houses built on
what were originally wastes of drifting
sand. He has seen a quarantine station
one on Goat island. He has witnessed
the completion of one Of the most mag
nificent engineering feats in the world
the construction OF the lighthouse on :
Mile rock. He was witness to the
laying OF the Pacific cable from the
life saving station hardly mile from
his door. He has seen the last traces
OF Spanish occupation disappear.
though he still shows to those inter-
ested an adobe corner which is all that
remains Of the once famous Spanish
fort-Fort San Joaquin. The spot Is .
now occupied by range tower. He
beheld the first automobile ever driven
over the Fort road From a post where
1900 troops were at one time quartered
he has watched the Presidio grow to
a garrison of 1000 men. He has
looked on at the establishment of a
national cemetery and observed each
new commander OF the post, in all
some II or Is. during his time. Weekly
he has gazed on more than 100 vessels
passing before his tower both inward
and outward bound. though the total
number Of ships that has passed
term of service he can not accurately
estimate.
When asked concerning the things
that he must have seen during his 35
years ~ keeper of the Golden gate, his
answer was succinct.
There Is nothing here to see" he
said There Is the ocean and the sand
and the guns and the soldiers. That is
all. It grows monotonous. Always the
ocean and the sand and the guns and
the soldiers. AS for the ships. one grows
tired OF them. too. have my family
and my pleasures"
Asked concerning these, his answer
was equally succinct.
Il paint-sometimes. Come and see.s
He led into his comfortable. pretty
home. On the walls were several land
scapes in oil. One was the Golden gate
at sunset-crude. harsh, but easily