New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-20

ACK Of planning to do things and
doing them life seems to consist
~ Of planning TO go somewhere and
going. Most men are seeking happiness,
and anticipation is said to be the climax
Of happiness i'm most cases. However that
may be, going somewhere and getting
ready for the journey is the means OF
happiness for most persons. To have no
place TO 90 is a tragedy.
Idghtships 90 not 90 anywhere. They
stay In one spot, day in and day out
month in and month out, year in and year
out, save when the tide or the vino forces
them to swing around their shacAes and
instead Of pointing east their STUDDED
prows point north or south, or south
--~-t-hv-west. as the case may be. They
bob up and down in the seaway, and If 1t
IS Choppy they may be bucking broncOs,
as the lighthouse men describe them. The
Scotland Lghtship makes double pitch
in seven seconds. To be forced 70 watch
the steamships sailing past, within hail
Ing distance on their way to all parts OF
the world, or gliding in from the sea
with their burdens Of Americans, home
ward bound and joyful in the realization
Of the fact that they will soon see their
friends, and immigrants seeking and eX-
pecting 10 find that which should make
the circumstances Of life more sausiac-
tory, is like placing a Barmecide feast
before a mariner who has been floating
IN an open boat without food for q week.
That is what the crew Of a hghtshiD out
side OF New York Harbor has to face.
A GENERAL PROVDER.
At Tomphnsyire, Staten Island, Uncle
Sam has maintained for these many years
q depot Of the Lighthouse Service. 1t is
the chief one in the United States. Not
only has # a great deal to do with the
supplies for the entire service, but from
its wharvcs. crowded with buOys Of
hundred shapes, Ocean-going vessels,
called tenders, put forth with all kinds
of supplies for the maintenance Of the
precious lights along the coast and IN
the harbors, between Narragansett Bay
and Cape May. The tenders take com
pressed gas 10 the gas buOys, coal, oil
and food supplies to the lighthouses, and
coal, water, Oil, vegetables, eggs, ice
and other supplies Of the kind that would
be required on a vessel that makes port,
perhaps, only once or twice year. There
are four or five Of the tenders, all bear
ing names Of flowers, such as the Tulip,
the Larkspur the Gardenia, and the
Pansy Sometimes they are gone for
week, sometimes for day only, but there
IS always one designated to 90 out on u
Saturday to the lightships at the mouth
of the harbor. There are two Of these
lightshlps-the Ambrose Channel. No. 81.
and the Scotland No H. The former lies
outside the entrance TO the Gedney Chan
mel. or main gateway, while the latter
swings in the seaway at the mouth Of the
South Channel, the passage used by
coastwfse vessels and barges on their way
into the harbor.
It behooves those who have secured the
privilege Of making the trip from the
office Of the Lighthouse Service, In Wash
ington, 70 be on hand bright and early
in the morning, for the tenders get away
almost with the sun.
A TRIP THROUGH THE MIST.
On this morning, however. the sun is
invisible; it is foggy. The cook provides
a cup Of coffee as an appetizer and in
little while a grocery wagon rattles down
10 the gangway. Several barrels Of green
stun, fresh meat, and a case OF eggs
are carried aboard. The breakfast bell
rings and as the tender works her way
through the narrow passage out of the
basin, the youthful waiter serves the
meal.
Slowly the tender picks her way down
the Narrows through the fog, which
seems TO become denser rather than thin
ner. The breeze drives the mist across
the deck in a way that BODIES no good
for the future of the day. The whistle
is sounded at regular intervals. The
notes OF other whistles and bells come
through the fog blanket from different
directions. The former indicate moving
vessels; the latter. vessels at anchor.
There IS the dull clang Of bell buoy
saRglng back and forth in the gentle
swell The engine room telegraph indi-
Gates that the engines are going at
SLOW" On one side of the pilot house
the captain is peering through the murky
cloud with mouth partly open and ears
MaN