The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1912-07-25
The Lighthouse
Keeper

coat, white vest and stovepipe hat
when he disappeared he took up his
vocation of attending the lighthouse
on Bishops rock.
Why he had entered this branch of
he government service | have never
oeen able to find out. Now, at the age
Of forty-nine, he was filled with hor-
rsr OF the sea, and the Prince Albert
coat, which he wore during his week
of, he put on as a protest against his
work. Nothing gave him more pleas
ure than to be taken for a drummer.
Ziegler was his name.
1.-The sea is as smooth as polished
floor" he said to me one day when we
were sitting together on the shore
looking westward to where the light
house was dimly visible against the
sky, but the sea is treacherous.
Around Bishops rock there are I'M
dertows, currents and eddies which
nobody knows. Fortunately | have
only one more winter to spend there,
though 1t would be Just like my luck
If the old tower should blow down this
winter in a storm from northwest"
He voiced the general opinion of the
islanders. The former lighthouse had
been swept away by the waves, and,
although the new one had been stand
ing for several years, every one knew
that fog-horn situated sixty feet
above the rock had been carried away
by the foaming waves during a stormy
night.
Ziegler trembled and stood up.
THANK the Lord. I have only one
more winter to spend out there" he
said.
And them" I queried.
"Then am to be transferred to the
North Foreland lighthouse and will be
able to live ashore with my wife and
boy. BY the way, | wanted to speak
to you about Leopold. He will soon
finish school, and what are We to do
with him then? Come along home
with me and have a chat with my wife
and the boy"
Frau Ziegler was a red-cheeked,
buxom matron, whom no one would
suspect of morbid ideas, but she, new
ertheless, shared her husbands horror
of the sea.
st seems a miracle that II has not
blown down." she said, for 1t looks
to me like a challenge to Cod
Then we talked about the boy and
his prospects.
81 hope to meet you next year" ]
said when I left. II shall call on you
in your new home, Ziegler."
"If the lighthouse does not topple
over this winter" he replied.
The lighthouse did not topple over
that winter, but Ziegler was not
transferred to North Foreland light.
Two years passed before l returned.
But one day In spring once more Wis
tied the island, and my first walk took
me through the little cemetery.
new tablet in the wall caught my eye
l read the inscription. 1t said that
Ziegler had died the year before on
Christmas night. OF his death the in
scrlption gave no information.
l walked slowly toward the little
fishing village and involuntarily turn
ed my steps toward the signal house
on the cliff I was so filled with
thoughts of Ziegler that l was not al
all surprised to find his wife there
staring toward the lighthouse as o
old.
81 had heard nothing about It,"
said as I shook her hand.
Then she told me how her husband
disappeared.
On Christmas eve the light was to
have been lit at four o'clock, but the
minutes passed and at half past the
Bishops rock was still dark. On the
island people realized that something
had happened and the cutter was
made clear.
OF the three men in the lighthouse
only two were found. They said that
Ziegler had taken the day watch Will g
the other slept He was to call them
a little before four, but when they
woke up It was dark and Ziegler was
not about
When they lit the light they saw
that he had made an entry In the
journal at $40 that a schooner was IN
sight. They looked everywhere, final
ly descending the spiral stairway. The
lower door was open From this a
narrow iron ladder led down to the
little landing
There was only one explanation
Ziegler must have gone out on the
iron ladder. then stumbled and fallen
into the sea.
This is what Frau Ziegler told me
and wondered why she should want
to go on living here.
She shaded her eyes with her hand
and stared across the sea.
"There Is the cutter from the light
house." she said. Come down to the
harbor with me and shake hands with
Leopold. He is third man on the
Bishop now"
"You are surprised" she went on as
she looked at me. do you remember
that the last entry that Frederick
made was about a schooner? That
schooner went ashore on the rocks at
half past five that Christmas eve. One
man lost his life, the rest were saved.
That man was drowned because my
husband had not lit the light in time
and that is why I gave my son In
stead II the Bishops light goes down
this coming winter 1t is only life
for q life"