Evening star., 1913-02-23

l~NbI rocks and reefs
* shoals and bars
4k@Ad upon which the
bones Of good ships would bleach were
the guiding lights or the deep-toned fog
bells untended for night. Some day
writer will arise who will tell to the
world in fitting words, the story OF these
women. Day after day. night after night.
in sunshine and in binding fog. they do
the work of strong men. for the meress
pittance of a mans wage
And when the tale is written the world
will know that the race OF Grace Dar-
lings is not yet extinct-that on our own
coasts. beside the reefs OF our own
shores, along the stretches of our great
lakes and up and down the waters OF
our mighty rivers, our own Grace OAR
lings live today, humble. modest pa
tient toiling women. whose duty 1t Is to
guard the sailor from the hidden. lurking
dangers that beset his path. and who
count the saving of half score of human
lives only as part of the days work.
II was in 1898 that the world was
thrilled by the story of how Grace Oar
Hing. the twenty-three-year-old daughter
of the keeper of lighthouse on one OF
the lonely Farne islands. off the coast OF
England. had rescued nine persons from
the wreck of the steamer Forfarshire.
She had been left alone at the light
house while her father, too i'll to attend
the light. was helpless to go to the aid OF
those on board the Inflated steamer. In
boat which she rowed herself. Grace
Darling pulled out to the wreck and. with
only the assistance of cool members OF
the Forfarshire's crew. too of the nine
persons and carried them safely to shore.
For this action Grace Darling was made
a popular heroine in England. A popu-
lar subscription was taken up. and the
sum of more than $3.5OO was raised.
which was presented to the young woman
who had unhesitatingly ventured her life
in the effort to save others.
Grace Darling died October 20. 1912.
being then only twenty-seven years old.
Her deed, that wild day when the For
farshire. one of the oldest types of steam
vessels. broke to pieces on the rocks OF
the Farne island. has been made the sub
tect Of song sld story, and great artists
have found inspiration for masterpieces
In the daring OF this simple English girl.
Thouch the original Grace Darling has
long been dead. her prototypes live to-
day, and more than one OF them Is in
the service Of the United States bureau
Of lighthouses.
Along the New England seaboard where
1T I,The breaking waves roll high
On a stern and rock bound coast"
blaze the lights that are tended bv these
woman keepers of Uncle Sans beacons
Where the treacherous reefs and sptts
lie In wait to trap the navigators of
chesapeake bay you may find the Grace
IA vi moe Of t@do
metto-clad keys of the Florida coast thew
tend the lamps that burn in the tall white
towers. AID from California's southern
most peint 10 The far northwest along Pu-
get sound. their lights and the signals they
watch show the mariner where danger
bares its fangs of black rock masked by
- ne writhing white spume and the foam
ing breakers. You may find woman
tenders of lights along the Ohio and the
Mississippi, and some Of the loneliest sta
tions along the shores of the great lakes
tended by them.
What tales of heroism these simple mod
est women could tell II they would OF
standing for a day and night swinging
heavy hammer, ceaselessly measuredly
striking the notes on the big booming
bell to warn vessels off the reefs that
were hidden by fog. OF saving struggling.
drowning men, not once or twice but
more than dozen times by sheer pluck
and unaided daring. that wrIIng from
Congress unqualified praise and the med
dS-truHlpery DltS or brOnZe-that were
priced more highly than would have been
the adequate wage a penurious govern
ment ever denied. OF days of labor stern
enough to daunt strong men, followed by
nights OF ceaseless. unwear1ed vigil, while
wild winds roared about the rocking
tower and the thunder Of the waves
drowned even thought itself What tales
they could tell, these women. If they
would! But the stories are still untold.
locked within the bosoms of those who
have lived them and only hinted at I'm the
formal reports that contain the history
OF the governments lighthouse service
Today there are twenty-seven OF these
women on the pay roll of the service.
Were brave and loyal Ida Lewis alive
today the roll would number twenty
eight. OF all the woman keepers Of the
lights she was the most conspicuous. and
her death, which occurred little more
than a year ago, removed from the Serv-
ice woman whose claim TO the title
heroine" was established by her record
of thirteen lives saved-thirteen men res
cued from drowning at sea- Ida Lewis
tended a light near Newport, X. L., and
at the time of her death, when she was
in her sixty ninth year. she was the pos
SCISSOR of several congressional medals
which at one time and another were vot-
ed TO her in recognition of her brave
deeds.
AT the other side OF the continent Is
another heroine of the lighthouse service
who is still living and who still tends her
beacon in San Francisco bay. The An
gels Island light station is in the direct
path OF the larger part of the navigati ton
in the bay, and its tender IS Mrs. Juliet
T. Nichols, widow of Henry +. Nichols.
L. S. N, inspector of lighthouses.
Besides taking care OF the lantern in
the top OF the tower Mrs. Nichols at
tends fog signal-a big, deep-toned bell.
which during foggy weather is struck a
double blow by a hammer operated by
machinery. During two heavy fogs in
July, 1906, Mrs. Nichols spent twenty
hours and thirty-five minutes out of the
twenty-four hours striking this bell by
Eand because the machinery had gone
wrong and would not work.
She began at $50 o'clock one morning
ceasely swinging the hammer and sound
ing the double note of the bell stopping
not a moment for rest or for sleep noI
even for food until about O'Clock the
following morning. One whole day anc
night doing the work that the rebellious
machinery refused to do! The second day
after this Mrs. Nichols stood beside the
bell from darkness until daylight striking
the signal with a hand hammer. But hel
report TO the lighthouse service does no
tell Of her weary hours. sleeplesS. un