New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-02
Drawings by
George Wright

-79'YE mean to say, Johnny, you're goln to
II |SA let EN- maroon you out on tfa' Ole l. oc,.
l1Nb - Shoals Junk that amt even a proper
lqhtship, waowin' out there IN the log,
UAESA five miles from nowhere: y, the ole
n 49% bargcs Jest fixed up for the navy engl-
~>La ncers TO use for experiments WIN uhuer-
N>GS,e III water signals an such -,
Captain Casco of Ships BOTTOM l-ie
Swing Station broke off to stare Indignantly at niue
Iobnny Degnan who stood fumbling the blue slip the
station wireless operator had Just handed MN!
orders from the Inspector of the Barnegat pay DlS0O
to "renort aboard the Sea Shoals floating light'
there to remain until further orders
"Oriers is orders, an duty's duty, Jem, Deg
nan began Course she's hooker; but =,
Little Welsh gtinfirer and icOnoclaSt OF the ne
crew, interrupted scofingly, But Johnny KEEP,
comDanv with tough luck 50 long he's scared ne
be lonesome if it changes That's why ne D am
kickin' none about bein mated up WIN bl"oh
Tom Murden out yonder. Twas bad enough
70 make a lighshp keeper out o Murden Whch
thev fired Carlin couple o days ago. but TO
mate him up with Jack o Lantern here
Little Welsh pulled up short and Casco ana
his mates gazed intentionally about the mess
room of the little whc-pantcd HE station mo
way on the worst wrccking beach OF the Atlantic
Coast facing the huge rollers, surgng lnShorc over
the trcacherous reefs OF the Grdiron OF Barnegat
DEGNAN'S i'll luck-Iacl; O Lantern Dcgnan.
- as Ships Bottom had nicknamed the niue
Government stecplcjack, charged with the hlgh.
IN rcnairs OF lighthouse and lightship lamps, ana
tb Government wireless that dotted the Barnegat coast
was traditional on the beach. How ne had manager
10 hold down his job during his brief and blunderng
career in the Barncgat Bay district was puZzle 10
the burlv slrfmcn. And with reason.
Why. it was when Dcgnan was oycrhauIing thG
Reachy Head lighthouse that the thousand-pound
"whrlgig weights" that furnish the rotary power Tor
the lamps came away turning the hight from a rdSil 10
a fixed and nearly running the Seneca revenue cutter
4 ,t.c
motor when the battery feed balcd up strandng the
big storm fighter at Scaand Dcgnan, again, had tufed
ND the department wireless till the hatcrazed operator
was receiving messages from the British Isles or Dor
nco or anywhere except headquarters and the snort
line navy circuit Those were merely samples.
Nevertheless, the brawny coastguards treated nm
with tolerant frcndincSs -" lack o Lantern so
blamed misfort nit Even the Inspector seemed sorry
for him; for Dcgnan was only officially rcpnmandcd
and transferred to less desirable job-wh the same
unkind Nemesis promptly followed him, up coast ana
down
when fierce windbasts driving nshorc wrcnchcd the
Harvey Ccdars lighthouse tearing the circular staircase
loose from its holdings leaving great, yawning gaps
ncgnan with the dci,ncs Of his trade scaled the tower
IN a pair Of ncnan spurs. IN the halt gale, ana, clad
only in shirt and trousers kept the lamps going through
out the bitter night, until the fallen staircase INSIDE
could be repaired: thereby probably saving more than
one coastwisc vessel from breaking her back on the
trcachcrols reefs Of the Ships Graveyard ana moi
dcntally earning him the Brotherhood Of the Beach.
II was on the heels Of the Harvey Ccdars feat that
the "Kidnappn Order had come, setting the crew oi
Ships Bottom IN revolt Apart from rs apparent mus
,cc they were aware Of bad blood between little Deg
nan and ashy Tom Nuricn, rcputci master and owner
Of the fast power schooner Annie Belle and Of the
,i.-a very pretty cause with blue eye, and iirta-
tious ways. over in Barucga, village; by name, Miss
Anuabcl Mallory
Maybe Johnny Dcgnan only puzzled her, 20 quality
more fascinating % any woman than mere physical
oomcncss. Ships Bottom. however, hoped II was
more. for 10 a man they d-tri-tci Tom Nlurlcu, for
an his spcndthuft ways and uncaslly conscious
that the latter viewed the mimanncrcd little stccplc
..r. o.. I .....,.,,r from, cha. ,,.'I ,f h,.