Evening journal., 1913-12-19

TELL STORIES
OF HEROISM
Government Report Shows
5000 Men and Women
In Humane Work
MANY TALES OF
DEVOTION RECALLED
Bx The United Press.

ed States government, through It's
lighthouse service, guards and pro-
tects the lives and property Of the
seafaring by means Of lighthouses and
other aids to navigation dotted along
64.S2S miles OF coast line and river
channels, a length equal to nearly
twice the circumference OF the earth.
In this distance 1t has 12,S24 aids 10
navigation of all classes, sufficient TO
place one every two miles around the
equator. Behind the brief official re-
ports on file In the Office Of George
r. Putnam. commissioner Of light
houses In the Department OF Com
merce, are many stories of heroism,
sacrifice and devotion to duty. Some
of these Commissioner Putnam has
brought to light in an article he re-
Gently prepared for the National Geo
graphic Society. at Washington. Al
though the pay is small and life OFTEN
lonely. the work attracts as rule
an excellent class OF faithful men,
willing to take large risks In doing
their duty and also in helping those
In distress" writes Commissioner
Putnam. FOLLOWING are few in
stances:
"The keeper Of post lights on the
st. Johns river. Florida, after being
severely injured. went on with his
work. as he tells in his report In
MAY. 1912: I arrived at the light at
$50 a. m. | took the lamp out and
as / went to blow it out It exploded
and knocked me off the light (22
feet), and I did not know anything
until u m. When ] came to | found
the lamp gone. / crawled back to the
boat (250 feet), got another lamp
and put It on the beacon and lit it.
Then came home (S miles) Injury:
broken leg just above the ankle and
severe bruised shin and bruised arm
and lick on head
"'There is a pathetic story OF the
keeper OF Key West light, who, after
35 years Of service, became so absorb
ed in his duty that he would not
leave his task, even for a short va
cation, laboring under the delusion
/ that no one but himself could prop
erly care for the light. The keeper
Of Van Weis Point Eight, New York.
/ died recently at the age Of 93 years,
having tended this light for 50 years.
The keeper Of the most distant light
in Alaska-Cape Sarichef-returned
to duty recently. his first absence In
three years. AT this station there is
sometimes an interval OF fve months
between mails. and the keepers only
neighbor is 2 trapper. 10 miles away
A lightkeeper on the Columbia river
Oregon, has taken only two days leav'
in % years. and one of these twl
days was for the purpose of beinl
married.
There are a number OF wome
light-keepers One of these, the keep
er of Angel Island light, in San Fran
cisco Bay. reported that after the ma
chinery of the fog signal was disabled
on July 2. 1906. she had Struck thl
bell by hand for 20 hours and 35 ain
utes. until the fog lifted, and that ol
July 4. when the machinery wal
further disabled, she stood all nigh
on the platform outside and strucl
the bell with a nail hammer. with al
my might The fog was dense A
widely known light-keeper was Ad;
! Lewis, who died about a year ago Sh'
lived at Lime Rock lighthouse. on ;
ledge in Newport Harbor, for 3
years. Hti idlutI udNlub uttu dplolul
ed keeper when she was IL years old
She was keeper of the light for 8
years. There are reports of her hay
ing rescued IS persons from drown
ing. On one occasion, il is said, sh
, saved three men who had swampel
while attempting to pick up a sheer
and then she rescued the sheep also.
In respect to territory covered an
aids maintained, Commissioner Put
nam says the service is much the mos
extensive of its kind under a singl
management. There are ] 1862 light
above the order of river-post lights
762 lights having resident keepers. 8
light-vessel stations. and 43S lighte
buoys. There are 933 fog signals, s
PSI unlighted buoys, and 1.474 day
marks. or unlighted beacons. Abou
$500 men are required for the light
|, house work, of whom 211 are in tn
/ executive, or engineering and clerica
force. 1.733 are keepers OF lights a.
depots, 1870 care for post lights. 81
are on vessels, and 4S9 are in the con
struction and repair force. The en-
tire personnel is under the civil SCI
vice rules. The annual maintenance
cost is close to s5.000.000. appropriai
ed out of the general revenues.