The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-01-30
LightshipNo.4
By M QUAD
Copyright 1914, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate

One day thirty years ago it was re-
ported to the Trinity board. which ha,
charge Of all lights on the coast oi
Great Britain. that a shoaI had mad.. |
In the English channel about nine
miles due east Of the Lizard At tie
spot indicated there had neen thirt.
fathOms Ut water ever since British
ship went to sea. and the Uourd, Of
course. argued that there mad been
mistake. 1t was hshing craft which
had reported the shout aud found only
fourteen feet Of water over it. and a
craft was sent out at once to make an
official investigation. What had hap
pened was thia: Ii WIS buwlder
strewn bottom. aud two Or three old
wrecks had drifted together and piled
up on each other until dangerous OBJ
structiOn had been formed. 1t was as
II great rOck hid been heaved up
from the bottom. ana the board must
guard against the danger without delay
Thirty years ago the divers dress
was not what 1t Is today. nor could
men handle explosives under water as
they can now. After two or three vain
attempts to clear away the wrecks the
work was left for a storm to accom-.
plish. and meanwhile iightship No I.
under Captain Crox. was moved
around from Mounts bay and anchored
near the spot and notice gwen to mar,
ners.
That night It was the captains
watch from 3 till midnight a gale
had come up. 1t had come 10 O'clock
when sudden hail reached the light.
ship. The captain was aft and hi,
mate forward. but he knew at once
that the hail came from seward. 1t
was not SO dark but that one could
see a ship 300 feet away. even though
she had no lights aboard.
As soon as port Gre was ignited t
sea was lighted mp for hundreds o
feet around In ghastly way. and both
men looked for the craft they suppos.
ed to be near by. They looked In vain
3 till the signal was nearly finished
Then ships yawl, driving right up In
the teeth OF the gale, hove into sight.
She was without mast or sail OF
oars, and the only figure in her sat in
the stern sheets. and his arms and legs
were bound around with ropes
&. The man was bareheaded and dress
ed as landsman. and as be drove past
within twenty feet Of the rail they had
a look square into bis eyes. and the
agony on his face made them shudder
They started to throw him q rope, but
a. the coil swung Into the air they re
membered that, being bound. be could
make no use of It The yawl and the
man went straight to windward anG
IN a couple OF minutes were out Of
sight. and the men found themselves
all a-tremble. Captain Crox was full
Of indignation over the crime of send
ing man nfloat in that manner ant
of pity for the victim. when his mat
touched him on the arm and shouted
in bis ear:
ut I was ashore. eapts,-. al 'n'
money in England would not bride fh'
to set foot on this deck again.
whats the matter with you?" wa'
called In reply. ITS only bit of shor'
villainy that we must report"
ITS nothing that's happened ashore
sir Did you take notice that the Graf
was driving right In the teeth Of the
gale? IT wasn't live man in tina,
boat She was going to windward
with a ghost. and I'd give the bit
have in the bank II I'd not seen It.
1t was agreed between them that moth
ing be said to the other watch when
they turned out, and they went on duty
without knowing or suspecting that
anything out of the way had hap
pened.
While carrying the thing out with
pretended Indifference. Captain Crox
was. rs a matter Of fact. pretty thor.
Oughly upset over 1t and on turning
in found he could not g2kto sleep. He
had been lying on his bunk and turn.
ing the thing over in his mind for an
hour or 30 and the gale was still
bowling and the lightship bouncing
about when he realized from the
movement Of the watch that they had
been hailed. He was out Of his bunk
and on deck just as one Of them light.
ed port fire. and you can Judge his
feelings when he saw the former scene
re-enacted There were the yawl and
the man. and the boat slowly forged
past them and disappeared to wind
ward.
There was no more sleep for any
body on board No. 4 that night, and
next day, when the gale broke and
the tender came alongside. all de-
manded that they be put ashore at
once. The captain was AZ badly rat
tied a. the Others. They were guyed
and ridiculed. Of course. but they
stood 80 Hrm that the tender brought
OF another crew. and they were re-
lieved from duty. A new crew was
assigned, but the man and the boat ap-
peared to them twice In one night and
drove them ashore. a. they did the
others.
A third crew went ont and for two
weeks began to prepare to remove the
wrecks. Some progress had been
made when a three days gale set In
from the north. and there were more
wrecks than had been known for ten
years before For two days the light
ship hung to her anchors. though hav-
ing a signal Of distress out after the
ut day. but when the gale abated
she had disappeared She had been
swept down the channel and out to