The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-02-03
LightshipN 4
By NJ QUAD
By M. QUAD
Copyright, 1914. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate

One gay tnlrty years ago II WAS re-
ported to the Trinity board. which has
charge Of all lights on the coast of
Great Britain, that shOai bao made
In the English channel about NM.
miles due east OF the Lizard Al The,
spot Indicated there mad Ueen thirt,
fathOms of water ever since British
ship went to sea-. and thu board OF
course. argued that there a.,d been Il
mistake. II WIS Il tiShin2 craft winch
had reported the siioai and found only
fourteen feet OF water ovrt II. AMI a
craft was sent out at once 10 main. an
official investigation What ii.iu nap
pened was this: II was !, o.wider
strewn bottom. and two or three old
wrecks had drifted together and piled
up on each other until dangerous oh
structiOn had been formed. II was as
If q great rock had been heaveu M
from the bottom. and the board must
guard against the danger without delay
Thirty years ago the divers dress
was not what it 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 nghtship No 4.
under Captain Crox. was moved
around from Mounts bay and anchored
near the spot and notice gwen to mari.
ners.
That night 1t was the captains
watch from till midnight. A gale
had come up. II had come 10 O'Clock
when a sudden hail reached the light
ship. The captain was aft and his
mate forward. but he knew mt once
that the hail came from sea ward. II
was not SO dark but that one could
see a ship 300 feet away. even though
she had no lights aboard.
As soon rs port fire was ignited the
sea was lighted mp for hundreds of
feet around in CHASTITY way. and both
men looked for the craft they suppOs.
cd to be near by. They looked in vain
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 or
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 ms be drove past
within twenty feet of the rail they had
n look square into his eyes. and the
agony on his face made them shudder.
They started to throw him rope. but
as the coil swung into the air they re.
membered that, being bound. he could
make no use of 1t. The yawl and the
man went straight to windward and
in 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 afloat in that manner and
of pity for the victim. when his mate
touched him on the arm and shouted
in his ear:
"If was ashore. captain. all the
money in England would not bride me
to set foot on this deck again.
"What's the matter with your was
called in reply. ITS only a bit of shore
villainy that we must report"
"It's nothing That's happened ashore.
sir. Did you take notice that the craft
was driving right in the teeth of the
gale? 1t wasn't live man In that
boat. She was going to windward
with ghost and I'd give the bit
have In the bank II I'd not seen It."
1t was agreed between them thatnoth.
Ing be said to the other watch when
they turned out. and they went on duty
without knowing or suspecting that
out Of the way had hap
pened.
While carrying the thing out with
pretended Indifference. Captain Crox
was. as a matter Of fact. pretty thor
Oughly upset over It and on turning
In found he could not g2to sleep. He
had been lying on his bunk and turn
ing the thing over In his mind for an
hour or SO and the gale was still
and the lightship bouncing
about when he realized from the
of the watch that they had
been hailed. He was ont of his bunk
and on deck Just rs 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. that night, and
next day. when the gale broke and
the tender came alongside, all de-
manded that they he put ashore at
once The captain was as badly rat
tied as the others They were guyed
and ridiculed, of course. but they
stood so firm that the tender brought
of another crew. and they were re-
lieved from duty. new crew was
assigned, but the man and the boat ap-
reared to them twice In one night and
drove them ashore. as they did the
others
A third crew went oHt and for two
weeks began TO prepare to remove the
wrecks. Some progress had been
made when 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 ont after the
-st day. but when the gale abated
rne had disappeared She had been
swept down the channel and out to
sea, and a week later she was passed
bottom up more than 300 miles away.