The Cordova daily times., 1916-09-29
q. ELIAS LIGHT SOON GUIDE
 MARINERS


 house will begin flashing it's rays far out to sea within a few days Is the word brought to Katalla by F. J. Doh | rere, foreman of construction, who has come to town with most of his crew. A small force of mechanics was left at the Cape to complete in sallation of the machinery and adjust ment of the light.
 When this is done. the most import ant and best piece Of construction work the lighthouse service has ever attempted in Alaska will be ready for | full operation. The station grounds will be graded and terraced next year.
 The St Elias lighthouse is the most substantial the government owns in Alaska, The light tower, fog sig nal and storage plant are made en- tirely of reinforced concrete. The watch tower and lantern are of cast iron and bronze. The dwelling, boat l house and hoist house are beautifully constructed of cement, brick made on the ground by the lighthouse work CTS themselves, and every department is equipped with the best modern ia cilities obtainable.
 70 off the Cape. the fog trumpet is double mouthed to prevent re,echoing. The tower is equipped with Tense of the third order. It has an effective range of fifteen miles. but in good weather can be seen in thirty miles.
 When the grounds about the station are terraced and in lawn the St. Elias l station will be one of the show places of Alaska, both from point. of scenery and beauty of construction. The sta tiOn is built on the south end of Kay ak island under the lee of the Great White Cape known locally as White stone. From an elevation Of 100 feet 1t looks out upon one of the unique formations on the Pacific coast-Pin. nacle Rock, a stony black fang of the deep. 500 feet high
 This monster tooth is surrounded by countless sunken rocks and from the base starts the jagged reef that runs five miles out into the North Pa cific ocean and makes St Elias one of the most dangerous points on the Alaska run. The breakers from each side of the Cape come crashing to- gether at this point. making Of the ocean a boiling. roaring, awe-inspir- ing spectacle in times of storm.
 When the station was planned the service figured that 1t would take three years for completion. but Doh Ter, who has had entire charge of the construction, is leaving 1t practically finished, and with the light burning at the end of two years - a wonder full record in a country where sup plies are so hard to get and handle
 Dohrer tells of unearthing interest ing relics of former occupancy of the Cape. In excavating for the fog sig nal station, he was obliged to cut down a group of six spruce trees about thirty-five feet high. At a depth of ten feet after taking out the roots of these trees, he came upon a large iron hoop embedded in the clay for nation It was much corroded. but was far larger than any Alaska hoop of the present day. being more than three inches in width and exceedingly heavy
 He also found a silver ring, evi- dently beaten out by hand and like most Indian rings, but joined at the back As the Cape has from time i'm. lItUlOtldl Dttu q ldNOiAAt itthllbn TUT the Indian and Russian sea otter hunt. CTS, these things must have belonged to the natives who hunted long be, fore Alaska was sold to the United States.
 The Cape Is not without historical interest also, as it was about three miles from here on the south side oi the island that Captain James Cook . in his search for the Northwest Pas n sage, landed and after exploring a bit - placed some coins of his time, togtheI |, with paper on which he wrote the - name of the island, in a bottle and 8 buried the same at the base of large { tree that crowned the small hill neal b the beach.