The Alaska daily empire., 1916-09-20
.ST. ELIAS LIGHT
 NEARLY FINISHED
Rays VIII Soon Shoot Out Across the Waters to the Mariners
 on the Sea.
AN ALASKA SHOW CASE

KATALLA. Sept. 15.-(SpeciaD - That the big light at the new Cape St. Elias lighthouse will begin flash ing it's rays far out to sea within a few days is the word brought to Katalla by F. J. Dohrer, 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 installation of the machinery and adjustment of the light.
 When this is done, the most im- portant and best piece of construc- tion work the lighthouse service has ever attempted in Alaska, will be ready for full operation. The sta tion grounds will be graded and ter raced next year.
 The St. Elias lighthouse is the most substantial the government owns in Alaska The light tower fog signal and storage plant are made entirely of reinforced concrete. The watch tower and lantern are of cast iron and bronze. The dwell ing, boat house and hoisthouse are beautifully constructed of cement brick made on the ground by the lighthouse workers themselves, and every department is equipped with the best modern facilities obtainable.
 Reechoing Avoided
 Because of the Pinnacle Rock just off the cape. the fog trumpet is double mouthed to prevent re-echo- ing, The tower is equipped with a lense 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 sta ton are terraced and in lawn, the St. Elias station will be one of the show places of Alaska. both from point of scenery and beauty of con strucdon. The station is built on the south end of Kayak Island un- der the lee of the Great White Cape, known locally as Whitestone. From an elevation of 100 feet, it looks out upon one of the unique formations on the Pacific coast - Pinnacle Rock, stony black fang of the deep. 800 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 Pacific 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 together at this point, mak- ing of the ocean, a boiling, roaring, awe-inspiring spectacle in times of storm.
 When the station was planned the service figured that 1t would take thre years for completion. but Doh Ter, who has had entire charge of the construction. is leaving itI practically finished. and with the light burning at the end of two years-a wonderful record in coun- try where supplies are so hard to get and handle.
 Dohrer tells of unearthing inter- esting relies of former occupancy of the Cape. In excavating for the fog signal station. he was obliged to cut down 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 formation. 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 neavy.
 He also found a silver ring evi- dently beaten out by hand and like most Indian rings, not joined atl the back. As the cape has from time immortal, been favorite To- cation for the Indian and Russian sea otter hunters. these things must have belonged to the natives who hunted long before 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 of the island that Capt. James Cook in his search for the northwest pas sage, landed. and after exploring a bit. placed some coins of his time together with paper on which he wrote the name of the Island, in a l bottle, and buried the same at the base of a large tree that crowned the small hill near the beach.
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