Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-04-02
Danger and Thrilling Rescues Uncle Sans Lighthouse

years. She Is credited with rescuins
thirteen persons from drowning.
At the time Of tho German subma.
rine rampage in 1915, when tho US:
visited Newport before we were In
the war, and then went out and sank
humber Of ships, tho Nantucke,
Shoals lightship. forty miles or Nan
tuoket Island. did great work, and al
one time there wsrs lis shipwrecked
mon and 10 boats aboard this light
ship. Had Il not been for this ship
most Of these sailors would have
lost their lives. according to reports
from Capt. David b Btudley. the
master.
It was on August 8. 1918. that the
Diamond Shoals lightship was sunk.
The first mate. Walter L. Barrett, was
in charge. About 2:30 o'clock a sub
marine began firing at a merchant
ship about q mile and q half away.
The lightship gave warning by wire
less to other ships in that vicinity.
Then the submarine fired six shots at
the lightship, suspended for while.
and went after another merchant
| ship, then came back and peppered
seven more shots at the lightship.
The crew Of the lightship got away
in boats. saw their floating home sent
to the bottom, but reached the Cape
Hatteras lighthouse in safety about
$3.50 pm.
Lighthouses and lightships and tend
ers have often furnished Ravens of
refuge to the shipwrecked. In June.
1916. 1855 persons from the wrecked
steamer Bear were taken aboard
Blunt's Reef lightship. California in
1915 Fenwick Island ughtship tooi
on board thirty-nine shipwrecked men
from the steamship Washingtonian.
On a number of occasions Columbia
river lightship has furnished a refuge
to shipwrecked crews, as it is some
! times safer to reach the lightship
than it is to cross the bar.
In the Charleston earthquake OF
1886 many persons were sheltered on
the lightship tender Wistaria- Nan
tucket lightship has repeatedly cared
for the shipwrecked. In October,
1916, South Pass lighthouse gave
shelter in the room of the tower to
seventy-five persons throughout the
night of the hurricane. At Ocracoke
n. c., twenty-seven persons took ref
uge in the light tower when their
dwellings were destroyed in the storm,
of September, 1913. The repeated aio
of Boliver Point lighthouse to tho
shelterless is one of the finest rec
ords in the service
DURING last year there were a
number of interesting life and
property salvage achievements added
to the glory book of the lighthouse
service. The Standard Oil tanker At.
las, 1,145 tons, with a cargo of gaso
line and kerosene, struck a reef and
wss stranded on Snow pass. abou
| seveaty-five miles from Ketchiken
Alaska, early on the morning of De
| cernber 30, 1920. The master was pre-
pairing to abandon his ship. The
lighthouse tenders Cedar and Ferr
| succeeded in floating the tanker.
The Annie E, sixty-ton schooner
| from Honolulu to Hawaii with a car
90 of lumber and gasoline. sprans
| several leaks on August s, 1920. Two
sailors who left the ship. hoping to
| make shore and summon assistance
were picked up by a fishing sampan
1
planes and airplanes searched in vain
| for the leaking ship. On August Is
guided by wireless report from The
United States transport Madawaska
the lighthouse tender Kukui, which
| was having its boilers repaired, go
! I'D steam and renewed the search. Til,
! next evening it located the disable,
| schooner 225 miles from Honolulu. AL
of the crew were rescued. Owing t.
| the dilapida.ed condition of tn,
schooner it was impossible to TOW
her in, so they set fire to her to pre-
vent her becoming a derelict menace
| to navigation.
On March %. 1921, the keeper OF
Baker Island light station, Mass.
sighted a small motor boat in dis
tress. The wind was strong and the
weather cold. The keeper and as.
sistant went to the rescue and found
two men nearly exhausted from colo
and hunger.
On the morning of December II
1920, the United States Shipping Board
steamer National Bridge, of 3.54s
tons, was found to be aground or
Bald Head shoal. Cape Fear river bar
n. c., and in imminent danger, by
the lighthouse tender Cypress The
Cypress, in spite of an adverse wind
! ran close enough to throw a heavy line
, aboard the disabled steamer and with
a towing line succeeded in pulling
her on the shoal into deep water.
About 5 am. December "a, 1920. the
keeper Of Long Point shoal light sta.
| ton, N. c., discovered that a string
Of twelve or fifteen barges had be-
come entangled around the light
| house. causing violent vibration OF
tho structure He thought the light
! house in serious danger, as the sea
was running high with a strong tide
Il knew something had to be done
quick or the lighthouse would be
torn up" he reported. BY strenuous
| work in tho dark he finally succeeded
/ in chopping away the heavy wire
cable that held the barges together
| and worked them away from the
| lighthouse.
An s,000-ton floating dry dock val.
ued at a half million dollars went