The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1923-01-19
HATTERAS NO LONGER
BONEYARD OF THE SEA
The Graveyard of the Seas, is Stripped of Its
Terror and Romantic Glamour by The
Cunning of Man.
BY VICTOR MEEKINS.

Hatteras, a lonely Cape on
the North Carolina coast,
sometimes called the terror of
the seas, and known as "the
Graveyard of the Atlantic"
from coast to coast, is being
shorn of its dangers, and the
name no longer holds its for
lner meaning for thousands of
sailors who weather its storms.
Cape Hattcras will soon be no
more dangerous than Palm
Beach, for the cunning Of man
is making it safe for scamen.
Already protected by what is
known as the highest and most pow
erful lighthouse on the coast, IL baS
an added protection in that marvellous
invention, the radio compass. The
Navy maintains radio compass sta
tion at Hattcras. The navigator in
doubt about HIS course, has only TO
wire this station to be told his posi-
ton. And if he is too near the trea-
cherous Cape, he may change his
course to one of safety.
Cape Hatteras lighthouse is about
the most lonely thing on the North
Carolina coast. 1t towers 200 feet
above the sea level, n grim looking
sentinel by daytime, and Il fiery pl
lar of warning by night. 4 revolving
lantern, lighted by vaporizcd coal oil,
flashes it warning rays 80 miles at
sea, and points the way for countless
ships that pass the Diamond Shoals.
The Dreaded Diamond Shoals
Vast acres of shifting, mountain
like heap sof sand swept down the
coast by the powerful tides, pause
at the Cape and rest where the cur
rents lost their force. Their outline
can be traced stretching out from
the Cape, in zig-zag rows for Is miles
or more. Their SUBMITS break the
breakers into foam and wildly tossing
sprays of white. CeaselcSsly, the sand
sweeps down the coast, pil.ng itself
III In 1nun1 s,lifiinn hn.t- aud
forth as the tide shifts from north to
south, but ever remaining close TO
the Cape, because the tide from the
north is the strongest of tides. The
shore line crosses the tide from the
south, and turns it out to scaward,
keeping the shoals at Il right angle
with the Cape.
Few ships that have struck on
these terrible shoals have ever got
ten off. The roughncss of the sea
soon founders the ship that gets
ashore. Coast Guards can seldom
reach distance as far out as the
Diamonds extend. Vessels can sell
dom render assistance in such a dan
gerOus area, and SO the ship takes
its crew down with it, sinking down
in the sca-down into the shoals,
and is soon buried deep in the sand.
The greatest care is observed with
the powerful light that guards Cape
Hatteras. The same routine, day af.
ter day, insures its good condition
night after night for its service to
scamcn. The great lens as high as Il
man, fashioned of hundreds of tri-
angular -concave prismS, came from
the shop of Henry Renaut, in Paris.
The same degree of carcfulncss is
apparent thruout the vast tower of
brick and stone supporting the light.
Its circular walls the length of 26O
steps are white and spotlcSs from con-
slant care.
Cape Hatteras lighthouse derives
Importance from the double duty that
it does. 1t is probably the only light
house in America that serves inland
waters as well as the sea. Hundreds
of vessels that navigate the vast
sound of PamlicO, are guided by its
light, and many an inland navigator
feels re-assured when It is seen.
The lighthouse was built in 1870.
Three keepers man it. They arc
Capt. Cnaka Jcnncttc, and his assist
ants, JAS o. Casey, and A. J. Quid-
ley, natives of the coastIand and sea-
men at heart. They do not mind the
tiresome task of watching the light at
night, shivering in the watchroom as
the storms of winter shake the tower
from its base.
The Radio-Compass Station
But the greatest agency for the
safety of coast wise navigation, is the
radio compass. The wireless tcle-
graph has made the radio compass
possible. At Cape IIatteras is Iocat-
ed one of the most important radio
stations in America. The station was
first established by Marconi, the in
ventor. 1t had established itself as
a paying proposition commercially,
before the war. Passengers sailing
on cOastwise liners, eagerly seized the
opportunity it gave them TO notify
their friends when they had safely
(CnnnIudad an D,1o "a