Evening star., 1924-01-05
L Lighthouses as Memorial
To ltaly's Sailor Dead i'm War
BY THE MARaUIsE DE FoNTENoY.

BY THE MARnUISE DE F0NTENOY.
While nearly every town and VII
lage in Europe has erected memorials
OF one kind or another in honor of
the soldiers who fell in the great war,
Italy enjoys the distinction of being
the first of the nations who took part
in the conflict to commemorate the
heroism and sacrifice Of life OF their
sailors by means Of the erection of
lighthouses. The funds for these
particularly appropriate monuments
are being raised by a committee COM
posed of the leading Italian admi-
rails and officers OF every rank repre-
senting the naval service, together
with a picked number of army gen
erals and statesmen. Thus far $780,
900 has been subscribed and by
! way of beginning three great light
houses of the purest white marble.
so to 100 feet high and Roman in
style, are in the course Of being
! erected at the most conspicuous and
| useful points Of the coast, dominat-
! ing the Adriatic, the Tyrrhenian and
| the Ionian seas.
1
| electric and will cast their rays
through the bars of an ancient bronze
"ara" or altar. It Is intended to dot
| the whole coast line of the Italian
peninsula, of Sicily and Of Sardinia
| with memorial lighthouses Of this
kind. and inasmuch as their lights
are designed to warn vessels from
too close approach to dangerous
shoals and rocks and, therefore, to
| save life, they may be regarded as
sailor dead than nero crosses, and
| more or less elaborate pieces of stat
uary.
idea is altogether q new one. Some
lfifty years or more ago the old Mar
iouise de Blocoueviiie, only daughter
and heiress OF one of the first Ma
ipoleon's most famous commanders
the Marshal Davoust, Prince of Eek
muhland and Duke OF Auerstadt, be.
money to the French government fol
the construction and maintenance
OF tho finest lighthouse at Penmarch
on the dangerous and storm-beater
coast OF Finistere, which has been the
scene OF 30 many maritime disasters
and has often been described as the
graveyard OF ships. The lighthouse
known to seafaring men throughout
| the world as the Eckmuhl light. aftel
| the old marshal, has an electric quick
flash, projecting rays over the sea to
| q distance Of some sixty miles, like.
wise is equipped with a very power
full fog horn, worked by compressed
air, and Is a beacon which has been
instrumental In saving many thou
sands of lives and many hundreds OF
ships during the past half century.
lCertainly it constitutes far better
and more enduring memorial OF the
ioid Marquise de Blocquevflle's cele.
brated father than any group OF
istatuary Her example was followed
Inv several other families founded
under the reign OF tho frst Napoleon,
land there are today at least half
idozen lighthouses along the coasts OF
Normandy and Brittany bearing the
names and COMMUNICATING the VIC
! tories OF the great paladin OF the
First Empire.
All the negotiations which were in
stituted on tho death Of the last Mar
ouis Of Ripon. few months ago, for
the purchase Of the matchless ruins
Of FOUNTAINS Abbey. in Yorkshire.
with a view TO their being transferred
to the United States for reconstruc-
tion there amid analogous environ
ment in one of the most picturesque
Iportions of the Hudson valley. have
lheen dropped, thanks to the action of
II,feut. Clare Vyner OF the royal navy
who has purchased them along with
the land on which they stand and the
tpaIk ~ Hh1qk theT ne framed, % q,