The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-05-02

NOTE: The old doys of lonely living in the
lighthouses of the Corolina Coostond ore
history. lighthouses have been rsplGeed by
mechanical aodaeis. visited periodically from
The mainland. No lonaer do we have indi-
Vidvol liaht-keepers who remoin on their
lob for long periods, seldom getting home.
some ports Of the world. there ore still
lonely oUfposts where men keep wotehi and
we therefore print a letter recently sent to
Cope Hotteros by liqht-keeper John Jesper-
son. across the world. in Queensland,
Avsirolio.
81 am one of the three men sta
toned here, whose job it is to keep
the Commonwealth Lighthouse at
North Reef functioning efficiently.
North Reef is small coral atoll
about seventy miles off the
Queensland coast in latitude 90 S.
and to my knowledge is the only
bachelor station on the Australian
coast. Gladstone is the nearest
port. At high tide the island has a
perimeter of just 900 PAGES, so
there is no chance of getting too
far away. However, at low tide the
reef dries for nearly a mile all
round and there is quite a variety
of shells to be found. l am rather
fond of spear fishing and the rock
pools are usually full of big sweet
lip so that get plenty of practice.
There are also big crayfish to be
found under the coral lodges. l
don't often go in the water at high
tide because of the many sharks
especially at this time of year
when they are attracted to the is
land by the young turtles which
hatch in thousands. The depart
ment supplies us with lift.
dinghy and We have only to row
few miles offshore to find SPLEEN
did fishing grounds. Obviously we
eat quite an amount of fish. The
nearest island is just miles away,
but that is too far without a power
boat.
"The tower here is approx
mately 65-ft. high and is made of
steel and timber. The light, which
flashes IL times every minute, is
the kerosene mantle type and we
keep the pressure of rs lbs, up by
means of a hand pump. We each
have a four-hour watch at night
and every two hours we wind up
the weights which drive the clock
work mechanism that keeps the
lens revolving. To make sure that
we don't go to sleep on the job,
the department last month INSTALL
ed a time-recording clock in the
top of the tower. By turning a key
in it every half hour at night the
key number and time is stamped
on paper tape which is posted to
Brisbane every fortnight for in
spection.
"The living quarters are built
around the base of the tower and
are quite comfortable. There are
three separate bedrooms, kitchen,
living room, office, pantry and
workshop. We are supplied with
two kerosene refrigerators and a
pressure kerosene stove. The store
boat from Gladstone is by contract
with the department supposed to
call here every fortnight with our
supplies and mail, and sometimes
actually does get here on time, but
as there is no refrigeration on the
boat, perishable stores are always
q headache to us during the sum-
mer months.
Lighting for the living quarters
is 110V, and we have diesel plant
to keep the battery bank charged. i!
This also supplies power for our
radio transmitter which is used to
call the mainland four times daily,
mainly to report our condition. We
afe not a weather station and are
not compelled to call up passing
ships, though we often do so at
night with the signal lamp. During
the day from am. to IL noon, we
work at keeping the place in good
repair, usually with a paintbrush.
'The pay here is reasonably
good. / received % pounds gross |
labout $65-Ed.) per week. After
IL months service here we receive |
one months shore. leave. There is
also an allowance for sick leave of |
3 weeks for serious injury or sick ,