Show PASSING OF ST AGNES LIGHT famous beacon on british coast coa la Is to be replaced after centuries of service one of 1 lie I ie oldest and most famous lighthouses in tho ho world is IB to pear oear according to an official notice to mariners marinero Ma issued by trinity house the st agnes light scilly Is to be b Se replaced placed by a light on head st mary for centuries it has haa gladdened the eyes of passengers from the other side of the atlantic or haa blinked a parting to emigrants it stands inland on the highest ground in the island of st agnes and the first light was lit on the spot as long ago as 1680 coal was the only illuminant and the light was often allowed to go out but in 1790 oil lamps and reflectors were installed and flashes of the present one minute revolving light can be seen ata at a distance of df 30 miles probably one of the chief motives which prompted the placing of a guiding light on the island was the reputation which st agnes bore for wrecking in the old days many a ship was lured on the rocks by false lights and the tradition was preserved among seamen for many years afterward it Is 13 stated that almost within living memory a crew who were shipwrecked on the island their would be res cuers auers at bay with stones they feared that they would be massacred and could be approached only when they dropped helpless from hunger bunger and exhaustion ha tho the most famous of many wrecks oft off the Sc illies les occurred in port hellick H el bay near the site of the new st t marys light it was hero here that admiral sir shovel with tour four imen men of war and many hundreds of sailors was lost in 1707 while returning from the capture of gibraltar it Is stated that a sailor warned the admiral to whom there Is a much abused monument in westminster abbey of his danger and that he was promptly hanged at the yardarm for insubordination on another occasion a ship turned turtle and was driven into the bay sounds wore were heard from the upturned hull and when an opening was cut in the hull a number of the crew were found alive within the new light will be semi watched and will be exhibited from a circular iron tower which will be painted white and will be ar feet in height |