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Show Watch Over the Sailors Shut la by the farms ot XV later, Light-house Light-house Keepers Cuard Their Trust With Wondrous Fidclif "'Instincts of Heroism, (Rper iil Correspondence.) With November thero brK-l a hard fight all along the roan ti tho United Htates a fight rarely spkn of, yet Incessant and fierce, it a tha fight of the roait lights anl steal against storm and fog. From Marrh lo November h men tatloned In the steel and atone cylinders cylin-ders that stand on hidden loJKWwlth tha nearest land lying along tlielorlc- km B'iitDinttMelwtiwTwouaiii.ttJ on like a dim cloud need not fair evan If stornvbeset; for the auamer storm does not last long and they sit aura of relief and supply vessels will make their way to them within a fiw days. Hut when the gules of tha lata autumn au-tumn and of the winter bt-dn, thero may ba a month and eves mire when no ahlp can approach thoao. foam-bordered ocean perrhos. Then tha keepers are. aa besieged men. They mum aava over; drop of oil, that their llghta may be kept burn- Ins oven ahould a new mprrfy fall to arrive when duo. They mint watch their machinery every mlnito, fur no help could reach them to repair It should It break down. The IlKhlkeepera of tso United States hnvo bnen trained to look on their lights as the AtoorKan soldlor and anl lor look on their flag. 8o well have they been dlarlpllnni and ao wall do thoy guard tha trust that there raroly la a raae of a.fght having failed whtn human enarK and pluck could keep It burning. When elect and anow 'irtve over tha towers, these men have to fare the danger that, desplto all their care, the light, burn It ever ao llgatly, may not be able to plorro the tuk-k air. So, btow the gains aa they may, the keep- dfws that protex-t the precious Ions, and with the weather boating them and tba wind threatening to blow them Into the black sea below, with waves reaching up to them, thoy acrape the drifted snow and tha frnien 1 iK ' 4 ii to -'vsWim -flj .aiktv fijuiTt u StoIi b LioHtooint fiKiini wfn. aleet from the panes throughout tho night that the llyht may shine out freely. A bi valve light hns been lnitallsd In tho famous Navenink lighthouse overlooking Bandy Hook. Although not a first order light, the new lena makea It ouu ot tlio moat powerful In the world. It throws a flash every five aeconda and the l.tghthouite department has a report from a sea captain who declares de-clares that he saw tho flash seventy-live seventy-live miles at sea. If he was correct, what ha aaw at that distance must have been tha reflection re-flection of the flauh un tha sky: for thu Nuveslnk tower Is I to feet above tbu sua and conaoqucntly the extromo limit at which the eve could ace tha light directly Is only 12 i miles, tha curvature of tho earth precluding any greater reach. But this light Is so pnworful that It la certain that Its Illumination of tha sky and sea ran be oon from a distance dis-tance many miles beyond tha direct reach of Ita rays. When twenty miles away from II, Its Flare la ao strong In clear weather tint tha eya la daa-sled. daa-sled. While every year aeea mors or Ions damage to lighthouses and beacons there la one spot along the coast that has dolled the lighthouse builders successfully, suc-cessfully, and that la Diamond Shoals, off (.'ape Ilatteraa, the oioat dangerous place In the llghthouui aervlra. A lighthouse engineer will get Indignant In-dignant If It Is auriioated that this anot baa defeated the department- He will say that a HuhMinuse can ba build there, and built to slay. Ho will point lo the lighthouse that finally wan cuuatnMcd aud baa remained re-mained off the mouth of tha Kibe, a wnrae a pot than evon Diamond Bhoalo. Hut the question of money prevents. A lU'hthouao on iJlaiuund tihoats would com too much I I . . So this year, as In previous years, a lightship will hang to tha bottom there with Its anchors Ilka grim death, with all on boa.-d praying that It will continue to bang on. A somewhat some-what alarming comment on tho beauty of tbi atatlon la to ba observed ob-served In tho department's directions for the year: "Light vesarls No. 71 to 72 will ba used on this station alternately." Each of thnne ships la fitted so that aba can move undnr her own steam, and not be an absolutely helpleas hulk when she breaks away from her mooring In a bowling gale, aa she will more than once In this coming winter. Llghtahlp No. M, also built to go under her own ateam, waa driven from her anchorage ajx time In four monthe, but managed to ateam back to her position cih time. Tha aev-enth aev-enth time aha railed. She fought agalnat the hurricane for three days and then went up on tho North Carolina beach near tha Creeds Hill life station. The life tavera got her crew off. The value of tha Diamond Shoals lightships la sl.own by tha fact that during this veusel's laat year on her station, 1.(70 steam vessels and 1,676 sailing vessels passod her. The United States light vessel that baa had the most extraordinary experience ex-perience Is probably Columbia River Light Vessel No. 60. Her station la off tho mouth of the Columbia river, eight miles off shore. That roast la one or high rocks and forbidding promontories, and there muiw mourn wle"iioibaili"f"iMiVnJ MH.I.HT LitHi3i i.ixABl,ewVMJ I are such names along It aa Capo Die-Appointment, Die-Appointment, rfM inn vsenliee aed Destruction Island. One day In November a gala began to blow from the sea. It rose to a rata of aevonty-fuur miles an hour. Tha heavy anchor chain of the llghtahlp snapped. She drove toward breakers that were so bad that even the old captain described them aa "frightful" In hla official report. Ball waa made and the men worked her about twonty five miles oft shore. The next day two tenders atoamed out and tried to tow her In. Both failed. Hy dusk tho big blgh-slded llghtahlp waa In tho breakers. Now. there was only one chanca for life. North and south lay rocks, promising a sure end to ship and men. Out boween them lay a short stretch of sandy beach. It tha ship could hit that, she mlcht escapo Immediate destruction. de-struction. She waa headed for It and struck tha light spot before dark. Her orew were taken off In the breechos buoy. When she struck, her men had so handled her anils that she turned head to the sea and thus presented hor high bow to the surf, with the result ot saving her. When the storm ended she waa high and dry on the sand. Then contract after contract waa made by the government to launch her again. Each contractor failed. Finally It waa decided to haul tha ahlp Into the woods behind the beach Mm A'i.-HX.A-. . J and across halt a mile ot country to Daker's bay In the mouth of tha Columbia Co-lumbia river. The ahlp made the Journey among the pine trues without accident and within a month was launched and anchored In front of the Lighthouse department's wharf. |