LIGHTHOUSE ESTABLISHMENT, THE UNITED STATES. 



455 



It was returned endorsed : 



I think the keepers of lighthouses should be dis- 

 missed for small degrees of remissness, because of the 

 calamities which even these produce, and that the 

 opinion of the collector in this case is of sufficient 

 authority for the removal of the present keeper. 



TH. JEFFEBSON. 



Now the class of men from whom keepers 

 are selected is so good that the punishment of 

 dismissal is infrequently inflicted. But it fol- 

 lows swiftly in two cases. A keeper found 

 intoxicated is not only summarily dismissed 

 the service, but he is instantly ejected from 

 the station; and a keeper who allows his light 

 to go out is dismissed without regard to his 

 excuse or his previous good conduct. The 

 views of the board on this subject appear in 

 the following extract from one of its letters : 



The board considers it the duty of every light-keeper 

 to stand by his light as long as the lighthouse stands ; 

 and that for him to desert it when in danger is as 

 cowardly as for a soldier to leave his guns on the ad- 

 vance of an enemy. 



His failure to keep his light burning, especially in 

 time of danger, may cause the wreck of vessels look- 

 ing for it, and result in the loss of much property and 

 many lives. 



Keepers are trained to consider the care of 

 ths light and the lighthouse property their par- 

 amount duty, beyond any personal considera- 

 tion ; and the esprit de corps is such that in- 

 stances have happened where the keepers on 

 duty have, as in the case of the first light on 

 Minot's Ledge, gone down with their light- 

 house and died at their post; others where 

 the keeper has saved his lens, letting his family 

 shift for themselves; and there are repeated 

 instances where the keeper has saved his light- 

 house property and lost his own. A recent 

 instance of heroism is that of the keepers of 

 Sharp's Island lighthouse, in Chesapeake Bay. 

 It was lifted from its foundation, thrown over, 

 and carried away by ice early in February, 

 1881. The keeper and his assistant clung to 

 the fallen house, and, although one of their 

 boats remained uninjured, they were adrift in 

 the bay sixteen and a half hours without fire 

 or food, always in imminent danger, as the 

 heavy floating ice often piled up against and 

 threatened to swamp the house. It grounded, 

 however, on an island shortly after midnight, 

 at high tide, and was full of water. Being 

 satisfied that it would not float off again, the 

 two keepers went ashore in their boat, and 

 when the tide had fallen, they returned, saved 

 and took to the shore the lens, its pedestal, 

 the oil, the library, much damaged by water, 

 and even the empty oil-cans, and then reported 

 the facts through their inspector to the board. 

 Meantime the keepers of another lighthouse, 

 fearing the ice, had deserted their post, and 

 gone on shore. The fact that no vessels could 

 have needed their light while the ice was un- 

 broken, and that they returned to their post 

 when the danger had passed, did not avail them. 

 So soon as the fact of their desertion was de- 

 termined, they were dismissed the service, and 



the two keepers who had spent those terrible 

 hours afloat in Sharp's Island lighthouse, and 

 then had saved its apparatus, were highly com- 

 plimented by a letter direct from the board 

 itself, and then were appointed to the desert- 

 ers' places. Light-keepers have been conspic- 

 uously successful in their exertions to save en- 

 dangered life. It is recorded of Mrs. Ida Lewis- 

 Wilson, the keeper of Lime Rock lighthouse, 

 in the harbor of Newport, Rhode Island, that 

 she has saved the lives of thirteen different 

 persons, in each instance at the risk of her 

 own. Medals and other testimonials to her 

 heroism have been conferred on her by indi- 

 viduals, by humane societies, and by State 

 authorities. The latest recognition of her ser- 

 vices has been made by the General Govern- 

 ment, which, in May, 1881, conferred on her 

 the first-class gold medal awarded by Congress 

 to those who save life at the imminent risk of 

 their own. 



The commerce of the "Western rivers was 

 mainly restricted to motion by daylight, be- 

 cause of the difficulty in keeping steamboats in 

 the tortuous channels, and in avoiding the ob- 

 structions with which the channels abound. 

 There were in 1873-'4, on the Mississippi, Mis- 

 souri, and Ohio Rivers, 1,100 steamboats, of 

 258,000 tons, 832 licensed barges, of 179,000 

 tons, and coal barges and other craft of 750- 

 000 tons, making a total of about 1,200,000 

 tons. The total value of the cargoes carried 

 by them was estimated at $400,000,000 per 

 year. The coal sent to market yearly, by the 

 Ohio River alone, amounted to 4,000,00^0 of tons. 

 Hence, when those interested in river commerce 

 took vigorous measures, they had little difficul- 

 ty in procuring Congressional action. In 1874, 

 an appropriation of $50,000 was made for a 

 survey of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri 

 Rivers, and to establish on them temporary 

 lights and buoys. The survey was made, a 

 favorable report followed, and two lighthouse 

 districts were duly established, one, the four- 

 teenth, extending from Pittsburgh to Cairo, 

 and the other, the fifteenth, comprising the 

 Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. An in- 

 spector and an engineer were appointed for 

 each district ; a steamer hastily fitted for the 

 work was furnished to each inspector, and 

 they proceeded to light up the rivers. 



The navigation of these waters was of the 

 most intricate character. The crossings were 

 numerous; and, at some, technically called 

 " blind crossings," where the banks show no 

 diversity of outline, and where the channel is 

 narrow, pilots were frequently delayed, and 

 could not always avoid disaster. At many 

 points, previous to the establishment of the 

 lights, passage was never attempted on a dark 

 night, but by means of the lights, the passages 

 are made practicable at all times. The hidden 

 obstructions are numberless, and in many places 

 barely leave room for the passage of large steam- 

 ers. There are many consecutive miles on these 

 rivers where the wrecks average more than one 



