462 HISTORY OF COH ASSET. 



TOTAL \.0's,'i>'e.'S>- continued. 



Schr. Chance . . . 

 Brig (molasses cargo) 

 Orion (coffee) . . . 

 Ship Roxanna . . . 

 Sloop (oysters) . , . 



^3,000 Schr. William Harris , , . $5,000 



14,000 Brig Russia 25,000 



10,000 __ Melazo 20,000 



30,000 



1,000 'r°*^' «343.ooo 



PARTIAL LOSSES. 



Brig Triton $2,000 2 brigs (timber) $2,000 



Schr. Margaret 1,000 Brig (Portuguese) 1,000 



Sloop Globe 500 Revenue cutter 



Schr. Morning Star .... 500 Schr. (corn) 1,000 



Brig America 1,000 Brig Bordeaux 2,000 



Schr. Norward Douglas . . , 1,000 Bark Oberlin 3,000 



,, Exchange 1,000 Ship Dublin 4,000 



Ship 1,000 



Total $21,000 



Captain Lothrop had been an underwriters' agent for 

 several years and his estimates were conservative ones, 

 by a man in the best position to judge. In addition to 

 this ^364,000 worth of property, he estimated about forty 

 lives to have been lost during those years. 



It was plain that a lighthouse would have prevented 

 some of these disasters, and the government authorized Cap- 

 tain W. H. Swift to commence his unique structure of iron. 

 It was ascertained that the lowest tide would not expose 

 more than a space twenty-five feet wide upon which to 

 work, but in the spring of 1847 the drilling began. Nine 

 holes had to be cut into the rock five feet deep and about 

 ten inches in diameter. One was in the center and the 

 other eight were around it, forming an octagon about 

 twenty-four feet in diameter. 



Working to suit the moods of the sea, it look nearly 

 two seasons to get these nine holes drilled into the granite 

 rock. Into them at last were fitted the heavy iron piles, 

 wedged with strips of iron and packed securely with iron 

 filings. The outer piles were tapered to four and a half 

 inches in diameter at the top, and the center one to six 

 inches. The outer ones leaned towards the center, so that 

 the top of the frame, not quite forty feet above the rock, 

 was about eighteen feet across. 



