476 HISTORY OF con ASSET. 



Cohasset, and Quincy, that of the last-named place was proven 

 to be "finest of grain, toughest, and clearest of sap." 



Visitors to Cohasset invariably wish to visit Government Island, 

 which seems scarcely an island at all, so narrow is the deep, rocky 

 tideway which separates it from the main land. Upon a level 

 spot at the northern shore are two circular pavements of granite, 

 as level as a ballroom floor, grass-grown and soil-covered at the 

 edges, but exquisitely laid. It was here that the tower for Minot 

 Ledge was first constructed. Stone sheds were erected ; and for 

 many months the island presented a busy scene. From many 

 Cohasset homes a later generation can look out to the distant 

 tower that dots the ocean beyond the Glades, or to the nearer 

 heights of Government Island, with honest pride in the craft of 

 hands which have now, most of them, forever laid the tools aside. 

 Cohasset will not soon forget them ; and their names deserve to 

 be blazoned beside those who have stood between their country 

 and her foe, for their work is enduring and multiplies in blessing 

 as the years go by. 



There was Captain John Cook, a famous rigger of the days 

 when seventy sail went out of Cohasset and Scituate, whose ability 

 with a rope and block was something marvelous. He died only 

 this last summer. He made the model for the derrick which was 

 used in raising the stones in the lighthouse. A prize was offered 

 for the most practical plan for this derrick, and his was accepted. 

 The massive granite blocks were teamed to the cutters by Clark 

 Cutting, unassisted save by his sturdy oxen. It is said he never 

 had occasion to shift a stone twice. 



Captain Nichols Tower, — a proud old Cohasset name, that of 

 Tower! — one of a family of noted skippers, captained the first 

 vessels used to carry the finished stones out to the ledge. How- 

 land Studley and Elijah Pratt are remembered as men of cool 

 judgment and skilled hand ; while of the many others employed, 

 none could have felt their responsibility more keenly than Wesley 

 P. Button and George Reed, the latter of Quincy, who superin- 

 tended the selection of the stone. 



Not the smallest detail of preparation escaped the watchful 

 eye of Captain Alexander ; and down to the very pulley-blocks 

 of the derricks, with their specially forged straps, everything was 

 constructed with a view to prevent the slightest mishap. These 



