Odds & Ends

One thing I do every year over the Christmas and New Year's break is straighten up my office. I have a couple of piles of goodies to file. In the process, I found some neat stuff related to lighthouses. Here we go!

Winter ice is hard on lighthouses in frozen lakes and seaways. The first lighthouse at Sharps Island was a screwpile structure. It was carried away by ice in the late 19th century. The replacement is shown here after a tough winter.

This a quote from Philip Conkling in an old issue of a short run magazine called Maine Islands. It's from the 1990s.

Someone's conception of what Egypt's Pharos Lighthouse looked like two thousand years ago. It's at Islands of Adventure in Florida.

Caught in the act! Jon took this snapshot of me photographing Point Betsie Lighthouse In Michigan in about 2000.

Inner Dowsing Lighthouse in the North Sea as it appeared in the late 1980s. My penpal from England, lightkeeper John Mobbs, was a keeper here and sent me the photo. I believe he took this shot from a helicopter as he was returning to the lighthouse after shore leave. I would get cabin fever at a place like this!

A page from my old book, The Lighthouse Almanac, out of print now.

Who remembers this rock band?

Sitting on a log with my kids in January 1983 at Point Pinos Lighthouse, California. The museum was wonderful! I even played the piano (not really--I plunked on the keys!) in the keeper's quarters, the one that Robert Louis Stevenson played when he visited the lighthouse in the late 1880s. Point Pinos means "point of pines" in Spanish. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse of the original dozen built on the West Coast in the early 1850s. You must go there!

Lighthouse Kitty, mascot of the old column "Kids on the Beam" (appeared in Lighthouse Digest for many years) helped out Harbor Lights one Christmas by awarding little lights sculptures to kids who won an art contest. She was such an easy-going cat. I could pose her for photos just about anywhere. A natural ham! She answered so much mail from kids over the years when she had her column. (I bet you can guess who her secretary was!)

From my collection of old lighthouse postcards! Whoa--that's a long way down. But I read in Rachel Carson's "The Sea around Us" that waves could wash upward and douse the lighthouse.

In 2004 when Hillsboro Lighthouse debuted on a series of U.S. postage stamps, I flew from Washington State to Florida and gave the keynote address at the celebration. Jet lag aside, I had a fabulous time and got a personal tour of the lighthouse.

Ah...the joy of finally getting to a lighthouse you've wanted to see for years! I love the journals the U.S. Lighthouse Society makes for its tour participants. I write all over them. Thank you Mary Borkowski for designing these!!

The aerial cart at the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine--a great letter from a Coast Guardsman who contacted Lighthouse Digest. If you don't subscribe, you should! LD is a great magazine!

Shinnecock Lighthouse was razed in December 1948. Photos like this make me have goosebumps! The idea of destroying such an historic structure seems idiotic, but there was much less regard for historic preservation in 1948.

My belle on a bell! Jessica DeWire posed on the old fogbell from Cape Disappointment Lighthouse circa 2004. At that time, it sat on the ground in front of the courthouse in St. Helens, Oregon. I wrote a letter to the town requesting that they give it to Cape Disappointment State Park, return it to its proper context and home. No answer. I asked the Coast Guard curator for help. She sent the town a letter telling them they should give the bell to Cape Disappointment State Park. No luck. Does anyone know if it ever made its way home?

I love this! It's a good place to end too. I hope you enjoyed these bits and pieces from my office.

Wisdom

And a few lines I wrote--

Go readeth a rhyme of the lighthouse kind...
Draw some wisdom from circling beams;
Walk into the sea, where you may find
Pearl-encrusted thoughts and briny dreams...

New Zealand Penpal

I'm excited to be going to New Zealand in February on a tour of its lighthouses and sites. This will be another tour with the U.S. Lighthouse Society. If you haven't done a lighthouse tour with this group, you're missing a great time!

I dug out my New Zealand file this morning to start my research and preparations. In the process, I found some wonderful old correspondence from the 1980s from Allan Martin-Bus, who was my NZ penpal years ago. He sent me a wealth of pictures, stamps, postcards, newspaper clippings, and other goodies.

Best of all, he wrote letters. People don't hand-write letters much anymore. Soon, it may be a lost art, and penmanship might go the way of the dusky sparrow (now extinct 😒). In the 1980s, NZ seemed far, far away to me. In 2019, almost forty years later, I am thrilled to be going there. So you can see why I treasure Allan's letters and want to share them. 

I think he was in his early twenties when the letters below were written. He sent me a picture of himself with one letter, and he looked young. We never talked by phone, and of course email wasn't available yet, at least for me. So the great ocean post was our way of communicating. Note the dates on his letters and his old address.

Sometime toward 1990, I lost touch with Allan. I moved around a lot in those days, married to a USN officer, so I think he just gave up trying to track me down after every move. For awhile, he sent letters to me via my in-laws, but even that stopped. I wrote back to him in the late 1990s at the same address on his letters, but my missive came back undeliverable. In recent years, I have searched for him online and with social media. No luck. It would be great to get to NZ in February and find him!

Civil War Correspondence

Below is a letter about deactivating lighthouses that the Confederacy felt would aid the enemy---Union forces. During the war, many southern lighthouses were decommissioned to prevent them from aiding the Union. Lenses were dismantled, removed, and hidden, sometimes by burying them on beaches. Confederate troops might use the extinguished towers as lookouts. Many southern lighthouses also were damaged. This letter is a fascinating look into the Confederate mindset as regards lighthouse.

Cape Florida Lighthouse from the Coast Guard Historian

Translation of the above letter--

Editor's Note:

When the Civil War began, Union officials viewed the numerous lighthouses along Florida's Atlantic and Gulf coasts as particularly vulnerable to Confederate attack. They reported that the loss of the lights "for a single night would be disastrous." These fears proved justified when in August 1861 a small group of southern sympathizers from Indian River rendered inoperable the lighthouses at Jupiter Inlet and Cape Florida. They removed the lenses from the Jupiter light and destroyed those of the latter lighthouse. Federal officials branded the men "a gang of pirates" and recommended "that early measures be adopted for the security of the lights on the reef."

Reproduced here is a report from the Confederate sympathizers who dismantled the lights to Florida Governor Madison Starke Perry. The governor or a member of his staff endorsed the document with the statement: "a Report of an Interesting personal service."

Transcript

To:
His Excellency M.S.
Perry Governor of Florida
Sir-

We the undersigned residents of Indian River, believing it a Solmen duty of every Citizen, to try and serve his State and Country in whatever capacity he may be most able, would in accordance to such feelings, report to your Excellency, that we have taken the responsibility of putting out the Lights at both Jupiter Inlet and Cape Florida, believing them to be of no use or benefit to our Government, but on the contrary of great importance to our enemies.

We had felt the importance of such a measure for some time, thinking some authorized Agent of our Government would be sent to perform it, but finding no effort was made by either the Government of the Keeper of the Light, we resolved to assume the responsibility ourselves, and report the result to your Excellency, hoping that it may meet your approval-- At Jupiter we destroyed no property whatever, the Light being a revolving one and of very costly make, we took away only enough of the machinery to make it unserviceable-- There is a quantity of property belonging to the Light consisting of Tools, machinery, Paints, oil &c which we have secured under lock and key-

at Cape Florida the Light being within the immediate protection of Key West and almost indispensable at this time to the enemys fleet, as well as knowing it to be useless for us to try and hold it, we determined to damage it so that it will be of no possible use to our enemies--

The Keepers at Cape Florida were armed, and instructed not to surrender the Light, only with their lives, the possession was gained however without any resistance, owing to the complete manner in which our plans were executed, we brought away the Lamps and Burners, and broke the Lens Glasses--

The seisure and surrender was made at midnight of the 21st August, while the two keepers were in the Tower, and the Iron door below bolted and locked on the inside-- one of the party being aquainted with the Keeper and knowing that he expected supplies from Key West daily, devised the plan to get them down by telling them he had news for them from Key West, which brought them both down, and as soon as the door was opened, we secured them as prisoners-- The party being Small, and having only a small Boat to return in, we concluded not to take them as prisoners, they professing to be strongly in favor of the South, although they had repeatedly before boasted that they would defend the Light to the last--

The Keeper at Jupiter Light although professing to be with the South, yet by his acts he falcified his profession's-- he was repreatedly urged by his Assistant Mr Lang to put out the Light, but refused to do so, and was quite satisfied to receive pay and provisions from the U.S. Government--

We thought that he was not the proper person to be in such a responsible position, and consequently turned him away-- We brought away from the Cape a Sail Boat, two muskets complete two Colts Revolvers, and three Lamps and burners belonging to the Light, all of which is at Jupiter waiting your decision-- the arms captured will be much needed at Jupiter in case of an attack--

Mr A. Oswald Lang the Asst, Keeper resigned his possition when he found the Keeper Mr Papy was intent on keeping the Light burning, and is now in charge of the light and property, and will be glad to receive instructions from your Excellency in relation to his duty in this matter-- As it is most likely that the enemy will undertake to retalliate, by destroying the Light and property-- we would suggest that a Guard be Sent to protect it, or if not, instruct us to have the property removed to some safe place--

We have addressed this report to your Excellency, thinking you the proper person to give the information, and hoping our action will be (over)

approved, as our only desire was to serve our Country having performed a journey of about 140 miles. 90 of it on foot, being exposed to a burning Sun and drenching rains, and with a very scant allowance of food--

We are very Respectfully
Your Excellencies Most obt. Servants

James Paine
A. Oswald Lang
Francis A. Ivey

Kaena Point Lighthouse, Hawai'i

In 1985, when my husband was stationed in Hawai'i with the USN, our family made a hike out to Kaena Point on Oahu's northwestern tip to see the little concrete lighthouse. It was a long, rough, trail along the shoreline, with cliffs rising above us. Hot, dusty, and beaten by the sun, we made the entire trip---seven miles out and seven miles back--on foot. Along the way, our kids found treasures washed up by waves and played in the surf. After reading my article below, which appeared in Hawai'i Magazine's August 1988 issue, you can imagine my disappointment to find the lighthouse vandalized. Additional photos that appear below the article show what happened after 1985.

An aerial view of Kaena Point shows the trails leading to the point from the north side of the Koolau Mountains and the south side. My family made the walk on the south trail, shown in the next image. (Honolulu Magazine photos)

My kids in 1985 on the trail to Kaena Point. These kids have hiked to many lighthouses!

Kaena Point in recent years--the concrete lighthouse was pushed over by vandals. Someone decided to paint a girl's face and flowing hair on the fallen lighthouse. I suppose that's better than tagging or plain old scribbling. 

The Coast Guard erected a pole light with four orange and white dayboards to replace the little concrete lighthouse. Vandals ripped off the dayboards too. Vandalism will always be a problem at remote and unmanned lighthouses. Sadly, vandals also have killed albatrosses that nest at Kaena Point, and harassed seals and other wildlife. Top image is from Kraig Anderson of Lighthouse Friends. Bottom image is from Trip Advisor.

Today, Kaena Point is a state park and protected area. Vehicular traffic is forbidden, but some people disregard the rule. Still, it is a pleasant hike if you are prepared. Slather yourself with sunscreen, wear a hat and cool cotton clothing plus good hiking shoes, and take water and snacks. Don't forget your camera!

If you have current pictures of Kaena Point, I'd enjoy seeing them. Send them to lightkeeper0803@gmail.com and I will post them on this blog with credit.

Corbiere Lighthouse, England

Beautiful Corbiere Lighthouse sits on the southwest coast of the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. These belong to England. The islands are known for their storms, receiving the brunt of wind and waves when the southern English Channel gets rough.

I visited Corbiere Lighthouse this past July with the U.S. Lighthouse Society. It's an amazing little tower, perched on a rock. I'm sharing some images of that visit, plus some old postcards and minutia of interest about the lighthouse.

You can see the paved pathway leading out to the lighthouse. You have to go at low tide; otherwise, you'll be swept away. My group dined in a restaurant on shore--the perch where I took this photo--and watched the tide come in and cover the path. It came in so fast,! You could be caught on the rock at the lighthouse if you weren't paying attention!

My friend, Phil Borkowski surveyed the Corbiere coast in this photo. Phil is an amazing photographer and a fun guy. He wears a train conductor's uniform. He bought it as a Halloween costume many years ago and thought it was one of the most comfortable outfits ever worn. Needless to say, he's easy to spot on lighthouse tours.

German bombers attacked Jersey in 1940 and then German troops occupied the island until the end of the war. The concrete structure on the right is a reminder of German occupation. It was built by prisoners and used as a lookout and range-finding tower.

 

Fog happens, especially in the English Channel. Corbiere Lighthouse's fog signal machinery remains on duty, including the trumpet. The signal is four blasts every sixty seconds. My friend Linda Elliot posed under the fog trumpet for scale. Lucky for her it was a clear, sunny day.

Two black and white images from Corbiere Lighthouse's past were hanging in the nearby restaurant.

Corbiere Lighthouse has appeared on many postage stamps. 

This seal was on a brochure I found on Jersey. The French phrase means "to get past." In this case, it's about getting past Corbiere Lighthouse. Beyond the lighthouse is smoother water. On Jersey, whenever people want to say things will get easier because the worst is behind us, they use this phrase.

Two old postcards and an old painting on a postcard are below.

A little Corbiere history--

The name means "a place where crows gather." I did not see any crows on my visit, but there were plenty of gulls. 

There have been several shipwrecks here, even in recent years. Two famous wrecks occurred in 1859--a mail packet--and in 1995--a French catamaran called Saint-Malo. Over three hundred passengers were aboard the latter wreck, and all were rescued. A monument to the rescue sits on the waterfront.

The lighthouse was first commissioned in 1874 and is 62-feet tall and 119-feet above the sea. It is built of concrete but has a lovely stone block look. 

After a lighthouse keeper drowned in 1946 trying to rescue a visitor who attempted to get ashore after the tide rose, a tidal alarm was installed at the lighthouse to alert people when they need to get off the island.

The lighthouse beacon remains in service and has a range of 18-nautical miles.

This is the most popular tourist stop on the island of Jersey.