The log showed that the lighthouse had been besieged by a massive storm and winds so severe the men had sobbed and begged God to deliver them from the tempest. Only vague and scattered clues remained: a stopped clock, a knocked-over chair, and one coat. After stormy weather delayed his trip to the lighthouse for days, a replacement keeper arrived at Eilean Mor by boat only to find that all three of the on-duty keepers were gone. The journal left by three men who vanished from the lighthouse on the island of Eilean Mor off the north coast of Scotland in 1900 is a testament to how fickle and dangerous coastal weather can be (and how it can play with a person’s judgement). Lewis remained the keeper at Lime Rock until her death in 1911. Since they were already on site and knowledgeable, female family members were often best suited to assume duties at the lighthouse if their keeper husbands or fathers died. Female lighthouse keepers were uncommon, but not unheard of. She spent her life at Lime Rock and took over the lighthouse in 1879 after her father died and her mother’s health failed. She went on to rescue at least 18 other people and once used a clothesline to save some men who had plummeted through the ice on the frozen harbor. Lewis made her first rescue as a teenager, when she rushed out to save four boys whose boat had capsized, hauling them over her rowboat’s stern. Ida Lewis, the daughter of a lighthouse keeper at Lime Rock in Newport, Rhode Island, became famous for her rescues in the late 19th century and was dubbed “the bravest woman in America.” She made most of the rescues by herself in a rowboat, which she had learned to row while ferrying her siblings to school on the mainland 200 meters away. When he died, the autopsy revealed his stomach contained 200 grams of solid lead. As Hall looked up to throw a bucket of water on the blaze, a stream of molten lead from the roof poured down his face and throat. Henry Hall, the 94-year-old lighthouse keeper, discovered that a spark, probably from a candle in the lantern, had flown up and ignited the top of the tower. The lighthouse there at the time had a structure of pitch-coated wood and a lead roof. If the fire escaped control, catastrophe could quickly ensue, which is what happened at Eddystone Rocks off England’s south coast in 1755. Until the invention of the light bulb, the “light” in a lighthouse usually came from a flame. Here are five of those historical hazards. Early lighthouse attendants often faced particular risks of much greater magnitude. Still, today’s “wickies” have all the mod cons compared to their predecessors. They have to be self-sufficient, handy, happy with their own company, and comfortable with heights. Keepers live in isolation, endure violent storms, and must be ready to respond to the occasional shipwreck. Lighthouse keeping is not for the faint-hearted. Novem| 1,000 words, about 5 minutes Share this article Photo by Phil Rees/Alamy Stock Photo The Dark Side of Lighthouses Mouthfuls of molten lead, wild weather, and insanity: the occupational hazards of an early lighthouse keeper. Lighthouse keepers have always faced risks, but historical keepers faced a lot more of them.
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