CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS.
Time rolled on, and the lighthouse at length began to grow.
It did not rise slowly, as does an ordinary building. The courses ofmasonry having been formed and fitted on shore during the winter, hadonly to be removed from the workyard at Arbroath to the rock, where theywere laid, mortared, wedged, and trenailed, as fast as they could belanded.
Thus, foot by foot it grew, and soon began to tower above itsfoundation.
From the foundation upwards for thirty feet it was built solid. Fromthis point rose the spiral staircase leading to the rooms above. Wecannot afford space to trace its erection step by step, neither is itdesirable that we should do so. But it is proper to mention, that therewere, as might be supposed, leading points in the process--eras, as itwere, in the building operations.
The first of these, of course, was the laying of the foundation stone,which was done ceremoniously, with all the honours. The next point wasthe occasion when the tower showed itself for the first time above waterat full tide. This was a great event. It was proof positive that thesea had been conquered; for many a time before that event happened hadthe sea done its best to level the whole erection with the rock.
Three cheers announced and celebrated the fact, and a "glass" all roundstamped it on the memories of the men.
Another noteworthy point was the connexion--the marriage, if the similemay be allowed--of the tower and the beacon. This occurred when theformer rose to a few feet above high-water mark, and was effected bymeans of a rope-bridge, which was dignified by the sailors with the nameof "Jacob's ladder."
Heretofore the beacon and lighthouse had stood in close relation to eachother. They were thenceforward united by a stronger tie; and it isworthy of record that their attachment lasted until the destruction ofthe beacon after the work was done. Jacob's ladder was fastened alittle below the doorway of the beacon. Its other end rested on, androse with, the wall of the tower. At first it sloped downward frombeacon to tower; gradually it became horizontal; then it sloped upward.When this happened it was removed, and replaced by a regular woodenbridge, which extended from the doorway of the one structure to that ofthe other.
Along this way the men could pass to and fro at all tides, and duringany time of the day or night.
This was a matter of great importance, as the men were no longer sodependent on tides as they had been, and could often work as long astheir strength held out.
Although the work was regular, and, as some might imagine, rathermonotonous, there were not wanting accidents and incidents to enliventhe routine of daily duty. The landing of the boats in rough weatherwith stones, etcetera, was a never-failing source of anxiety, alarm, andoccasionally amusement. Strangers sometimes visited the rock, too, butthese visits were few and far between.
Accidents were much less frequent, however, than might have beenexpected in a work of the kind. It was quite an event, something totalk about for days afterwards, when poor John Bonnyman, one of themasons, lost a finger. The balance crane was the cause of thisaccident. We may remark, in passing, that this balance crane was a verypeculiar and clever contrivance, which deserves a little notice.
It may not have occurred to readers who are unacquainted with mechanicsthat the raising of ponderous stones to a great height is not an easymatter. As long as the lighthouse was low, cranes were easily raised onthe rock, but when it became too high for the cranes to reach theirheads up to the top of the tower, what was to be done? Block-tacklescould not be fastened to the skies! Scaffolding in such a situationwould not have survived a moderate gale.
In these circumstances Mr Stevenson constructed a _balance_ crane,which was fixed in the centre of the tower, and so arranged that itcould be raised along with the rising works. This crane resembled across in form. At one arm was hung a movable weight, which could be runout to its extremity, or fixed at any part of it. The other arm was theone by means of which the stones were hoisted. When a stone had to beraised, its weight was ascertained, and the movable weight was so fixedas _exactly_ to counterbalance it. By this simple contrivance all thecumbrous and troublesome machinery of long guys and bracing-chainsextending from the crane to the rock below were avoided.
Well, Bonnyman was attending to the working of the crane, and directingthe lowering of a stone into its place, when he inadvertently laid hisleft hand on a part of the machinery where it was brought into contactwith the chain, which passed over his forefinger, and cut it so nearlyoff that it was left hanging by a mere shred of skin. The poor man wasat once sent off in a fast rowing boat to Arbroath, where the finger wasremoved and properly dressed. [See note 1.]
A much more serious accident occurred at another time, however, whichresulted in the death of one of the seamen belonging to the _Smeaton_.
It happened thus. The _Smeaton_ had been sent from Arbroath with acargo of stones one morning, and reached the rock about half-past sixo'clock a.m. The mate and one of the men, James Scott, a youth ofeighteen years of age, got into the sloop's boat to make fast the hawserto the floating buoy of her moorings.
The tides at the time were very strong, and the mooring-chain whensweeping the ground had caught hold of a rock or piece of wreck, bywhich the chain was so shortened, that when the tide flowed the buoy gotalmost under water, and little more than the ring appeared at thesurface. When the mate and Scott were in the act of making the hawserfast to the ring, the chain got suddenly disentangled at the bottom, andthe large buoy, measuring about seven feet in length by three indiameter in the middle, vaulted upwards with such force that it upsetthe boat, which instantly filled with water. The mate with greatdifficulty succeeded in getting hold of the gunwale, but Scott seemed tohave been stunned by the buoy, for he lay motionless for a few minuteson the water, apparently unable to make any exertion to save himself,for he did not attempt to lay hold of the oars or thwarts which floatednear him.
A boat was at once sent to the rescue, and the mate was picked up, butScott sank before it reached the spot.
This poor lad was a great favourite in the service, and for a time hismelancholy end cast a gloom over the little community at the Bell Rock.The circumstances of the case were also peculiarly distressing inreference to the boy's mother, for her husband had been for three yearspast confined in a French prison, and her son had been the chief supportof the family. In order in some measure to make up to the poor womanfor the loss of the monthly aliment regularly allowed her by her lostson, it was suggested that a younger brother of the deceased might betaken into the service. This appeared to be a rather delicateproposition, but it was left to the landing-master to arrange accordingto circumstances. Such was the resignation, and at the same time thespirit of the poor woman, that she readily accepted the proposal, and ina few days the younger Scott was actually afloat in the place of hisbrother. On this distressing case being represented to the Board, theCommissioners granted an annuity of 5 pounds to the lad's mother.
The painter who represents only the sunny side of nature portrays aone-sided, and therefore a false view of things, for, as everyone knows,nature is not all sunshine. So, if an author makes his pen-and-inkpictures represent only the amusing and picturesque view of things, hedoes injustice to his subject.
We have no pleasure, good reader, in saddening you by accounts of "fatalaccidents", but we have sought to convey to you a correct impression ofthings, and scenes, and incidents at the building of the Bell RockLighthouse, as they actually were, and looked, and occurred. Althoughthere was much, _very_ much, of risk, exposure, danger, and trialconnected with the erection of that building, there was, in the goodprovidence of God, _very_ little of severe accident or death. Yet thatlittle must be told,--at least touched upon,--else will our pictureremain incomplete as well as untrue.
Now, do not imagine, with a shudder, that these remarks are the preludeto something that will harrow up your feelings. Not so. They aremerely the apology, if apology be needed, f
or the introduction ofanother "accident."
Well, then. One morning the artificers landed on the rock at aquarter-past six, and as all hands were required for a piece of specialwork that day, they breakfasted on the beacon, instead of returning tothe tender, and spent the day on the rock.
The special work referred to was the raising of the crane from theeighth to the ninth course--an operation which required all the strengththat could be mustered for working the guy-tackles. This, be itremarked, was before the balance crane, already described, had been setup; and as the top of the crane stood at the time about thirty-five feetabove the rock, it became much more unmanageable than heretofore.
At the proper hour all hands were called, and detailed to their severalposts on the tower, and about the rock. In order to give additionalpurchase or power in tightening the tackle, one of the blocks of stonewas suspended at the end of the movable beam of the crane, which, byadding greatly to the weight, tended to slacken the guys orsupporting-ropes in the direction to which the beam with the stone waspointed, and thereby enabled the men more easily to brace them one afteranother.
While the beam was thus loaded, and in the act of swinging round fromone guy to another, a great strain was suddenly brought upon theopposite tackle, with the end of which the men had very improperlyneglected to take a turn round some stationary object, which would havegiven them the complete command of the tackle.
Owing to this simple omission, the crane, with the large stone at theend of the beam, got a preponderancy to one side, and, the tacklealluded to having rent, it fell upon the building with a terrible crash.
The men fled right and left to get out of its way; but one of them,Michael Wishart, a mason, stumbled over an uncut trenail and rolled onhis back, and the ponderous crane fell upon him. Fortunately it fell sothat his body lay between the great shaft and the movable beam, and thushe escaped with his life, but his feet were entangled with thewheel-work, and severely injured.
Wishart was a robust and spirited young fellow, and bore his sufferingswith wonderful firmness while he was being removed. He was laid uponone of the narrow frame-beds of the beacon, and despatched in a boat tothe tender. On seeing the boat approach with the poor man stretched ona bed covered with blankets, and his face overspread with that deadlypallor which is the usual consequence of excessive bleeding, theseamen's looks betrayed the presence of those well-known butindescribable sensations which one experiences when brought suddenlyinto contact with something horrible. Relief was at once experienced,however, when Wishart's voice was heard feebly accosting those who firststepped into the boat.
He was immediately sent on shore, where the best surgical advice wasobtained, and he began to recover steadily, though slowly. Meanwhile,having been one of the principal masons, Robert Selkirk was appointed tohis vacant post.
And now let us wind up this chapter of accidents with an account of themanner in which a party of strangers, to use a slang but expressivephrase, came to grief during a visit to the Bell Rock.
One morning, a trim little vessel was seen by the workmen making for therock at low tide. From its build and size, Ruby at once judged it to bea pleasure yacht. Perchance some delicate shades in the seamanship,displayed in managing the little vessel, had influenced the sailor informing his opinion. Be this as it may, the vessel brought up under thelee of the rock and cast anchor.
It turned out to be a party of gentlemen from Leith, who had run downthe firth to see the works. The weather was fine, and the sea calm, butthese yachters had yet to learn that fine weather and a calm sea do notnecessarily imply easy or safe landing at the Bell Rock! They did notknow that the _swell_ which had succeeded a recent gale was heavier thanit appeared to be at a distance; and, worst of all, they did not know,or they did not care to remember, that "there is a time for all things,"and that the time for landing at the Bell Rock is limited.
Seeing that the place was covered with workmen, the strangers loweredtheir little boat and rowed towards them.
"They're mad," said Logan, who, with a group of the men, watched themotions of their would-be visitors.
"No," observed Joe Dumsby; "they are brave, but hignorant."
"_Faix_, they won't be ignorant long!" cried Ned O'Connor, as the littleboat approached the rock, propelled by two active young rowers inGuernsey shirts, white trousers, and straw hats. "You're stout, lads,both of ye, an' purty good hands at the oar, _for gintlemen_; but av yewos as strong as Samson it would puzzle ye to stem these breakers, so yebetter go back."
The yachters did not hear the advice, and they would not have taken itif they had heard it. They rowed straight up towards the landing-place,and, so far, showed themselves expert selectors of the right channel;but they soon came within the influence of the seas, which burst on therock and sent up jets of spray to leeward.
These jets had seemed very pretty and harmless when viewed from the deckof the yacht, but they were found on a nearer approach to be quite able,and, we might almost add, not unwilling, to toss up the boat like aball, and throw it and its occupants head over heels into the air.
But the rowers, like most men of their class, were not easily cowed.They watched their opportunity--allowed the waves to meet and rush on,and then pulled into the midst of the foam, in the hope of crossing tothe shelter of the rock before the approach of the next wave.
Heedless of a warning cry from Ned O'Connor, whose anxiety began to makehim very uneasy, the amateur sailors strained every nerve to pullthrough, while their companion who sat at the helm in the stern of theboat seemed to urge them on to redoubled exertions. Of course theirefforts were in vain. The next billow caught the boat on its foamingcrest, and raised it high in the air. For one moment the wave rosebetween the boat and the men on the rock, and hid her from view, causingNed to exclaim, with a genuine groan, "Arrah! they's gone!"
But they were not; the boat's head had been carefully kept to the sea,and, although she had been swept back a considerable way, and nearlyhalf-filled with water, she was still afloat.
The chief engineer now hailed the gentlemen, and advised them to returnand remain on board their vessel until the state of the tide wouldpermit him to send a proper boat for them.
In the meantime, however, a large boat from the floating light, prettydeeply laden with lime, cement, and sand, approached, when thestrangers, with a view to avoid giving trouble, took their passage inher to the rock. The accession of three passengers to a boat, alreadyin a lumbered state, put her completely out of trim, and, as itunluckily happened, the man who steered her on this occasion was not inthe habit of attending the rock, and was not sufficiently aware of therun of the sea at the entrance of the eastern creek.
Instead, therefore, of keeping close to the small rock called _JohnnyGray_, he gave it, as Ruby expressed it, "a wide berth." A heavy seastruck the boat, drove her to leeward, and, the oars getting entangledamong the rocks and seaweed, she became unmanageable. The next seathrew her on a ledge, and, instantly leaving her, she canted seawardupon her gunwale, throwing her crew and part of her cargo into thewater.
All this was the work of a few seconds. The men had scarce time torealise their danger ere they found themselves down under the water; andwhen they rose gasping to the surface, it was to behold the next wavetowering over them, ready to fall on their heads. When it fell itscattered crew, cargo, and boat in all directions.
Some clung to the gunwale of the boat, others to the seaweed, and someto the thwarts and oars which floated about, and which quickly carriedthem out of the creek to a considerable distance from the spot where theaccident happened.
The instant the boat was overturned, Ruby darted towards one of the rockboats which lay near to the spot where the party of workmen who mannedit had landed that morning. Wilson, the landing-master, was at his sidein a moment.
"Shove off, lad, and jump in!" cried Wilson.
There was no need to shout for the crew of the boat. The men werealready springing into her as she floated off. In
a few minutes all themen in the water were rescued, with the exception of one of thestrangers, named Strachan.
This gentleman had been swept out to a small insulated rock, where heclung to the seaweed with great resolution, although each returning sealaid him completely under water, and hid him for a second or two fromthe spectators on the rock. In this situation he remained for ten ortwelve minutes; and those who know anything of the force of large waveswill understand how severely his strength and courage must have beentried during that time.
When the boat reached the rock the most difficult part was still toperform, as it required the greatest nicety of management to guide herin a rolling sea, so as to prevent her from being carried forciblyagainst the man whom they sought to save.
"Take the steering-oar, Ruby; you are the best hand at this," saidWilson.
Ruby seized the oar, and, notwithstanding the breach of the seas and thenarrowness of the passage, steered the boat close to the rock at theproper moment.
"Starboard, noo, stiddy!" shouted John Watt, who leant suddenly over thebow of the boat and seized poor Strachan by the hair. In another momenthe was pulled inboard with the aid of Selkirk's stout arms, and the boatwas backed out of danger.
"Now, a cheer, boys!" cried Ruby.
The men did not require urging to this. It burst from them withtremendous energy, and was echoed back by their comrades on the rock, inthe midst of whose wild hurrah, Ned O'Connor's voice was distinctlyheard to swell from a cheer into a yell of triumph!
The little rock on which this incident occurred was called _Strachan'sLedge_, and it is known by that name at the present day.
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Note 1. It is right to state that this man afterwards obtained alight-keeper's situation from the Board of Commissioners of NorthernLights, who seem to have taken a kindly interest in all their servants,especially those of them who had suffered in the service.
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