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Minot's
Thu Apr 15, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
"The light won't stand over tonight. She shakes two feet each way now." Those words
were the last ever written by lighthouse keepers Joseph Antione and Joseph Wilson.
The spindly lighthouse on Minot's Ledge, where they had kept the wick burning,
crashed into the stormy North Atlantic on April 17, 1851. I'm Bryan Yeaton for The
Weather Notebook.
Through 1841, over 40 vessels and 40 lives had been lost on the Ledge, which lurked
in a major Boston shipping lane. A lighthouse had to be built.
The resulting structure consisted of nine spider-like legs stretching to the sea with the
light and the keepers' quarters on top, 75 feet above the waves. Minot's Light was
illuminated on January 1, 1850: the first lighthouse in the United States to be fully
exposed to the open ocean.
The first keeper, Isaac Dunham, noticed a sickening shiver to the structure in storms.
He pleaded that the edifice be strengthened, but this request was denied. Dunham
resigned in October.
The next keeper, John Bennett, at first scoffed at Dunham's fears, but soon learned the
shuddering truth. Bennett was ashore on April 16, when a storm started building,
leaving the duties to assistants Antione and Wilson. Around 1 a.m., people on shore
heard the fog bell ringing madly. At some point, the keepers were able to scribble a
note, place it in a bottle and toss it into the sea. Sometime after 1 a.m., the ringing
stopped. Minot's Light was gone. The bodies of both men later washed
ashore.
It is said that when storm clouds gather boaters hear a strange voice from near the
Ledge, shouting ''Afastar-se!" It was discovered much later that this means "stay away"
in Portugese, the native tongue of Joseph Antione.
The Weather Notebook is supported by Subaru of America and the National Science
Foundation.
Today's Links
Minot\'s Light History
http://www.lighthouse.cc/minots/history.html
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