WHAT WAS IT?

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 162, 2 April 1908, Page 4

WHAT WAS IT?

yyy.yf: : y ■■ LIGHTHOUSE-KEEPER'S STRANGE . STORY; . , AN EXTRAORDINARY SIGHT! ' ■ Marine-D.Bpartment has beeii.furnished. '- yl 'with anVextraordinary report from ono of tlio ■ ' lighthouse-keepers.'at...Farewell Spit, .who 'is. ;; ; described, as a solid,reliable inan, ;witl). a good ' ': . record, and a teetotaler. This'- it is;coiisidered ; ;'[necessary to .stato on 'account of the'puiizlifi'g ;A'siory-theliWfl-tcUsV Mi^p.'ro^rti^.ds;fls;,f9l^ ~ .lows: — ' .. "On Monday night,. March, 9, I was oil ;■ duty in the lighiilibuse from'B p.ml-.till .mid- , night. ,I.;.wound up the revolving''machinery, ' at 10 .'p.m.j'and theii stopped 6ut.;on the bal- ■ 'i'. cony floor. A red ilnre of. liglit. attracted my . ; attention, . about-' twenty.:-- miles .' nprth-iiofth-' , west fjtom where I. stood,Jand about}toil miles ■ north-east of the Cape headlands. >.Tho Ganeitself i sliowed up very -plainly, and arouiid tlio. vicinity, seemed just lilto a" sundown in r an overcast sky. The', light, , or. .; ,blood-red,N and appeared' from. tlio shape very V-likp.a largo vessel on -fire;, although. I: am : quite positive" it was, not, a, vessel,} as:;tho , length of the' fire ; appeared to be about 200 or 300 feet; high, tliough tho ; shiipo for ob- : staclo broadside' 1 on' to mb. ;. ! , On the water's edge appeared ono long red .•-.mass', of solid firp; and above this- was ono long black mass, and above this agaiiv ono •long red mass'ninning, say,' from ho'w. to ' stern. 'In tlio middle of tho top 'pf:tho.'i>iass- : of firo appeared a domo of solid firp, about ' 200 or 300 feet high.. There v.as no smoke r or steam visible, and tho water around for about' two or threo miles seemed in great :'. commotion, bubbling and sparkling; Tho flaro V of firo was not.iii tho sky, buf; ,appeared to 1 be in tho water, and lam quito sure of this; because I could plainly sco the sky and water lino on tho horizon. ; The whole exposition lasted sixteen minutes. from tho tirno I saw it first until the rj'About threo or four minutes "before I .wound up tho machino th'ero was nothing visible.. Herewith I oncloso a rough sketch of tho fire.as it appeared to me. Had I tho least; thought that it was a vessel on- firo, I would have reported tho matter by wiro the "ifollowing morning, v "F. M'GAHEY, Principal Keeper."