LIFE ON DOG ISLAND

Evening Star, Issue 23099, 27 October 1938, Page 15

LIFE ON DOG ISLAND

LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER VISITS DUNEDIN COMPENSATIONS FOR LONELINESS Visiting Dunedin during the past few days to pass an examination conducted by tlie St. John Ambulance Association, Mr Edward Wylie, a lighthouse keeper from Dog Island, Fovea.ux Strait, returned south yesterday happy in the possession of a paper certifvmg that he is capable of lt rendering first aid to the injured.” This was not a compulsory qualification for a lighthouse keeper, explained Air Wylie to the ‘Star,’ but it helped considerably when promotion in the service was being considered. Dog Island is a small island half a mile long and very narrow, and life there was a trifle lonely and monotonous, admitted Air Wylie. However, there were compensations, and modern amenities made the life of a keeper much more pleasant than it was in earlier days. There were two married couples on the island, with a, small boy in one of the families.

The keepers and their families were housed in up-to-date dwellings erected by tho Government some five or ■ six years ago, and were fairly comfortable. Radio kept them in touch with the outside world, broadcast music news being greatly enjoyed. Every four months tho Government steamer Alatai called at the island with supplies and provisions, and once a fortnight, weather permitting, a launch from Bluff arrived with mail, papers, and small goods The boy’s education was conducted through the Education Department’s correspondence system. The island was mostly flat, said Air Wylie, with no trees, and its highest point was 50ft above sea level. The light in tho tower, which was 120 ft high, was of the incandescent kerosene type, and during the night mechanism to be wound every half-hour in order that the light might revolve. Shifts were worked by the two keepers during the night, and sleep was obtained during tho day. Telephonic communication wifli the mainland was used at one time, but owing to tho wire constantly breaking it was abandoned. The keepers, however, could communicate bv light with Stirling Point, three miles distant, where the Bluff pilot staion was established. Live sheep were kept on the island and killed at intervals for meat, and vegetable supnlies came from the keepers’ own gardens. The Dog Island light was a guide to Bluff Harbour, and kept mariners off rocks in the vicinity. The nearest point on the mainland was Stirling Point, which was named after a whaler A keeper was kept for three years on an island lighthouse and was then transferred to a light on the mainland for a to nn