ALONE ON A LIGHTHOUSE.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13411, 8 May 1912, Page 8

ALONE ON A LIGHTHOUSE.

A UKAVF-: WOMAN ELEVEN DAYS

ON DITTY",

Mrs. ToUir T)orr,ne was the vvifo of the keeper of the Bird Rock lighthouse, it) t'l.e .V-agdclono group, Canada. She li'.vJ >')•! tho !;;;:!)thouso with her hxiabuml :v.\d baby, tiio sole connection with the oi:tflk?e world being tho visits of a supply ship fotir times a year. Oiio evoking a few wesks ago, Mr. Borgne slipped fromi the stairway of the lighthouse and foil into the sea. His wife tried to throw him a lifebelt, bnfc a storm was raging and tho unfortunate man was drowned. Mrs. Borgne was left with her infant to face tho •duty of keeping the light and the foghorn going, and for oleven days she served'the passing ships faithfully in spite of her cruel sufferings, Then she managed to attract attention and the Government steamer Seal found her on the verge of doath through exhaustion and suffering. "For the first day or' two I thought I would go mad," she told her rescuers, "but I forced myself to keop up, realising that tho light must not go out nor the fogbell be silent. My poor baby suffered terri- j bly. There was food enough, but I could not take time to cook it, for the weather was the worst experienced for years. The baby cried constantly. I j had to hold her in my arms for warmth. It was frightfully cold. Every time 1 crawled up tho tower to attend to tho lights I carried the baby with mo. Day after day I prayed for help. For five days and nights I did not close- my oyes. On the sixth day, wh«n J-awoke jtfter a brief sleep, I aeonic-d to lu'j'.r a voice whispering, 'Have- courage.' JSvery hour I could soo tho baby's fa on grow paler and thinner, and when she slept I feared she was dying. Only the knowledge that tho lights wore burning kept me sane. Finally, I became bo weak that I Temained beside tho lights constantly, believing tbv.t if I wont away I would not have the* strength to return to them." The woman was watching the sea hoppjcssly when the Seal appeared cSoso to tho lighthouse. With the Jitt'o s'.{-e»f.',th that she had left she tolled tho lighthouse bell in an agonising four that 1 ho ship -would pass. Presently she s:iw that a boat was coming, and thon r,ho collapsed completely. Her baby was living and quickly recovered from its privations. Probably tbo Canadian Government will giant Mxa. ■Ilsorg:u> n pension.