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mm. 4 itaBk v!&fci wli Masses-- A L , VSS.u Jgtr- All X , iA rife- Mfev . ou; ?e Isolation of Conimicut Drove to Madness and Self-Destruction the Keeper's Wife Who Loved the Sea and The Ruthless Spell of the Sea AT first itid term fasoinated, just at tjie, had thought jic ivnuhi be. She hail always brcn a lover of tha tea. It was pleasant to nit in n warm, co:i room rim! look out at the nater. She liked to tee the gulls flapping around, to rce the mast of tailing vestels far out, to tee the great light that started from over her head and whipped through the purjde water). Hut after u while a sort of ttealthu unfriendliness crept into thin scene. She began to think it would be a rehef to her if she could forget it for a while, lint the couldn't forget it. It wok ever before her. Ily day she bow it in all directions, llu night the heard it pounding uml Uii-oiug i (An share. Of courtc, her husband was there and htr two children. Hut an time went on even they were unable to save her from the tpell of the sea. Then Hated It When the Charm of Its Solitude Had Faded. TO the toll of the insatiable sen Is added the lives of Mrs. Ellsworth Smith nnd her baby son Russell of Nnrragansctt Hay. But Mrs. Smith wati not ono of those who went down to tho 'tea In ships. The sea camo to her ns sho sat In her lonely tower at Its edge and watched for hour after hour and day after day tho ceaseless heavo of Its bosom. Tho sen didn't destroy her In ono mad burst of fury. It slowly chilled her heart, slowly woro down her will to live. It seemed to Mrs. Smith, as she looked out her toww window, that cvory living: thing had gono from tho earth except this tossing monster that stretched out before her. So ono day she fed poison to her children and took a dose herself. Sho couldn't enduro the awful loneliness any longer. A little while later her husband buried her and tho baby in a grave near East Greenwich, It. I. Ho took her away from sound of the sea. Ho wanted her to rest in peace. Tho 5-ycnr-old son, Robert Smith, recovered from tho poison. Nclllo Smith was inland Nrn and bred but sho had always had romantic notions about the sea. So when, her husband, dpt. Ellsworth Smith, becamo keeper of Conimicut Light ho vifwsd the prospect with enthusiasm. Sho thought It would be wonderful to breatho tho fresh sea . air, to watch the dancing whltccaps and tho breakers, to see the huge white steamors bearing into port. Sho had heard peoplo who had been on ocean trips declaro thoy could watch tho sea all day long and never tire. When He Returned from Shore Then she had been separated from her husband for long periods when ho was atsea. This new homo would Insure their being together. It would also provide a healthful, vigorous atmosphere in which her children might grow up. Altogether, Nelllo Smith went to Conimicut Lighthouse believing that sho was entering upon a period of idyllic ycace and joy. She lasted for three months. Afterward, the surviving boy, Robert, told his ffrtier some of tha things his mother had said. ?hls, together with a few of her remarks sho had .r.ado on her two visits to shore, revealed the tragic story of tho Lonely Lighthouse. Ono day Cap. Smith left tho lighthouse about 10 o'clock In tho morning. "I was going to Conimicut Village for pro visions," ho said. "When I left, Nellie seemed to be happy. She was playing with tho children. She kissed me good-by and waved to mo as I steered for the Rhore. y "I came back o,t 4 P. M. with a boatload of food. I hailed and (rot no answer. When I mounted the stops I took my time. How could I know what I was to find? And I camo into the kitchen with two armloads. I saw Robert, tho 5-ycar-old boy, sitting on tho table. Ho was palo. He was very sick. "Nellie sat beside him. Her head was on her arms. I walked up nnd spoko to her, with my arms still full. Robert was too sick to talk. I spoke sharply to'Ncllle, thinking to rouse her, and when I couldn't I laid down the things and shook her shoulder. When sho leaned further over I lifted her arm. It dropped llko lead. She was dead. Tragic Lighthouse Loneliness "I went upstairs. Something told mo what had happened. I saw Russell lying on the bed. t He, too, was dead. , "I then took Robert, put him in tho dory and rowed back as hard as I could to Conimicut. Rob ert sat in the stern against tho tiller. I rushed him to a doctor, who(gavo him an antidote. Robert came around. . . . Their mother had fed them bichloride of mercury. She gavo it to- Robert and Russell, telling them it was candy." . , Little Robert, not fully appreciating what had happened, finished tho story. "Mamma said, 'Hero Robert. It's candy.' I took tho llttlo round thing and tasted It and It was bitter. Hut when I went to spit is out, mam nm said: 'No, it will bo sweeter soon.' So I ct it then and then I thought I would like to havo more if it would bo sweeter soon and et ten or eleven or a hundrod. "Then mamma hold Russell on her lap. And sho gave him theso little round things. And Russell tried to spit them out. Hut sho told him it was candy. And she nto some hersrlf and carried Russell uptairs to bod. Then sho come down to mo. Hut I was nwful sick. Momma sat on tho chair and put her head down. And then Dad came. Then was when Mamma and Russell started looking sick." Tho light still (lares from Conimicut tower. It has never failed. Capt. Smith, with tho assist ance only of his B-ycar-old Hon, Is still on duty. And if ho r. what it is to get lonely. L.. ...... t. 1 i. - . m (L;rM mriUW t'T y",r-P.'-y.ry rnt-ir'-.-n'-H,Tr-t.r wo ft r-r rrtr r ! w -! M I I II III III 1 1 I III III III I II IIIIH I III! I ! W? ' SraSBWHBiR v vm Conimicut Lighthouse, Whero the IonelintHa of the Sea Caused Mrs. KHsworlh to Poison Herself and Uoth Her Little Hoys. One Child Survived. Tho lighthouse has always been a high point ef tragedy and romance in fiction and In fact. In "Out of tho Fog," o photoplay starring Mme. Nazimova, something of that terror and loneliness which tho Mm must have thrown a,bout Mrs. Ellsworth Smith, is pictured. Tho screen version which was mado from tho stago play, '"Ceptlon Shoals," has as its tragic heroine a girl who had been condemned to spend o lifo of oxilu in n lighthouse. Constant brooding over her fato and tho bitter loneliness of her lifo finally drives her to suicldo. Prominent among tho llghthouso romonces of history Is tho story of Graco Darling, From her high tower sho saw tho Wreckage of tho ill-fated "Forfarshire" and braving the storm sho rowed out to tho vessel and rescued sovcrol of thosullors. The fortitude of thu wifo of the keeper of Kerdenis Light, off Scotland, take rank along with this. According to this story, tho keeper suddenly became ill while ho was cleaning the lnntorn. His wifn left her two children, put her husband to bed, mounted to thu tower and com pleter! polishing the lantern. After lighting the lantern sho discovered that the light was not turning. So tho wifo remained In tho tower all night, turning tho lignt with her hands. At sunrisu oho returned to her husband's living compartment and found him dead. Even mnre harrowing is tho stry awlatcd with Smalls Light on tho coast of England. Two keepers wcro attending this light and one K.wiiiapn Centura S.nlca, UlL The Frenzy of the Lonely Woman of tho Lighthouse, as Portrayed by Mme. Nazimova In "Out of the Fog." of them died suddenly. 'Smalls Light Is a deso late, Isolated place. There was no help nearby nobody within reach. And relief ships visited tho place but once every threo months. Tho surviv ing keeper foared hn might be accused of foul play. So ho stood tho corpio up beside the lan tern tower on tho balcony, hoping that the un usual sight might nttrnct a passing vessel. When holp finally came, several weeks later, the crew of the rescuing vessel found tho corpse, badly cmacluted, still standing there. Tho surviv ing keeper had gono Insane. From Hird Rock Light In Nova Scotia comes still anothor talo of horror. One day the keeper fell Into tho sea from tho llttlo balcony surrounding tho light. HU wfe beard his cries and saw him struggling In the waters that dashed among the jugged rocks be low. She threw him n life preserver, but tho force of the waves wui such thut ho was beaten to pieces before her eyes. For ten days afterward this womnn kept the light in order, nnd blew her foghorn, hoping thot someone would hear and como to her rescue. When help finally did come, however, her mind wan gone. A llttlo baby in tho lighthouse was found slowly starving to death. Th mother had haa to wutch tho light so closely that sho neglect ed the child. Realizing tho Intenso loneliness suffered by llghthouso keepers, U. S. Commlf slonor of Light houses Gforgo It. I'utnam has fathered a movo mrnt to install radio phones in nil lighthouses go that thu desolation may bo mitigated by radio concerts. Somo of tha remote Alaska light houses already have them. Tho Commissioner wants to lohovo particularly the conditions in tho lighthouses at tho entrance to Uerlng Sea, whera tho keepers havo to remain threo years at a time. Tillamook Rock Light, on tho l'ncltlc Coast, wlli also get radio equipment In n short tlmo, Dad weather has frequently prevented occupants of this lighthouse from communicating with tho coast fur as long as seven weeks at a time. Flve-Ycar-Old itobert, Who Recovered,