Stay at his light
staying at his light will prevent further accidents on the sea and will guide navigators on the right way.
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used.
Before the days of electricity, they had to
light the lamp at sunset and extinguish it at sunrise. During an 8 hour watch at night they had to
climb the stairs in the tower one to three times a night to check on the light and wind the weights
that operated the clock. Some lighthouses have as many as two hundred steps! Keepers earned the
name "wickie" because one of their chores was to trim the burned lamp wick, so it wouldn't smoke
and dirty the lens. The brass in the building had to be shined, and all the windows cleaned. Often it
took a whole day to clean and polish the lens alone. It was very important to keep both the lens and
the lantern room windows clean so the light would not be diminished (lessened) in any way.
