t to violent
changed trumphantly to triumphantly

CHAPTER X

THE SAILOR'S SAFEGUARDS--IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINE ARCHITECTURE--THE MAPPING
OF THE SEAS--THE LIGHTHOUSE SYSTEM--BUILDING A LIGHTHOUSE--MINOT'S LEDGE
AND SPECTACLE REEF--LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE--LIGHTSHIPS AND OTHER
BEACONS--THE REVENUE MARINE SERVICE--ITS FUNCTION AS A SAFEGUARD TO
SAILORS--ITS WORK IN THE NORTH PACIFIC--THE LIFE-SAVING SERVICE--ITS
RECORD FOR ONE YEAR--ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT--THE PILOTS OF NEW
YORK--THEIR HARDSHIPS AND SLENDER EARNINGS--JACK ASHORE--THE SAILORS' SNUG
HARBOR.

Into the long struggle between men and the ocean the last half century has
witnessed the entrance of System, Science and Cooperation on the side of
man. They are three elements of strength which ordinarily assure victory
to the combatant who enlists them, but complete victory over the ocean is
a thing never to be fully won. Build his ships as he may, man them as he
will, map out the ocean highways never so precisely, and mark as he may
with flaring beacons each danger point, yet in some moment of wrath the
winds and the waves will rise unconquerable and sweep all the barriers,
and all the edifices erected by man out of their path. To-day all
civilized governments join in devices and expedients for the protection
and safeguard of the mariner. Steel vessels are made unsinkable with
water-tight compartments, and officially marked with a Plimsoll load line
beneath which they must not be submerged. Charts of every ocean are
prepared under governmental supervision by trained scientists. Myriads of
lights twinkle from headland to reef all round the world. Pilots are
taught to find the way into the narrowest harbors, though they can scarce
see beyond the ship's jibboom, and electric-lighted buoys mark the
channel, while foghorns and sirens shriek their warnings through flying
scud and mist. Revenue cutters ply up and down the coast specially charged
to go swiftly to the rescue of vessels in distress, and life-saving
stations dot the beaches, fitted with every device for cheating the
breakers of their prey. The skill of marine architects, and all the
resources of Government are taxed to the utmost to defeat the wrath of
Ocean, yet withal his toll of life and property is a heavy one.

Now and again men discuss the nature of courage, and try to fix upon the
bravest deed of history. Doubtless _the_ bravest deed has no place in
history, for it must have been the