t of water, and it was Captain
Tower, of Cohasset, with a crew of Cohasset divers and seamen, who set
sail for the spot in a schooner bearing the substantial name of Eliza
Ann. The Spanish Government, having no faith in the enterprise, agreed
to claim only two and one half per cent of what was removed. The first
year the wreckers got fourteen thousand dollars, and the second they had
reached seven thousand, when the Spaniards became so jealous of their
skill that they had to flee for their lives (taking the seven thousand,
however). The clumsy diving-bell method was the only one known at that
time, but when, twenty years later, the Spaniards had to swallow their
chagrin and send again for the same wrecking party to assist them on the
same task, modern diving suits were in use and more money was
recovered--no mean triumph for the crew of the Eliza Ann!

As the wrecks along the Cohasset coast were principally caused by the
dangerous reefs spreading in either direction from what is known as
Minot's Ledge, the necessity of a lighthouse on that spot was early
evident, and the erecting of the present Minot's Light is one of the
most romantic engineering enterprises of our coast history. The original
structure was snapped off like a pikestaff in the great storm of 1851,
and the present one of Quincy granite is the first of its kind in
America to be built on a ledge awash at high tide and with no adjacent
dry land. The tremendous difficulties were finally overcome, although in
the year 1855 the work could be pursued for only a hundred and thirty
hours, and the following year for only a hundred and fifty-seven. To
read of the erection of this remarkable lighthouse reminds one of the
building of Solomon's temple. The stone was selected with the utmost
care, and the Quincy cutters declared that such chiseling had never
before left the hand of man. Then every single block for the lower
portion was meticulously cut, dovetailed, and set in position on
Government Island in Cohasset Harbor. The old base, exquisitely laid,
where they were thus set up is still visible, as smooth as a billiard
table, although grass-covered. In addition to the flawless cutting and
joining of the blocks, the ledge itself was cut into a succession of
levels suitable to bear a stone foundation--work which was possible only
at certain times of the tide and seasons of the year. The cutting of
each stone so that it exactly fitted its neighbor, above, below, and a