Keeper of the Lights Along the Shore
By Alice K. Rondthaler
There .are but a few of the "old-time" lighthouse
keepers left: actually, there is no longer need of them in
this day of automatic controls. Capt. Joe Burrus is a relic
of the old, days. For oixteen years he was a keeper of
historic Ocracoke Lighthouse; for a total of forty-five
years he was a keeper at some' Virginia or North Carolina
shore or sound lighthouse. Now,
nearing the age of 75, he is retired
on a government pension. He and
his good wife, Eleanor Oden Bur
rus, live in a comfortable bungalow
on Ocracoke Island. They have
just celebrated their fiftieth wed
ding anniversary with their one
son. six daughters, thirteen grand
children. and two great-grandchil
dren coming from north, south,
and the far west to pay homage to
a grund old dad and a wonderful
mother.
Bora at Hatteras
Cap'n Joe (Joseph Merritt Bur
rus) was born at Hatteras. It was
natural for him to choose as his
life-time job one that savored of
the sea. His father had been a sea
captain, sailing a freighter between
New York City and Wilmington,
N. C. He had been lost at sea in
1880 when Joe was but a child, but
the boy had heard many times the
story of the WILLIAM P. COX.
During a terrific storm off Caro
lina the ship had tried in vain to
make the Bar into Hatteras ? it
was near enough for those on shore
to see the outlines of the men on
deck through the wind and rain.
But the seas were too rough and
the wind too strong and finally the
freighter turned southward into the
Atlantic, and was never heard of
again. Wreckage was found near
Southport, and it was thought the
ship ran aground on Frying Pan
Shoals. Eleanor Burrus, too, is of
seafaring ancestry. Her great
grandfather Oden, twice ship
wrecked off Diamond Shoals came
ashore at Hatteras, the second time
afloat a pork barrel. Then he set
tled down there, the first of the
Carolina Odens.
For a while Joe followed in his
father's footsteps ? fishing and
freighting; then he signed up for
the U. S. Lighthouse Service. His
first pay check, back in 1903, was
$30 per month, and he was proud
of it. (Mrs. Burrus says in those
days you could get a 24-lb. sack of
flour for 65 cents). During his
years of service, he was stationed
at various lighthouses on the Reefs
or in the Sounds of Virginia and
Carolina ? Tangier Island (Va.),
Thimble Shoals (Va.), Diamond
Shoals Lightship, Cape Lookout,
Croatan, Oliver's Reef (in Pamlico
Sound four miles west of Hatteras),
Bluff Shoals (in the Sound 30 miles
off Ocracoke), and at Ocracoke Is
land.
Lighthouses out over the water
in the Sounds have been replaced
with automatic lights, but in the
old days a keeper was stationed at
each to care for the oil-lamp light,
the fog horn equipment, and forty
to forty-five buoys or beacons in
the Sound. These were lonely as
signments, lasting sometimes sev
eral weeks until a change of keep
ere.
The buoys and beacons had oil
lamps and had to be checked fre
quently. Before the days of motor
boats, a sailboat was used. Light
houses in the Sounds were built
on steel structures forty feet above
the water at depths of about fif
teen feet. There was a kitchen, a
living room, and two bedrooms, and
? porch all-round. No cellar; no at
tic; no ice box; no electricity; and
no wife! A woods tove in the kit
chen; a coal heater in the living
room; water caught off the eaves
in rain barrels. All fuel, food, and
other supplies brought out by boat
when the keepers exchanged shore
and sound stations for a period of
time.
Visits Permitted
With special permission, the
keeper's family could make brief
visits to the lighthouse during the
summer months. Mrs. Burrus and
the six little Burrus children and
their family peta would get into the
sailboat, or the motor launch, at
Hatteras. to make the 30-mile trip
out to Bluff Shoals. Getting the
youngest children and the pets up
into the lighthouse was sometimes
a task.
The dog was lassoed and pulled
up by rope; the kitten was carried
in a basket or bag; and Cap'n Joe
tucked the baby under one arm as
he swung up the ladder, with the
older children and Mrs. Burrus
climbing cautiousl yafter him. Vis
iting days were happy ones for son
I Austin, the oldest child, since they
j gave him the opportunity to fish
for big trout off the lighthouse
porch, or to sail the skiff, or some
times accompany his father in the
motor launch on his rounds of
buoys and beacons.
j A near-tragedy occurred on one
I summer visit. Little Amy, age 3,
was suddeniy missed and an hour
of calling and searching brought
no results. The parents decided
sorrowfully that she had fallen off
the porch into the water below.
But happiness was restored when
she was found fast asleep squeezed
in between the heavy open door
and the wall, where they had fail
ed to look in the excitement. "Per
mission ONLY in the summer
months" . . . says Mrs. Burrus with
a twinkle in her brown eyes . . .
"but once we all went out on Christ
mas Day and took~ the tree, the
presents, and the Christmas din
ner!"
Ice Bound
It was out at Bluff Shoals light
house, 30 miles west of Hatteras
and Ocracoke toward Little Wash
ington, N. C., that Capt. Burrus
I was once an ice-bound prisoner for
I thirty days. In the last "big freeze"
| ? that of December 1917-January
i 1918, Pamlico Sound was frozen
I over. At the end of twenty days
I Capt. Joe was down to flour and
water. Starving didn't bother him
so much; but his tobacco was gone.
So he took to chewing boat calking
as a substitute. Finally at the end
of thirty days the ice began to
break up and anxious friends from
Ocracoke and Hatteras came out in
motor boats with fuel, food, and to
his delight, chewing tobacco.
From 1928 to 1946 Capt. Burrus
was keeper of the Ocracoke Island
?light. Today, this historic light
house, the oldest and most pictur
esque on the North Carolina coast,
is equipped with automatic controls
of all kinds. When the electric
bulb burns out, another automatic
ally goes on; when the local elec
tric power goes off, an auxiliary
motor goes on. In 1929 oil lamps
were used : shortly afterward a va
por lamp replaced the oil.
Like the Coast Guard Stations,
the lighthouses served, and still
serve as places of refuge in time
of storm. The Burrus family lived
through three hurricanes at Ocra
coke Lighthouse ? 1933, 1938, and
1944, and of these the last was by
far the worst. The water flooded
the entire Island, rising in many
homes as high as 25 to 30 inches.
At the keeper's house ? located on
one of the Island's highest spots ?
H was seven inches deep; and for
the firjt remembered time it lap
ped against the doorstep of the
lighthouse proper.
Early in the morning, just before
the storm had reached its greatest
fury, about thirty-five people gath
ered at the Burrus home. Some
waded through the swirling tides;
others were brought in skiffs by
coast guardsmen. Many came with
out breakfast and by noon Mrs.
Burrus had baked a peck of bis
cuits and opened up a gallon or
more of lima beans and corned
beef to feed her hungry visitors.
Captain Burrus Retires
After his retirement from the
Lighthouse Service, Capt. Burrus.
like many old-time keepers, settled
down on the Carolina Reefs. The
Burrus family < chose Ocracoke
where several of the girls had mar
ried and settled. Now the Cap'n
has time to walk the sandy lanes
to the village store porches to dis
cuss politics and the events of the
V f I
Alaska has packed
KING? CRABS SINCE
FEDERAL SEARCH
FOUND THEM THERE
IN QUANTITY ?
RADAR-EQUIPPED
EXPLORATORY BOATS
OF THE FISH ? WILD
LIFE SERVICE ARE -?=
TRACKING AL&ACORE ?/'
IN THE PACIFIC ?
TO AID COMMERCIAL
FISHERMEN HARVEST
THIS IMPORTANT
SEA FOOD ?
me golf of Mexico is be ins
EXPLORED FOR f "tV SHRIMP ~
TUNA-AND SNA: R GROUNDS
EXACT INFORMATION ON THE
SITE AND TYPE OF GEAR IS
FURNISHED TO FISHERMEN
Carlerei Waters Yield
Tremendons Bonila Caich
Runs of bonita were so tremen
dous last week and a few days
prior, that fish dealers were hav
ing the bonita put in quick-freeze.
Bonita, also called king mack
erel. and in some waters, tuna,
were being taken in such num
bers that even non-committal ex
perienced fishermen were amaz
ed.
Beaufort Quick-Freeze hand
led the surplus catches. Unusual
ly large catches of blues have
been made this fall also.
Lab Pools Used
For Experiments
Four of the concrete pools at the
United States Fisheries Biological
laboratory, Piver's Island, are now
being used for experimental pur
poses.
The large central pool., around
which the driveway circles, con
tains menhaden, another contains
shrimp, a third shad, and the
fourth oysters.
Both the menhaden and shrimp
have been "tagged." Studies are be
ing made to see what effect the tag
has on the fish, from migration
standpoints and growth. Scientists
are trying to find the best method
of tagging.
The shad were taken from the
Neuse river and have been marked
by having their fins clipped. Tests
will also be conducted with them
to determine how much oxygen
they require. This is being done
in connection with pollution prob
lems. Oxidation of excessive for
eign matter in the streams takes
oxygen required by the fish, scient
ists believe, and for that reason
many of them die.
Oysters have been placed in one
pool merely as a source of supply
for oyster experiments in the labo
ratory.
day. One of the few Republicans
on the Island, he says, "And I'm
no wishy-wtshy Republican either."
No. Capt. Burrus isn't wishy;
washy about anything; he is as
staunch as the lighthouse which he
manned for many years. "Life to
day is more eventful in the world
abroad, but less eventful at home. !
The great event of each day used
to be climbing the spiral stairs at
sundown to trim the wick, fill the
reservoir, polish the-reflectors. and
light the lamp. Today, my days are j
more like the trip back down the j
spiral stairway."
In the fiscal year 1949-49 North
Carolina planted oyster shells at a
cost of *6,08944.
Boat Undergoes Overhaul
On Piver's Island Ways
Undergoing repair and overhaul
on the ways at Piver's Island is a
boat that has just been turned over
to the Fish and Wildlife Service by
the Army.
When work on this boat is com
plete. investigators at the lab will
have three boats at their disposal,
a "contact" boat which contacts
fishermen while they're at work,
a boat which is equipped with a
laboratory, sleeps five, and has all
the latest scientific devices for
fishery investigation, and the boat
now on the ways.
The Fish and Wildlife Service
names all its boats after fish, but
no names have been found yet for
the three based at the Piver's Is
land lab.
Rumor on Sale oi Oyster
Farm Fake, Owner Says
I Contrary to rumor, the North
River oyster farm operated by Dr.
Herbert F. Prytherch, Beaufort,
has not been sold to Harvey Smith
of Beaufort, Dr. Prytherch stated
today. Both have an interest in the
farm, he said.
Don Martin is resident care-taker
of the farm where experiments on
oysters are continuing. Dr. Pry
therch says that he has found that
Belgrade rock will "fertilize" oys
ter beds and cause growth of fatter
shellfish.
Sanitation Rating
On Shellfish Is
93.6 Per Cent
In his latest report N. McKcithtn
Caldwell, state shellfish sanitaria^
revealed that the United States
Public Health service appraised
North Carolina's shellfish sanita
tion program and save it a rating
of 936 per cent for the 1949-50
ovster season.
During the 1948 49 seaso < this
Stale ranked No. 1 in the nation
with a rating from the federal
health service of 94 per tc"'
In the 1948-50 biennium 27 plans
were furnished for new shellfish
plants. Caldwell said, ?Certificates
of inspection were issued to a year
ly average of 19 crab meat plants,
59 shucking plants, and to 1
shellstock dealers . . . 1336 sani
tary inspections were made of these
plants."
Improvement Noted
Caldwell noted "a gradual im
provement in plant operation and
reported that during the biennium
sanitation in most crab meat plants
reached a new high He added,
yet the inflexible regulations
of the United States Food and Drug
administration harassed maximum
production. The industry is in
need of new methods of Proc^
ing production, and marketing. Qltt
methods hold little promise in the
'"The' sanitarian s report contin
ues "Sanitary bacteriological sui
vevs of Six polluted shelllish grow
ing areas -were completed during
the biennium. A total of ->43 water
samples were collected and exam
ined.
Services Expanded
"Through the cooperation of tli?
state board of health and the Car
teret County Health department
laboratory facilities and serviy:$
have been expanded. A long exist
ing need for laboratory control
over the sanitary quality of oys
ters. clams, and crab meat P?^"
ed within and shipped into tTiis
state has now been met. 1 resent
services are on a temporary sUtu*.
funds should be made available to
make them permanent.
In conclusion. Caldwell >cn}ark
e l "North Carolina ha* long been
recognized as a state with a Srea
shellfish potential but has nevr
been able to approach that poten
tial. North Carolina is now pro*}*
ing shellfish of highest physical
and sanitary quality, yet the fu
ture is not bright unless antiquated
methods of marketing are drastic
allv improved. Consumer demand
must be developed and new mar
kets created if North Carolina',
shellfish industry is to go forward.
Jefferson Hotel
Open Year 'Round
MOREHEAD CITY, N. C.