28331d. United States Lighthouse Establishment Linen Lens Cleaning Cloth c.1870-1900
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28331d. United States Lighthouse Establishment Linen Lens Cleaning Cloth c.1870-1900
28331d. United States Lighthouse Establishment Linen Lens Cleaning Cloth c.1870-1900. Carried in the loops on the Keeper’s Service Basket. Such cloths have never before offered for sale – this is an extraordinary item. 24″ x 36″. Marked in large letters in circular pattern “UNITED STATES LIGHT HOUSE ESTABLISHMENT”. These linen towels were obtained from the family of Keeper Andrew P. C. Hald. Keeper Hald began his Lighthouse Service career at Cape Meares Light Station. In March 1887 Congress passed the bill to build a lighthouse on Cape Meares and construction began in the spring of 1889. By September the thirty-eight-foot-tall tower was completed. A first-order Fresnel lens, made in France, was shipped to the cape in crates. It was assembled in the tower and by late November, three men – Anthony Miller, principal keeper, and his two assistants, Andrew Hald and Henry York-had moved into the two new dwellings. On January 1, 1890, they wound the clockwork mechanism to rotate the lens, and they lit the five-wick kerosene lamp. Assistant Keeper Hald served at Cape Meares until 1894, when he was transferred to Heceta Head Light Station when in 1894, work on the outbuildings and tower was completed and the lamp lit in March. Hald became the first Principal Keeper there. His first assistant was Eugene Walters, and his second assistant John Cowan. In 1898 Hald was transferred to Umpqua River Light Station, where he served as Principal Keeper for the next twenty-five years. $985.