LIGHTHOUSE INSPECTIONS
After the 1850s, because of the formation of a new governing board of the Lighthouse Service, lighthouse keepers and their families were subject to a higher power, called the Lighthouse Inspector. He arrived unannounced on government vessels called lighthouse tenders. They were feared and respected and sometimes hated. They checked every aspect of lighthouse living with white glove inspections. Many ways of trying to announce the arrival of an inspector were attempted, such as hanging certain blankets or sheets out on a line, but that only worked where lighthouses were close together. Warnings got a little easier when telephones were put in. Even the families were included in the inspections and everything and everybody had to be spotless. Children sensed this power the inspectors held over their parents. Some children actually confused the inspectors with God! One child speaking later in life equated the inspector coming with the second coming of the Lord! Wouldn’t it be good if we all had that…
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