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A9
LOCAL Wednesday 3 January 2024

A brief history of the California Light House

(Oranjestad)—At the fur- something very interesting
thest western point of the about the lighthouse after
island, there lies the tall- much research was docu-
est structure on the island: mented in his book 'History
The California Light House. of the Lighthouse at West-
Standing on top of a lime- punt.' He found many de-
stone cliff, this lighthouse tails: "I found out that the
oversees the entire island, height of the lighthouse
offering one of few best was due to the absence
views of the island and the of electricity. There was
surrounding sea. It is also also the presence of coral.
one of the few monuments There is a long steel cable
that hold a rich history. from where the light is, and
under the light, at the high-
The lighthouse was con- house, and my father was est point, there is a hanging
structed in between 1914- the last lighthouse keeper weight, a sort of pendulum
1916, and its first keeper until he retired in 1962. Af- that swings like that, with
was a young trained light- ter that, they removed the a weight that measures
house keeper from Cura- power cables all the way about 1 meter by 30 cen-
cao names Jacob Jacobs. to the top. According to timeters wide, which is a
Mr. Frederico Fingal was the story, we couldn't have block of solid iron attached time," Mr. Fingal explains. with its preservation, along
the last man to have occu- the light ourselves because to a cable. When you re- with all the renovations
pied this position until 1962. they dismantled it, and lease it upwards, it comes Thanks to the Monument that have taken place.
Though his son, Mr. Romulo after many years, I heard down, and the weight Fund Aruba, which worked He hopes that the story
Fingal did not continue in that it is in a train museum that comes down pulls it hard and is currently in of the lighthouse will con-
his father’s footsteps, he in San Nicolas, where we up, gradually. And while charge of the Lighthouse, tinue to live on for future
does have a special con- found this very special lens it comes down, the same Mr. Fingal is very happy generations.q
nection to the lighthouse. that, when the light shines weight that is descending
He sat down with our re- through it, it reaches 30 ki- causes many small wheels
porter and shared a bit of lometers out to sea." Mr. to turn in the opposite di-
its history. Fingal told our reporter. rection. The Lighthouse
rotates from 6 pm in the
As Mr. Fingal explains, "In The lighthouse has a long evening, when the sun sets,
1915, cargo donkeys were and very interesting history. until 6 am in the morning.
hired from Figaroa di Noord The reason why the light- During the entire night, the
to help build the Light- house was built, according light shines on the lantern, it
house at Westpunt. The to Mr. Fingal, dates back goes down 24 meters, and
donkeys had to walk along to the day when the cargo the Lighthouse is 30 me-
the beach all the way to ship S.S. California sank be- ters high. It is designed not
Westpunt carrying the car- cause of the lack of light. to collapse," Mr. Fingal ex-
go, poles, cement, and all In 1913, Aruba made a re- plains.
these things. At that time, it quest to Curacao to build
was a difficult task until Aru- a Lighthouse at Westpunt, Mr. Fingal further explains
ba got its first truck. These and the governor of Cura- that in one night, the light-
things reflect how people cao responded to Aruba house rotates 4,320 times
could have accomplished to come back in 1915 with and consumes one gallon
this tremendous job with a well-detailed plan. "Dur- of kerosene for the whole
so little." Mr. Fingal said, "At ing the First World War from operation. "At that time,
that time, it wasn't a place 1914 to 1918, they had to the kerosene was supplied
for people to work. It was wait for the light to be trans- from the Lago refinery.
very challenging because ported to Aruba because Every day it was brought
it was full of goats and don- it was manufactured in down, and to start the
keys, and it was very iso- France. At that time, there light again, they had to lift
lated. There were no hotels was no electricity, and the the weight up, so our job
or roads to get there. There light was very interesting as children was to crank it
was only a donkey trail. because it rotated with a and raise the weight back
Those were the only means kerosene lamp that planes up in the evening when the
of transportation." used; clean kerosene," Mr. light stuck, they would take
Fingal said. it down again, and the light
Mr. Fingal continues, "In stayed down. That's how
1939, I was born in the light- Mr. Fingal discovered it worked for a very long