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                                                                                                           local Wednesday 19 June 2024
            A brief history of the California Light House




            (Oranjestad)—At  the  fur-
            thest  western  point  of  the
            island,  there  lies  the  tall-
            est  structure  on  the  island:
            The  California  Light  House.
            Standing on top of a lime-
            stone  cliff,  this  lighthouse
            oversees  the  entire  island,
            offering  one  of  few  best
            views of the island and the
            surrounding  sea.  It  is  also
            one of the few monuments
            that hold a rich history.


            The  lighthouse  was  con-
            structed  in  between  1914-
            1916,  and  its  first  keeper
            was  a  young  trained  light-
            house  keeper  from  Cura-
            cao names Jacob Jacobs.
            Mr.  Frederico  Fingal  was
            the last man to have occu-
            pied this position until 1962.
            Though his son, Mr. Romulo
            Fingal  did  not  continue  in
            his  father’s  footsteps,  he
            does  have  a  special  con-
            nection  to  the  lighthouse.
            He  sat  down  with  our  re-
            porter and shared a bit of
            its history.

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