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+Project Gutenberg's Lightships and Lighthouses, by Frederick A. Talbot
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
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+
+Title: Lightships and Lighthouses
+
+Author: Frederick A. Talbot
+
+Release Date: August 16, 2016 [EBook #52817]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTSHIPS AND LIGHTHOUSES ***
+
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+Produced by deaurider, Charlie Howard, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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+
+
+
+LIGHTSHIPS AND LIGHTHOUSES
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Siemens Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+THE 43,000,000 CANDLE-POWER BEAMS THROWN FROM THE HELIGOLAND LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+Being projected from a height of 272 feet above the sea, the beacon has
+a range of 23 miles, and on a clear night the rays are seen from Büsun,
+35 miles away.
+
+ _Frontispiece._
+]
+
+
+
+
+ CONQUESTS OF SCIENCE
+
+
+ LIGHTSHIPS AND
+ LIGHTHOUSES
+
+ BY
+ FREDERICK A. TALBOT
+
+ AUTHOR OF
+ “MOVING PICTURES,” “RAILWAY CONQUEST OF THE WORLD,” “THE STEAMSHIP
+ CONQUEST OF THE WORLD,” ETC.
+
+ _ILLUSTRATED_
+
+ PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
+ LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
+ 1913
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in England._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Romances innumerable have been woven around the flaming guardians of
+the coast, but it is doubtful whether any purely imaginative work is
+so fascinating and absorbing as the plain unvarnished narrative of how
+some famous lightship or lighthouse has been brought into existence.
+And the story of construction is equalled in every way by that relating
+to the operation and maintenance of the light, against all odds, for
+the guidance of those who have business upon the ocean.
+
+This volume is not a history of lightships and lighthouses; neither
+is it a technical treatise. Rather my object has been to relate how
+the difficulties, peculiar and prodigious, have been overcome by the
+builders in their efforts to mark some terrible danger-spots, both on
+the mainland and isolated sea-rocks.
+
+While the lines of the lightship and lighthouse are familiar to all,
+popular knowledge concerning the internal apparatus of the building or
+ship is somewhat hazy. Therefore I have explained, with technicalities
+simplified as much as possible, the equipment of the tower and vessel,
+and the methods whereby both visual and audible warnings are given. The
+very latest developments in this field of engineering and science are
+incorporated, so as to render the subject as comprehensive as possible
+within the limits of a single volume.
+
+In the compilation of this book I have received the heartiest
+assistance from those who are prominently associated with the work of
+providing adequate aids to navigation, and am particularly indebted
+to the engineers to the Commissioners of Northern Lights, Messrs.
+D. and C. Stevenson; Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Anderson, the
+Engineer-in-Chief to the Lighthouse Department of the Canadian
+Government; the various officials of the Lighthouse Board of the
+United States of America; the Engineer-in-Chief to the French Service
+des Phares; the lighthouse authorities of New South Wales and New
+Zealand; Mr. Gustaf Dalén and his assistants; Messrs. Chance Brothers
+and Company, Limited, of Birmingham; Messrs. Edmondsons, Limited, of
+Dublin; Samuel Strain, Esq., the Director of the Lighthouse Literature
+Mission, Belfast; the _Scientific American_, and the _Syren and
+Shipping_, etc.
+
+ FREDERICK A. TALBOT.
+
+ _June, 1913._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER PAGE
+
+ I. THE ORIGIN OF THE LIGHTHOUSE 1
+
+ II. BUILDING A LIGHTHOUSE 11
+
+ III. THE LIGHT AND ILLUMINANTS 28
+
+ IV. FOG-SIGNALS 57
+
+ V. THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE 72
+
+ VI. SOME FAMOUS LIGHTS OF ENGLAND 81
+
+ VII. THE BELL ROCK AND SKERRYVORE LIGHTS 96
+
+ VIII. THE LONELY LIGHTS OF SCOTLAND 108
+
+ IX. THE FASTNET, THE OUTPOST OF EUROPE 121
+
+ X. LIGHTHOUSES BUILT ON SAND 132
+
+ XI. SOME LIGHT PATROLS OF THE FRENCH COAST 148
+
+ XII. THE GUARDIAN LIGHTS OF CANADA’S COAST 161
+
+ XIII. THE MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHT 176
+
+ XIV. THE TILLAMOOK ROCK LIGHT-STATION 183
+
+ XV. THE COAST LIGHTS OF THE UNITED STATES 196
+
+ XVI. THE LAMP-POSTS OF THE GREAT LAKES OF NORTH AMERICA 208
+
+ XVII. THE MOST POWERFUL ELECTRIC LIGHTHOUSES OF THE WORLD 218
+
+ XVIII. SOME LIGHTHOUSES IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS 229
+
+ XIX. THE SIGNPOSTS OF THE SANDBANKS 240
+
+ XX. A FLAMING SENTINEL OF THE MALACCA STRAITS 257
+
+ XXI. UNATTENDED LIGHTHOUSES 267
+
+ XXII. FLOATING LIGHTHOUSES 284
+
+ XXIII. THE LIGHT-KEEPER AND HIS LIFE 301
+
+ INDEX 318
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ FACING PAGE
+
+ The 43,000,000 Candle-Power Beams thrown from the Heligoland
+ Lighthouse _Frontispiece_
+
+ How the Beachy Head Lighthouse was built 6
+
+ Workmen returning by the Aerial Cableway to the Top of Beachy
+ Head 7
+
+ The Sanganeb Reef Lighthouse in the Red Sea 14
+
+ The Alcatraz Lighthouse under Construction 15
+
+ The Alcatraz Lighthouse completed 15
+
+ The Thimble Shoals Light 22
+
+ Setting the Last Stone of the Beachy Head Lighthouse 23
+
+ The Hyperradial Apparatus for the Manora Point Light, Karachi,
+ India 48
+
+ First Order Triple Flashing Light of 920 Millimetres Focal
+ Distance for Chilang Lighthouse, China 49
+
+ Looking up the Lantern of the Needles Lighthouse 52
+
+ Fixed Apparatus of the Fourth Order for Sarawak 53
+
+ A Modern Lighthouse Siren Plant 58
+
+ The Sirens of the Lizard 59
+
+ The Acetylene Fog-Gun 64
+
+ The Rattray Head Lighthouse 65
+
+ Sule Skerry Light 65
+
+ The Eddystone, the Most Famous Lighthouse of England 76
+
+ A Thrilling Experience 77
+
+ The “Bishop,” the Western Outpost of England 82
+
+ The Wolf Rock Lighthouse 83
+
+ The Longships Light 88
+
+ The Godrevy Light, Scilly Islands 89
+
+ The Chicken Rock Lighthouse, off the Isle of Man 92
+
+ How the Skerryvore is built 93
+
+ The Skerryvore, Scotland’s Most Famous Lighthouse 102
+
+ Barra Head Lighthouse, Scotland 103
+
+ The Homes of the Keepers of the Skerryvore and Dhu-Heartach
+ Lights 103
+
+ The Dhu-Heartach Lighthouse 110
+
+ The North Unst, Britain’s most Northerly Lighthouse 111
+
+ The North Unst Light 116
+
+ Landing Water at the North Unst 116
+
+ The Flannen Islands Light-Station 117
+
+ Building the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse 122
+
+ Building the Fastnet Tower 123
+
+ Erecting the Fastnet Lantern 123
+
+ The Fastnet, the Outpost of Europe 128
+
+ The Lantern of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse 129
+
+ The Rothersand Lighthouse 136
+
+ The Fourteen-Foot Bank Lighthouse, built on Sand 137
+
+ The Heaux de Bréhat Light 150
+
+ Fitting the Lantern of La Jument Light 151
+
+ Preparing the Foundations of the Jument Tower 154
+
+ The Jument Light recently erected off Ushant 155
+
+ The Cape Race Lighthouse, Newfoundland 162
+
+ Cann Island Lighthouse, on the East Coast of Newfoundland 163
+
+ The Light at the Southern End of Belle Ile 166
+
+ The North Belle Ile Lighthouse 167
+
+ A Magnificent Canadian Light on the Pacific Coast 168
+
+ The West End Guardian of Sable Island 168
+
+ St. Esprit Island Light, Nova Scotia 169
+
+ The Gull Island Light, Newfoundland 169
+
+ The Batiscan Front Range Lighthouse, River St. Lawrence 170
+
+ Isle St. Thérèse Upper Range Back Lighthouse, River St. Lawrence 170
+
+ Upper Traverse Lighthouse in the River St. Lawrence 171
+
+ An “Ice Shove” upon the Back Range Light in Lake St. Peter 171
+
+ The Minot’s Ledge Light 178
+
+ Tender landing Building Material upon the Tillamook Rock 179
+
+ The Tillamook Rock Light-Station from the South 186
+
+ The Conquest of the Tillamook 187
+
+ The Terrible Tillamook Rock 187
+
+ Famous United States Lighthouses of Two Centuries 192
+
+ The Race Rock Light 193
+
+ The Carquinez Strait Light 198
+
+ A Church as a Lighthouse 199
+
+ The Bonita Point Lighthouse off the Californian Coast 202
+
+ Point Pinos Light-Station, California 203
+
+ The Farallon Rock and Light 204
+
+ The Farallon Lighthouse off San Francisco 204
+
+ The Punta Gorda Light-Station, California 205
+
+ A Lighthouse on the Great Lakes in the Grip of Winter 210
+
+ Building the Barre à Boulard Light in the River St. Lawrence 211
+
+ Colchester Reef Lighthouse, Lake Erie 214
+
+ The Latest Development in Lighthouse Engineering 215
+
+ The Electric Searchlights of the Heligoland Lighthouse 222
+
+ The Heligoland Lighthouse 223
+
+ Green Cape Lighthouse, New South Wales 232
+
+ The Sentinel of Sugar Loaf Point, New South Wales 232
+
+ “Bungaree Norah” Station, New South Wales 232
+
+ The Cape Byron Lighthouse, New South Wales 233
+
+ The Macquarie Lighthouse, South Head of Sydney Harbour 233
+
+ Painting the Troubridge Lighthouse, South Australia 234
+
+ Green Point Lighthouse, Natal 235
+
+ The Pacific Outpost of the United States of America 235
+
+ The _Seven Stones_ Lightship 242
+
+ The _San Francisco_ Lightship 243
+
+ The _Norderney_ Lightship 250
+
+ The _Fire Island_ Lightship, the Atlantic Outpost of the United
+ States 251
+
+ Completing the One-Fathom Bank Lighthouse in the Malacca
+ Straits 262
+
+ The One-Fathom Bank Lighthouse, Malacca Straits, in Course of
+ Erection 263
+
+ The Platte Fougère Lighthouse under Construction 268
+
+ The Platte Fougère Lighthouse 269
+
+ Setting the Compressed-Air Reservoir at Fort Doyle 270
+
+ The Fort Doyle Siren 271
+
+ An Unattended Beacon Light placed upon a Wild Part of the
+ Scottish Coast 272
+
+ The Gasfeten Light: a Lonely Beacon in Swedish Waters 273
+
+ The Dalén “Sun-Valve,” the Most Wonderful Invention of
+ Modern Lighthouse Engineering 274
+
+ The Gas Accumulators Employed with the Dalén Automatic System 275
+
+ The Lagerholmen Lighthouse 278
+
+ An Unattended Beacon Light in the Straits of Magellan 279
+
+ An Automatic Lightboat 279
+
+ The Wigham Thirty-One Day Unattended Petroleum Light 280
+
+ Willson Automatic Gas and Whistling Light off Egg Island, Nova
+ Scotia 281
+
+ The “Outer Automatic” Combined Gas and Whistling Light,
+ Halifax, Nova Scotia 281
+
+ The _Svinbādan_ Unattended Lightship in Swedish Waters 292
+
+ The _Kalkgrundet_, Sweden’s Latest Automatic Lightship 293
+
+ The Lantern used in the Wigham Automatic Petroleum Beacon 298
+
+ The “6-Bar” Floating Wigham Light in Portsmouth Harbour 299
+
+ The Pumps whereby the Oil is lifted from the Lowest Floor to
+ the Lantern Room 306
+
+ Combined Kitchen and Living-Room in the Lighthouse 307
+
+ Keeper cleaning the Lamp after it has cooled down 312
+
+ A Lighthouse Bedroom 313
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE ORIGIN OF THE LIGHTHOUSE
+
+
+The mariner, in pursuit of his daily business, is exposed to dangers
+innumerable. In mid-ocean, for the most part, he need not fear them
+particularly, because he has plenty of sea-room in which to navigate
+his ship, and in case of thick fog he can ease up until this dreaded
+enemy lifts or disperses. But in crowded coastal waters his position
+is often precarious, for he may be menaced by lurking shoals or hidden
+reefs, which betray little or no indication of their whereabouts, and
+which may be crossed with apparent safety. If the ship blunders on in
+ignorance, it is brought up with a thud as it buries its nose in the
+sucking sand, or gives a mighty shiver as it scrapes over the rocky
+teeth, perhaps to be clasped as in a vice, or to be battered and broken
+so fearfully that, when at last it tears itself free and slips off into
+deep water, it can only founder immediately. Here, if fog blots out the
+scene, the ship is in danger of being lured to certain destruction by
+currents and other natural forces, since the captain is condemned to a
+helplessness as complete as of a blind man in a busy street.
+
+It is not surprising, then, that the captain, as he approaches or
+wanders along a tortuous shoreline, scans the waters eagerly for a
+glimpse of the guardian monitor, which, as he knows from his reckonings
+and chart, should come within sight to guide him on his way. The
+danger-signal may be one of many kinds--a misty, star-like glimmer
+thrown from a buoy dancing on the waves, the radiant orb from a
+lightship bobbing up and down and swinging rhythmically to and fro, a
+fixed flare-light, or dazzling, spoke-like rays revolving across the
+sky. If sight be impossible owing to fog, he must depend upon his ear
+for the measured tolling of a bell, the shriek of a whistle, the deep
+blare of a siren, or the sharp report of an explosive. When he has
+picked up one or other of these warnings, he feels more at ease, and
+proceeds upon his way, eyes and ears keenly strained for warning of the
+next danger ahead.
+
+The lighthouse is the greatest blessing that has been bestowed upon
+navigation. It renders advance through the waters at night as safe
+and as simple as in the brilliancy of the midday sun. But for these
+beacons the safe movement of ships at night or during fog along the
+crowded steamship highways which surround the serrated shores of the
+five continents would be impossible. It is only natural, therefore,
+that the various nations of the world should strenuously endeavour to
+light their coasts so adequately that the ship may proceed at night as
+safely and as comfortably as a man may walk down an illuminated city
+thoroughfare.
+
+Whence came the idea of lighting the coastline with flaring beacons? It
+is impossible to say. They have been handed down to modern civilization
+through the mists of time. The first authentic lighthouse was Sigeum,
+on the Hellespont, which undoubtedly antedates the famous Pharos of
+Alexandria. The latter was a massive square tower, 400 feet high, and
+was known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was built about
+331 B.C. The warning light was emitted from a huge wood fire, which
+was kept burning at the summit continuously during the night; the
+illumination is stated to have been visible for a distance of forty
+miles, but modern knowledge disputes this range. The precise design
+of this wonderful tower is unknown, but it must have been a huge
+structure, inasmuch as it is computed to have cost the equivalent in
+modern money of over £200,000, or $1,000,000.
+
+For sixteen hundred years it guided the navigators among the waters
+from which it reared its smoking crest, and then it disappeared.
+How, no one knows, although it is surmised that it was razed by an
+earthquake; but, although it was swept from sight, its memory has been
+preserved, and the French, Italian, and Spanish nations use its name in
+connection with the lighthouse, which in France is called _phare_; in
+the other two countries mentioned, _faro_.
+
+The Romans in their conquest of Gaul and Britain brought the lighthouse
+with them, and several remains of their efforts in this direction are
+to be found in England, notably the pharos at Dover.
+
+In all probability, however, the lighthouse in its most primitive form
+is at least as old as the earliest books of the Bible. Undoubtedly it
+sprang from the practice of guiding the incoming boatman to his home
+by means of a blazing bonfire set up in a conspicuous position near
+by. Such a guide is a perfectly obvious device, which even to-day is
+practised by certain savage tribes.
+
+When the Phœnicians traded in tin with the ancient Britons of Cornwall,
+their boats continually traversed the rough waters washing the western
+coasts of Spain, where, for the safer passage of their sailors,
+doubtless, they erected beacons upon prominent headlands. The oldest
+lighthouse in the world to-day, which in some quarters is held to be
+of Phœnician origin, is that at Corunna, a few miles north of Cape
+Finisterre. Other authorities maintain that it was built during the
+reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan. In 1634 it was reconstructed, and is
+still in existence.
+
+At the mouth of the Gironde is another highly interesting link with
+past efforts and triumphs in lighthouse engineering. The Gironde
+River empties itself into the Bay of Biscay through a wide estuary,
+in the centre of which is a bunch of rocks offering a terrible menace
+to vessels. This situation achieved an unenviable reputation in the
+days when ships first ventured out to sea. Being exposed to the broad
+Atlantic, it receives the full force of the gales which rage in the
+Bay of Biscay, and which make of the Gironde River estuary a fearful
+trap. The trading town of Bordeaux suffered severely from the ill fame
+attached to the mouth of the waterway upon which it was dependent,
+for both the sea and the roads exacted a heavy toll among the ships
+which traded with the famous wine capital of Gascony. How many fine
+vessels struck the rocks of Cordouan and went to pieces within sight
+of land, history does not record, but the casualties became so numerous
+that at last the firms trading with Bordeaux refused to venture into
+the Gironde unless a light were placed on the reef to guide their
+captains. Alarmed at the prospect of losing their remunerative traffic,
+the citizens of Bordeaux built a tower upon the deadly reef, with a
+beacon which they kept stoked with wood, four men being reserved for
+its service. In return the authorities exacted a tax from each vessel
+arriving and leaving the port, in order to defray the expense thus
+incurred. Probably from this action originated the custom of lighthouse
+dues.
+
+This bonfire served its purposes until the Black Prince brought Gascony
+under his power. He demolished the primitive beacon, and erected in its
+place another tower, 40 feet high, on which the _chauffer_ was placed,
+a hermit being entrusted with the maintenance of the light at night.
+Near the lighthouse--if such it can be called--a chapel was built,
+around which a few fishermen erected their dwellings. When the hermit
+died, no one offered to take his place. The beacon went untended, the
+fishermen departed, and the reef once more was allowed to claim its
+victims from shipping venturing into the estuary.
+
+In 1584 an eminent French architect, Louis de Foix, secured the
+requisite concession to build a new structure. He evolved the fantastic
+idea of a single building which should comprise a beacon, a church and
+a royal residence in one. For nearly twenty-seven years he laboured
+upon the rock, exposed to the elements, before he (or rather his
+successor) was able to throw the welcome warning rays from the summit
+of his creation. This was certainly the most remarkable lighthouse
+that has ever been set up. It was richly decorated and artistically
+embellished, and the tower was in reality a series of galleries rising
+tier upon tier. At the base was a circular stone platform, 134 feet in
+diameter, flanked by an elegant parapet surrounding the light-keepers’
+abode. This lower structure was intended to form a kind of breakwater
+which should protect the main building from the force of the waves.
+On the first floor was a magnificent entrance hall, leading to the
+King’s apartment, a _salon_ finely decorated with pillars and mural
+sculptures. Above was a beautiful chapel with a lofty roof supported by
+carved Corinthian columns. Finally came the beacon, which at that date
+was about 100 feet above the sea-level.
+
+Access to the successive floors was provided by a beautiful spiral
+staircase, the newels of which were flanked by busts of the two
+French Kings, Henry III. and Henry IV., and of the designer de Foix.
+The architect died not long before his work was completed, but the
+directions he left behind him were so explicit that no difficulty was
+experienced in consummating his ideas, and the Tour de Cordouan shed
+its beneficial light for the first time over the waters of the Bay of
+Biscay in 1611. So strongly was the building founded that it has defied
+the attacks of Nature to this day, although it did not escape those of
+the vandals of the French Revolution, who penetrated the tower, where
+the busts of the two Henrys at once excited their passion. The symbols
+of monarchy were promptly hurled to the floor, and other damage was
+inflicted. When order was restored, the busts were replaced, and all
+the carvings which had suffered mutilation from mob law were restored.
+At the same time, in accordance with the spirit of progress, the tower
+was modified to bring it into line with modern lighting principles;
+it was extended to a height of 197 feet, and was crowned with an
+up-to-date light, visible twenty-seven miles out to sea. For more than
+three centuries it has fulfilled its designed purpose, and still ranks
+as the most magnificent lighthouse that ever has been built. Its cost
+is not recorded, but it must necessarily have been enormous.
+
+In Great Britain the seafarer’s warning light followed the lines of
+those in vogue upon the older part of the Continent, consisting chiefly
+of wood and coal fires mounted on conspicuous lofty points around the
+coast. These braziers were maintained both by public and by private
+enterprise. Patents were granted to certain individuals for the upkeep
+of beacons in England and Scotland, and from time to time the holders
+of these rights came into conflict with the public authority which was
+created subsequently for the maintenance of various aids to navigation
+around the coasts. In England these monopolies were not extinguished
+until 1836, when the Brethren of Trinity House were empowered, by
+special Act of Parliament, to purchase the lights which had been
+provided both by the Crown and by private interests, so as to bring the
+control under one corporation.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of Messrs. Bullivant & Co., Ltd._
+
+HOW THE BEACHY HEAD LIGHTHOUSE WAS BUILT.
+
+To facilitate erection a cableway was stretched between the top of
+Beachy Head and a staging placed beside the site of the tower in the
+water. A stone is being sent down.]
+
+The _chauffer_, however, was an unsatisfactory as well as an expensive
+type of beacon. Some of these grates consumed as many as 400 tons of
+coal per annum--more than a ton of coal per night--in addition to vast
+quantities of wood. Being completely exposed, they were subject to the
+caprices of the wind. When a gale blew off the land, the light on the
+sea side was of great relative brilliancy; but when off the water,
+the side of the fire facing the sea would be quite black, whereas on
+the landward side the fire bars were almost melting under the fierce
+heat generated by the intense draughts. This was the greater drawback,
+because it was, of course, precisely when the wind was making a lee
+shore below the beacon that the more brilliant light was required.
+
+When the Pilgrim Fathers made their historic trek to the United States,
+they took Old World ideas with them. The first light provided on the
+North American continent was at Point Allerton, the most prominent
+headland near the entrance to Boston Harbour, where 400 boatloads of
+stone were devoted to the erection of a tower capped with a large
+basket of iron in which “fier-bales of pitch and ocum” were burned.
+This beacon served the purpose of guiding navigators into and out of
+Boston Harbour for several years.
+
+When, however, the shortcomings of the exposed fire were realized,
+attempts were made to evolve a lighting system, which does in reality
+constitute the foundation of modern practice. But the beacon fire held
+its own for many years after the new principle came into vogue, the
+last coal fire in England being the Flat Holme Light, in the Bristol
+Channel, which was not superseded until 1822.
+
+In Scotland the coal fire survived until 1816, one of the most
+important of these beacons being that on the Isle of May, in the
+Firth of Forth, which fulfilled its function for 181 years. This was
+a lofty tower, erected in 1636, on which a primitive type of pulley
+was installed for the purpose of raising the fuel to the level of the
+brazier, while three men were deputed to the task of stoking the fire.
+It was one of the private erections, and the owner of the Isle of May,
+the Duke of Portland, in return for maintaining the light, was allowed
+to exact a toll from passing vessels. When the welfare of the Scottish
+aids to navigation was placed under the control of the Commissioners
+of Northern Lighthouses, this body, realizing the importance of the
+position, wished to erect upon the island a commanding lighthouse
+illuminated with oil lamps; but it was necessary first to buy out the
+owner’s rights, and an Act of Parliament was passed authorizing this
+action, together with the purchase of the island and the right to levy
+tolls, at an expenditure of £60,000, or $300,000. In 1816 the coal fire
+was finally extinguished.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of Messrs. Bullivant & Co., Ltd._
+
+WORKMEN RETURNING BY THE AERIAL CABLEWAY TO THE TOP OF BEACHY HEAD.]
+
+The English lights are maintained by the Brethren of Trinity House, and
+their cost is defrayed by passing shipping. This corporation received
+its first charter during the reign of Henry VIII. Trinity House, as
+it is called colloquially, also possesses certain powers over the
+Commissioners of Northern Lights and the Commissioners of Irish Lights,
+and is itself under the sway, in regard to certain powers, such as the
+levy of light dues, of the Board of Trade. This system of compelling
+shipowners to maintain the coast lights is somewhat anomalous; it
+possesses many drawbacks, and has provoked quaint situations at times.
+Thus, when the _Mohegan_ and the _Paris_ were wrecked on the Manacles
+within the space of a few months, the outcry for better lighting
+of this part of the Devon and Cornish coasts was loud and bitter.
+The shipowners clamoured for more protection, but at the same time,
+knowing that they would have to foot the bill, maintained that further
+lighting was unnecessary.
+
+The British Isles might very well emulate the example of the United
+States, France, Canada, and other countries, which regard coast
+lighting as a work of humanity, for the benefit of one and all, and
+so defray the cost out of the Government revenues. Some years ago,
+when an International Conference was held to discuss this question,
+some of the representatives suggested that those nations which give
+their lighthouse services free to the world should distinguish against
+British shipping, and levy light-dues upon British ships, with a view
+to compelling the abolition of the tax upon foreign vessels visiting
+British ports. Fortunately, the threat was not carried into execution.
+
+The design and construction of lighthouses have developed into a highly
+specialized branch of engineering. Among the many illustrious names
+associated with this phase of enterprise--de Foix, Rudyerd, Smeaton,
+Walker, Douglass, Alexander, and Ribière--the Stevenson family stands
+pre-eminent. Ever since the maintenance of the Scottish coast lights
+was handed over to the Northern Commissioners, the engineering chair
+has remained in the hands of this family, the names of whose members
+are identified with many lights that have become famous throughout the
+world for their daring nature, design, and construction. Moreover,
+the family’s contributions to the science of this privileged craft
+have been of incalculable value. Robert Louis Stevenson has written a
+fascinating story around their exploits in “A Family of Engineers.”
+
+It was at first intended that the great author himself should follow
+in the footsteps of his forbears. He completed his apprenticeship at
+the drawing-table under his father and uncle, and became initiated into
+the mysteries of the craft. At the outset he apparently had visions of
+becoming numbered among those of his family who had achieved eminence
+in lighthouse construction, and he often accompanied his father or
+uncle on their periodical rounds of inspection. Probably the rough and
+tumble life in a small tender among the wild seas of Scotland, the
+excitement of landing upon dangerous rocks, the aspect of loneliness
+revealed by acquaintance with the keepers, and the following of the
+growth of a new tower from its foundations, stirred his imagination, so
+that the dormant literary instinct, which, like that of engineering,
+he had inherited, became fired. Mathematical formulæ, figures, and
+drawings, wrestled for a time with imagination and letters, but the
+call of the literary heritage proved triumphant, and, unlike his
+grandfather, who combined literature with lighthouse construction, and
+who, indeed, was a polished author, as his stirring story of the “Bell
+Rock Lighthouse” conclusively shows, he finally threw in his lot with
+letters.
+
+The fact that for more than a century one family has held the exacting
+position of chief engineer to the Northern Commissioners, and has
+been responsible for the lights around Scotland’s troublous coasts,
+is unique in the annals of engineering. Each generation has been
+identified with some notable enterprise in this field. Thomas Smith,
+the father-in-law of Robert Stevenson, founded the service, and was
+the first engineer to the Commissioners. Robert Stevenson assumed his
+mantle and produced the “Bell Rock.” His son, Alan Stevenson, was the
+creator of the “Skerryvore.” The next in the chain, David Stevenson,
+built the “North Unst.” David and Thomas Stevenson, who followed,
+contributed the “Dhu-Heartach” and the “Chicken Rock” lights; while
+the present generation, David and Charles, have erected such works as
+“Rattray Briggs,” “Sule Skerry,” and the Flannen Islands lighthouses.
+In addition, the latter have developed lighthouse engineering in
+many novel directions, such as the unattended Otter Rock lightship,
+the unattended Guernsey lighthouse, and the automatic, acetylene,
+fog-signal gun, which are described elsewhere in this volume.
+
+Some forty years ago the Stevensons also drew up the scheme and
+designed the first lighthouses for guarding the coasts of Japan.
+The essential optical apparatus and other fittings were built and
+temporarily erected in England, then dismantled and shipped to the
+East, to be set up in their designed places. The Japanese did not fail
+to manifest their characteristic trait in connection with lighthouses
+as with other branches of engineering. The structures produced by the
+Scottish engineers fulfilled the requirements so perfectly, and were
+such excellent models, as to be considered a first-class foundation for
+the Japanese lighthouse service. The native engineers took these lights
+as their pattern, and, unaided, extended their coast lighting system
+upon the lines laid down by the Stevensons. Since that date Japan
+has never gone outside her own borders for assistance in lighthouse
+engineering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BUILDING A LIGHTHOUSE
+
+
+Obviously, the task of erecting a lighthouse varies considerably with
+the situation. On the mainland construction is straightforward, and
+offers little more difficulty than the building of a house. The work
+assumes its most romantic and fascinating form when it is associated
+with a small rocky islet out to sea, such as the Eddystone, Skerryvore,
+or Minot’s Ledge; or with a treacherous, exposed stretch of sand,
+such as that upon which the Rothersand light is raised. Under such
+conditions the operation is truly herculean, and the ingenuity and
+resource of the engineer are taxed to a superlative degree; then he
+is pitted against Nature in her most awful guise. Wind and wave,
+moreover, are such formidable and relentless antagonists that for
+the most momentary failure of vigilance and care the full penalty
+is exacted. Then there are the fiercely scurrying currents, tides,
+breakers, and surf, against which battle must be waged, with the odds
+so overwhelmingly ranged against frail human endeavour that advance
+can only be made by inches. The lighthouse engineer must possess the
+patience of a Job, the tenacity of a limpet, a determination which
+cannot be measured, and a perseverance which defies galling delays and
+repeated rebuffs. Perils of an extreme character beset him on every
+hand; thrilling escape and sensational incident are inseparable from
+his calling.
+
+The first step is the survey of the site, the determination of the
+character of the rock and of its general configuration, and the takings
+of levels and measurements for the foundations. When the rugged hump is
+only a few feet in diameter little latitude is afforded the engineer
+for selection, but in instances where the islet is of appreciable area
+some little time may be occupied in deciding just where the structure
+shall be placed. It seems a simple enough task to determine; one
+capable of solution within a few minutes, and so for the most part it
+is--not from choice, but necessity--when once the surface of the rock
+is gained. The paramount difficulty is to secure a landing upon the
+site. The islet is certain to be the centre of madly surging currents,
+eddies, and surf, demanding wary approach in a small boat, while the
+search for a suitable point upon which to plant a foot is invariably
+perplexing. Somehow, the majority of these bleak, wave-swept rocks
+have only one little place where a landing may be made, and that only
+at certain infrequent periods, the discovery of which in the first
+instance often taxes the engineer sorely.
+
+Often weeks will be expended in reconnoitring the position, awaiting
+a favourable wind and a placid sea. Time to the surveyor must be
+no object. He is the sport of the elements, and he must curb his
+impatience. To do otherwise is to court disaster. The actual operations
+on the rock may only occupy twenty minutes or so, but the task of
+landing is equalled by that of getting off again--the latter frequently
+a more hazardous job than the former.
+
+The west coast of Scotland is dreaded, if such a term may be used, by
+the engineer, because the survey inevitably is associated with bitter
+disappointments and maddening delays owing to the caprices of the
+ocean. This is not surprising when it is remembered that this coastline
+is of a cruel, forbidding character and is exposed to the full reach of
+the Atlantic, with its puzzling swell and vicious currents. The same
+applies to the west coast of Ireland and the open parts of the South
+of England. The Casquets, off the coast of Alderney, are particularly
+difficult of approach, as they are washed on all sides by wild races of
+water. There is only one little cove where a landing may be effected
+by stepping directly from a boat, and this place can be approached
+only in the calmest weather and when the wind is blowing in a certain
+direction. On one occasion, when I had received permission to visit
+the lighthouse, I frittered away three weeks in Alderney awaiting a
+favourable opportunity to go out, and then gave up the attempt in
+disgust. As it happened, another month elapsed before the rock was
+approachable to make the relief.
+
+When the United States Lighthouse Board sanctioned the construction
+of the Tillamook lighthouse on the rock of that name, off the Oregon
+coast, the engineer in charge of the survey was compelled to wait
+six months before he could venture to approach the island. In this
+instance, however, his time was not wasted entirely, as there were many
+preparations to be completed on the mainland to facilitate construction
+when it should be commenced. Early in June, 1879, the weather
+moderated, and the Pacific assumed an aspect in keeping with its name.
+Stimulated by the prospect of carrying out his appointed task, the
+engineer pushed off in a boat, but, to his chagrin, when he drew near
+the rock he found the prospects of landing to be hopeless. He cruised
+about, reconnoitring generally from the water, and then returned to
+shore somewhat disgusted.
+
+A fortnight later he was instructed to take up his position at Astoria,
+to keep a sharp eye on the weather, to take the first chance that
+presented itself of gaining the rock, and not to return to headquarters
+until he had made a landing. He fretted and fumed day after day, and
+at last pushed off with a gang of men when the sea where it lapped
+the beach of the mainland was as smooth as a lake; but as they drew
+near the Tillamook it was the same old story. A treacherous swell
+was running, the waves were curling wickedly and fussily around the
+islet; but the engineer had made up his mind that he would be balked
+no longer, so the boat was pulled in warily, in the face of terrible
+risk, and two sailors were ordered to get ashore by hook or by crook.
+The boat swung to and fro in the swell. Time after time it was carried
+forward to the landing spot by a wave, and then, just as the men were
+ready to jump, the receding waters would throw it back. At last, as
+it swung by the spot, the two men gave a leap and landed safely. The
+next proceeding was to pass instruments ashore, but the swell, as if
+incensed at the partial success achieved, grew more boisterous, and the
+boat had to back away from the rock. The men who had landed, and who
+had not moved a yard from the spot they had gained, became frightened
+at this manœuvre, and, fearing that they might be marooned, jumped into
+the sea, and were pulled into the boat by means of their life-lines,
+without having accomplished a stroke.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE SANGANEB REEF LIGHTHOUSE IN THE RED SEA.
+
+It indicates a treacherous coral reef, 703 miles from Suez. It is an
+iron tower 180 feet high, with a white flashing light having a range of
+19 miles.]
+
+The engineer chafed under these disappointments, and himself determined
+to incur the risk of landing at all hazards. With his tape-line in
+his pocket, he set out once more a few days later, and in a surf-boat
+pulled steadily into the froth and foam around the rock; while the men
+sawed to and fro the landing-place, he crouched in the bow, watching
+his opportunity. Presently, the boat steadying itself for a moment, he
+made a spring and reached the rock. He could not get his instruments
+ashore, so without loss of time he ran his line from point to point as
+rapidly as he could, jotted down hurried notes, and, when the swell was
+growing restive again, hailed the boat, and at a favourable moment, as
+it manœuvred round, jumped into it.
+
+The details he had secured, though hastily prepared, were sufficient
+for the purpose. His report was considered and the character of the
+beacon decided. There was some discussion as to the most favourable
+situation for the light upon the rock, so a more detailed survey
+was demanded to settle this problem. This task was entrusted to an
+Englishman, Mr. John R. Trewavas, who was familiar with work under such
+conditions. He was a master-mason of Portland and had been engaged
+upon the construction of the Wolf Rock, one of the most notable and
+difficult works of its kind in the history of lighthouse engineering.
+
+He pushed off to the rock on September 18, 1879, in a surf-boat, only
+to find the usual state of things prevailing. The boat was run in, and,
+emulating the first engineer’s feat, he cleared the water and landed
+on the steep, rocky slope; but it was wet and slippery, and his feet
+played him false. He stumbled, and stooped to regain his balance, but
+just then a roller curled in, snatched him up and threw him into
+the whirlpool of currents. Life-lines were thrown, and the surf-boat
+struggled desperately to get near him, but he was dragged down by the
+undertow and never seen again. This fatality scared his companions,
+who returned hastily to the mainland. The recital of their dramatic
+story stirred the public to such a pitch that the authorities were
+frantically urged to abandon the project of lighting the Tillamook.
+
+Mr. David Stevenson related to me an exciting twenty minutes which
+befell him and his brother while surveying a rock off the west coast
+of Scotland. They had been waiting patiently for a favourable moment
+to effect a landing, and when at last it appeared they drew in and
+clambered ashore. But they could not advance another inch. The rock was
+jagged and broken, while its surface was as slippery as ice owing to a
+thick covering of slimy seaweed whereon boots could not possibly secure
+a hold. Having gained the rock with so much difficulty, they were not
+going away empty-handed. As they could not stand in their boots, they
+promptly removed them, and, taking their line and levels, picked their
+way gingerly over the jagged, slippery surface in their stockinged
+feet. Movement certainly was exceedingly uncomfortable, because their
+toes displayed an uncanny readiness to find every needle-point on the
+islet; but the wool of their footwear enabled them to obtain a firm
+grip upon the treacherous surface, without the risk of being upset and
+having a limb battered or broken in the process. Twenty minutes were
+spent in making investigations under these disconcerting conditions,
+but the time was adequate to provide all the details required. When
+they had completed the survey and had regained their boat--a matter of
+no little difficulty in the circumstances--their feet bore sad traces
+of the ordeal through which they had passed. However, their one concern
+was the completion of the survey; that had been made successfully and
+was well worth the toll exacted in the form of physical discomfort.
+
+[Illustration: THE ALCATRAZ LIGHTHOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
+
+THE ALCATRAZ LIGHTHOUSE COMPLETED.
+
+This tower off the Californian coast is one of the latest works of the
+American Lighthouse Department. It has a range of 21 miles.]
+
+As a rule, on a wave-swept rock which only shows itself at short
+intervals during the day, the preparation of the foundations is not
+an exacting task. A little paring with chisels and dynamite may be
+requisite here and there, but invariably the engineer takes the exposed
+surface as the basis for his work. The sea has eaten away all the
+soft, friable material in its ceaseless erosion, leaving an excellent
+foundation to which the superstructure can be keyed to become as solid
+as the rock itself.
+
+When the beacon is to be erected upon a sandy bottom, the engineer’s
+work becomes more baffling, as he is compelled to carry his underwater
+work down to a point where a stable foundation may be secured. When
+the Leasowe lighthouse was built on the sandy Wirral shore, the
+builders were puzzled by the lack of a suitable foundation for the
+masonry tower. An ingenious way out of the difficulty was effected.
+In the vicinity an incoming ship, laden with a cargo of cotton, had
+gone ashore and had become a total wreck. The cotton was useless for
+its intended purpose, so the bales were salvaged and dumped into the
+sand at the point where the lighthouse was to be erected. The fleecy
+mass settled into the sand, and under compression became as solid as a
+rock, while its permanency was assured by its complete submersion. The
+stability of this strange foundation may be gathered from the fact that
+the tower erected thereon stood, and shed its welcome light regularly
+every night, for about a century and a half, only being extinguished
+two or three years ago as it was no longer required.
+
+In the Old World, and, indeed, in the great majority of instances,
+the lighthouse is what is described as a “monolithic structure,”
+being built of courses of masonry, the blocks of which are dovetailed
+together not only laterally, but also perpendicularly, so that, when
+completed, the tower comprises a solid mass with each stone jointed
+to its fellow on four or five of its six sides. This method was first
+tried in connection with the Hanois lighthouse, off the Guernsey coast,
+and was found so successful that it has been adopted universally in all
+lighthouses which are exposed to the action of the waves.
+
+The upper face and one end of each block are provided with projections,
+while the lower face and the other end are given indentations.
+Thus, when the block is set in position, the projections fit into
+corresponding indentations in the adjacent blocks, while the
+indentations receive the projections from two other neighbouring
+pieces. The whole is locked together by the aid of hydraulic cement.
+Consequently the waves, or any other agency, cannot possibly dislodge
+a stone without breaking the dovetails or smashing the stone itself.
+For the bottom layer, of course, the surface of the rock is pared away
+sufficiently to receive the stone, which is bedded in cement adhering
+to both the rock and the superimposed block. A hole is then drilled
+through the latter deep into the rock beneath, into which a steel rod
+or bolt is driven well home, and the hole is sealed up with cement
+forced in under such pressure as to penetrate every interstice and
+crevice.
+
+The iron supports constitute the roots, as it were, of the tower,
+penetrating deep into the heart of the rock to secure a firm grip,
+while the tower itself resembles, in its general appearance, a
+symmetrical tree trunk, this form offering the minimum of resistance to
+the waves. The lower part of the tower is made completely solid by the
+dovetailing of the integral blocks, and is cylindrical in shape up to a
+certain predetermined level which varies according to the surrounding
+conditions and the situation of the light. Some years ago the
+lighthouse assumed its trunk-like shape at the bottom course, rising
+in a graceful concave curve to the lantern; but this method has been
+abandoned, inasmuch as, owing to the decreasing diameter of the tower
+as it rose course by course above its foundations, the lowest outer
+rings of masonry did not have to withstand any of the superimposed
+weight, which naturally bears in a vertical line. By carrying the
+lower part to a certain height in the form of a cylinder, and then
+commencing the concave curve of the tower, the pressure of the latter
+is imposed equally upon the whole of its foundations. The latter may be
+stepped--_i.e._, one tier of stones may project a little beyond that of
+the one immediately above--but this arrangement is adopted in order to
+break the smashing force of the waves.
+
+The conditions attending the actual building operations upon the
+rock, which may be accessible only for an hour or two per day in calm
+weather, prevent the blocks of granite being shaped and trimmed upon
+the site. Accordingly, the lighthouse in the first place is erected
+piecemeal on shore. A horizontal course of stones is laid to see that
+each dovetail fits tightly and dead true. The next course is laid upon
+this, and so on for perhaps eight or ten courses, the trimming and
+finicking being accomplished as the work proceeds. Each projection has
+to be only just big enough to enter its relative indentation, while
+the latter must be exactly of the requisite dimensions to receive the
+projection, and no more. Each stone is then given an identification
+mark, so that the masons on the rock may perceive at a glance its
+precise position in a course, and to what ring of stones it belongs.
+Therefore the mason at the site has no anxiety about a stone fitting
+accurately; he has merely to set it in position upon its bed of cement.
+
+On shore--generally in the quarry yard--when a series of courses
+have been temporarily built up in this manner and have received the
+critical approbation of the resident engineer, the topmost course is
+removed and retained, while the other blocks are despatched to the
+site. This topmost course forms the bottom ring in the next section
+of the lighthouse which is built up in the yard, and the topmost
+course of this section in turn is held to form the bottom course of
+the succeeding part of the tower, and so on from foundation to lantern
+parapet.
+
+During the past two or three years reinforced concrete has been
+employed to a certain extent for lighthouse construction, but granite
+of the finest and hardest quality still remains the material _par
+excellence_ for towers erected in exposed, sea-swept positions. The
+Russian lighthouse authorities have adopted the ferro-concrete system
+in regard to one or two shore lights, especially on the Black Sea,
+while another fine structure upon this principle was built by the
+French _Service des Phares_ in 1905 at the entrance to the River
+Gironde. The system has also been adopted by the Canadian lighthouse
+authorities; one or two recent notable lights under their jurisdiction
+have been constructed in this material, although on somewhat different
+lines from those almost invariably followed, so far as the general
+design is concerned.
+
+While the masonry or monolithic structure is the most durable and
+substantial structure, it is also the most expensive. In many parts of
+the world, notably along the Atlantic coastline of the United States,
+what are known as “screw-pile lighthouses” are used. These buildings
+vary in form, some resembling a huge beacon, such as indicates the
+entrance to a river, while others convey the impression of being
+bungalows or pavilions on stilts. The legs are stout, cylindrical, iron
+members, the lower ends of which are shaped somewhat after the manner
+of an auger, whereby they may be screwed into the sea-bed--hence the
+name. This system has been employed for beacons over dangerous shoals;
+and while they are somewhat squat, low-lying lights, they have proved
+to be highly serviceable.
+
+Iron has been employed also for lighthouse constructional work,
+the system in this case being a combination of the screw pile
+and the tower, the latter, extending from a platform whereon the
+living-quarters are placed and mounted clear of the water, on piles,
+being a huge cylindrical pipe crowned by the lantern. One of the
+most interesting and novel of these iron lighthouses is the Hunting
+Island tower off the coast of South Carolina. In general design it
+resembles the ordinary lighthouse wrought in masonry, and it is 121½
+feet in height from the ground to the focal plane. It is built of iron
+throughout, the shell being in the form of panels, each of which weighs
+1,200 pounds.
+
+This type of tower was selected owing to the severe erosion of the sea
+at the point where it is placed. When it was erected in 1875, at a cost
+of £20,400, or $102,000, it was planted a quarter of a mile back from
+the sea. This action was severely criticized at the time, it being
+maintained that the light was set too far from the water’s edge to
+be of practical value; but the hungry ocean disappointed the critics,
+because in the course of a few years the intervening strip of shore
+disappeared, and the necessity of demolishing the light and re-erecting
+it farther inland arose. On this occasion the engineers determined to
+postpone a second removal for some time. The tower was re-erected at
+a point one and a quarter miles inland, and the sum of £10,200, or
+$51,000, was expended upon the undertaking. The iron system, which
+was adopted, proved its value in this work of removal piece by piece,
+because, had the tower been carried out in masonry, it would have been
+cheaper to set up a new light, as was done at Cape Henry.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--SECTIONAL DIAGRAM OF THE AR-MEN LIGHTHOUSE,
+SHOWING YEARLY PROGRESS IN CONSTRUCTION.
+
+It guards the “Bay of the Dead,” off Cape Finisterre. Commenced in
+1867, it was not finished until 1881.]
+
+Some of the American coast lights are of the most primitive and
+odd-looking character, comprising merely a lofty skeleton of ironwork.
+The lamp is a head-light, such as is carried by railway engines, fitted
+with a parabolic reflector. Every morning the lamp is lowered, cleaned,
+and stored in a shack at the foot of the pyramid, to be lighted and
+hauled into position at dusk. This is the most economical form of
+lighthouse which has been devised, the total cost of the installation
+being only about £2,500, or $12,500, while the maintenance charges
+are equally low. Lights of this description are employed for the most
+part in connection with the lighting of waterways, constituting what
+is known as the “back-light” in a range or group of lights studded
+along the river to guide the navigator through its twists and shallows,
+instead of buoying of the channel.
+
+The task of constructing a sea-rock lighthouse is as tedious and
+protracted an enterprise as one could conceive, because the engineer
+and his workmen are entirely at the mercy of the weather. Each great
+work has bristled with its particular difficulties; each has presented
+its individual problems for solution. Few modern lighthouses, however,
+have so baffled the engineer and have occupied such a number of years
+in completion, as the Ar-men light off Cape Finisterre. This tower
+was commenced in 1867, but so great and so many were the difficulties
+involved in its erection that the light was not first thrown over the
+Atlantic from its lantern until 1881.
+
+This light is situated at one of the most dreaded parts of a sinister
+coast. At this spot a number of granite points thrust themselves
+at times above the water in an indentation which has received the
+lugubrious name Bay of the Dead. The title is well deserved, for it
+is impossible to say how many ships have gone down through fouling
+these greedy fangs, or how many lives have been lost in its vicinity.
+The waters around the spot are a seething race of currents, eddies,
+and whirlpools. It is an ocean graveyard in very truth, and although
+mariners are only too cognizant of its terrible character, and
+endeavour to give this corner of the European mainland a wide birth,
+yet storms and fogs upset the calculations of the most careful
+navigators.
+
+[Illustration: THE THIMBLE SHOALS LIGHT.
+
+A typical example of the American iron screw pile system. A vessel ran
+into this beacon and wrecked it; the ruins caught fire, and the keepers
+only escaped in the nick of time.]
+
+As the streams of traffic across the Bay of Biscay grew denser and
+denser, it became imperative to provide a guardian light at this
+spot, and the engineers embarked upon their task. They knew well that
+they were faced with a daring and trying enterprise, and weeks were
+spent in these troubled waters seeking for the most favourable site.
+As a result of their elaborate surveys, they decided that the rock
+of Ar-men offered the only suitable situation; but what a precarious
+foundation upon which to lift a massive masonry tower! The hump is only
+25 feet wide by 50 feet in length; no more than three little pinnacles
+projected above the sea-level, and at low-tide less than 5 feet of the
+tough gneiss were exposed. Nor was this the most adverse feature. The
+rock is in the centre of the bad waters, and is swept from end to end,
+under all conditions of weather, by the furious swell. Some idea of the
+prospect confronting the engineers may be gathered from the fact that a
+whole year was spent in the effort to make one landing to take levels.
+
+When construction was taken in hand the outlook was even more
+appalling. It was as if the sea recognized that its day of plunder was
+to draw to a close. The workmen were brought, with all materials
+and appliances, to the nearest strategical point on the mainland,
+where a depot was established. Yet in the course of two years the
+workmen, although they strove day after day to land upon the rock,
+only succeeded twenty-three times, while during this period only
+twenty-six hours’ work was accomplished! It is not surprising that,
+when the men did land, they toiled like Trojans to make the most of the
+brief interval. The sum of their work in this time was the planting
+of the lighthouse’s roots in the form of fifty-five circular bars,
+each 2 inches in diameter and spaced 3¼ feet apart at a depth of about
+12 inches in the granite mass. By the end of 1870 the cylindrical
+foundation had crept a few feet above the highest projection; this
+plinth was 24 feet in diameter, 18 feet in height, and was solid
+throughout. A greater diameter was impossible as the wall was brought
+almost to the edge of the rock.
+
+By dint of great effort this part of the work was completed by the end
+of 1874, which year, by the way, showed the greatest advance that had
+been attained in a single twelvemonth. As much of the foundations was
+completed in this year as had been achieved during the three previous
+years. Although the heavy gales pounded the structure mercilessly, so
+well was the masonry laid that it offered quite effective resistance.
+Upon this plinth was placed the base of the tower. This likewise is 24
+feet in diameter, and about 10 feet in height. It is also of massive
+construction, being solid except for a central cylindrical space which
+is capable of receiving some 5 tons of coal.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Bullivant & Co., Ltd._
+
+SETTING THE LAST STONE OF THE BEACHY HEAD LIGHTHOUSE.]
+
+The base was completed in a single year, and in 1876 the erection
+of the tower proper was commenced, together with the completion of
+the approaching stairway leading from the water-level to the base of
+the structure. The latter, divided into seven stories, rises in the
+form of a slender cone, tapering from a diameter of 21½ feet at the
+bottom to 16½ feet at the top beneath the lantern. Some idea of the
+massive character of the work which was demanded in order to resist
+the intense fury of the waves may be realized when it is mentioned
+that the wall at the first and second floors is 5½ feet in thickness,
+leaving a diameter of 10 feet for the apartment on the first floor,
+which is devoted to the storage of water, and of 7 feet for that on
+the second floor, which contains the oil reservoirs for the lamps.
+The living-rooms have a diameter of 11 feet, this increased space
+being obtained by reducing the thickness of the wall to 2½ feet. The
+erection of the superstructure went forward steadily, five years being
+occupied in carrying the masonry from the base to the lantern gallery,
+so that in 1881 for the first time powerful warning was given of a
+danger dreaded, and often unavoidable, from the time when ships first
+sailed these seas. Fifteen years’ labour and peril on the part of the
+engineers and their assistants were crowned with success.
+
+Whereas the Ar-men light off Cape Finisterre demanded fifteen years
+for its completion, the construction of the Beachy Head lighthouse off
+the South of England coast was completed within a few months. It is
+true that the conditions were vastly dissimilar, but the Sussex shore
+is exposed to the full brunt of the south-westerly and south-easterly
+gales. This lighthouse thrusts its slender lines from the water,
+its foundations being sunk into the chalk bed of the Channel, 550
+feet from the base of the towering white cliffs, which constitute a
+striking background. This beacon was brought into service in 1902, its
+construction having occupied about two years. The light formerly was
+placed on the crown of the precipice behind, but, being then some 285
+feet above the water, was far from being satisfactory, as its rays
+were frequently blotted out by the ruffle of mist which gathers around
+Beachy Head on the approach of evening.
+
+Indeed, this is one of the great objections to placing a light upon a
+lofty headland. In such a position it does not serve as an aid, but
+more often than not as a danger, to navigation, owing to the light
+being invisible at the time when its assistance is required and sought
+most urgently. Consequently lighthouse engineers endeavour to set their
+towers at such a level that the light is not raised more than from
+160 to 200 feet above the water. In the case of Beachy Head, a further
+reason for a new structure was the disintegration of the cliff upon
+which the light stood, under the terrific poundings of the sea, huge
+falls of chalk having occurred from time to time, which imperilled the
+safety of the building.
+
+When the new lighthouse was taken in hand, investigation of the
+sea-bed revealed an excellent foundation in the dense hard chalk, and
+accordingly a hole 10 feet deep was excavated out of the solid mass
+to receive the footings of the building. As the site is submerged to
+a great depth at high-tide, the first operation was the erection of
+a circular dam carried to a sufficient height to enable the men to
+toil within. By this arrangement the working spells were lengthened
+considerably, labour only being suspended at high-tide. When the sea
+ebbed below the edge of the dam, the water within was pumped out,
+leaving a dry clear space for the workmen. Excavation had to be carried
+out with pickaxe and shovel, blasting not being permitted for fear of
+shattering and splitting up the mass forming the crust of the sea-bed.
+
+Beside the site a substantial iron staging was erected, and from
+this point to the top of the cliffs behind a Bullivant cableway was
+stretched, up and down which the various requirements were carried,
+together with the workmen. This cableway, designed by Mr. W. T. H.
+Carrington, M.I.C.E., consulting engineer to Messrs. Bullivant and Co.,
+Ltd., facilitated rapid and economical construction very appreciably.
+The span was about 600 feet between the erecting stage and the cliff
+summit, and there were two fixed ropes stretched parallel from point
+to point. One rope, 6 inches in diameter, had a breaking strain of 120
+tons; the second, 5½ inches thick, had a breaking strain of 100 tons.
+At the seaward end the cables were anchored into the solid chalk.
+Everything required for the constructional operations was handled by
+this carrying system, and when it is recalled that some of the blocks
+for the lower courses weighed from 4½ to 5 tons, it will be recognized
+that such a method of handling these ungainly loads, with the care
+that was demanded to preserve the edges and faces from injury, solved
+an abstruse problem completely.
+
+The base of the tower, the diameter of which is 47 feet, is solid to
+a height of 48 feet, except for a central circular space for storing
+drinking water. It was designed by Sir Thomas Matthews, M.I.C.E., the
+Engineer-in-Chief to the Trinity Brethren, and is a graceful building,
+the tower rising in a curve which is described as a “concave elliptic
+frustum.” From the base to the lantern gallery is 123½ feet, and 3,660
+tons of Cornish granite were used in its construction. The over-all
+height to the top of the lantern is 153 feet. The building is provided
+with eight floors, comprising the living and sleeping quarters for
+the keepers, storage of oil, and other necessaries. The light, of
+the dioptric order, is of 83,000 candle-power, and the two white
+flashes given every fifteen seconds are distinguishable for a distance
+of seventeen miles, which is the average range of modern British
+lighthouses.
+
+Although the constructional work was frequently interrupted by rough
+weather, every advantage was taken of calm periods. While from the
+point of daring engineering it does not compare with many of the other
+great lights of the world, yet it certainly ranks as a fine example
+of the lighthouse builder’s skill. Owing to the elaborate precautions
+observed, the achievement was not marred by a single fatality, although
+there were many thrilling moments, the sole result of which, however,
+was the loss of tools and sections of the plant, which in the majority
+of cases were recovered when the tide fell. The most serious accident
+was a crushed toe, which befell one of the masons when a stone was
+being bedded.
+
+Although the lighthouse is subjected to the full fury of wind and wave,
+if skilfully erected it will withstand the ravages of both without
+creating the slightest apprehensions in the engineer’s mind. The stones
+are prepared so carefully that they fit one another like the proverbial
+glove, while the cement fills every nook and cranny. Occasionally,
+however, the cement will succumb to the natural disintegrating forces,
+and, becoming detached, reveal a point vulnerable to attack. The air
+within the interstice becomes compressed by the surging water, and
+thereby the fabric is liable to be shattered. Some years ago one or
+two of the lighthouses guarding the Great Lakes of North America
+were found to have become weakened from this cause. A novel remedy
+was evolved by an ingenious engineer. He provided each tottering
+lighthouse with an iron overcoat, enveloping it from top to bottom.
+The metal was not laid directly upon the masonry, but was so placed
+as to leave about a quarter of an inch between the inner face of the
+metal and the surface of the masonry. Liquid cement was then admitted
+under pressure--“grouting” it is called--into this annular space,
+and penetrating every crack and crevice in the masonry, and adhering
+both to the metal and the stonework, it practically formed another
+intermediate jacket, binding the two so firmly together as to make them
+virtually one. This novel procedure absolutely restored the menaced
+building to its original homogeneity and rigidity, so that it became as
+sound as the day on which it was built.
+
+Nowadays, owing to the skill in designing and the workmanship
+displayed, one never hears of a modern lighthouse collapsing. Expense
+is no object; the engineer does not endeavour to thwart the elements,
+but follows a design wherein the minimum of resistance is offered to
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LIGHT AND ILLUMINANTS
+
+
+While it is the tower that probably creates the deepest impression
+upon the popular mind, owing to the round of difficulties overcome
+associated with its erection, yet, after all, it is the light which
+is the vital thing to the navigator. To him symmetry of outline in
+the tower, the searching problems that had to be solved before it was
+planted in a forbidding spot, the risks that were incurred in its
+erection--these are minor details. His one concern is the light thrown
+from the topmost height, warning him to keep off a dangerous spot and
+by its characteristic enabling him to determine his position.
+
+I have described the earliest type of light, the open wood or coal
+fire blazing on an eminence. In due course the brazier gave way to
+tallow candles. This was an advance, certainly, but the range of the
+naked light was extremely limited. Consequently efforts were made to
+intensify it and to throw it in the desired direction. The first step
+was made with a reflector placed behind the illuminant, similar to that
+used with the cheap wall-lamp so common in village workshops. This, in
+its improved form, is known as the “catoptric system,” the reflector
+being of parabolic shape, with the light so disposed that all its rays
+(both horizontal and vertical) are reflected in one direction by the
+aid of a highly polished surface. While the catoptric system is still
+used on some light-vessels, its application to important lighthouses
+has fallen into desuetude, as it has been superseded by vastly improved
+methods. But the reflector, made either of silvered glass set in a
+plaster-of-Paris mould or of brightly polished metallic surfaces,
+held the field until the great invention of Augustin Fresnel, which
+completely revolutionized the science of lighthouse optics.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--FIXED APPARATUS OF 360 DEGREES.
+
+Shows one ray throughout the complete circle.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+Fresnel was appointed a member of the French Lighthouse Commission in
+1811, and he realized the shortcomings of the existing catoptric method
+only too well. Everyone knows that when a lamp is lighted the luminous
+rays are diffused on every side, horizontally as well as vertically. In
+lighthouse operations the beam has to be thrown in a horizontal line
+only, while the light which is shed towards the top and bottom must be
+diverted, so that the proportion of waste luminosity may be reduced to
+the minimum. While the parabolic reflector achieved this end partially,
+it was far from being satisfactory, and Fresnel set to work to condense
+the whole of the rays into a horizontal beam. Buffon, a contemporary
+investigator, as well as Sir David Brewster, had suggested that the end
+might be met by building up a lens in separate concentric rings, but
+neither reduced his theories to practice.
+
+Fresnel invented a very simple system. He took a central piece of
+glass, which may be described as a bull’s-eye, and around this
+disposed a number of concentric rings of glass. But these rings
+projected beyond one another. Each constituted the edge of a lens
+which, while its radius differed from that of its neighbour, owing to
+its position, yet was of the same focus in regard to the source of
+illumination. The parts were shaped with extreme care and were united
+in position by the aid of fish glue, the whole being mounted in a
+metal frame. The advantage of the system was apparent in the first
+demonstrations. The lenses being comparatively thin, only one-tenth of
+the light passing through was absorbed, whereas in the old parabolic
+reflectors one-half of the light was lost.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.--SINGLE FLASHING APPARATUS (ONE PANEL AND
+MIRROR).
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+This revolutionary development was perfected in 1822, and in the
+following year it was submitted to its first practical application
+on the tower of Cordouan in the Gironde. Several modifications were
+made by the inventor for the purpose of adapting his system to varying
+conditions. One of the most important was the disposition of lenses
+and mirrors above the optical apparatus for the purpose of collecting
+and driving back the rays which were sent out vertically from the
+illuminant, so that they might be mingled with the horizontal beam,
+thereby reinforcing it. At a later date similar equiangular prisms
+were placed below the horizontal beam so as to catch the light thrown
+downwards from the luminous source, the result being that finally none,
+or very little, of the light emitted by the illuminant was lost, except
+by absorption in the process of bending the rays into the desired
+direction.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.--A TWENTY-FOUR PANEL LIGHT, WHICH WAS INTRODUCED
+INTO CERTAIN FRENCH LIGHTHOUSES.]
+
+In this ingenious manner the circle of light is divided into sections,
+called “panels,” each of which comprises its bull’s-eye and its
+group of concentric rings and prisms. The extent of this division
+varies appreciably, as many as sixteen panels being utilized in some
+instances. In this direction, however, subdivision can be carried too
+far. Thus, in some of the French lighthouses no less than twenty-four
+panels were introduced. The disadvantage is obvious. The total volume
+of light emitted from the luminous source has to be divided into
+twenty-four parts, one for each panel. But the fewer the panels, the
+more light is thrown through each, and the correspondingly greater
+power of the beam. Thus, in a four-panel light each beam will be six
+times as powerful as that thrown from a twenty-four panel apparatus of
+the same type.
+
+Fresnel also introduced the system of revolving the optical apparatus,
+and by the introduction of suitable devices was able to give the light
+a flashing characteristic, so that it became possible to provide
+a means of identifying a light from a distance entirely by the
+peculiarity of its flash. The French authorities were so impressed with
+the wonderful improvement produced by Fresnel’s epoch-making invention
+that it was adopted immediately for all French lights. Great Britain
+followed suit a few years later, while other countries embraced the
+system subsequently, so that the Fresnel lens eventually came into
+universal use.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.--A FOUR-PANEL LIGHT.
+
+The ray thrown through each panel is six times as powerful as the beam
+thrown through a twenty-four panel apparatus.]
+
+But the Frenchman’s ingenious invention has been developed out of
+recognition. To-day only the fundamental basis is retained. Marked
+improvements were made by Mr. Alan Stevenson, the famous Scottish
+lighthouse engineer. In fact, he carried the idea to a far greater
+degree than Fresnel ever contemplated, and in some instances even
+anticipated the latter’s subsequent modifications and improvements.
+This was demonstrated more particularly in the holophotal revolving
+apparatus, the first example of which he designed for the North
+Ronaldshay lighthouse in 1850, a similar apparatus being devised some
+years later by Fresnel. In 1862 another great improvement was made by
+Mr. J. T. Chance, of the well-known lighthouse engineering firm of
+Birmingham, which proved so successful that it was incorporated for
+first and third order apparatuses in the New Zealand lights designed by
+Messrs. Stevenson in the same year.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--SINGLE APPARATUS IN FOUR PANELS.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+The French and British investigators, however, were not having things
+entirely their own way. The United States played a part in these
+developments, although they did not enter very successfully into the
+problem. The first lighthouse at Boston Harbour carried candles until
+superseded by an ordinary lamp, which was hung in the lantern in much
+the same way as it might have been suspended behind the window of a
+private dwelling. An inventor, Mr. Winslow Lewis, who confessed that
+he knew nothing about lighthouse optics, patented what he called a
+“magnifying and reflecting lantern” for lighthouse work, which he
+claimed was a lamp, a reflector, and a magnifier, all in one. It was as
+crude a device as has ever emanated from an inventive brain, but the
+designer succeeded in impressing the Government so effectively that
+they gave him £4,000, or $20,000, for his invention. The reflector was
+wrought of thin copper with a silvered surface, while the magnifier,
+the essence of the invention, was what he called a “lens,” but which
+in reality comprised only a circular transparent mass, 9 inches in
+diameter, and varying from 2½ to 4 inches in thickness, made of
+bottle-green glass. The Government considered that it had acquired a
+valuable invention, and was somewhat dismayed by the blunt opinion
+of one of its inspectors who held contrary views concerning the
+magnifier, inasmuch as he reported cynically that its only merit was
+that it made “a bad light worse.”
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--DOUBLE FLASHING APPARATUS: TWO PANELS AND
+MIRROR.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--DOUBLE FLASHING APPARATUS: TWO GROUPS EACH OF
+TWO PANELS.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+The inventor did not manifest any antagonism to this criticism, but
+immediately pointed out the great economy in the consumption of oil
+that was arising from the use of his idea. Indeed, he prosecuted his
+claims so successfully that he clinched a profitable bargain to himself
+with the Government. His apparatus had been fitted to thirty-four
+lights, and he contracted to maintain them on the basis of receiving
+one-half of the oil previously consumed by the lamps which his
+invention superseded. This arrangement was in vogue for five years,
+when it was renewed, with the difference that on this occasion the
+Government, concluding that the inventor was making too much out of
+the transaction, reduced the allowance to one-third. Subsequently the
+invention received higher commendation from the officials than that
+advanced by the critical inspector, although it must be pointed out
+that meanwhile the magnifying bull’s-eye had been abandoned, and a
+new type of reflector introduced, so that the sole remaining feature
+of the wonderful invention was the lamp. Even that had been modified.
+When the Lighthouse Board was established in 1852 it abolished the
+much-discussed invention, and introduced the Fresnel system, bringing
+the United States into line with the rest of the world.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9.--TRIPLE FLASHING APPARATUS: THREE PANELS AND
+MIRROR.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+One feature of the subject cannot fail to arrest attention. This
+is the possibility of producing a variety of combinations by the
+aid of the lenses to fulfil different requirements. The Fresnel,
+Stevenson, and Chance developments in the science of lighthouse optics
+facilitated this work very significantly. Accordingly, to-day a
+variety of lights, evolved from the variations in the mounting of the
+lenses, is in vogue. For purposes of identification they have been
+divided into a number of classifications, and, for the convenience
+of the navigator, are described as lights of the first order, second
+order, and so on. Broadly speaking, there are seven main groups, or
+orders, the rating only applying to dioptric or catadioptric lights,
+indicating the bending of the luminous rays in the desired direction,
+either by refraction and reflection through the medium of prisms, or a
+combination of both. Actually there is a distinction between these two,
+the true dioptric system referring only to refraction, where the ray is
+bent in the desired direction by a glass agent, known as a “refracting
+prism.” In the catadioptric system, on the other hand, both methods are
+employed, since the prism performs the dual purpose of reflecting and
+refracting the rays. However, in modern lighthouse parlance both are
+grouped under the one distinction “dioptric.”
+
+The rating or classification of the lights varies according to the
+inside radius or focal distance of the lens--in other words, the
+distance from the centre of the light to the inner surface of the lens.
+The main groups are as follows:
+
+ Hyperradial, 1,330 millimetres (52·3 inches) focal distance.
+ 1st order, 920 ” (36·2 ” ) ”
+ 2nd ” 700 ” (27·6 ” ) ”
+ 3rd ” 500 ” (19·7 ” ) ”
+ 3½ ” 375 ” (14·7 ” ) ”
+ 4th ” 250 ” ( 9·8 ” ) ”
+ 5th ” 187·5 ” ( 7·4 ” ) ”
+ 6th ” 150 ” ( 5·9 ” ) ”
+
+The most powerful apparatus used to-day, however, is that known as the
+“hyperradiant,” and it is the largest which has yet been devised. For
+this, lighthouse engineering is indebted to Messrs. Stevenson, the
+engineers to the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses. It was first
+suggested as far back as 1869, and experiments were carried out which
+emphasized the fact that such an apparatus was required, since it
+was found that when large gas-burners were used much of the light in
+revolving apparatuses was out of focus and escaped condensation. The
+Scottish engineers thereupon suggested that an apparatus should be
+used having a focal distance of 1,330 millimetres, or 52·3 inches. In
+fact, they went farther and suggested even larger apparatuses, but this
+idea has not matured. But it was not until 1885 that Messrs. Stevenson
+had such a system manufactured, and then it was tested at the South
+Foreland beside the powerful lenses which had just been built for
+the new Eddystone and the Mew Island lighthouses. The merits of the
+theories advanced by Messrs. Stevenson were then completely proved, for
+it was found that with a ten-ring gas-burner the hyperradiant apparatus
+threw a light nearly twice as powerful as that given by the rival
+lenses with the same burner.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 10.--QUADRUPLE FLASHING APPARATUS: FOUR PANELS.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+At the present moment the hyperradiant is regarded as the _ultima
+thule_ of lighthouse optical engineering, and Messrs. Chance Brothers
+and Co., of Birmingham, have built some very magnificent apparatuses of
+this order. At present there are not more than a dozen such powerful
+lights in operation. Three are on the English coast, at Bishop Rock,
+Spurn Point, and Round Island, respectively; two in Scotland, at
+Fair Isle and Sule Skerry; two in Ireland, at Bull Rock and Tory
+Island; one in France, at Cap d’Antifer; one in China, at Pei Yu-shan;
+one in India, at Manora Point, Karachi; and the Cape Race light in
+Newfoundland. The hyperradiant apparatus is a massive cage of glass,
+standing some 12 feet in height, and, as may be supposed, is extremely
+expensive.
+
+There is another point in lighthouse optics which demands explanation.
+This is the term “divergence,” which plays an important part in the
+duration of the flash. In speaking about focus, the engineer follows
+somewhat in Euclid’s footsteps in regard to the definition of a point;
+in a way it is equally imaginary. The focal point does not mean the
+whole of the flame, but the centre of the luminous source, and, as is
+obvious, it is impossible to secure a flame without dimensions. It may
+be an attenuated, round, oval, or fan-shaped light--the result is the
+same. The focal point is the theoretical centre of the luminous source,
+and the rays, coming from the top, sides, and bottom of the flame
+cannot come from the true focus. If they did, all the light from one
+panel would be emitted in absolutely parallel lines, and therefore in a
+revolving apparatus the beam would pass any given point on the horizon
+in an infinitely short period of time--to be precise, instantaneously.
+But the ex-focal rays of the flame, in passing through the lens, emerge
+at an angle to those coming from the absolute centre, so that the whole
+beam becomes “diverged,” and throws a cone of light from the lens.
+Consequently the beam occupies an appreciable period of time in passing
+a given point on the horizon.
+
+As may be supposed, the intricate character of the lenses constituting
+the optical apparatus of the modern lighthouse demands the highest
+skill and infinite care in their preparation, while the composition
+of the glass itself is a closely guarded secret. There are less than
+half a dozen firms in the world engaged in this delicate and highly
+specialized work, of which France claims three, Germany one, and
+Great Britain one. All the lighthouse authorities of the various
+nations have to secure their requirements from one or other of these
+organizations. The industry commenced in France, and for many years the
+French reigned supreme. Then it contrived to make its entrance into
+England, and was taken up by the family of Chance in Birmingham, who
+soon proved themselves equal to their French leaders.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.--RED AND WHITE FLASHING APPARATUS.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+The British firm has established a unique reputation, as it has been
+responsible for the majority of the great lights of the world, some of
+which are not only of huge dimensions and weight, but also of novel
+form. The hyperradial apparatuses which have been placed recently in
+the towers of Manora Point and Cape Race probably rank as the most
+powerful and the finest in existence. These are used in conjunction
+with the petroleum vapour incandescent burner. The Cape Race light,
+for instance, comprises a revolving optic of four panels, subtending
+a horizontal angle of 90 degrees, with a vertical angle of 121½
+degrees. Each lens comprises the central disc, or bull’s-eye, around
+which are placed nine rings of glass, giving a total refracting angle
+of 57 degrees. In order to bend the vertical rays into a horizontal
+path twenty-two catadioptric reflecting prisms are disposed above
+the lens, while below are thirteen similar prisms. The total amount
+of glass worked into the four panels is about 6,720 pounds, and the
+prisms are mounted in gun-metal frames, which weigh approximately
+4,800 pounds, so that the total weight of the glass portion and its
+mounting alone, standing some 12 feet in height, is over 11,500 pounds.
+The installation completed for the equipment of the Manora Point
+lighthouse, Karachi, is very similar.
+
+In some cases the demand for a powerful light has been met with a
+system differing from the “hyperradiant.” The lenses and respective
+groups of refractors are superimposed, each tier having its individual
+burner and flues for carrying off the products of combustion. In this
+way we have the biform, comprising two such panels arranged one above
+the other, as in the Fastnet and Eddystone lights; and the quadriform,
+wherein four tiers are built one above the other, as installed at the
+Mew Island light in Ireland. The advantage of this arrangement is that
+a beam of great intensity is secured with a lantern of comparatively
+small diameter.
+
+The French authorities adopted a modification of this system. Instead
+of placing two lenses and refractors one above the other, they ranged
+them side by side, the effect being analogous to a couple of squinting
+eyes, the panels being parallel and therefore throwing out parallel
+beams. But these adaptations have not come into extensive use, as
+they have been superseded by more simple means of achieving similar
+requirements with an even more powerful ray. The hyperradiant stands
+as the finest type of apparatus yet devised, and therefore is employed
+when an extremely powerful light is required.
+
+While the design and arrangement of the optical apparatus is certainly
+a most vital and delicate task, the mounting thereof upon a substantial
+support in such a way that it may perform its work with the highest
+efficiency is equally imperative, since the finest apparatus might be
+very adversely affected by being improperly mounted.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.--APPARATUS SHOWING A DOUBLE FLASH, FOLLOWED BY
+A SINGLE FLASH.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+Obviously, owing to the great weight of the glass, the support must
+be heavy and substantial. A massive cast-iron pedestal is employed
+for this purpose. When the light is of the revolving character, means
+have to be incorporated to secure the requisite rotation. In the early
+days the turntable upon which the lens is mounted ran upon rollers,
+but now a very much better system is universally employed. This has
+been brought to a high standard of perfection by Messrs. Chance of
+Birmingham, who have carried out unceasing experiments in this field.
+The objection to rollers was the enormous friction that was set up,
+and the great effort that was required, not only to set the lenses
+revolving, but to keep them rotating at a steady pace. In the modern
+apparatus the rollers are superseded by an iron trough filled with
+mercury, upon which floats the turntable carrying the lenses. When
+the apparatus is properly built and balanced, the friction is so
+slight that the turntable can be set in motion by the little finger,
+notwithstanding that several tons have to be moved. Although the
+optical part of the apparatus floats upon the bed of quicksilver in
+the same way as a cork lifebelt floats upon water, it is provided with
+rollers which serve to hold the whole apparatus steady and to overcome
+any oscillation.
+
+In the case of an immense apparatus such as a hyperradiant lens,
+which, together with the turntable, may have a total weight of 17,000
+pounds, an enormous quantity of mercury is required. The trough of the
+Cape Race hyperradiant light carries 950 pounds of quicksilver, upon
+which the lantern is floated. In such an instance, also, the pedestal
+is a weighty part of the apparatus, representing in this case about
+26,800 pounds, so that the complete apparatus utilized to throw the
+1,100,000 candle-power beam from the guardian of the Newfoundland coast
+aggregates, when in working order, some 44,000 pounds, or approximately
+20 tons.
+
+Within the base of the pedestal is mounted the mechanism for rotating
+the optical apparatus. This is of the clockwork type driven by a
+weight. The latter moves up and down a tube which extends vertically
+to a certain depth through the centre of the tower. The weight of the
+driving force and the depth of its fall naturally vary according to
+the character of the light. In the Cape Race light the weight is of
+900 pounds, and it falls 14½ feet per hour. Similarly, the length of
+time which the clock will run on one winding fluctuates. As a rule it
+requires to be rewound once every sixty or ninety minutes. A longer run
+is not recommended, as it would demand a longer weight-tube, while many
+authorities prefer the frequent winding, as the man on duty is kept
+on the alert thereby. As the weight approaches the bottom of its tube
+it sets an electric bell or gong in action, which serves to warn the
+light-keeper that the mechanism demands rewinding.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13.--THE CLASSIFICATION OF LIGHTS, SHOWING
+THE RESPECTIVE RADIUS OR FOCAL DISTANCE OF LENS FROM 150 TO 1,330
+MILLIMETRES.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+The weight and clockwork mechanism perfected by Messrs. Chance is
+regarded as one of the best in service. The rotation is perfect and
+even, owing to the governing system incorporated, while the steel wire
+carrying the weight is preferable to the chain, which is subject to
+wear and is noisy in action. In the Chance clockwork gear the weight
+is just sufficient to start the apparatus from a state of rest, the
+advantage of such a method being that, should the apparatus be stopped
+in its revolution from any untoward incident, it is able to restart
+itself.
+
+Of course, the clockwork mechanism is required only in those cases
+where the lenticular apparatus has to be revolved. This introduces
+the question of avoiding confusion between lights. When beacons were
+first brought into service, the lights were of the fixed type, and the
+navigator, although warned by the glare to keep away from the spot
+so marked, was given no information as to his position. Accordingly,
+lighthouse engineers sought to assist him in this direction during
+the blackness of the night by providing a ready visual means of
+identification. Owing to the ingenuity which has been displayed, it
+has been rendered possible to ring the changes upon a light very
+extensively.
+
+These may be subdivided broadly as follows:
+
+ +--------------------+---------+-------------------------------------+
+ | Type of Light. | Symbol. | Characteristics. |
+ +--------------------+---------+-------------------------------------+
+ | Fixed | F. | A steady continuous light. |
+ | | | |
+ | Flashing | Fl. | A revolving light showing a single |
+ | | | flash at regular intervals, or a |
+ | | | fixed light with total eclipses. |
+ | | | |
+ | Fixed and flashing | F.Fl. | A fixed light varied at regular |
+ | | | intervals by a single flash of |
+ | | | greater brilliancy. |
+ | | | |
+ | Group flashing | Gp.Fl. | Various combinations of flashes |
+ | | | shown at regular intervals. |
+ | | | |
+ | Occulting | Occ. | A steady light suddenly and totally |
+ | | | eclipsed at regular intervals. |
+ | | | |
+ | Group occulting | Gp.Occ. | A steady light suddenly and totally |
+ | | | eclipsed by a group of two |
+ | | | or more eclipses. |
+ +--------------------+---------+-------------------------------------+
+
+In the foregoing classifications only a white light is used. But it may
+so happen that the lighthouse, owing to its position and the dangerous
+character of the spot which it marks, carries a light which changes
+colour from white to red or green, which are shown alternately in
+various combinations. These characteristics are indicated as follows:
+
+ +--------------------+------------+----------------------------------+
+ | Type of Light. | Symbol. | Characteristics. |
+ +--------------------+------------+----------------------------------+
+ | | | |
+ | Alternating | Alt. | White and colour alternating. |
+ | | | |
+ | Alternating | Alt.Fl. | Flashing alternations by |
+ | flashing | | revolving mechanism. |
+ | | | |
+ | Alternating fixed | Alt.F.Fl. | Fixed and flashing alternating. |
+ | and flashing | | |
+ | | | |
+ | Alternating group | Alt.Gp.Fl. | Group flashing alternating. |
+ | flashing | | |
+ | | | |
+ | Alternating | Alt.Occ. | Occulting alternately with |
+ | occulting | | white and coloured |
+ +--------------------+------------+----------------------------------+
+
+In timing a revolving or flashing light, the cycle is taken from the
+beginning of one flash to the beginning of the next. In these readings
+the flash is always shorter than the duration of the eclipse, while
+an occultation is shorter than, or equal to, the length of the light
+interval. Since flashing and occulting may be carried out with a
+fixed light suddenly extinguished or eclipsed, the characterization
+is determined solely according to the relative duration of light
+and darkness, irrespective of the type of apparatus employed or the
+relative brilliancy. There is one peculiarity of the flashing light
+which may be remarked. At short distances and in clear weather a faint
+continuous light may be shown.
+
+Hand in hand with the development of the optical apparatus has been
+the wonderful improvement in regard to the illuminants and the methods
+of producing a brilliant clear flame. The fuel first used upon the
+introduction of the oil lamp was sperm or colza oil, the former being
+obtained from the whale, and the latter from seeds and a wild-cabbage.
+Both were very expensive, so that the maintenance of a light was
+costly--so much so that the United States authorities devoted their
+efforts to the perfection of a high-class lard-oil. This proved highly
+satisfactory, possessing only one drawback. In winter it congealed so
+much under the low temperature that it had to be heated before it
+could be placed in the lamp; but once the light was set going, the heat
+radiated from the burner served to keep the oil sufficiently fluid to
+enable it to mount the wick to the point of combustion under capillary
+action.
+
+So far as the American authorities were concerned, the advantages of
+lard-oil sufficed to bring a cheaper medium than colza-oil into vogue.
+A company, which had been induced by the Government to install an
+elaborate and expensive plant for the production of colza-oil, after
+prolonged experiment and efforts to reduce the cost of production,
+announced that it could not compete with the lard-oil, and suggested
+that the latter should be employed in preference to the colza. The
+Government agreed, but, to compensate the company for its trouble,
+purchased the plant which the latter had laid down.
+
+The advances in the processes for refining petroleum, and the
+exploitation of the extensive resources of the latter, led to
+“earth-oil,” in some form or other, being employed for lighthouse
+purposes. The attempt was facilitated by the invention and improvement
+of the Argand burner, whereby a brilliant white annular sheet of flame
+is produced. Various lighthouse engineers devoted their attention to
+the improvement of this burner in conjunction with paraffin. Their
+results were completely successful, and at last paraffin became
+universally utilized as the cheapest and most efficient illuminant
+known.
+
+The general method of feeding the lamps was to pump the oil from a low
+level to the burner, thereby producing practically a pressure-feed
+system in preference to the capillary action which is used in the
+ordinary household lamp. By increasing the number of rings the
+intensity of the flame was increased, until at last it was thought that
+with this development perfection had been attained so far as lamps were
+concerned.
+
+Then came another radical revolution. The invention of the incandescent
+gas mantle by Dr. von Auer, and the complete change that it wrought
+in connection with gas lighting, induced lighthouse engineers to
+experiment in this field. As they could not use coal-gas, they devoted
+their investigations to the perfection of a gas from petroleum, which
+should be capable of combustion with the incandescent burner. Many
+years were devoted to these experiments, and many petroleum vapour
+systems were devised. One of the best known, most successful, and most
+scientifically perfect, is the Chance incandescent light. This burner
+is used in many of the most powerful lights of the world and has given
+complete satisfaction. The mantle varies in size with the size and
+type of the light, ranging from 35 to 85 millimetres in diameter, the
+latter, in conjunction with a hyperradial apparatus, producing a light
+exceeding 1,000,000 candle-power.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+THE HYPERRADIAL APPARATUS FOR THE MANORA POINT LIGHT, KARACHI, INDIA.
+
+Of 1,330 millimetres focus, this is the most powerful and largest
+lighthouse apparatus made.]
+
+Not only was a far more powerful light obtained in this manner with
+the assistance of the petroleum vapour burner and incandescent mantle,
+but the cost of maintaining the light was reduced, owing to the great
+economy in oil consumption that was effected thereby, the largest
+mantle and burner--85 millimetres--burning only 2½ pints of oil per
+hour. The light thus obtained, while being vastly superior to that
+derived from a six-wick oil-burner, enables a saving of nearly £48, or
+$240, per annum to be recorded, taking the cost of the petroleum at
+1s., or 25 cents, per gallon delivered to the lighthouse.
+
+While petroleum is generally used, some countries have adopted other
+oil fuels for small permanent lights. Thus, in Germany compressed
+oil-gas, water-gas associated with benzine vapour, and Blau liquid gas,
+are utilized. The last-named is coming very extensively into vogue,
+also, in Holland, Denmark, and Austria. Blau gas has the advantage
+that it can be transported in small steel tanks under extremely high
+pressure--up to 100 atmospheres, or approximately 1,400 pounds per
+square inch. It is an extract of oil-gas produced at a low pressure in
+the gas retorts, and then compressed so severely that it liquefies. The
+fuel, as it is drawn from the cylinder in which it is stored, has the
+pressure reduced by means of a valve, so that it reaches the burner
+in a gaseous form at a pressure equivalent to that of the coal-gas used
+in private houses, and is burned in the same way with an incandescent
+mantle. The advantage of this method lies in the facility with which
+large volumes of gas may be transported, a steel cylinder containing
+7,500 cubic feet weighing only 132 pounds. It is also inexpensive, a
+bottle of the foregoing capacity costing only 12s. 6d., or $3. In some
+cases the incandescent mantles, the average life of which is about a
+fortnight, are of large diameter, running up to 100 millimetres, or
+about 4 inches.
+
+Recently Mr. Gustaf Dalén, of the Gas Accumulator Company of Stockholm,
+the inventor of the Dalén flasher and sun-valve, which are described
+elsewhere, has introduced a new illuminant, which is coming into vogue,
+especially on the Continent. This is called “Daléngas,” and is a
+mixture of 9 per cent. dissolved acetylene and 91 per cent. atmospheric
+air. Here the dissolved acetylene gas is conducted from a storage
+reservoir or high-pressure gas cylinder, of special construction, to
+a governor, where the pressure is reduced, and then to the mixing
+apparatus, where the acetylene gas is associated with the air in the
+above proportions. The idea of this combination and method is to enable
+an acetylene gas mixture to be used with the ordinary incandescent
+mantles.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+FIRST ORDER TRIPLE FLASHING LIGHT OF 920 MILLIMETRES FOCAL DISTANCE FOR
+CHILANG LIGHTHOUSE, CHINA.]
+
+The advantage of the Daléngas, according to present experience, is
+the increased candle-power that is obtainable as compared with other
+systems, the superiority being about 75 per cent. under ordinary
+conditions. With the largest Fresnel lenses a lighting power of 200,000
+Hefner candle-power is secured, while with revolving lenses of the
+latest type a beam of 3,000,000 candle-power can be obtained. The flame
+is small, and thus becomes concentrated more in the focus of the lens,
+so that the divergence of the light may be diminished if desired. When
+a light of a certain range is to be installed, the optical apparatus
+can be made smaller for Daléngas than for other illuminants, and the
+cost is reduced correspondingly. Similarly, if the system is introduced
+into an existing light, the latter can be made appreciably more
+powerful, without changing the optical apparatus or affecting the
+divergence.
+
+In this system the gas is conducted into the lens apparatus from above,
+and the lighting arrangement is quite independent of, and does not
+interfere in any way with, the revolving apparatus, while the time
+spent in changing the mantle is less than half a minute.
+
+All combustible gases, mixed with air in certain proportions, may
+produce more or less violent detonations when fired. But the quantity
+of mixed gas in this instance is confined in the length of piping
+between the burner and the mixing apparatus, and this quantity is so
+small that an explosion cannot be dangerous. In fact, all such danger
+has been guarded against completely--is, indeed, impossible in any
+circumstances.
+
+Electric light has been adopted in one or two cases; but while the
+foremost authorities agree that it throws the best, most brilliant and
+most powerful beam of light, the system is generally impracticable
+on account of its great cost. When tests with this light were made
+some years ago in comparison with the light thrown from oil burners,
+it was claimed that the latter, owing to its reddish-yellow tinge,
+was the most suitable from the all-round point of view, and that it
+could penetrate to a greater distance in foggy weather. I have been
+informed by several authorities, who have gone more deeply into this
+question since, that this is a fallacy, and that the advantage rests
+completely with electric light. Experience in Germany, which has two
+magnificent electric lighthouses, and in Scotland, certainly supports
+this contention, and I have been assured that the sole reason why
+electric lighting has not been adopted more widely is the heavy cost,
+both of installation and of maintenance. When electric lighting is
+rendered cheaper and is brought more to the level of existing lighting
+arrangements, one may expect another complete change in lighthouse
+practice. In this direction, as explained in another chapter, the
+Germans have carried out practical experiments in their characteristic
+manner, and have brought the cost of maintaining a most powerful
+electric light to the minimum.
+
+One very great advantage of the electric light is the ease with which
+the power of the beam may be increased during thick weather, so as to
+secure penetration to the greatest distance, and decreased to suit
+easier conditions in clear weather.
+
+This point raises the question, “From how far can a light be seen out
+at sea?” This factor is influenced by climatic conditions, and also by
+the curvature of the earth. The higher the light, or the spectator,
+or both, is elevated above the water, the greater the distance from
+which the light can be seen. The table on p. 52, prepared by Mr.
+Alan Stevenson, the eminent Scottish lighthouse engineer, gives the
+distances at which objects can be seen at sea, according to the
+respective elevations of the object and the eye of the observer.
+
+For instance, the passenger on a liner the boat-deck of which is 40
+feet above the water, approaching the English Channel, will sight
+the Bishop Rock light from a distance of about 22 miles, because the
+focal plane--that is, the bull’s-eye of the lens--is 163 feet above
+the water, which, according to the following table, equals about 14½
+miles, to which must be added the height of the boat’s deck, 40 feet
+representing 7·25 miles. Similarly, the ray of the Belle Ile light
+will come into view when the vessel is 32½ miles distant--height of
+focal plane of light, 470 feet = 25 miles, + eye of observer on board
+the liner, 45 feet = 7·69 miles; while the Navesink light, being 246
+feet above the water, may be picked up by the captain of a liner from
+a distance of 28 miles. The range of many lights, however, owing to
+the curvature of the earth, is greatly in excess of their geographical
+range, and with the most powerful lights the glare of the luminous
+beams sweeping the clouds overhead may be seen for a full hour or more
+before the ray itself comes into view.
+
+TABLE OF DISTANCES AT WHICH OBJECTS CAN BE SEEN AT SEA, ACCORDING
+TO THEIR RESPECTIVE ELEVATIONS AND THE ELEVATION OF THE EYE OF THE
+OBSERVER.
+
+ +------------+--------------------+-----------------+
+ | Heights in | Distances in | Distances in |
+ | Feet. | Statute or English | Geographical or |
+ | | Miles. | Nautical Miles. |
+ +------------+--------------------+-----------------+
+ | 5 | 2·958 | 2·565 |
+ | 10 | 4·184 | 3·628 |
+ | 15 | 5·123 | 4·443 |
+ | 20 | 5·916 | 5·130 |
+ | 25 | 6·614 | 5·736 |
+ | 30 | 7·245 | 6·283 |
+ | 35 | 7·826 | 6·787 |
+ | 40 | 8·366 | 7·255 |
+ | 45 | 8·874 | 7·696 |
+ | 50 | 9·354 | 8·112 |
+ | 55 | 9·811 | 8·509 |
+ | 60 | 10·246 | 8·886 |
+ | 65 | 10·665 | 9·249 |
+ | 70 | 11·067 | 9·598 |
+ | 75 | 11·456 | 9·935 |
+ | 80 | 11·832 | 10·260 |
+ | 85 | 12·196 | 10·570 |
+ | 90 | 12·549 | 10·880 |
+ | 95 | 12·893 | 11·180 |
+ | 100 | 13·228 | 11·470 |
+ | 110 | 13·874 | 12·030 |
+ | 120 | 14·490 | 12·560 |
+ | 130 | 15·083 | 13·080 |
+ | 140 | 15·652 | 13·570 |
+ | 150 | 16·201 | 14·220 |
+ | 200 | 18·708 | 16·220 |
+ | 250 | 20·916 | 18·14 |
+ | 300 | 22·912 | 19·87 |
+ | 350 | 24·748 | 21·46 |
+ | 400 | 26·457 | 22·94 |
+ | 450 | 28·062 | 24·30 |
+ | 500 | 29·580 | 25·65 |
+ | 550 | 31·024 | 26·90 |
+ | 600 | 32·403 | 28·10 |
+ | 650 | 33·726 | 29·25 |
+ | 700 | 35·000 | 30·28 |
+ | 800 | 37·416 | 32·45 |
+ | 900 | 39·836 | 34·54 |
+ | 1,000 | 41·833 | 36·28 |
+ +------------+--------------------+-----------------+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
+
+LOOKING UP THE LANTERN OF THE NEEDLES LIGHTHOUSE.]
+
+So far as the candle-power of any light is concerned, the method of
+determining this factor, varying according to the calculating methods
+adopted, is somewhat misleading. So far as Great Britain is concerned,
+the practice of setting out the candle-power of any light in the
+official list has been abandoned, the authorities merely stating that
+such and such a light is of great power. The United States and Canada,
+on the other hand, indicate the approximate candle-power.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+FIXED APPARATUS OF THE FOURTH ORDER FOR SARAWAK.
+
+The focal distance is 250 millimetres, and the diameter of lantern
+inside glazing 6 feet 7¾ inches.]
+
+By combining and arranging the integral parts of the optical apparatus,
+the lighthouse engineer is able to accomplish many astonishing results.
+Thus, while the various types generally follow accepted broad lines,
+coinciding with the order which they represent, here and there some
+very striking divergences are made. The Bell Rock light is perhaps
+the most interesting example in this direction. It was designed by
+Messrs. D. and T. Stevenson, and built by Messrs. Chance Brothers
+and Co. The light is alternating, the colours being white and red.
+Externally the optical apparatus appears to be bizarre, yet it is one
+of the most perfect which has ever been installed. In its design and
+construction almost all the known lighthouse optical elements are
+incorporated, including the equiangular refractor, the reflecting
+prism, the double-reflecting prism, and the dioptric mirror. Another
+noteworthy fact is that, by an exceedingly ingenious arrangement, the
+absorption of the rays by the glass used in producing the red flashes
+is neutralized to such a vast degree that the white and red flashes are
+of equal intensity.
+
+The subsidiary light is another striking feature which the lighthouse
+engineer has introduced. For instance, a light may be shown from a
+dangerous reef, and give the mariner all the warning desired. But
+some distance away may lurk another isolated rock, which it is just
+as imperative to indicate, and yet on which another tower cannot be
+erected. This necessity is met by the subsidiary light. A portion
+of the light from the main apparatus is deflected and thrown to the
+desired spot by an ingenious arrangement of the prisms. On the west
+coast of Scotland, at Stornoway, a stream of light used to be deflected
+from the lantern in a vertical direction down the tower, and there
+bent at right angles, to be thrown through a lower window and fall upon
+a prism placed on the crest of a rock several hundred feet distant.
+From the deck of a vessel, the effect of the light striking the prism
+was akin to that produced by a beacon. Similarly in the case of St.
+Catherine’s light in the Isle of Wight: a portion of the light, which
+would otherwise be wasted over the area on the landward side, is
+carried vertically down the tower by a disposal of lenses and prisms,
+and is projected horizontally through a small window, after being
+coloured into a red ray by passing through some glass of the desired
+tint, to mark a danger spot some distance away. This method, however,
+is not favoured now, as the peril can be more efficiently marked by
+means of an independent beacon, a system which has become feasible
+owing to the vast improvements that have been made in automatic lights
+requiring no attention for several weeks or months at a time.
+
+But in those instances where the latter expedient is not adopted, the
+practice is to cover the danger with a ray thrown from an entirely
+different light. When the present Eddystone tower was completed, a
+“low-light room,” as it is called, was incorporated, and a low-powered
+light was thrown from two Argand burners and reflectors through a
+window to mark a dangerous reef some three miles distant. But perhaps
+the best example of a subsidiary light is that which was carried out
+by Messrs. Chance in connection with the Cap de Couedie lighthouse. In
+this instance two dangers had to be indicated in a subsidiary manner,
+one being covered with a red, the other with a green, ray. The red
+sector marks a danger spot known as Lipson’s Reef, lying 8¾ miles
+distant, while the green light indicates Casuarina Island, 1¾ miles
+away. This installation, it may be pointed out, has proved highly
+successful, and certainly is very economical.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--THE MEANS WHEREBY THE RAYS ARE DEFLECTED FROM
+THE MAIN LIGHT TO FORM A SUBSIDIARY LIGHT.
+
+(_By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. and Co., Ltd._)]
+
+There is another point which deserves mention--the duration of the
+flash in a revolving light. There was considerable discussion and
+difference of opinion upon this question some years ago. It was
+maintained that the shorter the duration of the flash, and the more
+rapidly it were thrown, the better it would be for the mariner. The
+Scottish engineers realized the significance of this problem, and,
+despite the hostile criticism of contemporary engineers, adopted a
+specific principle which was to give a flash of two and three-quarter
+seconds’ duration. Subsequently it was reduced to one second. The
+introduction of the mercury float enabled the optical apparatus to be
+revolved faster, and also facilitated the reduction in the number of
+panels or faces, so that ultimately the Scottish engineers reduced the
+flash to one of four-tenths of a second.
+
+When Mr. Bourdelles devised the mercury float which enabled rotation to
+be accelerated, the French authorities rushed to the opposite extreme.
+They reduced the faces to four, and arranged for the apparatus to
+be revolved at a high speed, so that the duration of the flash was
+only one-tenth of a second at rapidly-recurring intervals. This type
+of light was called the _feu-éclair_, and was adopted as a result
+of prolonged laboratory investigation. But this was an instance
+where laboratory experiments and scientific reasoning failed to go
+hand in glove with practical experience and navigation, where the
+mariner has to contend with all sorts and conditions of weather. The
+seafarer expressed his opinion of the one-tenth of a second flash
+in uncomplimentary terms, displaying an indifferent appreciation of
+artificially-produced sheet-lightning.
+
+Eventually there was a general agreement, among all those countries
+which had investigated the problem closely, that a flash of about
+three-tenths of a second was the most satisfactory, and this has
+since become tacitly standardized. The French authorities recognized
+the fallacy of their idea, and soon came into line with the other
+countries.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FOG-SIGNALS
+
+
+Notwithstanding the wonderful ingenuity that is displayed in the
+concentration of light into powerful beams, these all count for nothing
+when fog settles upon the sea. The ray of 1,000,000 candle-power is
+almost as futile then as the glimmer from a tallow dip.
+
+Fog is the peril of the sea which the mariner dreads more than any
+other. The blanket of mist, descending upon the water, not only shuts
+everything from sight, but deadens every sound as well. The sea is
+absolutely calm, so that no intimation of danger ahead is conveyed by
+the breaking of the waves upon rock, shoal, sandbank, or iron-bound
+coast.
+
+It is in times of fog that the navigator must be given the greatest
+protection. As this is impossible to accomplish visually, appeal must
+be made to his ear. In the early days of lighthouse engineering the
+methods of conveying audible warning were very crude. The discharge
+of a gun was the most popular, but it was neither serviceable nor
+reliable, and was made upon somewhat haphazard lines. Thus, in the
+case of a dangerous headland on the North American coast, which the
+Boston steamer had to round on its journey, the keepers mounted guard
+at the probable time of the vessel’s arrival off this point. They
+listened eagerly for the steamer’s whistle, and when it came screaming
+over the water they began hurriedly firing a carronade, keeping up
+the blank-cartridge bombardment until another shriek told them that
+those on the vessel had heard their signals. Sometimes the whistle
+was heard from a distance of six miles; at others from not more than
+two miles away. It depended upon circumstances. Obviously, such a
+primitive system was attended with considerable danger, as an accident
+was liable to happen to the men in their feverish haste to load and
+discharge the gun, while the plight of the boat was far from being
+enviable at times.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+A MODERN LIGHTHOUSE SIREN PLANT.
+
+Showing gas engines and air-compressors in duplicate, with siren at
+side.]
+
+In the early days every lighthouse tower was provided with a heavy
+bell. Indeed, the ponderous dome of metal projecting from the lantern
+gallery was considered indispensable. The bell varied in weight from
+1,200 to 2,240 pounds, was fitted with a massive clapper, and when
+struck emitted a deep musical note. In order to enable the seafarer
+to gain some idea of his whereabouts, the fog-signals were given a
+sound-characteristic somewhat upon the lines of those in connection
+with the light. Thus, one lighthouse would give one stroke every ten
+seconds; another would give two strokes in quick succession, followed
+by a long silence, and so on. This system suffers from the severe
+handicap that the sound does not travel very far during foggy weather.
+
+Another ingenious engineer recommended the utilization of the
+locomotive whistle, giving a high-toned, ear-piercing shriek, but
+the same objection as attended the use of the bell prevailed: the
+sound could not be heard more than a short distance away. The British
+lighthouse authorities submitted the idea to a series of searching
+investigations to ascertain its possibilities, but eventually were
+compelled to conclude that it was not superior to, if as good as, the
+other systems then in vogue. The United States authorities, as a result
+of their independent experiments, expressed a similar opinion; but in
+Canada practical application gave this whistle a favourable verdict.
+
+Rockets also have been adopted, and are highly successful. Indeed, this
+method of conveying audible warning prevails still in many countries.
+The practicability of such a means of throwing sound over a wide area
+was advanced by Sir Richard Collinson, when Deputy-Master of Trinity
+House, and his idea comprised the insertion of a gun-cotton charge,
+timed to explode at a given height, in the head of the rocket. The
+height could be varied up to about 1,000 feet, and the weight of
+the charge fluctuated according to requirements. The rocket system
+was tested very severely, and in some instances the report was heard
+as many as twenty-five miles away. It received the approbation of
+Professor Tyndall, and, although superior methods of signalling have
+been devised since, there remain one or two lighthouse stations where
+it is considered to be the most satisfactory fog-signalling device,
+notably the station on the island of Heligoland, where the rocket is
+hurled into the air to explode at a height of nearly 700 feet.
+
+In many lighthouses the detonation of gun-cotton constitutes the means
+of conveying warning to passing vessels, but is accomplished in a
+different manner. The charge, instead of being sent into the air to
+be exploded, is attached to a special device which is supported upon
+a simple frame at a point above the lantern, so that no damage may
+be inflicted upon the glass of the latter from the concussion. The
+apparatus is fitted with a safety device which prevents premature
+explosion, so that the keeper is preserved from personal injury, and,
+unless culpable negligence is manifested, the charge cannot be ignited
+until it has been raised to its designed position. The report is of
+great volume, and as a rule can be heard a considerable distance; but
+in this, as in all other cases, the atmosphere plays many strange
+tricks. Still, it has not been superseded yet for isolated sea-rock
+lighthouses, such as the Eddystone, Skerryvore, and Bell Rock, where
+there is lack of adequate space for the installation of any other
+equally efficient fog-signalling facilities.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE SIRENS OF THE LIZARD.
+
+Owing to the importance of the Lizard Station and the fact that the
+coast often is obscured by fog, a powerful fog-signalling station is
+imperative.]
+
+In the early seventies an American investigator, Mr. C. L. Daboll,
+contrived an entirely new system, which developed into the foundation
+of one of the most successful fog-signalling devices for lighthouses
+which has been discovered--the siren. The Daboll invention was a huge
+trumpet, recalling a mammoth phonograph horn. It was 17 feet in length,
+and its mouth was 38 inches in diameter. In the lower end of this
+trumpet--the throat--was placed a tongue of steel measuring 10 inches
+in length and secured at one end to form a reed. It was blown by air
+compressed in a reservoir to the desired degree, and then permitted to
+escape through the trumpet. The mad rush of the expanding air through
+the constricted passage set the reed vibrating violently, causing the
+emission of a penetrating, discordant bellow. When Daboll commenced his
+experiments, he suffered from the lack of a suitable mechanical means
+for compressing the air, and made shift with a donkey for this purpose
+until the hot-air engine was improved, when the latter was substituted.
+
+Trinity House adopted the idea and found it serviceable; but the
+Canadian authorities, after four years’ experiment, dissented from this
+view, remarking that the trumpet was expensive to maintain, unreliable
+in working, and liable to break down when most urgently needed. In
+fact, they characterized the Daboll trumpets which they had installed
+as “sources of danger instead of aids to navigation.”
+
+From the trumpet to the siren was not a very big step. The history
+of the latter’s invention is somewhat obscure, but it was brought
+before the United States Government in a primitive form. The American
+engineers, recognizing its latent possibilities, took it up, and
+endeavoured to improve it to such a degree as to render it suitable
+for lighthouse work. Their efforts were only partially successful.
+The solution of the many difficulties attending its perfection
+was effected in Great Britain by Professor Frederick Hale Holmes,
+whose magneto-electric machine brought electricity within reach
+of the lighthouse as an illuminant, and it was due to the efforts
+of this scientist that the siren became one of the most efficient
+sound-producing instruments which have been discovered for this class
+of work.
+
+The reason that made Professor Holmes bring his energies and knowledge
+to bear upon this subject was somewhat curious. The siren in its
+first form made its way from the United States to Great Britain. The
+British Admiralty realized the power and penetration of its sound,
+and forthwith adopted it in the navy, operating it by steam instead
+of by air. At this there arose a great outcry from the mercantile
+marine. Captains argued that the similarity of the signals confused
+and often misled them, as they could not tell in the fog whether the
+sound proceeded from a warship or a lighthouse. The Board of Trade was
+forced to intervene, but, as it had no jurisdiction over the Admiralty,
+it sought to extricate itself from an awkward situation by inviting
+Professor Holmes to perfect a siren which would emit a distinctive
+sound. His efforts were crowned with complete success.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE FIXED (A) AND REVOLVING (B) PARTS OF THE
+SIREN.]
+
+Professor Holmes exhibited his wonderful device at the Paris Exhibition
+of 1867. He installed it in working order, and the visitors displayed
+an anxiety to hear it. It was brought into action, and those around
+never forgot the experience. It was the most diabolical ear-splitting
+noise which had been heard, and, apprehensive that serious results
+might arise from its demonstration when the buildings were thronged
+with sight-seers, the authorities refused to permit it to be sounded
+again. The humorous illustrated papers did not suffer such a golden
+opportunity to escape. Grotesque and laughable cartoons appeared
+depicting the curious effects produced by the blast of the instrument,
+one showing the various statues being frightened off their pedestals
+proving exceptionally popular.
+
+The siren in its simplest form is an enlarged edition of the “Deviline”
+toy whistle. There is a Daboll trumpet with a small throat, in which
+is placed horizontally, not a reed, but a metal disc, so as to fill
+the whole circular space of the throat. The sheet of metal is pierced
+with a number of radial slits. Behind this disc is a second plate of
+a similar character, and likewise pierced with radial slits of the
+same size, shape and number; but whereas the first disc is fixed, the
+second is mounted on a spindle. The free disc rotates at high speed,
+so that the twelve jets of air which are driven through the throat are
+interrupted intermittently by the blanks of the revolving disc coming
+over the openings in the fixed disc, while when the two slits are in
+line the air has a free passage. If the revolving disc completes 3,000
+revolutions per minute, and there are twelve slits in the discs, then a
+total of 36,000 vibrations per minute is produced while the instrument
+is in operation. The speed of the revolving disc, as well as the number
+and size of the openings, varies according to the size and class of the
+siren; but in any case an intensely powerful, dense and penetrating
+musical tone is emitted, which can be heard a considerable distance
+away. The blast of a high-powered large siren has been heard at a
+distance of twenty to thirty miles in clear weather, though of course
+in thick weather its range is reduced.
+
+While Professor Holmes was experimenting with this device, another
+investigator, Mr. Slight, of Trinity House, was wrestling with the same
+problem. Indeed, he may be described as the inventor of the modern
+siren. Although he effected only an apparently slight modification,
+it was the touch which rendered the instrument perfect, while it also
+removed the possibility of a breakdown at a critical moment, as he
+rendered the moving part freer in its working and eliminated the severe
+strains to which it was subjected. The improvement was appreciated by
+Professor Holmes, who adopted it immediately.
+
+While these indefatigable efforts were in progress, ingenious attempts
+were made to press Nature herself into operation. As is well known,
+there are many “blowing-holes” distributed throughout the world, where
+the water by erosion has produced a long, narrow cavern in the base
+of a rock, with a constricted outlet into the outer air. The waves,
+rushing into the cave, compress the air within, which, in its escape at
+high velocity through the small vent, produces a bellowing sound. It
+was this curious phenomenon which gave the Wolf Rock its name. General
+Hartmann Bache, of the United States Engineers, attempted in 1858 to
+make use of a blowing-hole on one of the Farallon Isles, lying forty
+miles off the entrance to San Francisco Bay. A chimney was built with
+bricks above the orifice, through which the air compressed by the waves
+below made its escape, and on top of this shaft a locomotive whistle
+was placed. The first effort was a dead failure, because the force of
+the rush of air was so great that it carried away the chimney; but in
+the second attempt success was achieved, and an excellent automatic
+whistle blared out night and day almost continuously and was audible
+for some distance out to sea. The only drawback was that in foggy
+weather, when the most intense sound was required, the signal was dumb
+owing to the smoothness of the water. This novel signal was maintained
+for some time and then was superseded by a powerful siren.
+
+One of the most interesting fog-signalling installations in service is
+that on the bald formidable hump of rock lying in the estuary of the
+Clyde, known as Ailsa Craig. For years this rock constituted a terrible
+menace to the crowded shipping of this important marine thoroughfare,
+and its victims were numerous. While the Commissioners of Northern
+Lighthouses mitigated its terrors as far as possible by the provision
+of a powerful light, they recognized the fact that a visual warning
+did not meet the situation completely. But the installation of a
+fog-signal was a somewhat peculiar problem, owing to the configuration
+of the rock. A single station would not meet requirements, because it
+was necessary to throw the warning from both sides of the obstruction.
+The provision of two sound-stations would have been an expensive
+matter, even if it had been feasible, which it was not, owing to the
+precipitous nature of the cliffs.
+
+An ingenious solution was advanced by Mr. Charles Ingrey, C.E. He
+proposed to erect a central power-station and to control the sounding
+of two sirens, placed on opposite sides of the island, therefrom,
+the compressed air being led through underground piping. The plans
+were submitted to Messrs. Stevenson, the engineers to the Northern
+Lighthouse Board, who, after examining the proposal thoroughly, gave
+it their approval. But when it came to obtaining the sanction for
+the requisite expenditure from the Board of Trade, that august body,
+despite the fact that the project had been investigated and had
+received the approbation of the engineers to the Northern Lighthouse
+Commissioners, declined to permit public money to be expended upon
+an untried scheme. Such is the way in which pioneering effort and
+ingenuity are stifled by Government departments.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACETYLENE FOG-GUN.
+
+The latest ingenious device for giving both audible and visual warning
+automatically.]
+
+Many another engineer would have abandoned the project after such
+a rebuff, but Mr. Ingrey without any delay laid down a complete
+installation upon the lines he contemplated on the island of Pladda,
+where a Holmes fog-horn was in service. With the aid of a workman
+whom he took from Glasgow, the light-keepers and some farm labourers,
+this trial installation was completed, the piping being carried round
+the island from the air-compressing plant to the fog-signal. The
+work occupied about a fortnight, and then, everything being ready to
+convince the sceptical Board of Trade, the inspecting engineers were
+treated to a comprehensive and conclusive demonstration. They were
+satisfied with what they saw, appreciated the reliability of the idea
+and gave the requisite sanction. Forthwith the Ailsa Craig Island
+installation was put in hand and duly completed.
+
+This plant possesses many ingenious features. As the light is derived
+from gas distilled from crude oil, a small gas-making plant is
+installed on the island, and this is used also for driving a battery
+of five eight-horse-power gas-engines--four are used at a time, the
+fifth being in reserve--to supply the thirty-horse-power demanded to
+operate the fog-signal. The energy thus developed drives two sets of
+powerful air-compressors, the four cylinders of which have a bore
+of 10 inches by a stroke of 20 inches, the air being compressed to 80
+pounds per square inch and stored in two large air-receivers which hold
+194 cubic feet. From this reservoir pipes buried in a trench excavated
+from the solid rock extend to the two trumpets, placed on the north
+and south sides of the island respectively. The length of piping on
+the north side is 3,400 feet, and on the south side 2,500 feet. At
+places where the pipe makes a dip, owing to the configuration of the
+rock, facilities are provided to draw off any water which may collect.
+Extreme care had to be displayed in connecting the lengths of piping,
+so that there might be no leakage, in which event, of course, the
+pressure of the air would drop and thereby incapacitate the signal.
+
+[Illustration: THE RATTRAY HEAD LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+A very exposed Scottish rock tower. It is unique because a full-powered
+siren fog-signal is installed therein.]
+
+Each signal is mounted in a domed house built of concrete, the mouth
+of the trumpet extending from the crown of the roof. Within the house
+is an air-receiver 9 feet in height by 4½ feet in diameter, of about
+140 cubic feet capacity, which receives the compressed air transmitted
+through the piping from the compressing-station. It also contains
+the automatic apparatus whereby the signal is brought into action
+at the stipulated intervals, so as to produce the requisite sound
+characteristic. This is a self-winding clockwork mechanism which admits
+and cuts off the supply of air to the trumpets, its chief feature
+being that the clock is wound up by the compressed air itself, so that
+it is entirely free from human control. However, as a breakdown even
+with the best-designed and most-carefully-tended machinery cannot be
+circumvented entirely, there is a duplicate electrical mechanism,
+also automatically controlled from the power-generating station, the
+electric cables for which are laid in the pipe trenches. This acts as
+an emergency control.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson._
+
+SULE SKERRY LIGHT.
+
+A lonely light of Scotland. The nearest land is the Butt of Lewis, 30
+miles distant.]
+
+The two signals are not sounded simultaneously; neither are they
+alike nor of the same tone. The north signal gives a single blast of
+high tone, lasting five seconds, and then is silent for 175 seconds.
+On the south side the siren gives a double note, although there are
+three blasts--viz., high, low, high--corresponding to the letter R of
+the Morse code. The notes are sounded for two seconds, with similar
+intervening periods of silence, and silence for 170 seconds between
+the groups. The complete signal from the two stations is given once
+in three minutes, the north signal commencing to sound ninety seconds
+after the south signal has ceased. The high note corresponds to the
+fourth E in the musical compass, there being 38,400 vibrations per
+minute; while the low note is tuned to the third D in the musical
+compass, with 16,800 vibrations per minute. The notes are purposely
+timed more than an octave apart and made discordant, as thereby
+the sound is more likely to attract attention and to be readily
+distinguished.
+
+About eighteen minutes are required to bring the apparatus into
+operation--that is, to start compressing and to raise the pressure of
+the air to the requisite degree--but, as fogs descend upon the Clyde
+with startling suddenness, the signals may be started within five
+minutes of the fog-alarm. The air-reservoirs are kept charged to the
+working pressure, the machinery being run once or twice for a short
+time every week for this purpose and to keep the plant in working order.
+
+Up to this time it had been the practice to place the siren in close
+proximity to the air-compressing machinery, but the installation at
+Ailsa Craig proves conclusively that this is not essential to success;
+also it demonstrates the fact that a number of signals can be operated
+reliably and effectively from a central station. Indeed, this Scottish
+plant aroused such widespread interest that the Pulsometer Engineering
+Company of Reading, who had acquired Professor Holmes’s patents and who
+carried out the above installation, received several inquiries from
+abroad with regard to its suitability for similar situations. In one
+instance the compressed air was to be transmitted for a distance of
+nearly four miles.
+
+While the siren has been adopted and found adequate by the majority
+of nations, the Canadian Government has installed a far more powerful
+instrument upon the River St. Lawrence, as the ordinary siren signals
+originally established near the mouth of the river, although of
+great power, were found to be inadequate. The new apparatus, which
+is known as the “diaphone,” gives an extraordinarily powerful sound.
+It comprises a cylindrical chamber, in the walls of which are cut a
+number of parallel slits. Concentrically disposed within the chamber
+is a cylindrical hollow piston, with similar slits and a flange at one
+end, the whole being enclosed in an outer casing. Air under pressure
+is admitted into the outer casing, and drives the piston backwards and
+forwards with great rapidity. The result is that the air effects its
+escape through the orifices, when they come into line, in intermittent
+puffs.
+
+While the broad principle is not unlike that of the conventional
+siren, the main difference is that in the latter there is a rotary
+motion, whereas in the diaphone the action is reciprocating. The great
+advantage of the latter is that all the vibrations are synchronous,
+owing to the symmetrical disposition of the slits, and consequently
+the note produced is very pure. The mechanism is so devised that the
+piston’s motion is controlled to a nicety, and the sound is constant.
+Experience has proved that the best results are obtained by using air
+at a pressure of 30 pounds per square inch. The sound thus produced
+is intensified to a markedly greater degree by means of a resonator
+properly attuned.
+
+This instrument has displaced the siren among the stations upon the St.
+Lawrence River. The general type of apparatus has a piston 4½ inches
+in diameter, and uses 11 pounds of air per second during the sounding
+of the blast. But at more important stations a far larger and more
+powerful class of apparatus is used, the diaphone at Cape Race having a
+piston 8½ inches in diameter and using 27 feet of air per second while
+sounding. This does not indicate the limit of size, however, since the
+builders of this terrible noise-producer are experimenting with an
+apparatus having a piston 14 inches in diameter. The sound issuing from
+such a huge apparatus would be almost as deafening as the report of a
+big gun and should succeed in warning a mariner several miles away.
+
+The atmosphere, however, plays many strange pranks with the most
+powerful sound-producing instruments. To-day, for instance, a
+fog-signal may be heard at a distance of ten miles; to-morrow it will
+fail to be audible more than a mile away. This aberration of sound is
+extraordinary and constitutes one of the unsolved problems of science.
+Innumerable investigations have been made with the object of finding
+the cause of this erratic action, but no conclusive explanation has
+been forthcoming. Another strange trick is that, while a sound may be
+audible at distances of two and four miles during a fog, it fails to
+strike the ear at three miles. It is as if the sound struck the water
+at a range of two miles, bounded high into the air, and again fell upon
+the water at four miles, giving a second leap to hit the water again
+farther on, in much the same way as a thin flat stone, when thrown
+horizontally into the water, will hop, skip, and jump over the surface.
+This trick renders the task of the lighthouse engineer additionally
+exasperating and taxes his ingenuity to the utmost, as it appears to
+baffle completely any attempt towards its elimination.
+
+Recently another ingenious and novel system has been perfected by
+Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson. This is an acetylene gun which acts
+automatically. Hitherto an unattended fog-signal--except the bell-buoy
+tolled by the movement of the waves, which is far from satisfactory,
+or the whistling buoy, which is operated upon the same lines and is
+equally ineffective except at very short range--has found little
+favour. The objections to the bell and whistle buoys are the faintness
+of the sounds, which may be drowned by the noises produced on the ship
+herself; while, if the wind is blowing away from the vessel, she may
+pass within a few feet of the signal, yet outside its range. Thus it
+will be recognized that the fog-gun serves to fill a very important gap
+in connection with the warning of seafarers during thick weather.
+
+As is well known, even a small charge of acetylene, when fired, will
+produce a loud report, and this characteristic of the gas induced
+Messrs. Stevenson to apply it to a fog-signal. They have developed
+the automatic acetylene system of lighting to a very high degree
+around the coasts of Scotland, and there are now more than twenty
+lights of this class, mostly unattended, in operation, some of which
+have been established for many years. These lights have proved highly
+satisfactory. There has never been an accident, a freedom which is due
+to the fact that Moye’s system is used, wherein the possibilities of
+mishap are surmounted very effectively. Accordingly, the engineers saw
+no reason why a similar system should not be adapted to the emission of
+sound instead of light signals, or, if desired, of both simultaneously.
+Their experiments have been crowned with complete success, and, as the
+gun uses no more gas than would be consumed if a flashing light system
+were used, the cost of operation is very low.
+
+The general features of the acetylene fog-gun may be observed from the
+illustration (facing p. 64). The acetylene, dissolved in acetone, is
+contained under pressure in a cylinder, and thence passes through a
+reducing valve to an annular space, where it is ignited by an electric
+spark. A trumpet is attached to the firing chamber, so that the sound
+becomes intensified. If desired, the explosion can be effected at the
+burner, so that, in addition to a sound-signal, a flashing light is
+given.
+
+The applications vary according to the circumstances. Suppose there is
+an unlighted bell-buoy at the bar of a port. Here the procedure is to
+install a gun and light combined, so that the flash of the explosion
+may give visual and the report audible warning. Or, should there be a
+lighted buoy already in position, its effectiveness may be enhanced
+by adding the gun, the detonation alone being employed for warning
+purposes. The size of the cylinder containing the dissolved acetylene
+may be varied, so that renewal need only be carried out once in one,
+two, or more months, according to conditions. If the increasing traffic
+around a certain rock demand that the latter should be marked, a
+combined sound and light apparatus can be installed. It may be that the
+head of a pier which is accessible only at certain times, or a beacon
+which can be reached only at rare intervals, may require improved
+facilities. In this case the gun can be set up and a cable laid to a
+convenient spot which may be approached at all times by an attendant.
+Then the latter, by the movement of a switch, can bring the gun
+instantly into action upon the alarm of fog, and it will keep firing at
+the set intervals until, the fog lifting, the gun is switched off.
+
+In some cases, where the apparatus is set upon a lonely rock,
+a submarine cable may be laid between the marked point and the
+control-station. The cable is not a very costly addition. There are
+many lights where wages have to be paid merely for a man to bring the
+fog-signalling bell machinery into action. In such cases a fog-gun can
+be installed and the annual cost of maintenance decreased enormously,
+thereby enabling the outlay on the gun to be recouped within a very
+short time; while the light may be improved by using the flashes, so
+that the warning can be rendered more distinctive.
+
+The invention is also applicable to lightships, many of which are
+manned by four men or more at a large cost per annum. In the majority
+of cases an unattended Stevenson lightship--such as described in
+another chapter, six of which are in use around the coasts of Scotland,
+and which give, not only a first-class light, but, by the aid of
+the fog-signal gun, can be made to give an excellent fog-signal as
+well--offers a means of reducing the heavy maintenance charges arising
+in connection with a manned light-vessel. In many instances existing
+lightships can be converted to the automatic system and completed by
+the gun. Each case must, of course, be decided upon its merits as
+regards the time the gun and light are required to work upon a single
+charge of acetylene, but there are no insuperable obstacles to its
+utilization.
+
+Of course, in an isolated station lying perhaps some miles off the
+mainland, it may be necessary to keep the gun going night and day in
+fog and in clear weather alike. In this case, naturally, the great
+number of explosions involves considerable expense; but the inventors
+are carrying out experiments with a view to switching the gun on and
+off, as required, from a distant point by means of wireless telegraphy,
+so as to effect a saving in the expenditure of acetylene when there is
+no need on account of fine weather to keep the gun going. Still, it
+must not be supposed that the detonations even during clear weather
+are altogether abortive, inasmuch as a sound-signal at sea, where
+the atmosphere has a long-distance-carrying capacity as a rule, in
+conjunction with a light, draws double attention to a danger spot.
+Under such circumstances the waste of acetylene gas during periods of
+clear weather is more apparent than real.
+
+The contest against the elements is still being waged, and slowly but
+surely engineering science is improving its position, and is hopeful of
+rendering audible signals as completely effective as those of a visual
+character.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE
+
+
+It is doubtful whether the name of any lighthouse is so familiar
+throughout the English-speaking world as the “Eddystone.” Certainly
+no other “pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day,” can offer so
+romantic a story of dogged engineering perseverance, of heartrending
+disappointments, disaster, blasted hopes, and brilliant success.
+
+Standing out in the English Channel, about sixty miles east of the
+Lizard, is a straggling ridge of rocks which stretches for hundreds of
+yards across the marine thoroughfare, and also obstructs the western
+approach to Plymouth Harbour. But at a point some nine and a half miles
+south of Rame Head, on the mainland, the reef rises somewhat abruptly
+to the surface, so that at low-water two or three ugly granite knots
+are bared, which tell only too poignantly the complete destruction
+they could wreak upon a vessel which had the temerity or the ill luck
+to scrape over them at high-tide. Even in the calmest weather the
+sea curls and eddies viciously around these stones; hence the name
+“Eddystones” is derived.
+
+From the days when trading vessels first used the English Channel the
+reef has been a spot of evil fame. How many ships escaped the perils
+and dangers of the seven seas only to come to grief on this ridge
+within sight of home, or how many lives have been lost upon it, will
+never be known. Only the more staggering holocausts, such as the wreck
+of the _Winchelsea_, stand out prominently in the annals of history,
+but these serve to emphasize the terrible character of the menace
+offered. The port of Plymouth, as may be supposed, suffered with
+especial severity.
+
+As British overseas traffic expanded, the idea of indicating the
+spot for the benefit of vessels was discussed. The first practical
+suggestion was put forward about the year 1664, but thirty-two years
+elapsed before any attempt was made to reduce theory to practice.
+Then an eccentric English country gentleman, Henry Winstanley, who
+dabbled in mechanical engineering upon unorthodox lines, came forward
+and offered to build a lighthouse upon the terrible rock. Those who
+knew this ambitious amateur were dubious of his success, and wondered
+what manifestation his eccentricity would assume on this occasion. Nor
+was their scepticism entirely misplaced. Winstanley raised the most
+fantastic lighthouse which has ever been known, and which would have
+been more at home in a Chinese cemetery than in the English Channel.
+It was wrought in wood and most lavishly embellished with carvings and
+gilding.
+
+Four years were occupied in its construction, and the tower was
+anchored to the rock by means of long, heavy irons. The light, merely
+a flicker, flashed out from this tower in 1699 and for the first time
+the proximity of the Eddystones was indicated all round the horizon
+by night. Winstanley’s critics were rather free in expressing their
+opinion that the tower would come down with the first sou’-wester, but
+the eccentric builder was so intensely proud of his achievement as to
+venture the statement that it would resist the fiercest gale that ever
+blew, and, when such did occur, he hoped that he might be in the tower
+at the time.
+
+Fate gratified his wish, for while he was on the rock in the year 1703
+one of the most terrible tempests that ever have assailed the coasts
+of Britain gripped the structure, tore it up by the roots, and hurled
+it into the Channel, where it was battered to pieces, its designer
+and five keepers going down with the wreck. When the inhabitants of
+Plymouth, having vainly scanned the horizon for a sign of the tower on
+the following morning, put off to the rock to investigate, they found
+only the bent and twisted iron rods by which the tower had been held in
+position projecting mournfully into the air from the rock-face.
+
+Shortly after the demolition of the tower, the reef, as if enraged at
+having been denied a number of victims owing to the existence of the
+warning light, trapped the _Winchelsea_ as she was swinging up Channel,
+and smashed her to atoms, with enormous loss of life.
+
+Although the first attempt to conquer the Eddystone had terminated so
+disastrously, it was not long before another effort was made to mark
+the reef. The builder this time was a Cornish labourer’s son, John
+Rudyerd, who had established himself in business on Ludgate Hill as a
+silk-mercer. In his youth he had studied civil engineering, but his
+friends had small opinion of his abilities in this craft. However,
+he attacked the problem boldly, and, although his tower was a plain,
+business-looking structure, it would have been impossible to conceive
+a design capable of meeting the peculiar requirements of the situation
+more efficiently. It was a cone, wrought in timber, built upon a stone
+and wood foundation anchored to the rock, and of great weight and
+strength. The top of the cone was cut off to permit the lantern to be
+set in position. The result was that externally the tower resembled
+the trunk of an oak-tree, and appeared to be just about as strong. It
+offered the minimum of resistance to the waves, which, tumbling upon
+the ledge, rose and curled around the tapering form without starting a
+timber.
+
+Rudyerd, indeed, may be considered to be the father of the science of
+modern lighthouse designing, because the lines that he evolved have
+never been superseded for exposed positions even in these days of
+advanced engineering science, greater constructional facilities, and
+improved materials. Rudyerd’s ingenuity and skill received a triumphant
+vindication when the American engineers set out to build the Minot’s
+Ledge and Spectacle Reef lighthouses, inasmuch as these men followed
+slavishly in the lines he laid down, and their achievements are
+numbered among the great lighthouses of the world to-day.
+
+Rudyerd built his tower with infinite care, although he was harassed in
+his operations by the depredations of French privateers, who haunted
+this part of the British coast. On one occasion the whole of the men
+were surprised while at their work, and were borne off in triumph as
+prisoners of war to France. Louis XIV., however, heard of the capture,
+and the privateers, instead of being honoured for the catch, as they
+anticipated, were strongly reprimanded and compelled to release their
+captures. “Their work is for the benefit of all nations. I am at war
+with England, not with humanity,” was the Sovereign’s comment; and
+by way of compensation the prisoners were loaded with presents and
+reconveyed to the rock, to resume their toil.
+
+For forty years Rudyerd’s structure defied the elements, and probably
+would have been standing to this day had it not possessed one weak
+point. It was built of wood instead of stone. Consequently, when a fire
+broke out in the lantern on December 4, 1755, the flames, fanned by the
+breeze, rapidly made their way downwards. The keepers were impotent and
+sought what refuge they could find under projecting crags below, as
+the lead which had been employed in construction melted into drops and
+rained down on all sides, so that the unfortunate men were exposed to
+another and more alarming danger. In fact, one man, while watching the
+progress of the fire, was drenched with a shower of molten metal, some
+of which, he declared, had entered his open mouth and had penetrated
+into his stomach. When rescued he was writhing in fearful agony, but
+his story was received with incredulity, his comrades believing that
+the experience had turned his brain and that this was merely one of his
+delusions. When the man died, a post-mortem examination was made, and
+the doctors discovered ample corroboration of the man’s story in the
+form of a lump of lead weighing some seven ounces!
+
+No time was lost in erecting another tower on the rock, for now
+it was more imperative than ever that the reef should be lighted
+adequately. The third engineer was John Smeaton, who first landed on
+the rock to make the surveys on April 5, 1756. He was able to stay
+there for only two and a quarter hours before the rising tide drove
+him off, but in that brief period he had completed the work necessary
+to the preparation of his design. Wood had succumbed to the attacks
+of tempest and of fire in turn. He would use a material which would
+defy both--Portland stone. He also introduced a slight change in the
+design for such structures, and one which has been universally copied,
+producing the graceful form of lighthouse with which everyone is so
+familiar. Instead of causing the sides to slope upwards in the straight
+lines of a cone, such as Rudyerd adopted, Smeaton preferred a slightly
+concave curve, so that the tower was given a waist at about half its
+height. He also selected the oak-tree as his guide, but one having an
+extensive spread of branches, wherein will be found a shape in the
+trunk, so far as the broad lines are concerned, which coincides with
+the form of Smeaton’s lighthouse. He chose a foundation where the rock
+shelved gradually to its highest point, and dropped vertically into the
+water upon the opposite side. The face of the rock was roughly trimmed
+to permit the foundation-stones of the tower to be laid. The base of
+the building was perfectly solid to the entrance level, and each stone
+was dovetailed securely into its neighbour.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE EDDYSTONE, THE MOST FAMOUS LIGHTHOUSE OF ENGLAND.
+
+To the right is the stump of Smeaton’s historic tower.]
+
+From the entrance, which was about 15 feet above high-water, a central
+well, some 5 feet in diameter, containing a staircase, led to the
+storeroom, nearly 30 feet above high-water. Above this was a second
+storeroom, a living-room as the third floor, and the bedroom beneath
+the lantern. The light was placed about 72 feet above high-water,
+and comprised a candelabra having two rings, one smaller than, and
+placed within, the other, but raised about a foot above its level, the
+two being held firmly in position by means of chains suspended from
+the roof and secured to the floor. The rings were adapted to receive
+twenty-four lights, each candle weighing about 2¾ ounces. Even candle
+manufacture was in its infancy in those days, and periodically the
+keepers had to enter the lantern to snuff the wicks. In order to keep
+the watchers of the lights on the alert, Smeaton installed a clock of
+the grandfather pattern in the tower, and fitted it with a gong,
+which struck every half-hour to apprise the men of these duties. This
+clock is now one of the most interesting relics in the museum at
+Trinity House.
+
+The first stone of the tower was laid on a Sunday in June, 1757, as
+the date on the block indicates; and although work had to be pursued
+fitfully and for only a few hours at a time between the tides, in the
+early stages, Smeaton seized every opportunity offered by the wind
+and sea to push the task forward. For four years the men slaved upon
+the rock, and, although the mechanical handling appliances of those
+days were primitive, the tower was completed without a single mishap.
+The solidity of the structure, and its lines, which, as the engineer
+stated, would offer the minimum of resistance to the Atlantic rollers,
+but at the same time would insure the utmost stability, aroused
+widespread admiration, for it was felt that the engineer had triumphed
+over Nature at last. Many people expressed a desire to see how the
+tower would weather such a storm as carried away Winstanley’s freakish
+building, especially as, in a roaring sou’-wester, the waves hurled
+themselves upon the ledge to wreathe and curl upwards to a point far
+above the dome, blotting the light from sight. The supreme test came
+in 1762, when the lighthouse was subjected to a battering and pounding
+far heavier than any that it had previously known. But the tower
+emerged from this ordeal unscathed, and Smeaton’s work was accepted as
+invulnerable.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+A THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
+
+Landing upon the Eddystone by the crane rope during a rough sea.]
+
+The lighthouse had been standing for 120 years, when ominous reports
+were received by the Trinity Brethren concerning the stability of the
+tower. The keepers stated that during severe storms the building shook
+alarmingly. A minute inspection of the structure was made, and it was
+found that, although the work of Smeaton’s masons was above reproach,
+time and weather had left their mark. The tower was becoming decrepit.
+The binding cement had decayed, and the air imprisoned and compressed
+within the interstices by the waves was disintegrating the structure
+slowly but surely. While there was no occasion to apprehend a sudden
+collapse, still it was considered advisable to take precautionary
+measures in time. Unfortunately, it was not feasible to strengthen
+Smeaton’s tower so adequately as to give it a new lease of life, while
+lighthouse engineering had made rapid strides in certain details since
+it was completed. Another factor to be considered was the desire for a
+more elevated light, capable of throwing its rays to a greater distance.
+
+Under these circumstances it was decided to build a new tower on
+another convenient ledge, forming part of the main reef, about 120 feet
+distant. Sir James Douglass, the Engineer-in-Chief to Trinity House,
+completed the designs and personally superintended their execution.
+The Smeaton lines were taken as a basis, with one important exception.
+Instead of the curve commencing at the foundations, the latter
+comprised a perfect cylindrical monolith of masonry 22 feet in height
+by 44 feet in diameter. From this base the tower springs to a height
+which brings the focal plane 130 feet above the highest spring-tides.
+The top of the base is 30 inches above high-water, and the tower’s
+diameter at this point being less than that of its plinth, the set-off
+forms an excellent landing-stage when the weather permits.
+
+The site selected for the Douglass tower being lower than that chosen
+by Smeaton, the initial work was more exacting, as the duration
+of the working period was reduced. The rock, being gneiss, was
+extremely tough, and the preliminary quarrying operations for the
+foundation-stones which had to be sunk into the rock were tedious and
+difficult, especially as the working area was limited. Each stone was
+dovetailed, not only to its neighbour on either side, but below and
+above as well. The foundation-stones were dovetailed into the reef,
+and were secured still further by the aid of two bolts, each 1½ inches
+in diameter, which were passed through the stone and sunk deeply into
+the rock below. The exposed position of the reef enabled work to be
+continued only fitfully during the calmest weather, for often when wind
+and sea were quiet the rock was inaccessible owing to the swell. Upon
+the approach of bad weather everything was made fast under the direct
+supervision of the engineer--a man who took no chances.
+
+From the set-off the tower is solid to a height of 25½ feet, except
+for two fresh-water tanks sunk in the floor of the entrance-room,
+which hold 4,700 gallons. At this point the walls are no less than
+8½ feet thick, and the heavy teak door is protected by an outer door
+of gun-metal, weighing a ton, both of which are closed during rough
+weather.
+
+The tower has eight floors, exclusive of the entrance; there are two
+oilrooms, one above the other, holding 4,300 gallons of oil, above
+which is a coal and store room, followed by a second storeroom. Outside
+the tower at this level is a crane, by which supplies are hoisted, and
+which also facilitates the landing and embarkation of the keepers, who
+are swung through the air in a stirrup attached to the crane rope.
+Then in turn come the living-room, the “low-light” room, bedroom,
+service-room, and finally the lantern. For the erection of the tower,
+2,171 blocks of granite, which were previously fitted temporarily in
+their respective positions on shore, and none of which weighed less
+than 2 tons, were used. When the work was commenced, the engineer
+estimated that the task would occupy five years, but on May 18, 1882,
+the lamp was lighted by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Master of Trinity
+House at the time, the enterprise having occupied only four years.
+Some idea may thus be obtained of the energy with which the labour was
+pressed forward, once the most trying sections were overcome.
+
+Whereas the former lights on this rock had been of the fixed type, a
+distinctive double flash was now introduced. The optical apparatus
+is of the biform dioptric type, emitting a beam of some 300,000
+candle-power intensity, which is visible for seventeen miles. In
+addition to this measure of warning, two powerful Argand burners,
+with reflectors, were set up in the low-light room for the purpose of
+throwing a fixed ray from a point 40 feet below the main flashing beam,
+to mark a dangerous reef lying 3½ miles to the north-west, known as
+Hand Deeps.
+
+When the new tower was completed and brought into service, the Smeaton
+building was demolished. This task was carried out with extreme care,
+inasmuch as the citizens of Plymouth had requested that the historic
+Eddystone structure might be re-erected on Plymouth Hoe, on the spot
+occupied by the existing Trinity House landmark. The authorities agreed
+to this proposal, and the ownership of the Smeaton tower was forthwith
+transferred to the people of Plymouth. But demolition was carried out
+only to the level of Smeaton’s lower storeroom. The staircase, well and
+entrance were filled up with masonry, the top was bevelled off, and in
+the centre of the stump an iron pole was planted. While the Plymouth
+Hoe relic is but one half of the tower, its re-erection was completed
+faithfully, and, moreover, carries the original candelabra which the
+famous engineer devised.
+
+Not only is the Douglass tower a beautiful example of lighthouse
+engineering, but it was relatively cheap. The engineer, when he
+prepared the designs, estimated that an outlay of £78,000, or $390,000,
+would be incurred. As a matter of fact, the building cost only £59,255,
+or $296,275, and a saving of £18,000, or $90,000, in a work of this
+magnitude is no mean achievement. All things considered, the Eddystone
+is one of the cheapest sea-rock lights which has ever been consummated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SOME FAMOUS LIGHTS OF ENGLAND
+
+
+The captain of the lordly liner, as he swings down Channel or
+approaches the English coast from the broad Atlantic, maintains a
+vigilant watch until the light or the slender proportions of the lonely
+outpost rising apparently from the ocean’s depths off the south-west
+corner of the Scilly Islands, become visible. This is the Bishop Rock,
+the western sentinel of the English Channel, mounting guard over as
+wicked a stretch of sea as may be found anywhere between the two Poles,
+where the maritime traffic is densest and where wrecks, unfortunately,
+are only too frequent; for the toll levied by the sea off the Cornish
+coast is fearful.
+
+Among these islands was planted one of the first beacons erected off
+the British coasts. At the outset it was merely a wood bonfire, then a
+brazier, and finally a lighthouse, which crowned St. Agnes’s height, to
+guide the mariner on his way. But to-day the St. Agnes light is no more
+than a memory. Two or three years ago the keepers quenched the light in
+the misty grey of the dawn for the last time. The vigil which had been
+maintained over shipping uninterruptedly through some 230 years was
+ended. On a neighbouring point a superior modern light had been planted
+which took up the sacred duty. Although established in 1680, the St.
+Agnes was not the oldest light in England. This distinction belongs to
+the North Foreland light on the East Kentish coast, which was set going
+as far back as 1636. This warning was shed from a tower of timber,
+lath, and plaster, built by Sir John Meldrum, but it fell a victim to
+fire forty-seven years later. The light was reconstructed promptly, and
+to-day throws a red and white gleam of 35,000 candle-power, which may
+be picked up twenty miles away.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE “BISHOP,” THE WESTERN OUTPOST OF ENGLAND.
+
+This tower marks a treacherous reef, rising from the depths of the
+Atlantic off the Scilly Islands. Its slim proportions are familiar to
+Transatlantic passengers.]
+
+The south-western extremity of England, however, is far more to be
+dreaded than the south-eastern. Here Nature mixed land and water in
+an inextricable maze during her moulding process. Deep, tortuous,
+wide channels separate rugged granite islets, while long, ugly ridges
+creep stealthily out to sea beneath the pall of water, ready to trap
+the unsuspecting vessel which ventures too closely. If one were to
+take a map of this part of the country, were to dig one leg of a
+compass into the Lizard Head, stretching the other so as to reach the
+Eddystone light, and then were to describe a circle, the enclosed space
+would contain more famous sea-rock lights than a similar area on any
+other part of the globe. Within its circumference there would be the
+Eddystone, Bishop Rock, Wolf, and Longships, each of which lifts its
+cupola above a wave-swept ledge of rocks.
+
+The need for an adequate indication of the Scillies was felt long
+before the Eddystone gained its ill fame. These scattered masses of
+granite, numbering about 140 in all, break up the expanse of the
+Atlantic about twenty miles south-west of the Cornish mainland. Now,
+the maritime traffic flowing in and out of the English Channel is
+divided into two broad classes--the coastal and the oversea trade
+respectively. The former is able to creep through the dangerous channel
+separating the Scillies from the mainland, but the latter has to make a
+détour to the south. One fringe of the broken cluster is as dangerous
+as the other, so that both streams of trade demand protection.
+
+On the south side the knots dot the sea in all directions. They are
+mere black specks, many only revealing themselves at lowest tides;
+others do not betray their existence even then. The outermost ledge
+is the Bishop Rock, where disasters have been fearful and numerous.
+One of the most terrible catastrophes on record happened here,
+when three vessels of Sir Cloudesley Shovel’s fleet went to pieces
+in the year 1707, and dragged 2,000 men down with them, including
+the Admiral himself. In more recent times, some two or three years
+ago, the Atlantic transport liner _Minnehaha_ dragged her lumbering
+body over the selfsame attenuated rampart, and was badly damaged
+before she could be rescued. As may be supposed, in days gone by the
+awful character of the coast brought prosperity to the inhabitants
+of Cornwall, who reaped rich harvests from the inhuman practice of
+wrecking, in which horrible work the Scilly Islanders were easily
+pre-eminent and more successful, since they held the outer lines upon
+which the majority of ships came to grief.
+
+In the forties of last century it was decided that this graveyard
+should be marked, but there was one great difficulty. This was the
+exposure of the low-lying rock to some 4,000 miles of open Atlantic,
+where the rollers rise and fall with a force that turns the waters for
+miles around into a seething maelstrom of foam and surf. The aspect
+presented at this spot during a stiff south-westerly or westerly gale
+is terrifying in the extreme, and it is not surprising that approaching
+vessels stand so far off that the tower is often barely discernible
+against the background of cloud and banks of mist caused by the spray
+hurled into the air from the breakers smashing on the rocks.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE WOLF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+One of the famous lights of England. Owing to the rocks being exposed
+to the full fury of the Atlantic, its erection was attended with
+prodigious difficulty.]
+
+When it was proposed to build a lighthouse upon a crag in the heart
+of this vortex, many people who knew the neighbourhood shook their
+heads doubtfully. The ledge was so small, the force of the elements
+so powerful, that it appeared to be tempting Fate unduly to attempt
+the erection of a slim stalk of stonework thereon. Some records of
+the wind pressure exerted during the heaviest tempests were taken,
+and they showed that the pressure of the wind at times exceeded 7,000
+pounds per square foot. It was decided to provide a structure which
+should offer the minimum of resistance to the waves. This assumed the
+form of the iron screw-pile tower so common in American waters. The
+legs were cast-iron tubes sunk into the solid granite, braced and
+stayed by means of wrought-iron rods. The engineers maintained that the
+waves would be able to roll unrestrainedly among the piles, instead of
+being obstructed, so that the skeleton building would escape the heavy
+buffetings which solid masonry would experience.
+
+But engineering science proved woefully frail when pitted against the
+unharnessed forces of Nature. A heavy gale sprang up one night; the
+waves rose and fell upon the stilts, broke them up like reeds, and
+carried away the whole of the superstructure. The following low-tide
+revealed only a few short lengths of broken and bent tubes, around
+which the waves bubbled and hissed as if in triumph at their victory.
+Thus ended the first attempt to provide the Bishop Rock with a
+lighthouse.
+
+The engineer, though defeated, was not dismayed. As a skeleton
+structure was impotent, he would erect a massive masonry tower which
+not all the force of the waves could avail to demolish. Although the
+reef is about 150 feet in length by 52 feet in width, the engineer,
+James Walker, was not afforded much space upon which to place his
+creation. He reconnoitred the ridge, and finally chose a small lump
+just sufficiently large upon which to effect a foothold. The Smeaton
+type of tower was his model, and the surface of the rock was trimmed to
+receive the first blocks. This was the greatest difficulty. Unless the
+sea were as smooth as a millpond, he was helpless, as the lowest blocks
+had to be laid a foot beneath low-water mark. A heavy cofferdam was
+erected around the site, and the water within was pumped out, so that
+the masons might be able to toil upon a dry rock-face.
+
+The exposed, isolated character of the spot rendered the housing of
+the workmen a problem in itself. They could not be accommodated on the
+site; a temporary dwelling on piles for their accommodation could not
+be established, as it would come down with the first gale, and housing
+on a tender was equally impracticable. There was a small uninhabited
+islet within convenient distance of the reef, and on this the
+living-quarters and workshops were erected, the men being transported
+to and fro whenever the conditions were suitable. Traces of this bygone
+industrial activity still remain on the island, but the sea-fowl have
+once more claimed it exclusively as their home. The working spells
+were brief, as well as being somewhat few and far between, while
+the base was being prepared. The granite was brought to the island
+depot, fashioned into shape, and then sent to the Bishop for erection.
+Granite was used exclusively, and in 1878, after seven years’ arduous
+labour, the tower, 120 feet in height, capped by a powerful light, was
+completed: the dreaded Bishop Rock was conquered at last.
+
+When it was first commissioned, four men were deputed to watch this
+light, three being on the rock, and the fourth man on leave at St.
+Mary’s. The duty was for three months continuous, one man being
+relieved every month if possible; but, as a matter of fact, the spell
+on the rock often was increased, owing to the weather rendering it
+impossible to exchange the men. The character of their duty, under the
+terrible assaults of the sea, played havoc with the constitutions and
+nerves of the lighthouse-keepers. They became taciturn, and inevitably
+fell victims to neurasthenia, owing to their long periods of isolation.
+Accordingly the authorities gradually relaxed the spell of duty,
+until now it comprises a month on the rock, followed by a fortnight
+ashore, while six men, instead of four, are appointed to the station.
+The Bishop light demands watchers of iron constitution and prolonged
+experience of the rigours of imprisonment upon a lonely rock. The men
+appear to suffer most from the fear that one day the seas will regain
+the upper hand and carry the slender-looking shaft of masonry away.
+When the Atlantic is roused to fury, the din created by the waves
+smashing against the tower and reef is so deafening that the keepers
+can only converse by signs.
+
+The attacks which this tower has to withstand are fearful. When the
+equinoxes are raging, it is no uncommon circumstance for the waves
+to roll up the side of the tower and hurl themselves clean over
+the lantern. The enormous force of the water was brought home very
+startlingly to the attendants of the light one night, when a more than
+usually wicked breaker slid up the curved round face and wrenched the
+fog-bell, weighing 550 pounds, from its fastenings on the lantern
+gallery. The ponderous piece of metal was dashed on to the reef and
+smashed to fragments. A small piece was recovered after the gale, and
+is now preserved in the Trinity House museum as an interesting memento
+of the night when the Atlantic almost got the upper hand. The nerves of
+the men are tried severely, also, by memories of the terrible marine
+disasters which have happened on or near the ridge, such as that of the
+German packet _Schiller_, which went down in 1875 with the loss of 331
+lives.
+
+It is not surprising that the ceaseless attacks of the waves should
+have left their traces at last. The light had been burning for about
+twenty years, when tremors and quakings, similar to those observed
+in connection with Smeaton’s Eddystone tower, were reported to the
+authorities. Sir James Douglass visited the rock, and made a minute
+inspection. It was apparent that the lighthouse demanded extensive
+overhauling and strengthening if it were to be preserved. In fact,
+this was the only feasible course of action, as there was not
+another suitable spot whereon a new structure could be raised. The
+Eddystone had been completed, and as the same tackle was available,
+the protective work was undertaken at once. In conjunction with this
+enterprise, the engineer also advocated an increase in the height of
+the tower.
+
+His plans met with approval, and an ingenious means of strengthening
+the existing building was evolved. Virtually it comprised the erection
+of a new tower around the old shaft, and connected to the latter,
+so as to form one homogeneous structure. In order to strengthen the
+foundations, massive blocks of masonry were sunk into the rock,
+cemented, and held in position by heavy bolts. From the masons’ point
+of view, the task of overhauling was more exciting and dangerous than
+that which had attended the erection of the original tower; for the
+men had to toil on narrow, swinging platforms, cutting notches in the
+face of every stone in the existing structure to receive dovetails on
+the blocks of the new outer shell. Thus the latter were dovetailed
+to adjacent blocks on five out of their six faces. A massive chain
+was slung round the upper part of the tower, from which life-lines
+hung down to the men working below. A man was stationed as a lookout.
+When he saw a breaker approaching he gave a signal; each man clutched
+his life-rope tenaciously and retained his foothold as best he could
+on his perilous perch while the water swept over him. Often the men
+were submerged by a rushing wave, and when the water subsided shook
+themselves like dogs emerging from the water. But the provision of the
+life-ropes prevented serious injury and loss of life, although the
+masons at times were considerably knocked about.
+
+The tower has been given an enormous, massive, cylindrical base,
+while the shaft is solid to the entrance level, except for the
+usual water-tanks. The attachment of the outer shell reinforced it
+remarkably, the walls at the entrance being increased to a thickness of
+8 feet. The addition of the four extra floors elevated the light by a
+further 40 feet, the focal plane now being 163 feet above high-water.
+The light, of 622,500 candle-power, visible for eighteen miles, is
+a white group-flash, there being two flashes, each of four seconds’
+duration, with an intervening eclipse of five seconds, while the groups
+are separated by intervals of forty-seven seconds.
+
+Off the northern shores of the Scillies, standing in the strait which
+provides a short-cut around the toe of England, is another magnificent
+tower. This is the Wolf Rock lighthouse, marking the reef of that name,
+which lies eight miles off Land’s End in the fairway of the coastal
+traffic. The cluster of rocks from which it rises is just as dangerous
+as that to the south, and is exposed likewise to the full fury of the
+south-westerly gales coming in from the Atlantic. It was one of the
+most attractive spots to the old Cornish wreckers, for ships which
+lost their way during the fogs which hang about this coast invariably
+blundered into the reef, to be smashed to pieces within a very short
+time.
+
+This spot was not so greatly feared by the seafarer when heavy gales
+prevailed. There was a hollow rock on the ridge, into which the waves
+were driven. In so doing they compressed the air within the space,
+which, as it escaped, produced a long, distinctive wail, recalling the
+cry of the wolf. It was this natural phenomenon which gave the rock
+its name. The harder the wind blew, and the higher the waves rose,
+the louder was the reverberating bellow, and, as it could be heard
+distinctly above the music of the storm, the navigator was able to
+steer clear of the formidable obstruction. On the other hand, during
+periods of heavy fog, when the waves were usually quiet, there was
+scarcely any perceptible sound.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE LONGSHIPS LIGHT.
+
+In the background is the forbidding iron-bound Cornish coast, where
+wrecks unfortunately are frequent.]
+
+The Wolf Rock would be growling to this day had it not been for the
+inhuman action of the Cornish plunderers. They detested the weird noise
+as cordially as the mariner blessed it. It robbed them of so many rich
+hauls that at last they decided to silence the rock for ever. They
+filled the cavity with large boulders, which were carried out in boats
+from the mainland and dumped overboard. Then the Cornishmen met with a
+spell of enhanced prosperity from the increased number of wrecks which
+occurred.
+
+When the exigencies of commerce demanded that the reef should be
+guarded, a most fantastic device was prepared. An attempt was made to
+restore artificially the natural siren. A fabric wrought in copper
+in the form of a huge wolf with distended jaws was contrived, the
+designers averring that the air would rush in and produce a distinctive
+whistle. This grotesque danger-signal never reached its destination.
+It would have been absolutely useless even had it been placed over the
+rock, as the first lively sea would have carried it away, while the
+noise produced, if any, would have been inaudible more than a few feet
+away.
+
+The Trinity Brethren at last took the matter up, but their
+investigations caused them to doubt the possibility of building a
+lighthouse on such a forbidding spot. They did the next best thing.
+They drove a thick oak joist into the rock, and attached a coloured
+sphere to its upper extremity. This constituted a valuable landmark by
+day, but was useless at night. But its life was brief. The first storm
+which swept the reef after the erection of the beacon tore it up
+by the roots. It was replaced by a heavy mast of wrought-iron, which
+suffered a similar fate, as did also a third iron pole 9 inches in
+diameter. At last a low conical stump was built upon the ridge, with
+the staff and sphere projecting from its centre. This defied wind and
+wave successfully for many years. Its permanency impressed the builders
+of the Bishop Rock light, who came to the conclusion that, as the small
+conical tower held hard and fast, a masonry tower could be given just
+as firm a hold.
+
+When the engineer approached the reef to make his surveys, he found
+the water boiling and bubbling madly, and it was some time before he
+could get a foothold. He completed his examination, and then found, to
+his dismay, that the boat could not approach to take him off. He could
+not stay where he was, as the tide, which was rising, would engulf the
+reef within a short time, so he resorted to a bold expedient. He had
+taken the precaution to bring a life-line with him, so that he was
+in touch with the boat. He looped this round his waist securely, and
+then, telling the men to pull as hard as they could, he plunged into
+the water. In this manner he was dragged through the furious surf and
+pulled into the boat, thoroughly drenched, but otherwise none the worse
+for his adventure.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE GODREVY LIGHT, SCILLY ISLANDS.
+
+It marks a forbidding clump of rocks, landing on which is always
+exciting.]
+
+The work was begun in 1862, when the masons were despatched to the
+rock to prepare the face for the reception of the bottom masonry
+blocks. The tedious and exceptionally dangerous character of the work
+was emphasized very forcibly upon those engaged in the task. It was
+seldom that the water was sufficiently placid to enable a landing to
+be made. Then, as the working spell was very brief, being restricted
+to low-tide, the men could pause only for a few minutes at a time,
+and even during these were menaced by the breakers. During the first
+working season only eighty-three hours of labour were possible--a fact
+which conveys a graphic idea of the exposed character of the site, its
+difficulty of access, and the short time available for work between the
+tides.
+
+While excavations were under way, the preparation of a landing-stage
+was taken in hand. As only small blocks of stone could be used,
+naturally it occupied a considerable time. It was, however, essential,
+in order to permit the erection of a derrick by which the heavy blocks
+for the tower could be lifted from the construction boat to the rock.
+On the rock-face itself the masons toiled strenuously, chipping,
+scraping, and paring away all the faulty pieces of gneiss, so that a
+firm, solid foundation was secured, into which the bottom course of
+stones was dovetailed and anchored.
+
+Owing to the frequency with which the rock was swept by the seas,
+special precautions had to be adopted to insure the safety of the
+workmen. Iron dogs were driven into the rock at frequent points,
+to which ropes were fastened and allowed to trail across the rock,
+each mason being urged to keep one of these life-lines always within
+arm’s length. As an additional precaution he was compelled to wear a
+lifebelt, which, although it hampered free movement somewhat, yet gave
+the wearer, if he lost his foothold or were thrown into the water,
+a chance of keeping afloat until the lifeboat standing by was able
+to reach him. A Cornish fisherman, who was familiar with the seas on
+this part of the coast, and who could judge a breaking wave from a
+distance, acted as a lookout. When he saw a comber about to creep over
+the rock, he gave a signal, when the workmen clutched their life-lines,
+and, with feet firmly planted and the ropes drawn taut, or throwing
+themselves prostrate, with heads pointed to the advancing wave, allowed
+the breaker to roll over them and expend its violence harmlessly. Time
+after time the masons were buried beneath huge tumbling hills of water.
+Work under such conditions was decidedly irksome, and progress was very
+appreciably retarded, but the safety of the workmen was, of course,
+the pre-eminent consideration. Curiously enough, these men who face
+the perils, privations, and exciting incessant dangers, incidental to
+lighthouse building, are extremely superstitious. If an undertaking
+such as the Wolf were attended by a disaster and loss of life in
+its initial stages, the completion of the task might be seriously
+jeopardized. The rock would be regarded as a “hoo-doo,” and would be
+shunned like a fever-stricken city. Therefore the engineer will go to
+any lengths to secure, so far as is humanly possible, the preservation
+of the lives and limbs of those in his employ. This is the chief reason
+why the erection of these wonderful towers has been attended by so few
+accidents or fatalities, while the men fitted for the task are so few
+that the engineer cannot afford to disturb their peace of mind.
+
+The Wolf tower follows the generally accepted lines, and is solid at
+the base. It is wrought throughout of granite, the stones being joggled
+together. One ingenious measure was adopted in connection with the
+lower courses in order to prevent the action of the waves from breaking
+up the cement in the exposed joints and setting up disintegration. The
+upper surface of each stone is given a wide rabbet, and the stone above
+fits into the recess so that the horizontal joint between the two is
+covered by the outer fillet, thereby protecting it completely. This
+practice was followed throughout all the lower courses to a height of
+39 feet, and the security thus obtained is reflected by the strength of
+the tower to-day after half a century’s wear.
+
+Work proceeded so slowly in the early stages, owing to the abnormal
+conditions, that by the end of 1864 only thirty-seven stones in the
+second course of masonry were laid. In the meantime, however, the
+landing-stage had been practically completed, and the erection of the
+crane enabled the blocks for the tower to be transferred to the rock
+with greater ease and rapidity. The tower, 135 feet in height, was
+completed on July 19, 1869, while the light was brought into service
+early in the following year. Eight years were expended upon the
+enterprise, and during this period 296 landings were effected upon the
+rock and 1,814 hours of labour were consummated. This is equal to about
+101 working days of ten hours each, or, on the average, less than one
+hour every day of the years occupied in the undertaking. The lantern
+throws a powerful white light, which in clear weather may be seen from
+twenty to twenty-five miles away. The cost of the enterprise was
+£62,726, or $313,630--nearly twice that of the first Bishop Rock light.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson._
+
+THE CHICKEN ROCK LIGHTHOUSE, OFF THE ISLE OF MAN.
+
+It marks a dangerous reef. The revolving light of 143,000 candle-power
+is visible for sixteen miles. Although the lantern is 143 feet above
+the water, the waves frequently engulf it.]
+
+Another gaunt structure rears itself from a reef a few miles to the
+north-west of the Wolf, and a short distance off the Land’s End. This
+is the Longships light. The name itself suggests a light-vessel, and
+a stranger is surprised to learn that it is an imposing building,
+worthy of comparison with the two other structures already described
+which guard the Scillies. Although it is within a short distance of
+the mainland, its exposed situation rendered its construction as
+exasperatingly difficult as that of both the Bishop and Wolf lights. A
+few miles farther north another powerful light indicates the “Kingdom
+of Heaven,” as the black hump of Lundy Island, rising out of the
+Bristol Channel, is colloquially called, from the name of its clerical
+owner.
+
+On the opposite side and due north of this bight, the Pembrokeshire
+coast breaks off abruptly at St. David’s Head, only to reappear out
+at sea in some twenty little rugged islets known as The Smalls. They
+occur some twenty-one miles off the mainland, and for years they played
+havoc with the shipping plying between North of England ports and
+the Bristol Channel. These rocks--for they are little else--were the
+private property of a Liverpool gentleman, who became so distracted
+by the frequency of disaster that, in 1773, he decided to crown
+them with a beacon. He selected a musical instrument manufacturer
+named Whiteside as his engineer, and this amateur mechanic, after an
+inspection, decided to place the warning light on a tiny crag which
+projected about 5 feet above high-water. It is somewhat strange that
+the adequate safeguarding of two devastating parts of the south-western
+coast of England should have been placed in the hands of men who were
+not professional engineers. Rudyerd, the silk-mercer, was responsible
+for the second Eddystone, and here was an instrument-maker taking
+over one of the most difficult enterprises it was possible to find.
+Yet both these amateur engineers inscribed their names ineffaceably
+upon two of the most evil spots around the coasts of the British
+Islands. Rudyerd gave us the true conical design, which has never
+been superseded for strength and stability; while Whiteside evolved a
+skeleton tower which braved the most tempestuous seas for some eighty
+years. In the first instance the latter carried out his work in iron,
+thinking that metal would prove irresistible, but within a short time
+he replaced it with heavy legs of oak. The frail-looking structure was
+submitted to storms of almost seismic violence, but it withstood them
+all for over half a century, when a peculiarly vicious wave, as it
+rolled between the supports, suddenly flew upwards, driving the floor
+of the keepers’ quarters into the roof. It was an exceptional accident,
+which no engineer could have foreseen. When the Trinity House Brethren
+took over the light, their chief engineer, Mr. James Walker, looked
+upon the erection as such a fine piece of work that the damage was
+repaired, and the Whiteside light gleamed for a further twenty years
+before it gave place to the present graceful stone building.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+HOW THE SKERRYVORE IS BUILT.
+
+In the centre, a vertical section. At sides, transverse sections at
+different masonry courses, showing method of laying the stones.]
+
+It was a grim episode at this light which brought about the practice
+of appointing three men at least to a sea light-station. When first
+completed, The Smalls was provided with only two keepers, and on one
+occasion one of the two died. His companion refrained from committing
+the body to the sea, lest he might be suspected of foul-play, so he
+constructed a rough shell, in which he placed the body of his dead
+chum, and stood the grisly burden on end beside his flag of distress
+on the gallery outside the lantern. As the spell of duty in those days
+was four months, it was some time before the relief came out. Then
+they discovered a shattered human wreck tending the lights, who had
+never neglected his duty under the onerous and weird conditions, but
+who nevertheless had become broken down and aged under the terrible
+ordeal. After this experience three men instead of two were placed on
+duty at all such exposed and inaccessible lights. It may be recalled
+that Alphonse Daudet tells a similar creepy story which was related
+to him by a light-keeper on the rugged Corsican coast, and which he
+narrates in the “Phares des Sanguinaires.” A similar experience is
+also associated with Rudyerd’s Eddystone light.
+
+Off the North Welsh coast there are the famous lights of the South
+Stack and the Skerries, the latter rising out of the water on a
+dangerous cluster of rocks off Carmel Head. The Isle of Man also
+possesses a magnificent specimen of lighthouse engineering in the
+Chicken Rock light, the work of the brothers Stevenson, which, although
+in the Irish Sea, comes within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners
+of Northern Lights. This tower stands on a reef which is submerged by
+6 feet of water even at high neap-tides. When a gale is raging and the
+spring-tides are at their highest, the waves frequently engulf the
+lantern, although it is perched 143 feet above the water. The light is
+of 143,000 candle-power, of the revolving type, and visible for sixteen
+miles in clear weather.
+
+Entering the English Channel from the Scillies, the voyager observes
+the powerful Lizard light gleaming like two brilliant white stars from
+a prominent elevated point on the cliff. Formerly three lights were
+shown, but two were found to meet the necessities of the situation
+adequately. The steamship lane lies across the chord of the arc
+formed by the coastline between the Lizard and Start Point, leaving
+the Eddystone to the north. The next important light is the Needles,
+at the entrance to the Solent. A few miles farther on the brilliant
+spoke-light flashes of St. Catherine’s, described in another chapter,
+compel attention. No other light after this is seen until Beachy Head
+is approached. Another dreary stretch brings the vessel abeam the nose
+of Kentish coast known as Dungeness, a particularly notorious danger
+spot. Here there is a continual struggle between the engineers and the
+sea. While the waves gnaw into the coastline at other neighbouring
+places, here they surrender their capture, so that the headland is
+persistently creeping farther and farther out to sea. It is lighted,
+and has been guarded for years, but the tower is left at a constantly
+increasing distance from the water’s edge. The light has been moved
+once or twice, so as to fulfil its purpose to the best advantage, but
+the engineer will be kept on the alert until the currents change their
+courses and refrain from piling up further drift at this point. This
+light, coming as it does at the entrance to the bottle-neck of the
+English Channel, is of prime importance to navigation, because vessels,
+after they have rounded the South Foreland, make a bee-line for this
+headland.
+
+Since the eastern coast of England is flanked by sandbanks and shoals,
+the lighthouse is not in powerful evidence, the aids to navigation
+consisting chiefly of light-vessels, which are distributed liberally
+so as to patrol completely a treacherous stretch of shoals. Northwards
+the sandy, low-lying wastes give way to towering cliffs, amongst which
+Flamborough Head and its light are conspicuous. At the far northern
+limit of the operations of Trinity House comes the Longstones, mounting
+guard over the terrible Farne Islands and their rocky outposts. Who has
+not heard of the heroism of Grace Darling, the light-keeper’s daughter,
+and the thrilling rescue, in the teeth of a hurricane, of the exhausted
+survivors of the _Forfarshire_?
+
+Complaints have been made often regarding the paucity of powerful
+lights around the coast of England, but the criticism scarcely is
+deserved. All the prominent and most dangerous spots are lighted
+adequately, and, as may be recognized, the provision of these lights
+has proved an exacting and costly enterprise. What England may lack in
+numbers in this particular field of engineering is compensated for by
+the daring nature of the works completed, which are regarded throughout
+the world as marvellous achievements.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE BELL ROCK AND SKERRYVORE LIGHTS
+
+
+At first sight it seems somewhat remarkable--some might feel disposed
+to challenge the assertion--that so small a country as Scotland
+should stand pre-eminent among the nations of the world as being that
+possessed of the greatest number of imposing sea-rock lights. But such
+is the case. Moreover, North Britain offers some of the finest and most
+impressive specimens of the lighthouse builder’s resource and skill to
+be found in any part of the globe.
+
+When the responsibility for lighting the Scottish coasts was handed
+over to the Commissioners for Northern Lighthouses, one of their first
+tasks was the adequate illumination of the wave-swept Inchcape or Bell
+Rock, which lies some twelve miles off the Scottish mainland in the
+busy portal of the Firth of Tay. At that time this sinister menace
+to navigation was not marked in any way whatever, and apparently had
+remained in this unprotected condition ever since the notorious pirate,
+Ralph the Rover, cut away the buoy-bell which had been placed upon it
+by the Abbot of Aberbrothock, as narrated in Southey’s famous ballad.
+
+The rock, or rather reef--inasmuch as it measures 2,000 feet from end
+to end, and lies athwart the fairway--is submerged completely to a
+depth of 16 feet at high spring-tides, while at lowest water only some
+4 feet of its crest are laid bare here and there. This is not all. The
+ledge is the summit of a dangerous, slowly-rising submarine hillock,
+where, for a distance of about 100 yards on either side, the lead
+sounds only 3 fathoms. Wrecks were so numerous and terrible at this
+spot that the protection of the seafaring community became imperative,
+and the newly-appointed guardians of the Scottish coast lost no time
+in justifying the trust reposed in them, but erected a first-class
+light. The Eddystone had been conquered, and, although the conditions
+were dissimilar and the enterprise bolder, no tangible reason against
+its imitation was advanced.
+
+The engineer John Rennie was entrusted with the work, while Robert
+Stevenson was appointed as his assistant. The rock was surveyed, and
+a tower similar in its broad lines to that evolved by Smeaton for the
+Eddystone was elaborated, and the authority for its construction given
+in the year 1806.
+
+Work upon the rock in the earliest stages was confined to the calmest
+days of the summer season, when the tides were lowest, the water was
+smoothest, and the wind in its calmest mood. Under such conditions the
+men were able to stay on the site for about five hours. The engineer
+hoped against hope that the elements would be kind to him, and that he
+would be able to complete the preliminary work upon the rock in one
+season.
+
+The constructional plans were prepared carefully, so that advantage
+might be taken of every promising opportunity. One distinct drawback
+was the necessity to establish a depot some distance from the erecting
+site. Those were the days before steam navigation, and the capricious
+sailing craft offered the only means of maintaining communication
+between rock and shore, and for the conveyance of men and material
+to and fro. The year 1807 was devoted to the construction of vessels
+for the work, and to the establishment of workshops with machinery
+and other facilities at Arbroath, the nearest suitable point on the
+mainland to the rock. A temporary beacon was placed on the reef, while
+adjacent to the site selected for the tower a smith’s forge was made
+fast, so as to withstand the dragging motion of the waves when the
+rock was submerged. The men were housed on the _Smeaton_, which during
+the spells of work on the rock rode at anchor a short distance away in
+deep water. The arrangements stipulated that three boats, which were
+employed to bring the men from the vessel to the rock, should always
+be moored at the landing-place, so that, in the event of the weather
+changing for the worse, the masons, forced to cease work suddenly,
+might regain the _Smeaton_ safely in one trip, the three boats being
+able to convey thirty men, which constituted the average complement on
+the rock.
+
+While the preparations were proceeding ashore, a little body of workers
+toiled, whenever possible, at clearing the face of the rock and
+carrying out the requisite excavation work. While this was in progress
+a disaster was averted very narrowly, which would have jeopardized the
+completion of the tower, owing to the superstitious natures of the men
+engaged. On September 2, 1807, the _Smeaton_, as usual, had brought out
+some thirty masons, had landed them safely on the rock, and was riding
+at anchor.
+
+Suddenly the wind freshened, and the engineer on the rock grew
+apprehensive of the _Smeaton_ dragging her cables. A party at once put
+off from the rock in one of the three boats and regained the ship, but
+were scarcely aboard when the cables parted, and the vessel, caught by
+the wind and tide, made off. Before the men regained control of her
+she had drifted some three miles to leeward. Meantime on the rock the
+situation was growing serious. Only Mr. Stevenson, who was supervising
+operations on the spot, and the landing-master were aware of its
+gravity. The masons were so busy hewing, boring and chiselling, that
+they had not noticed the _Smeaton’s_ drift. But the engineer, observing
+the flowing of the tide, realized that the rock must be submerged
+before the ship could be brought up again. He racked his brains to find
+some means of getting his gang of men off safely in the nick of time,
+but it was a searching problem to solve with only two boats, which, at
+the utmost, could carry twenty-four persons. To make matters worse, one
+of those mists which are so peculiar to the Scottish coast began to
+settle down, blotting everything from sight.
+
+The water rose higher. The men toiling on the lowest levels receded
+higher and higher before the advancing tide, though still too deeply
+occupied in their labours to bestow a thought upon the _Smeaton_.
+At last the smith’s forge was quenched, and this was the general
+signal to the men to prepare to leave the rock. Tools were collected,
+and the party strode towards the landing-stage to enter the boats.
+Conceive their consternation when they saw that one boat was missing!
+When they glanced over the water the _Smeaton_ was not riding in her
+usual place--in fact, was nowhere to be seen! One and all gathered
+around the engineer to learn the reason for this remarkable breach in
+the arrangements for their safety, and yet all were too dumbfounded
+to question or protest. As for the luckless engineer, he was at his
+wits’ end and could not offer a word of explanation to the inquiring
+looks that besieged him. One and all, as the water lapped their feet,
+realized the hopelessness of the position. Suddenly, when they were
+beginning to despair, one of the men described the phantom form of a
+vessel making for the rock. “A boat!” he shouted in exultation. Sure
+enough the shadow matured into the familiar form of the Tay pilot-boat,
+the master of which, observing the workmen on the rock, the rising
+tide, and the absence of the _Smeaton_, had realized that something
+must have gone wrong, and approached the rock to make inquiries. He
+came up at the critical moment. The men were drenched, and, their
+feelings having been strung to a high pitch with anxiety, they nearly
+collapsed at the arrival of this unexpected assistance. The pilot-boat,
+after taking off the men, awaited the return of the _Smeaton_, which
+took them on board about midnight.
+
+This narrow escape so terrified the men that on the following day the
+engineer found only eight of his staff of thirty-two, who were willing
+to venture upon the rock again. When this gang returned in the evening,
+their safety appeared to restore courage to their companions, so that
+next day all expressed their readiness to resume their tasks.
+
+The fitful character of the work did not leave its mark so distinctly
+as might be supposed. Whenever there was a chance, the men worked with
+an amazing will and zeal; and although the first stone of the tower was
+not laid until July 10, 1808, three courses of masonry were completed
+when the undertaking was suspended at the end of November for the
+winter. The succeeding season’s toil saw the addition of about 27 feet
+more of the tower, which was finally completed by the close of 1810.
+The building was 120 feet in height, and the light was shown for the
+first time on February 1, 1811.
+
+In view of the difficulties which had to be surmounted, this “ruddy
+gem of changeful light,” as it is described by Sir Walter Scott, was
+not particularly costly. By the time it was brought into commission,
+£61,330, or $306,650, had been expended. In 1902, after nearly a
+century’s service, the tower was provided with a new light-room, so as
+to bring it into conformity with modern practice.
+
+While the Bell Rock tower stands as a monument to the engineering
+ability of Robert Stevenson, the Skerryvore, on the western coast, is
+a striking tribute to the genius of his son, Alan. For forty years or
+more previous to 1844 one ship at least had been caught and shattered
+every year on this tumbled mass of gneiss. From the navigator’s point
+of view, the danger of this spot lay chiefly in the fact that it was so
+widely scattered. The ridge runs like a broken backbone for a distance
+of some eight miles in a west-south-westerly direction, and it is
+flanked on each side by isolated rocks which jut from a badly-broken
+sea-bed. The whole mass lies some distance out to sea, being ten miles
+south-west of Tyree and twenty-four miles west of Iona. In rough
+weather the whole of the rocks are covered, and the waves, beating
+heavily on the mass, convert the scene into one of indescribable tumult.
+
+The Commissioners of Northern Lights acknowledged the urgent need of
+a light upon this ridge, but it was realized that its erection would
+represent the most daring feat of lighthouse engineering that had been
+attempted up to this time. There was only one point where a tower
+could be placed, and this was so exposed that the safe handling of the
+men and materials constituted a grave responsibility. The rock has to
+withstand the full impetus of the Atlantic waves, gathered in their
+3,000 miles’ roll, and investigations revealed the fact that they bear
+down upon the Skerryvore with a force equal to some 3 tons per square
+foot. It was apparent that any masonry tower must be of prodigious
+strength to resist such a battering, while at the same time a lofty
+stack was imperative, because the light not only would have to mount
+guard over the rock upon which it stood, but also over a vast stretch
+of dangerous water on either side.
+
+After he had completed the Bell Rock light, Robert Stevenson attacked
+the problem of the Skerryvore. In order to realize the magnitude of the
+undertaking, some of the Commissioners accompanied the engineer, but
+the experience of pulling out into the open Atlantic on a day when it
+was slightly ruffled somewhat shook their determination to investigate
+the reef from close quarters. Sir Walter Scott was a member of the
+party, and he has described the journey very graphically. Before they
+had gone far the Commissioners on board expressed their willingness to
+leave the matter entirely in the hands of their engineer. With grim
+Scottish humour, however, Robert Stevenson insisted that the rock
+should be gained, so that the Commissioners might be able to grasp the
+problem at first hand.
+
+But after all nothing was done. The difficulties surrounding the work
+were only too apparent to the officials. They agreed that the expense
+must be prodigious and that the risks to the workmen would be grave.
+
+In 1834 a second expedition was despatched to the reef under Alan
+Stevenson, who had accompanied his father on the previous occasion,
+and who now occupied the engineering chair. He surveyed the reef
+thoroughly, traversing the dangerous channels around the isolated
+humps, of which no less than 130 were counted, at great risk to himself
+and his companions. However, he achieved his object. He discovered the
+best site for the tower and returned home to prepare his plans.
+
+His proposals, for those days, certainly were startling. He decided to
+follow generally the principles of design, which had been laid down
+by his father in regard to the Bell Rock. But he planned something
+bigger and more daring. He maintained that a tower 130 feet high, with
+a base diameter of 42 feet, tapering in a curve to 16 feet at the top,
+was absolutely necessary. It was the loftiest and weightiest work of
+its character that had ever been contemplated up to this time, while
+the peculiar situation of the reef demanded pioneering work in all
+directions.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE SKERRYVORE, SCOTLAND’S MOST FAMOUS LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+The erection of this tower upon a straggling low-lying reef 24 miles
+off Iona, and exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic, ranks as one of
+the world’s engineering wonders.]
+
+The confidence of the Commissioners in the ability of their engineer
+was so complete that he received the official sanction to begin, and in
+1838 the undertaking was commenced. The engineer immediately formulated
+his plans of campaign for a stiff struggle with Nature. One of the
+greatest difficulties was the necessity to transport men, supplies
+and material over a long distance, as the Scottish coast in this
+vicinity is wild and sparsely populated. He established his base on the
+neighbouring island of Tyree, where barracks for the workmen, and yards
+for the preparation of the material, were erected, while another colony
+was established on the Isle of Mull for the quarrying of the granite.
+A tiny pier or jetty had to be built at this point to facilitate the
+shipment of the stone, and at Tyree a small harbour had to be completed
+to receive the vessel which was built specially for transportation
+purposes between the base and the rock.
+
+Another preliminary was the provision of accommodation for the masons
+upon the reef. The Atlantic swell, which rendered landing on the
+ridge precarious and hazardous, did not permit the men to be housed
+upon a floating home, as had been the practice in the early days
+of the Bell Rock tower. In order to permit the work to go forward
+as uninterruptedly as the sea would permit, a peculiar barrack was
+erected. It was a house on stilts, the legs being sunk firmly into the
+rock, with the living-quarters perched some 40 feet up in the air. The
+skeleton type of structure was selected because it did not impede the
+natural movement of the waves. It was an ingenious idea, and fulfilled
+the purpose of its designer admirably, while the men became
+accustomed to their strange home after a time. For two years it
+withstood the seas without incident, and the engineer and men came to
+regard the eyrie as safe as a house on shore. But one night the little
+colony received a shock. The angry Atlantic got one or two of its
+trip-hammer blows well home, and smashed the structure to fragments.
+Fortunately, at the time it was untenanted.
+
+The workmen, who were on shore waiting to go out to the rock to resume
+their toil, were downcast at this unexpected disaster, but the engineer
+was not at all ruffled. He promptly sent to Glasgow for further
+material, and lost no time in rebuilding the quaint barrack upon new
+and stronger lines. This erection defied the waves successfully until
+its demolition after the Skerryvore was finished.
+
+Residence in this tower was eerie. The men climbed the ladder
+and entered a small room, which served the purposes of kitchen,
+dining-room, and parlour. It was barely 12 feet across--quarters
+somewhat cramped for thirty men. When a storm was raging, the waves,
+as they combed over the rock, shook the legs violently and scurried
+under the floor in seething foam. Now and again a roller, rising higher
+than its fellows, broke upon the rock and sent a mass of water against
+the flooring to hammer at the door. Above the living-room were the
+sleeping-quarters, high and dry, save when a shower of spray fell upon
+the roof and walls like heavy hail, and occasionally percolated the
+joints of the woodwork. The men, however, were not perturbed. Sleeping,
+even under such conditions, was far preferable to doubtful rest in a
+bunk upon an attendant vessel, rolling and pitching with the motion of
+the sea. They had had a surfeit of such experience during the first
+season’s work, while the barrack was under erection.
+
+[Illustration: BARRA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, SCOTLAND.
+
+The tower is 60 feet in height, but owing to its position on the
+cliffs, the white occulting light is 683 feet above high water, and is
+visible 33 miles.]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission.
+
+THE HOMES OF THE KEEPERS OF THE SKERRYVORE AND DHU-HEARTACH LIGHTS.
+
+On the Island of Tiree, Argyllshire, 10 miles away.]
+
+Yet the men could not grumble. The engineer responsible for the work
+shared their privations and discomforts, for Alan Stevenson clung to
+the rock night and day while work was in progress, and he has given a
+very vivid impression of life in this quaint home on legs. He relates
+how he “spent many a weary day and night--at those times when the
+sea prevented anyone going down to the rock--anxiously looking for
+supplies from the shore, and earnestly looking for a change of weather
+favourable for prosecuting the works. For miles around nothing could be
+seen but white foaming breakers, and nothing heard but howling winds
+and lashing waves. At such seasons much of our time was spent in bed,
+for there alone we had effectual shelter from the winds and spray,
+which searched every cranny in the walls of the barrack. Our slumbers,
+too, were at times fearfully interrupted by the sudden pouring of the
+sea over the roof, the rocking of the house on its pillars, and the
+spurting of water through the seams of the doors and windows--symptoms
+which, to one suddenly aroused from sound sleep, recalled the appalling
+fate of the former barrack, which had been engulfed in the foam not
+20 yards from our dwelling, and for a moment seemed to summon us to a
+similar fate.”
+
+The work upon the rock was tedious and exasperating in the extreme. The
+gneiss was of maddening hardness and obstinacy--“four times as tough
+as Aberdeen granite” was the general opinion. The Atlantic, pounding
+the rock continuously through the centuries, had faced it smoother than
+could any mason with his tools, yet had not left it sufficiently sound
+to receive the foundations. In the external layer, which the masons
+laboured strenuously to remove with their puny tools, there were cracks
+and crevices here and there. The stubborn rock played havoc with the
+finest chisels and drills, and clearing had to be effected for the
+most part by the aid of gunpowder. This powerful agent, however, could
+only be used sparingly and with extreme skill, so that the rock-face
+might not be shivered or shattered too severely. Moreover, the men ran
+extreme risks, for the rock splintered like glass, and the flying chips
+were capable of doing as much damage, when thus impelled, as a bullet.
+
+While the foundations were being prepared, and until the barrack was
+constructed, the men ran other terrible risks every morning and night
+in landing upon and leaving the polished surface of the reef. Five
+months during the summer was the working season, but even then many
+days and weeks were often lost owing to the swell being too great to
+permit the rowing-boat to come alongside. The engineer relates that
+the work was “a good lesson in the school of patience,” because the
+delays were frequent and galling, while every storm which got up and
+expended its rage upon the reef left its mark indelibly among the
+engineer’s stock-in-trade. Cranes and other material were swept away as
+if they were corks; lashings, no matter how strong, were snapped like
+pack-threads. Time after time the tender lying alongside had to weigh
+anchor hurriedly, and make a spirited run to its haven at Tyree.
+
+When the barrack was erected, the situation was eased somewhat, but
+then the hours became long. Operations being confined to the summer
+months, the average working day was from four in the morning until nine
+in the evening--seventeen hours--with intervals for meals; but the men
+were not averse to the prolonged daily toil, inasmuch as cessation
+brought no welcome relaxations, but rather encouraged broodings over
+their isolated position, whereas occupation served to keep the mind
+engaged. Twice the men had severe frights during the night. On each
+occasion a violent storm sprang up after they had gone to bed, and one
+or two ugly breakers, getting their blows home, shook the eyrie with
+the force of an earthquake. Every man leaped out of his bunk, and one
+or two of the more timid, in their fright, hurried down the ladder and
+spent the remaining spell of darkness shivering and quaking on the
+completed trunk of the lighthouse, deeming it to be safer than the
+crazy-looking structure which served as their home.
+
+Two years were occupied upon the foundations, the first stone being
+laid by the Duke of Argyll on July 7, 1840. This eminent personage
+evinced a deep interest in the work and the difficulties which had to
+be overcome, and as proprietor of the island of Tyree extended to the
+Commissioners free permission to quarry any granite they required from
+any part of his estate.
+
+For a height of some 21 feet from the foundation level the tower is
+a solid trunk of masonry. Then come the entrance and water-tanks,
+followed by nine floors, comprising successively coal-store, workshop,
+storeroom, kitchen, two bedrooms, library, oil-store, and light-room,
+the whole occupying a height of 130 feet, crowned by the lantern.
+As a specimen of lighthouse engineering, the Skerryvore has become
+famous throughout the world. The stones forming the solid courses at
+the bottom are attached to one another so firmly and ingeniously as
+to secure the maximum of strength and solidity, the result being that
+nothing short of an earthquake could overthrow the stalk of masonry.
+
+The erection of the superstructure was by no means free from danger
+and excitement. The working space both on the tower itself and around
+the base was severely cramped. The men at the latter point had to
+keep a vigilant eye upon those working above, since, despite the most
+elaborate precautions, falls of tools and other heavy bodies were
+by no means infrequent. Notwithstanding its perilous character, the
+undertaking was free from accident and fatality, and, although the men
+were compelled by force of circumstances to depend mostly upon salt
+foodstuffs, the little colony suffered very slightly from the ravages
+of dysentery.
+
+Probably the worst experience was when the men on the rock were
+weather-bound for seven weeks during one season. The weather broke
+suddenly. Heavy seas and adverse winds raged so furiously that the
+steamboat dared not put out of its haven, but remained there with steam
+up, patiently waiting for a lull in the storm, during which they might
+succour the unfortunate men on the reef. The latter passed a dreary,
+pitiable time. Their provisions sank to a very low level, they ran
+short of fuel, their sodden clothing was worn to rags, and, what was
+far worse from their point of view, their tobacco became exhausted.
+The average working man will tolerate extreme discomfort and privation
+so long as the friendship of his pipe remains, but the denial of this
+companion comes as the last straw.
+
+The lantern is of special design, and is one of the most powerful
+around the Scottish coasts. It is of the revolving class, reaching its
+brightest state once every minute, and may be seen from the deck of a
+vessel eighteen miles away Six years were occupied in the completion of
+the work, and, as may be imagined, the final touches were welcomed with
+thankfulness by all those who had been concerned in the enterprise. The
+tower contains 4,308 tons of granite, and the total cost was £86,977,
+or $434,885, rendering it one of the costliest in the world. This sum,
+however, included the purchase of the steam-vessel which now attends
+the lighthouse, and the construction of the little harbour at Hynish.
+
+The lighthouse-keepers live on the island of Tyree, where are provided
+substantial, spacious, single-floor, masonry dwellings with gardens
+attached. This is practically a small colony in itself, inasmuch as
+the accommodation includes, not only that for the keepers of the
+Skerryvore, but for the guardians of the Dhu-Heartach light as well.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE LONELY LIGHTS OF SCOTLAND
+
+
+Barren ruggedness, ragged reefs, and towering cliffs form an apt
+description of the north and west coasts of Scotland, and he is a
+prudent navigator who acknowledges the respect which these shores
+demand, by giving them a wide berth. The Norwegian coast is serrated,
+the island of Newfoundland may be likened to the battered edge of a
+saw, but Scotland is unique in its formation. The coastline is torn
+and tattered by bays and firths, with scattered outlying ramparts. The
+captain of a “tramp” who has sailed the seven seas once confessed to me
+that no stretch of coastline ever gave him the shivers so badly as the
+stretch of shore between Duncansby Head and the Mull of Kintyre.
+
+Certainly a ship “going north about” is menaced every mile of her way
+between these two points unless she takes a very circuitous course.
+If the weather conditions are favourable and daylight prevails, the
+North of Britain may be rounded through the narrow strait washing the
+mainland and the Orkney Islands, but the Pentland Firth is not an
+attractive short-cut. The ships that run between Scandinavian ports and
+North America naturally follow this route, as it is several hundred
+miles shorter than that via the North Sea and English Channel; but they
+keep a sharp eye on the weather and are extremely cautious. When the
+Pentland Firth is uninviting, they may either choose the path between
+the Orkneys and the Shetlands, or, to eliminate every element of risk,
+may stand well out to sea, and round the most northern stretches of the
+Shetlands. These are lonely seas, comparatively speaking, and yet are
+well lighted. Although a wicked rock lies in the centre of the eastern
+entrance to the Pentland channel, it is indicated by the Pentland
+Skerries light. When the mariner in his wisdom pushes still farther
+north, he falls within the glare of the rays thrown from the beacon
+near Muckle Flugga. This is the northernmost point of the British
+Islands, and it is truly forbidding. The rock lies three-quarters of a
+mile off the Shetland Islands, and is a huge fang, sheering to a height
+of 196 feet above high-water. On the side facing north it rears up so
+abruptly that it appears to lean over, while on the opposite side it is
+almost as steep.
+
+The majority of lighthouses have been called into existence by the
+claims of commerce purely and simply. But it was not so with the North
+Unst lighthouse, as the beacon crowning this pinnacle is called. War
+was responsible for its creation, though probably sooner or later the
+requirements of peace would have brought about a similar result. While
+the armies of France and Britain were fighting the Russians in the
+Crimea, the British fleet was hovering about these waters, watching
+the mouth of the Baltic, so as to frustrate any attempts on the part
+of the Russian fleet to dash around the northern coast of Scotland.
+In those days these lonely seas were badly lighted, and the Admiralty
+realized only too well the many perils to which the warships were
+exposed while cruising about the pitiless coasts of the Orkneys and
+Shetlands. Accordingly, the department called upon the Commissioners of
+Northern Lighthouses to mark Muckle Flugga. Time was everything, and
+the engineers were urged to bring a temporary light into operation with
+the least delay.
+
+The engineers hurriedly evolved a tower which would meet the Government
+needs. It was thought that the extreme height of the rock would lend
+itself to the erection of a building which, while possible of early
+completion, would be adequate for subsequent purposes. The materials
+for the light, together with a lantern, and a second building for the
+storage of the oil and other requisites, were shipped northward from
+Glasgow. Simultaneously the engineers, with another small gang of
+men who had already reached the rock, pushed on with the preliminary
+preparations, so that when the constructional vessel arrived erection
+might go ahead straightforwardly and rapidly.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE DHU-HEARTACH LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+To the left is the lower part of the temporary structure in which the
+builders lived while erection was in progress.]
+
+The engineers tried the rock from all sides to find a safe landing.
+This was no light matter, owing to the steepness of the slope even upon
+the easiest face of the pinnacle. The attempt represented a mild form
+of mountaineering, for the sea had battered away the projection of the
+lower-lying levels, and the men found it trying to effect a foothold,
+even in stepping from the boat on to the rock. They had to climb hand
+over hand up the precipice, with life-lines round their waists, taking
+advantage of every narrow ledge. With infinite labour they gained the
+summit, and then they found that there was just sufficient space, and
+no more, upon which to plant the lighthouse buildings.
+
+The top was cleared quickly, and then the advance party set to work
+to improve the landing-place on the south side of the rock for the
+reception of the building materials. A small site was prepared with
+great difficulty, as the tough rock offered a stern resistance to the
+chisels, drills, and wedges; while in addition the men had to cut steps
+in the flank of the rock to facilitate the ascent to the site.
+
+On September 14, 1854, the constructional vessel _Pharos_ hove in
+sight, and, the weather being favourable, the landing of the material
+was hurried forward. The men had to become pack-animals for the
+time, carrying the loads on their backs. In this manner they tramped
+laboriously up and down the cliff-face with material and stores of all
+descriptions. The heavier and bulkier parts were hauled up by rope and
+tackle, a few feet at a time, and this task was quite as exacting.
+In all, 120 tons were conveyed to the top of the crag. Construction
+was hastened just as feverishly, and on October 11, 1854, twenty-six
+days after the _Pharos_ anchored off Muckle Flugga, the North Unst
+light shone out for the first time. This is probably one of the most
+brilliant exploits that has ever been consummated in connection with
+lighthouse engineering, the merit of which is additionally impressive
+from the fact that almost everything had to be accomplished by manual
+effort.
+
+While the light was admittedly of a temporary character, the importance
+of the outpost had been appreciated, and it was determined to erect a
+permanent light upon the rock for the guidance of those who compass
+the North of Scotland in order to pass from and to the North Atlantic.
+It was decided to commence the permanent masonry building the
+following year, and a gang of men volunteered to stay behind on the
+rock throughout the winter to complete all the essential preparations
+for the foundations. Accommodation was available for this staff in a
+substantial iron shelter, in which they made themselves comfortable for
+the winter.
+
+But it is during this season that the winds from the north, lashing
+the sea to fury, create huge rollers which thunder upon the base
+of the pinnacle to crawl up its perpendicular face in the form of
+broken water and spray. The men standing on the brink often watched
+these rollers, but never for a moment thought that one would be able
+to leap to a height of nearly 200 feet and sweep over the rock. The
+December gales dispelled this illusion very convincingly. One morning
+the workmen, while breakfasting in their warm shelter, received a
+big surprise. A terrific blow struck the door, which flew open as if
+hit by a cannon-ball. It was followed instantly by a three-foot wall
+of water. The broken wave rushed round the apartment, seething and
+foaming, and then out again. The workmen were dumbfounded, but had
+scarcely recovered from the shock when another roll of water came
+crashing in and gave the apartment another thorough flushing out. One
+of the Scottish workmen vouchsafed the remark that the man responsible
+for cleaning the floors that day would be spared his job, but he was
+silenced when, a few seconds later, another angry sheet of water
+dropped on the roof of the building and threatened to smash it in.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH UNST, BRITAIN’S MOST NORTHERLY LIGHT.
+
+The tower is perched on the top of a precipitous crag, the light being
+260 feet above the sea. Despite this height, the waves often dash over
+the lantern.]
+
+The closing month of that year was particularly boisterous. Time after
+time when the sea rose, the lighthouse tower was drenched in water. One
+might think it impossible that a wave could get up sufficient impetus
+to mount a height of 200 feet; but this experience offered conclusive
+testimony to the contrary and to the immense power of the waves when
+they have an uninterrupted run over several hundred miles of open ocean.
+
+In a way, the terrifying experience of these marooned workmen was
+invaluable. They reported the bare facts to the engineers upon the
+first opportunity, and this intelligence brought about a revision in
+the designs for the permanent masonry structure.
+
+The present North Unst lighthouse is a massive masonry building,
+standing in the centre of the small flat space on the top of the
+pinnacle, with heavy masonry walls bounding it on all sides. The tower
+is 64 feet in height, while the red and white light may be seen from a
+distance of twenty-one miles in clear weather. That the winter storms
+of 1854 were by no means exceptional has been proved up to the hilt on
+several occasions since. When the nor’-wester is roused thoroughly,
+the breaking waves curl up the cliff and rush over the lantern. Such a
+climb of 260 feet conveys a compelling notion of the force of the sea.
+The weight of the water thrown into the air has threatened to overthrow
+the massive boundary walls, while now and again the invader leaves
+tangible evidences of its power by smashing the windows of the lantern.
+Upon one occasion it burst open the heavy door, which weighs the best
+part of a ton.
+
+The light-station is served by four keepers, two on duty
+simultaneously, their homes being on the island of Unst, four miles
+away. For the conveyance of water, fuel, provisions, and other
+requirements, from the landing-stage to the lighthouse 200 feet above,
+an inclined railway has been provided on the easier slope, so that the
+men are no longer called upon to pack their provisions, like mules,
+from the water-level up a steep cliff, as was formerly required.
+
+Rounding these island dangers, the navigator picks up the light of Cape
+Wrath, glimmering from a height of 370 feet above the water-level and
+standing at the western corner of the rectangular head of the Scottish
+mainland. Going south, he has two passages available--the inner, which
+extends through the Minches and inside the Hebrides; or the outer,
+which lies beyond the latter rampart. In making the outer passage he
+comes within range of the light shining from the summit of a lonely
+group of rocks standing some twenty-two miles out to sea off the Isle
+of Lewis. These are the Flannen Islands, or Seven Hunters, one of many
+similar lonely Scottish stations. The tower is mounted upon the crown
+of one of the highest points, and the white group-flashing light is
+visible over a radius of twenty-four miles. Farther south the seafarer
+picks up and drops the Monach Islands light, likewise lying out in the
+Atlantic, some ten miles from the nearest land. Finally, rounding Barra
+Head, the most southerly point of the reef lying off Barra Island, the
+light from which is cast 580 feet above the water owing to the height
+of the cliff, the vessel slips into a huge indentation, where isolated
+rocks peep above the Atlantic, one of the most dangerous of which is
+indicated by the Skerryvore lighthouse.
+
+I have described the Skerryvore light in the previous chapter; but
+nineteen and a half miles to the south-east of the latter is another
+reef, just as exposed, which is as perilous in every respect. Indeed,
+it may be said to constitute a greater menace to the navigation of
+these waters, since it lies in the cross-roads of the entrance to the
+Irish Channel, the Firth of the Clyde, and the Minches. A powerful
+light mounts guard on the Rhins of Islay, twenty-seven miles due south,
+but between the latter and Skerryvore there are forty-three miles of
+coast, as dangerous as the mariner could wish to avoid, with this rock
+looming up almost halfway.
+
+This peril is the Dhu-Heartach, lying out to sea in deep water,
+fourteen miles from the nearest point of the mainland. The physical
+configuration of the sea-bed at this point is somewhat similar to
+that prevailing at Skerryvore. The Ross of Mull tumbles abruptly into
+the Atlantic, to reappear out to sea in the form of the Torrin Rocks,
+which run for a distance of four and a half miles in the direction of
+Dhu-Heartach. Then the reef comes to a sudden stop, to be seen once
+more, nine miles farther out, in the rounded hump of Dhu-Heartach,
+this being practically the outermost point of the ridge. Being so
+isolated and projecting so suddenly from deep water, this ledge claimed
+many victims among the vessels frequenting these unlighted waters. The
+Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses were assailed for not marking the
+danger spot in some form or other. The authorities, however, were fully
+alive to the need of such protection, but it was not until 1867 that
+they were able to proceed with the erection of a lighthouse.
+
+The situation is peculiar, and the engineers, Messrs. D. and T.
+Stevenson, were faced with a somewhat perplexing problem recalling
+those which had arisen in conjunction with the Skerryvore, not
+far distant. Indeed, the Dhu-Heartach undertaking might very well
+be described as a repetition of those struggles, with a few more
+difficulties of a different character thrown in. The rock itself in
+reality is a series of islets, or hummocks, surrounding the main
+hump, which is 240 feet in length by 130 feet in breadth, the highest
+point of the rounded top being 35 feet above high-water at ordinary
+spring-tides. On all sides the lead marks very deep water, the result
+being that in times of storm and tempest the rollers of the Atlantic,
+having a “fetch” of some 3,000 miles or more, thunder upon it with
+terrific force, the broken water leaping high into the air. It is very
+seldom that the rock can be approached even in a small boat and with a
+calm sea, as the hump is invariably encircled in a scarf of ugly surf.
+The swell strikes the western face of the rock, is divided, flows round
+the northern and southern ends of the obstruction, and reunites on
+the eastern side. Consequently the rock is nearly always a centre of
+disturbance.
+
+The distance of the rock from the mainland complicated the issue very
+materially. A suitable site had to be prepared on shore as a base,
+where the stones could be prepared for shipment, while a special
+steam-tender was necessary to run to and fro. The handling of the
+workmen had to be carried out upon the lines which were adopted at
+Skerryvore--namely, the erection of a barrack upon a skeleton framework
+on the rock, where the men might be left safely for days or weeks at
+a time. The shore station selected was at Earraid, on the neighbouring
+island of Mull, because it was the nearest strategical point to the
+work, and because ample supplies of first-class granite were available
+in the immediate vicinity, the proprietor, the Duke of Argyll, as in
+the previous instance, facilitating the work as far as possible.
+
+The authority to commence operations was given on March 11, 1867,
+and this year was devoted to completing preparations, so that in the
+following season work might be started in earnest and carried on
+throughout the summer at high pressure. The first task was the erection
+of the barrack on the rock. The workmen got ashore for the first time
+on June 25, 1867, and, although landing at all times was trying and
+perilous, attempts often having to be abandoned owing to the swell,
+the engineer succeeded in landing twenty-seven times up to September
+3, when work had to be suspended until the following year. Despite
+the shortness of the season, the men made appreciable headway. The
+iron framework of the barrack was completed to the first tier, while
+a good beginning was made upon the rock-face in connection with the
+foundations for the lighthouse. When the autumnal gales approached,
+everything in connection with the barrack was left secure, the builders
+being anxious to ascertain how it would weather the winter gales and
+the force and weight of the waves which bore down upon it.
+
+The engineers finally decided upon a tower 107½ feet in height. After
+trying various curves for the outline, they came to the decision that a
+parabolic frustum would afford the most serviceable design, as well as
+providing the maximum of strength. A diameter of 36 feet was chosen for
+the base, tapering gradually and gracefully to one of 16 feet at the
+top, with the entrance 32 feet above the base, to which point the cone
+was to be solid.
+
+The arrangements were that work should be resumed in the early spring
+of 1868, so as to secure full advantage of the favourable easterly
+winds. Accordingly, when the special steam-tender arrived on April 14,
+she was loaded up with necessaries and men, ready to proceed to the
+site directly the wind should veer round to the desired point of the
+compass. But with aggravating persistency it clung to the west and
+south-west until the end of June, so that many valuable weeks were
+unfortunately lost. Time after time, when there was a lull in the
+weather, the steamer put out from Earraid, the engineers determined to
+make a dash for the rock, and as many times they were foiled, as the
+men could not be got through the surf. One day, however, an hour and
+a half was snatched on the rock, and, although no work could be done
+in that time, yet the interval was sufficient to enable the engineers
+to take a look round and to see how their handiwork had withstood the
+heavy gales of the previous winter. There was only one marked evidence
+of the Atlantic’s wrath. One section of the iron ring connecting the
+heads of the legs of the barrack at a height of 30 feet had been
+carried away.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE NORTH UNST LIGHT.
+
+The first light was built in twenty-six days during the Crimean War at
+the British Government’s urgent request.]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+LANDING WATER AT THE NORTH UNST.
+
+Showing tramway connecting with tower, 200 feet above.]
+
+On June 29 the wind moderated sufficiently to enable the men to be
+landed, but the climatic conditions remained adverse. The wind refused
+to swing round to the east; a westerly swell was the luck day after
+day. The engineers had to dodge the ocean as best they could, and some
+idea of the handicap under which they laboured may be gathered from
+the fact that only four landings were made during the sixty-one days
+of May and June. July enabled the greatest number of landings to be
+effected--thirteen; while during August and September the men only
+gained the rock on twenty-one occasions, making a total of thirty-eight
+landings in the course of 153 days.
+
+During this interrupted season, however, the barrack was completed.
+It was a massive structure, and resembled a huge iron barrel secured
+endwise upon an intricate arrangement of stilts which were heavily
+stayed and tied together by diagonals and cross-members. In the two
+previous instances where a similar arrangement had been adopted the
+temporary dwelling had been wrought in wood, but on this occasion
+the engineers decided to adopt iron, as they concluded that a wooden
+structure would not fare well against the heavy seas. This was
+a fortunate decision, because, as subsequent experience proved, a
+wooden barrack would have received very short shrift from the Atlantic
+breakers; in fact, probably it would have gone down with the first
+sou’-wester. The iron barrack, as the workmen narrated, was pounded and
+battered by the waves most unmercifully; but although it suffered at
+times, quivering and shaking under the terrific impacts, it weathered
+all the onslaughts.
+
+One interesting incident serves to illustrate the perils to which the
+workmen were exposed. A date had been set down when all the men were to
+be brought off the rock for the season, as the approach of the equinox
+rendered further toil extremely doubtful, and there was no intention of
+unduly imperilling them. The engineer’s resident representative, Mr.
+Alexander Brebner, went out to the rock on August 20, the day fixed for
+the suspension of operations, to inspect the progress that had been
+made and to have a last look round. At the time of his arrival the
+weather was beautifully calm, and held out every promise of remaining
+settled for several days. As the season had been so adverse, he
+decided, on his own responsibility, to delay the cessation of toil, so,
+with the thirteen men, he remained on the rock, determined to make up
+leeway somewhat while the weather held out.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE FLANNEN ISLANDS LIGHT STATION.
+
+One of Scotland’s lonely beacons. It marks a group of islets 15 miles
+off the Hebrides. In 1900 the three keepers mysteriously disappeared,
+and their fate remains unsolved to this day.]
+
+But the resident paid the penalty for his disobedience. The little
+party retired that night with the stars shining brilliantly overhead
+from a cloudless sky, and with the sea like a mirror. In the middle
+of the night one and all were roused suddenly from their slumbers.
+The wind was roaring, and the breakers were hammering upon the
+rock, while the foam and surf rushed violently between the legs of
+the barracks. When the men looked out they were confronted with a
+terrifying spectacle. The night was black as pitch, but the sea white
+as a snow-covered plain, from the crests of the rollers and the surf
+playing on and around the rocks. A furious gale had sprung up with the
+characteristic suddenness of the Atlantic, and was already raging. The
+next morning no one dared to venture outside the iron home, while the
+gale, instead of abating, appeared to be increasing in fury. For five
+days the men were held fast, and at times their fears got the better of
+them. This was particularly the case when, now and again, a more than
+ugly wave got up, rolled over the rock, and crashed with full force
+against the barrack. The building shook and trembled fearfully, but
+its legs were driven too deeply into the rock for it to be overturned,
+while the cross-bracing was too intricate for the legs to be snapped
+off. Again and again the men were plunged into darkness, as a wall of
+water rushed right over the drum, notwithstanding that the roof was 77
+feet above high-water.
+
+Their fears rose almost to frenzy when a breaker, leaping the rock,
+drove full tilt against the floor of the barrack. In this upward rush
+of 55 feet the building suffered. The men’s entrance to the home was
+by means of a heavy hatch, or trapdoor, which was bolted securely upon
+the inside. This particular comber burst in the hatch as if it were no
+thicker than the wood of a matchbox, flooding the whole compartment.
+
+Meantime the engineer-in-chief at Edinburgh had heard of the incident.
+He had given strict instructions that the men should be brought off on
+August 20, and when the intelligence was communicated to him that his
+order had been disobeyed, and that his men were in serious straits,
+he became distracted. He knew only too well how the waves bombard
+Dhu-Heartach. Mr. David Stevenson related to me how his father paced
+the offices during the day, and his own home at night, unable to drown
+his thoughts in work or sleep. His worry was intensified as the true
+character of the gale came to his ears. He had planned everything
+with such care that neither life nor limb of a single workman need
+be jeopardized, and here he was confronted with the possibility of
+losing fourteen men at one stroke! The iron barrack, although staunchly
+constructed, was just as likely as not to succumb to the full brunt of
+a very vicious sou’-wester, so there was every excuse for his anxiety.
+He gave orders that the steam-tender was to stand by with steam raised,
+so as to make a dash for the rock upon the first opportunity. No one
+had a moment’s peace until at last the news came through that the
+steam-tender had been out to the rock, and with much difficulty had
+got hold of the fourteen men and brought them ashore, somewhat scared
+and bearing evidences of their experience, but unharmed. Mr. Stevenson
+told me that he could not quite say which was worse--the distracted
+wanderings of his father, or the expression of his pent-up feelings
+when he met the unfortunate resident a few days later, who was taken
+severely to task for his flagrant breach of orders, whereby the lives
+of the workmen had been imperilled so unnecessarily.
+
+The year 1869 was kinder to the engineers, and great headway was made.
+The men were able to make their first landing on the rock as early
+as March 25, and it was accessible up to October 29, when all forces
+withdrew from the scene for the winter. During this period sixty
+landings were effected, while heavy supplies of masonry and other
+materials were shipped to the site. The masons took up their permanent
+residence in the barrack on April 26, and did not leave it until
+September 3, while they were able to squeeze in 113 days of toil, with
+a welcome rest from their labours on Sundays. The excavations for the
+foundations were completed speedily, and on June 24 the erection of
+the tower was commenced. The stones were brought ready for setting in
+position, and were laid so rapidly that by the end of the month two
+courses were completed and the third had been well advanced. Then came
+a temporary setback. A blusterous summer gale sprang up, and the sea,
+after assaulting the rock for two days, succeeded in leaving its mark.
+The crane and other tackle at the landing-stage were washed away, while
+fourteen stones laid in the third course were uprooted, of which eleven
+were seen no more. The water in this case had to leap upwards for 35½
+feet, while the stones which it carried away weighed 2 tons apiece, and
+were firmly joggled, so that the wrench which displaced them must have
+been terrific indeed.
+
+If a summer gale could wreak such damage, what was the dreaded equinox
+likely to achieve? The engineers were so much impressed that they
+thereupon made assurance doubly sure by effecting a modification of the
+original plans. When the work was commenced, it was intended to take
+the solid part of the tower up to a height of 52 feet 10 inches above
+high-water. The effects of this summer gale induced them to continue
+the solid section a further 11½ feet, so that the entrance level is 64
+feet 4 inches above high-water mark. The result is that the solid base
+of the Dhu-Heartach tower weighs no less than 1,840 tons--more than
+one-half the total weight of the structure--and is executed throughout
+in massive blocks of grey granite.
+
+The tower contains six floors above the entrance hall, these, on
+ascending the spiral staircase, being as follows: oil-store, kitchen,
+provision-store, bedroom, dry-room, and light-room. The masonry part
+of the work was completed by the end of the season of 1871, and the
+first-order dioptric, fixed, white light was exhibited on November
+1, 1872. The focal plane, being 145 feet above the water-level, has
+a range of eighteen nautical miles. The total cost of the work was
+£76,084, or $380,420, of which sum the shore station was responsible
+for £10,300, or $51,500.
+
+The ocean made an attempt to defeat the workmanship and skill of the
+engineers in the very winter following the opening of the lighthouse.
+On the lee side of the tower there is a copper lightning-conductor, 1
+inch thick by 1½ inches wide, which is let into a channel cut in the
+stonework, so that it comes flush with the face of the building. This
+conductor is fixed at intervals of 5 feet in a substantial manner. The
+winter storms of 1872 tore some 10 feet out of this channel near the
+base of the structure, and wrenched the screws from their sockets;
+while at the kitchen window level, which is 92 feet above high-water,
+the rod was similarly disturbed for some distance. It will be seen that
+the waves which assail Dhu-Heartach are by no means to be despised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FASTNET, THE OUTPOST OF EUROPE
+
+
+Four and a half miles out to sea, separated from Cape Clear, the most
+south-westerly point of Ireland, by a treacherous channel, rises the
+jagged, formidable shape of the Fastnet. To mariners the rock, with its
+brilliant shaft of light by night, has developed into more than a mere
+beacon. It is the first and last light of the Old World on the eastward
+and westward passages across the Atlantic. All passing vessels are
+“spoken” from this point to London, New York, and elsewhere.
+
+It was in the early fifties of the past century that the engineer
+conceived the idea of planting a light upon this lonely crag. Maritime
+interests had agitated for a beacon for many years previously, since,
+although a warning gleam was thrown from the station on Cape Clear,
+this ray often was invisible, or partially obscured, owing to the
+wreaths of cloud and mist which draped the summit of the headland.
+The builder was Mr. George Halpin, engineer to the Port of Dublin
+Corporation, which was responsible at that time for the illumination of
+the shores of Ireland.
+
+His task was not to be despised. The Fastnet itself is merely a
+pinnacle, rising precipitously to a height of about 100 feet above
+low-water, but it is the centre of many dangers. It is flanked on all
+sides by needle-points and ridges; the currents run strongly, and the
+tides are wicked, rendering approach uncertain even in the smoothest
+weather.
+
+The indefatigable engineer attacked his task boldly. He chose the
+highest point of the rock as the site for his tower, which was a
+cast-iron cylindrical building, 91 feet in height. The lantern was
+equipped with a revolving apparatus which threw a flash of 38,000
+candle-power for fifteen seconds once every two minutes from an
+elevation of 148 feet, rotation being obtained through a belt and a
+weight-driven clock. Its erection was a tedious undertaking; although
+a start was made in 1848, it was not until January 1, 1854, that the
+light first cast its welcome rays over the wastes of the Atlantic, by
+which time £20,000, or $100,000, had been spent upon the undertaking.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _From the “Scientific American.”_
+
+BUILDING THE FASTNET ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+Looking down from the top of the rock upon the men setting one of the
+solid masonry courses.]
+
+For ten years Halpin’s work successfully defied the elements, although
+at times the keepers grew somewhat apprehensive concerning its
+stability. Time after time, during heavy gales, it seemed as if it
+must succumb to the storm. The waves curled up the cliff and struck
+the tower with staggering force, causing it to tremble like a leaf.
+On one occasion a cup of coffee standing upon the table was thrown to
+the floor. While the shaft defied the most severe poundings, the cliff
+itself gave way, and large masses of rock on which the tower stood were
+carried away. One huge chunk, weighing some 3 tons, was detached, and,
+as it slipped down, was picked up by the next incoming wave, to be
+hurled with terrific force against the tower, but without inflicting
+any marked damage. On another occasion a cask containing 60 gallons
+of fresh water, which the keepers had made fast to the railing of the
+gallery surrounding the lantern, 133 feet above the water, was wrenched
+free by a wave which dashed over the rock, and was swept away as if it
+were an empty tin. The keepers’ anxiety under these circumstances may
+be understood.
+
+At last, in April, 1865, the consulting engineer to the Corporation
+visited the lighthouse in company with Mr. George Stevenson, the famous
+Scottish lighthouse builder, to examine the rock thoroughly. The latter
+suggested certain recommendations to insure the stability of the tower;
+but when the sanction of the Brethren of Trinity House was sought, they
+deferred a decision until their own engineer had visited the works,
+although they appreciated Mr. Stevenson’s advice.
+
+Some of the recommendations advanced by Mr. Stevenson were followed
+subsequently, and this reluctant recognition of his knowledge
+brought its reward. The authorities--now the Commissioners of Irish
+Lights--had a fright in 1881. The storms of that winter were among
+the heaviest that have ever assailed the British Islands. The Calf
+Rock light, which was a similar tower to the Fastnet, and which had
+been strengthened upon identical lines, came to grief. The tower was
+broken off at the point where the reinforcement ceased. This disaster
+naturally aroused many misgivings concerning the luck of the Fastnet.
+Had it shared a similar fate during the same gale? To their intense
+relief, the Commissioners found that it had issued from the conflict
+with no more injuries than a few broken panes of glass.
+
+The tower withstood the attacks of wind and wave successfully until
+1891, when the Commissioners came to the conclusion that it was time
+the Fastnet light was improved, to meet the requirements of the
+busier mercantile traffic passing the point. Accordingly, Mr. William
+Douglass, the engineer to the Commissioners, recommended a new tower,
+fitted with the latest form of illumination, so as to bring it into
+line with the other leading lights of the world. He advocated a tower
+of masonry with the focal plane at an elevation of 159 feet; the shaft,
+147 feet high, springing from a position 6 inches below high-water,
+with a diameter at the base of 42 feet. The cost of the light was
+estimated at £70,000 or $350,000.
+
+One cannot help admiring the daring of the engineer, since he declined
+to be assisted by the rock summit in his purpose. Instead he preferred
+the ledge of a chasm on the hardest part of the rock below high-tide,
+and directly exposed to the full force of the sea. He maintained that
+such a tower, planted on this shelf, would receive the force of the
+heaviest seas before they rose to their full height; also by building
+the base of the tower in the form of steps, as in the case of a
+breakwater, an excellent buffer would be offered to the rollers.
+
+[Illustration: BUILDING THE FASTNET TOWER.
+
+Showing derrick for setting the stones into position.]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _The “Scientific American.”_
+
+ERECTING THE FASTNET LANTERN.
+
+This illustration gives a striking idea of its height.]
+
+The new design came at an opportune moment. Another inspection of the
+existing tower by Mr. C. W. Scott, the present engineer-in-chief
+to the Commissioners, revealed a parlous state of affairs. Halpin’s
+building was on the verge of collapse. Many of the plates in the upper
+stories had worked loose under the poundings inflicted by the seas, and
+in many instances the bolts holding the fabric together were sheared.
+Repairs had to be made hastily to enable the old tower to hold out
+until the new lighthouse was erected.
+
+Before the work was commenced, the designer, as a result of further
+investigation, decided to increase the diameter of his tower to 52 feet
+at the base. The lowest courses did not comprise complete rings of
+masonry, but were anchored at the points where the circle was broken
+into the face of the cliff, so as to form an integral part thereof,
+as it were. The depth of this partial ringwork is 26 feet, at which
+level the first complete ring of masonry was laid. Thenceforward the
+tower is solid throughout its thickness for a further height of 30
+feet, except for a central circular space forming the water-tank, which
+holds 3,250 gallons of water. From this point the masonry structure
+rises gracefully to a height of 88-1/8 feet to the lantern gallery. The
+lighthouse is divided into eight floors, affording living-rooms for the
+keepers, storerooms for oil, fog-signals, provisions, coal, etc.
+
+The lighthouse, the landing-stage, and other appurtenances, are
+executed in Cornish granite throughout. The blocks were fashioned from
+picked stone of fine, close, hard grain, and ranged up to 4 and 5 tons
+in weight. The method of construction followed the approved lines of
+to-day, in which each stone is dovetailed into its neighbour, above,
+below, and on either side. As the stones were cut and fitted in the
+Cornish quarries, they were set up and fitted course by course. Then,
+when they had met the approbation of the engineer deputed for this
+duty, they were numbered and given other identification marks, so that
+upon reaching the base at Rock Island, upon the Irish mainland, within
+easy reach of the Fastnet, they could be despatched in rotation to the
+site, to be set in position.
+
+It was in August, 1896, that the first little squad of labourers
+landed on the Fastnet, under the superintendence of James Kavanagh,
+a first-class all-round mason--one of those men who occupy a unique
+position when emergency calls. He was just the type of foreman that the
+task demanded, careful, daring, a hard worker, zealous, dauntless. Once
+he had landed on the rock to prepare the foundations, he seldom left
+it; and, what is more, every stone constituting the tower was well and
+truly laid by his own hand. It was indeed unfortunate that Kavanagh,
+after his momentous round of toil was over, should be stricken down
+with apoplexy, to which he succumbed, after virtually years of
+imprisonment upon an ill-famed rock, facing discomforts and privations
+of all descriptions, and seizing every opportunity to drive the task
+forward. It was as if Nature, baffled in her efforts to circumvent
+the work of human ingenuity, had taken revenge upon the man who had
+laboured mightily to complete her subjection.
+
+Kavanagh took with him upon the rock a small boiler and steam-winch,
+which he set up without delay, to land both workmen and necessaries.
+He lost no time in cutting away at the toe of the cliff, to admit the
+first partial ring of stones. It was a ding-dong battle between the
+masons and the sea for the first few rounds. The men toiled heroically
+with their chisels between the coming of the rollers, with one eye
+on the water and the other on a handy life-line, which they grabbed
+when the Atlantic endeavoured to steal a march upon them. On some
+days splendid progress was made; on others the masons never drove the
+chisels once into the rock-face.
+
+Landing was an exciting experience in itself. The tender, naturally,
+could not draw right in, owing to the swell and other dangers. She
+stood off a little way, and there anchored. When men were coming to or
+going from the rock, the rope was run out from the derrick. To this
+was attached a kind of double stirrup, not unlike a child’s swing. The
+men took up their position, two at a time, on these stirrups, standing
+face to face. At the command, “Lower away!” or “Heave ho!” the derrick
+winch commenced to grunt and rattle, and the men were whisked into
+mid-air, clutching tightly to their frail, cramped hold, and steadied
+in their aerial journey by another rope extending to the rowing-boat
+below. It was an exciting trip while it lasted, and at first glimpse
+appeared to be dangerous, so much so that on one or two occasions the
+courage of raw hands broke down at the last moment, and they hesitated
+to trust themselves to such a flimsy-looking vehicle.
+
+Bringing the stones ashore was even more difficult. It was imperative
+that the edges and corners of the blocks should be protected from
+blows which might chip and scar them, thereby impairing their true
+fit, and possibly allowing the sea to get a purchase in its efforts
+to destroy. Accordingly, the blocks were packed in skeleton crates,
+with substantial wooden battens completely protecting the vital parts.
+It was impossible to swing them singly direct through the air from
+steamer to rock, and it was inadvisable to transfer them first to a
+rowing-boat; so an ingenious alternative method was perfected. The
+tender was brought as near the rock as possible, and the derrick boom
+was swung out, so that a hook carried at the end of the rope could be
+attached to the stone, which rested on rollers upon the tender’s deck
+leading to an open doorway in the taffrail. When the rope was secured,
+the word was given to haul in the derrick rope slowly and gently. This
+brought the stone gradually to the vessel’s side, when it was permitted
+to fall into the water where it could suffer no injury. The derrick
+rope meanwhile was wound in, and the stone, still submerged, at last
+brought to rest against the side of the tower.
+
+A vertical series of wooden battens had been attached to the outside of
+the building, so as to form a slide up which the blocks could be hauled
+to the required level. Of course, as the tower increased in height, the
+latter part of the operation had to be varied, owing to the concave
+curve of the structure. Then the stone had to complete its final stage
+through the air, being steadied in its ascent by a rope held below to
+prevent it swinging and coming to grief against the completed part of
+the shaft. In this manner 2,074 stones, representing a dead-weight of
+4,633 tons, were landed and set in position.
+
+Work was painfully slow and tedious at times, owing to adverse weather.
+Although the men on the rock were condemned inevitably to periods of
+idleness, they were made as comfortable as conditions would permit, so
+as to remove any longing on their part to return to the mainland for a
+change. This was a necessary precaution. Although the men might leave
+the rock in perfectly calm weather, the Atlantic is so fickle that
+an interval of two or three hours was quite sufficient to permit the
+wind to freshen, and the swell to grow restive, to such a degree as to
+render a return to the rock impossible for several days. Owing to the
+cramped nature of the quarters on the rock, elaborate care had to be
+exercised to protect the men from the ravages of disease. The toilers
+had to board themselves, and the authorities demanded that each man
+should maintain a fortnight’s reserve supply of provisions upon the
+rock to tide him over a spell of bad weather. This rule was enforced
+very rigidly, any infringement of it being attended with instant
+dismissal. For emergency purposes the Commissioners maintained a small
+stock of salt beef, pork, tinned meats, tea, sugar, milk, biscuits,
+and so forth, on the rock, from which the men could replenish their
+larders. The foreman acted as a kind of medical officer of health, as
+well as fulfilling his other duties. He was supplied with a ship’s
+medicine-chest, plenty of bandages, liniment, and antiseptics, in case
+of accident. At five o’clock every morning the men were compelled to
+tumble out of their bunks, to indulge in a thorough wash, to turn their
+bedding into the air when the weather was agreeable, and to wash out
+their quarters. The strictest supervision was maintained over matters
+pertaining to sanitation, and, thanks to these elaborate precautions,
+cases of sickness were very few.
+
+Extreme care was observed in the building operations, so that no
+workman might be exposed to any unnecessary risks, although the task
+at times bristled with unavoidable perils. As a matter of fact, the
+whole enterprise was attended by only three accidents on the rock. One
+man was cutting a tram-rail, when a piece of steel flew into one eye,
+completely blinding it. Another suffered a similar calamity from a chip
+of stone while quarrying. The third man met misfortune while at work
+at the windlass of the derrick. As a breaker rolled in, his companion
+dropped his handle, with the result that the other workman was knocked
+down and had one leg broken. There was a true Hibernian flavour about
+this last-named accident, in keeping with the setting in which it
+occurred. The man was incapacitated for some months, and then brought
+an action for compensation, claiming that he had been rendered unfit
+for any further manual labour. The sympathetic court solaced him with
+an award of £350, or $1,750. The amazement and disgust of the engineer
+may be imagined when, three months after the action, he suddenly
+espied the supposedly totally incapacitated workman assisting in the
+transference of coal from a barge to the tender!
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of the “Scientific American.”_
+
+THE FASTNET, THE OUTPOST OF EUROPE.
+
+On the top of the rock is the first light, opened in 1854. At the side
+is the present noble tower, completed in 1906. The flashing beam of
+750,000 candle-power has a range of 20 miles.]
+
+As the tower grew above the existing building, which it was to exceed
+in height, it obscured the light thrown from the latter in a certain
+direction. At this juncture, accordingly, a temporary scaffolding was
+erected upon the summit of the new shaft, on which were rigged two
+ordinary lightship lights, and these were kept going until the new
+lantern was completed. The last stone was set on June 3, 1903, after
+some four years’ labour.
+
+During the winter everything was brought virtually to a standstill,
+owing to the succession of gales, but the men on the rock never
+missed an opportunity to advance the undertaking. Kavanagh, the
+foreman, absolutely refused to go ashore so long as any work could be
+completed. Often he remained on the Fastnet the whole year round, and
+never was away for more than two months in the year, when work was
+impossible. Other workmen, when they had lived down the first feelings
+of loneliness, became imbued with the same spirit, and appeared loth
+to forsake the scene of their labours even for a day or two. When
+the men settled down to their toil, it was very seldom that a wish was
+expressed to be taken ashore more than once in three months.
+
+The lantern was undertaken directly the stonework was completed. The
+landing of this apparatus was an exciting task, for, the season being
+advanced, it was decided to run unusual risks, lest the rock should
+become unapproachable. It was accomplished successfully, and the
+various parts were stored on the rock in what was considered a safe
+place. The weather looked fine and gave no signs of breaking; yet two
+hours after all had been inspected and secured for the night a terrific
+gale sprang up, and the rock was enveloped in water, which dashed right
+over it. The waves caught some of the lantern apparatus and smashed
+it; other parts were carried away and never seen again. This was an
+unexpected catastrophe. The remaining damaged parts of the apparatus
+were sent back to Birmingham to be overhauled and the missing portions
+replaced.
+
+As there was no possibility of being able to complete the lantern that
+winter, and the authorities did not like to entrust the marking of
+the rock solely to the temporary lightship lights--the lantern of the
+Halpin tower had been taken down meanwhile--it was thereupon decided to
+erect the dismantled old lamp in the new tower for the time being.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+THE LANTERN OF THE FASTNET ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+It consists of two tiers each of four panels of 920 millimetres focal
+distance.]
+
+The next summer the new apparatus was got on to the rock and erected
+safely. The light is of the dioptric type, derived from a series of
+incandescent burners, giving a total power of 1,200 candles. This part
+of the installation is the invention of the chief engineer to the
+Commissioners, Mr. C. W. Scott, and it has proved to be one of the most
+perfect and economical devices of this type yet submitted to practical
+operations. The oil is vaporized by being passed through a spraying
+device under pressure, similar to the forced carburation in automobile
+practice, and the gas is fed to the Bunsen burners. The lenses,
+together with their revolving apparatus, weigh 13,440 pounds, and
+rotate upon a bed of mercury under the fall of a weight of 290 pounds,
+which descends 40 feet per hour, this being sufficient to secure
+three complete revolutions per minute. In case the incandescent gas
+installation should break down from any cause, a four-wick oil-burner
+is held in reserve, and can be brought into action instantly. The
+power of the rays thrown from the 1,200 candle-power burners is
+intensified by the lenses to some 750,000 candle-power, of extremely
+white brilliancy, recalling the beam thrown by an electric searchlight.
+The flash, of three-twenty-fifths of a second’s duration, recurs every
+five seconds, and on a clear night the light is readily distinguishable
+from a distance of twenty miles, while its reflection in the sky may be
+observed from a considerably greater distance.
+
+The erection of this lighthouse was not without one humorous incident.
+While the lantern apparatus was being set in position, a plumber was
+sent to the rock. He spent one day and night there, a period that
+proved to be more than enough for him. The murmuring of the waves lost
+all their musical glamour for him when he was imprisoned on a wild,
+isolated, wind-and-wave-swept eyrie. He did not get a wink of sleep,
+and was scared nearly out of his wits. When morning broke, and the
+men were turned out of their bunks, the plumber expressed his fixed
+determination to return to the shore at once. His companions laughed at
+his fears, ridiculed his anxieties, coaxed and upbraided him in turn.
+It was of no avail. He would not do another stroke of work. Realizing
+the hopelessness of such a workman, the engineer in charge signalled
+the mainland for assistance. The steamer could not put out, but the
+lifeboat, not understanding the import of such an unusual call, made
+the dangerous pull to the rock, to ascertain what was the matter. When
+they found that it was to take off a scared workman, their feelings
+may be imagined. The demoralized plumber was bundled into the lifeboat
+and rowed back to shore. The blood did not return to his face, nor did
+he collect his scattered wits, until he planted his two feet firmly on
+the mainland, when he very vehemently and picturesquely expressed his
+determination never to accept a job in such a forsaken place again.
+
+The old tower was reduced to the level of its solid base, and converted
+into an oil-store. The finishing touches were applied to the new
+tower, and on June 27, 1906, the scintillating and penetrating ray of
+the present Fastnet was shown for the first time. It is a magnificent
+light, and, being the latest expression of British lighthouse
+engineering upon a large scale, compels more than passing interest.
+The light is fully in keeping with the importance of the spot it
+marks, and the £84,000, or $420,000, which it cost has been laid out
+to excellent purpose. The light and fog-signal station is tended by
+six keepers, four being on the rock simultaneously, and two ashore.
+The latter constitute the relief, which is made twice a month if the
+weather permits, the service being one month on the rock, followed by
+a fortnight on shore. One keeper has day duty, maintaining a lookout
+for fog and to signal passing ships; two are on duty at night, the one
+having charge of the light and its operation, while his comrade devotes
+his attention to signalling ships and watching the weather. When a mist
+creeps over the light, the fourth keeper is called up to manipulate
+the explosive fog-signal. The lighthouse, being an important landfall,
+is a signalling-station for Lloyd’s, and is also fitted with wireless
+telegraphy, wherewith the movements of outgoing and incoming vessels
+are reported to the mainland for notification to all parts of the
+world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+LIGHTHOUSES BUILT ON SAND
+
+
+While the greater number of the most famous sea-lights have been
+erected upon the solid foundation offered by rock, in one or two
+instances notable works have been consummated upon sand. The two most
+remarkable achievements in this particular field of enterprise are the
+Rothersand lighthouse, off the coast of Germany, in the North Sea, and
+the Fourteen Foot Bank, in Delaware Bay, U.S.A.
+
+The Rothersand light became necessary owing to the expansion of the
+German mercantile marine and the development of the ports of the
+Weser and Elbe. The estuary of the Weser River is hemmed in by shoals
+and sandbanks, similar to those found at the entrance to Liverpool,
+London, and New York, rendering navigation extremely hazardous under
+the most favourable circumstances. Bremerhaven, on the Weser, had been
+selected as the home port for the North German Lloyd Atlantic liners,
+but it was threatened with abandonment unless the entrance to the
+waterway should undergo improvement. It was of no avail to dredge a
+deep channel through the treacherous ridges of sand, if the general
+proximity of the shoal were left unmarked. Consequently, in order to
+secure the interests of Bremerhaven, it was decided by the three border
+States--Prussia, Oldenburg, and Bremen--to provide a powerful light at
+this danger-point. The financial problem was solved by the agreement to
+levy a special tax upon all vessels entering the Weser, to defray the
+cost of providing the safeguard.
+
+The undertaking was somewhat formidable. The shoal, being of soft
+sand, was liable to erosion and movement, owing to fluctuating and
+changing currents. Then, again, the proposed site, some thirty miles
+from Bremerhaven and about halfway between that port and the island
+of Heligoland, was exposed to the assaults of the North Sea, where
+even slight breezes ruffle the water considerably. From the soundings
+and observations that were made, it was evident that the foundations
+would have to be carried down to a great depth, and that ordinary
+systems of construction were quite impracticable. At this juncture the
+Society Harkort of Duisburg, which had accumulated great experience in
+subaqueous work, was approached and asked if it would undertake the
+enterprise at its own risk. This was tantamount to a “no cure, no pay”
+proposal. If they succeeded, they would be rewarded for their labours;
+if they failed, they would have to face a heavy loss.
+
+This firm, after careful deliberation, allowed that the work could
+be accomplished, but in one way only. This was to construct a huge
+caisson--practically a gigantic barrel of steel--on shore, to launch
+and tow it to the site, and there to lower it until it rested on the
+bottom. Then, by a removal of the sand from beneath this caisson, it
+could be sunk to a great depth, and, the interior being filled with
+concrete, a huge artificial core of rock would be created, capable of
+supporting a tower. This system is employed extensively in connection
+with bridge-building operations, and the firm entertained no doubts
+concerning its feasibility at Rothersand. The society accordingly
+prepared its designs, and advanced an estimate for the cost of the work.
+
+At this juncture an unexpected competitor appeared on the scene. One of
+the engineers engaged in the preparation of the Harkort designs severed
+his connection with that firm, and, securing the collaboration of two
+engineering colleagues, established a rival concern, which tendered for
+the contract. They would follow the same lines, but would complete it
+for £22,750, or $113,750, instead of £24,025, or $120,125, asked by the
+Duisburg firm. The lower price was accepted, the more readily since it
+included the foundations, whereas the Society Harkort set these down as
+an extra. Naturally, the society was somewhat chagrined at this turn of
+events, after all the trouble and care it had taken to discover the
+most satisfactory solution of the problem, but subsequently it had good
+reason not to regret its loss.
+
+The new engineers set to work and during the winter of 1880-81
+constructed a huge caisson, which was launched and on May 22 of the
+latter year started down the Weser in charge of tugs. Then came a whole
+string of accidents. One night the unwieldy fabric got adrift and
+drove its nose into a sandbank, where it settled down with the tide.
+The towing cables were attached once more, and after a great struggle
+the structure was extricated on the next high-tide, and resumed its
+journey. Reaching the site without further incident, it was lowered by
+admitting the water within the barrel. But this task being accomplished
+somewhat crudely, the water rushed in with such force that the caisson
+commenced to spin round like a top, as well as bobbing up and down
+like an angler’s float. It threatened to topple over and founder every
+moment, but, luckily keeping upright, finally touched bottom. Lowering
+was completed. Night having approached, workmen made themselves
+comfortable on the caisson, while the constructional steamer stood off
+and cast its anchor.
+
+The men on the caisson, however, experienced one of the most
+sensational nights in their lives. As the tide rose, they found their
+novel home to be behaving somewhat curiously. It moved, and then heeled
+over. This was an alarming state of affairs, especially as the list
+gradually became worse and worse. They shouted frantically for help,
+but, a heavy fog having descended upon the shoal, their cries were
+absorbed by the white pall. At last the caisson careened over to such
+a degree that the men could not keep their feet, while the depressed
+edge was in danger of being submerged. The men crawled to the opposite
+or elevated side, and held on for their lives, expecting every moment
+that the structure would give a heave and roll over. It was a terribly
+anxious time for them, and at last, when the constructional steamer
+came alongside in the morning, they scuttled down the ropes from their
+perilous perch to the deck below, thankful for having escaped, as they
+thought, a certain watery grave.
+
+The engineers spared no effort to save their work. They were harassed
+at every tide because the water rose above the depressed edge and
+flooded the interior. With all speed the wall at this point was
+increased in height, so as to prevent inundation. Then, stormy weather
+having cut away the sand under the elevated side, the structure
+gradually righted itself. When it had regained its vertical position,
+it was found that no serious damage had been done, but rather that the
+engineers had profited, inasmuch as the caisson had buried itself some
+16 feet into the sand.
+
+Winter was approaching, and so the engineers crowded on every man and
+effort possible, in order to get the structure sunk to the requisite
+level before work would have to be abandoned for the season. They
+departed from the engineer’s axiom, “Make haste slowly,” and paid the
+penalty. When the bad weather broke, compelling the return of all the
+workmen to shore, the fabric was left insecure. The lower part had been
+given its filling of concrete, but above a certain level the fabric
+depended only upon the iron shell of the cylinder. It was stiffened
+as much as possible with cross-timbers and bracing, but the elements
+soon made short work of this puny defence. The North Sea, in common
+with the other large stretches of water throughout the world, was
+swept by terrible storms that winter, and one morning, when the sea
+was scanned from shore through glasses, strange to say the caisson was
+nowhere to be seen. All sorts of rumours were circulated to account
+for its disappearance, among others being a sensational theory that
+the caisson, having reached swampy ground while being sunk, had simply
+dropped suddenly into the submarine quagmire, and had been swallowed
+up completely. But the divers, when they could get out to the site and
+could venture into the ocean depths, returned to the surface with a
+very different story. The waves had snapped off the top of the caisson
+at the upper level of the concrete within, and had carried it away.
+Thus ended summarily the first attempt to build a lighthouse upon the
+red sand at the entrance to the River Weser.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of the North German Lloyd S.S. Co._
+
+THE ROTHERSAND LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+This magnificent light marks a dangerous shoal in the estuary of the
+Weser. The masonry tower is built upon a massive concrete caisson
+driven deeply into the sand.]
+
+The project, however, was not abandoned. The Society Harkort was
+approached once more, and requested to undertake the work upon its
+own terms. The invitation was accepted, but the firm, realizing the
+abnormal risks incidental to the enterprise, revised their price, so
+as to provide for contingencies. It demanded a sum of £42,650, or
+$213,250, in return for which it undertook to supply a fully-equipped
+lighthouse less the illuminating apparatus. The terms were accepted,
+but the responsible authorities, having suffered a heavy loss from
+the first failure, decided to protect themselves against a similar
+disaster, so exacted a bond for £12,000, or $60,000, to be returned
+when the work should be completed and accepted by the Government. The
+Society Harkort, on its part, reserved the right to withdraw from the
+undertaking in the event of the caisson sharing the fate which overtook
+the first structure.
+
+The contracts were signed in September, 1882, and the task was
+commenced. The first disaster was a blessing in disguise, for the new
+engineers were able to turn the mistakes of their predecessors to
+advantage. They designed a caisson of oval shape, with pointed ends,
+measuring 46 feet in length by 36 feet wide. It was an elaborate,
+staunch structure, towering to a height of 60¾ feet when launched. At
+a height of 8 feet from the bottom edge was a massive flooring built
+of iron. The space below constituted the area in which the men were to
+work upon the sea-bed, excavating the sand under compressed air, while
+the lower rim was a cutting edge, so as to facilitate the sinking of
+the mass as the sand was removed. The upper part of the caisson was
+divided into four floors, each of which was set aside for a specific
+purpose. The lowest was the concrete-mixing chamber; that above carried
+the machinery and boilers; the third floor formed the living-quarters
+for the men who worked and slept on the structure; while the top floor
+formed a deck, and carried two powerful cranes whereby the material
+was lifted from the boats which drew alongside. Of course, when the
+caisson had been lowered into the water and was eating its way deeper
+and deeper into the sand, these platforms had to be moved higher and
+higher from time to time, as the base of the tun became filled with
+concrete, the outer walls of the fabric being increased to keep the top
+well above high-water mark.
+
+When the caisson was completed on shore and sent into the water, it
+was an impressive-looking monster. The shell itself weighed 245½ tons,
+and with the various accessories aboard the weight was brought up to
+some 335 tons. It then had to be loaded down to the required depth for
+towing, for which purpose ballast in the form of pig-iron, concrete,
+and bricks, to the extent of another 245 tons, was stowed aboard, while
+delicate precautions were taken to maintain stability. The combined
+efforts of 120 men, working day and night for 127 days, were required
+to erect this caisson, and on April 1, 1883, it was ready for its
+transportation to the site.
+
+The towing operation was extremely difficult, and the voyage out was
+full of exciting incident. It was possible to advance only on the
+ebb-tide, and the towing cables, 5 inches in diameter, were specially
+manufactured for the operation. Two of the most powerful tugs owned
+by the North German Lloyd Steamship Company were requisitioned, three
+other steamers engaged in the conveyance of requirements between tower
+and shore accompanying the procession. Although the engineers were
+ready, the weather, with aggravating persistence, refused to clear
+sufficiently to produce the smooth sea and calm demanded for the
+safe journey of the ungainly craft. Day after day slipped by, with
+eighty men on the alert, and with fires banked and steam raised on
+the vessels, ready to weigh anchor at the first favourable moment.
+Fifty-five days passed before the weather bureau recommended that the
+conditions were suitable. Under the foregoing circumstances the expense
+of this delay may be realized.
+
+[Illustration: THE FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHTHOUSE, BUILT ON SAND.
+
+The erection of this structure constitutes a brilliant achievement in
+United States lighthouse engineering.]
+
+Directly the intimation was conveyed that the tow could be attempted,
+there was a scene of indescribable activity and bustle in the
+Bremerhaven dock, where the caisson was moored. Full steam was raised
+on the tugs, and at half-past three in the morning of May 26 the mighty
+steel barrel moved out of the dock. The towing ropes were hitched on,
+and very slowly the “Colossus,” as the caisson was named, moved down
+the harbour, accompanied by the whole fleet of nine vessels engaged
+in construction work, so that the procession was imposing. It dropped
+down the river without incident, when, the tide turning, anchor was
+cast, and all was made fast until another advance could be made at
+four o’clock in the afternoon. But the rising tide was stronger than
+had been anticipated, and trouble was soon encountered. The caisson,
+pressed by the current, dragged and strained at the two tugs by which
+she was being towed, causing them to slip their anchors. It was an
+anxious moment. The two vessels could not hold the “Colossus”; in fact,
+they were being towed backwards by it. Hurriedly another tug was called
+up, and helped in the effort; but although the three steamers put on
+full steam ahead, they failed to keep the mass in check. Another tug
+was signalled, and then, under the combined effort of 350 horse-power,
+driving for all it was worth against the current, the four vessels
+mastered the swing of the scurrying water, and had the “Colossus” under
+control.
+
+A little later the procession continued on its way to the North
+Sea, but when the boats came up with the Hoheweg lighthouse further
+disquieting news was received. The keepers signalled that the barometer
+was falling, and that a thunderstorm was hurrying across the North
+Sea from England. Anchors were thrown out hurriedly, and everything
+made snug and tight for the approaching storm. It burst with fearful
+severity. The waves got up, the wind blew with fiendish velocity in
+terrifying gusts, and the rain tumbled down in sheets. The engineers
+were on tenterhooks the whole hour and a half the storm raged, as they
+foresaw lively times if the unmanageable hulk broke loose. But the
+“Colossus” rode the gale as quietly as if moored to a wharf in dock.
+The storm, however, upset all calculations for the day. There was no
+possibility of getting the caisson out and sunk before nightfall, so
+the engineers prepared to pass the night at anchor, and to start off
+again with the dawn. The weather, ruffled by the thunderstorm, refused
+to settle down until a further day and night had been wasted. Then, at
+7.30 in the morning, on a favourable tide, anchors were weighed, and,
+steaming hard through a broken sea, the tugs conveyed the caisson on
+its journey. At last the procession reached the buoy marking the site.
+The caisson was brought to rest, the water was admitted gently through
+the valves, and slowly, steadily, and vertically, the shell sank lower
+and lower, until a scarcely perceptible shock conveyed the intimation
+that it had touched bottom.
+
+The most anxious part of the task was consummated with complete
+success: the caisson had been got to the site and sunk. Then the task
+of burying it deeply and irremovably in the sand was hurried forward.
+Workmen descended into the space beneath the bottom floor and the
+sea-bed. Under compressed air they excavated the sand within the
+area to permit the cutting edge to sink lower and lower. The sand,
+as removed, was lifted to the top of the “Colossus” and discharged
+overboard. Meanwhile the concrete-mixing machine got busy, and the
+stone heart of the tun was fashioned rapidly. Under this increasing
+weight the sinking operation was assisted very appreciably. By the
+middle of October the work had been advanced to such a stage that
+the total weight of the structure had been increased to over 3,350
+tons, and the top deck of the caisson, which had grown in height by
+the attaching of successive rings of plates, was about 99 feet above
+the cutting edge, which had buried itself to a depth of 51 feet below
+low-water. Then work had to be abandoned, as the autumnal gales
+sprang up. The whole of the staff, with the exception of two men,
+who mounted guard over the work, were taken back to Bremerhaven. The
+gales increased in fury, culminating in a tempest similar to that
+which had destroyed the first caisson. Remembering the fate of that
+enterprise under such fearful pounding from wind and wave, the Harkort
+engineers naturally were somewhat anxious concerning the welfare of
+their handiwork under identical conditions. But the new creation was
+overwhelmingly strong where its predecessor was weak, although the
+seas, baffled in their efforts to upset the caisson, did not fail to
+leave their mark by knocking the superstructure and scaffolding about
+somewhat, as well as carrying away a few weighty pieces of the top
+hamper.
+
+Work was resumed in February, 1884, and continued more or less
+regularly until November. Interruptions were of frequent occurrence, so
+that only about one-quarter of the time available could be turned to
+useful account. The structure which had been towed out of Bremerhaven
+a year previously had disappeared from sight, the rim of the barrel
+built on dry land being about 4 feet below water; but, of course,
+as the work proceeded and the caisson sank, its walls were extended
+upwards, as already explained. When the structure had been sunk to
+its designed depth, the steel shell was 107½ feet in height, from the
+cutting edge to the top projecting above the water, and nearly 40
+feet of its height was buried in the Rothersand. To sink it to this
+level required the removal of 3,000 cubic yards of sand from beneath
+the bottom floor of the structure; while 49,100 tons of material were
+brought out from Bremerhaven and built into the steel shell to render
+it a solid elliptical mass, with the exception of a short central
+hollow space which has a narrow conduit connection with the outer sea,
+and which, fitted with a float, acts as a tide-gauge which may be read
+in the lighthouse. From this massive concrete pedestal rises the tower
+proper, which at the base is circular, with a diameter of 33¾ feet.
+This base rises in the form of a graceful concave curve to a height of
+26 feet, and is solid except for two water-tanks. At the entrance level
+the tower is 23 feet in diameter. Above this are disposed four floors,
+comprising the cellar, storeroom, kitchen, and living-quarters for the
+men, crowned by the lantern, the gallery of which is 80½ feet above
+low-water.
+
+The external appearance of this interesting lighthouse is somewhat
+different from the general conception of such a building. Instead of
+being merely a circular top and lantern, there are three semicircular
+turret-like projections on the dwelling-room and lantern levels, which
+serve for directing and warning lights as well as for a lookout station.
+
+The fickle character of the North Sea where it rolls over the
+Rothersand is reflected by an experience which befell the Harkort
+engineer and the superintendent of erection for the authorities, who
+wished to complete his duty of inspection. The finishing touches were
+being applied, a squad of twelve workmen being in the tower to continue
+the work during the winter. The early December day was fair and the
+sea smooth, as well as giving every indication of remaining quiescent
+for some hours. The superintendent had arranged to spend his Christmas
+holidays with some friends, and desired to complete his duty in good
+time, so that his sojourn might be free from care. The two started off
+in the steamer, and landed without effort. But while they were engaged
+in their work of inspection the wind and sea freshened, so that a boat
+could not be sent from the steamer to take them off. It was an amusing
+situation which was keenly enjoyed at Bremerhaven; but all would be
+right on the morrow, said everyone. But the next day the weather was
+worse, and continued so for day after day. When a fortnight had passed
+without it being possible to succour the weather-bound engineers,
+amusement gave way to anxiety, more especially as a signal was flying
+from the tower which conveyed the unwelcome intelligence that one of
+the workmen had fallen ill. The feelings of the superintendent may
+be imagined. He had visions of spending his Yuletide in a draughty,
+half-finished lighthouse tower, where comfort was conspicuous by its
+absence, and where seasonal fare such as he had been anticipating
+keenly was unknown. But on December 21 the constructional engineers,
+having grown impatient with the weather, sent out one of their boats,
+with instructions to bring everyone ashore at all hazards. The waves
+were running high and the wind was gusty, but the steamer anchored as
+near the lighthouse as she dared, and by means of her boats, which were
+in momentary danger of being swamped, brought off the two engineers as
+well as all the workmen except two. The latter remained behind as a
+guard, and, being given a good stock of seasonal provisions and other
+necessities, were left in their splendid isolation. The superintendent,
+after all, was able to enjoy his Christmas holidays.
+
+The succeeding spring brought a resumption of toil, and by September
+the tower was completed except for the illuminating apparatus. One
+feature was observed during construction and had to receive attention.
+The free swing of the currents and tides, being obstructed by the
+tower, had commenced heavy erosion, big hollows being scooped out
+of the soft sea-bed around the caisson. As it was quite possible
+that in the course of time this scouring might imperil the safety
+of the building, protective works had to be undertaken. These were
+of an elaborate character, and comprised the sinking of mattresses,
+fashioned from brushwood, around the foundations, upon which were
+dumped boatloads of broken stone. This mattress had to be nearly 50
+feet in width, and in some places about 15 feet in thickness. For
+this protective work alone some 176,550 cubic feet of brushwood, and
+600 tons of block-stone to hold it down, were used. These measures,
+however, effectually overcame the danger of erosion.
+
+On November 1, 1885, the light was shown for the first time, and the
+greatest peril at the entrance to the Weser was indicated far and wide
+by night and day. It was a magnificent achievement, carried through in
+the face of enormous difficulties, sensational incidents innumerable,
+and upon a foundation of disaster. The lighthouse is as firm as if
+it were anchored upon a solid granite rock, instead of having its
+roots thrust deep into treacherous shifting sand, and constitutes an
+imperishable monument to German engineering ability; while, all things
+considered, the cost was low, being only £43,400, or $217,000, in all.
+The light is electric, the power being supplied from a station on
+shore, and fed to the lighthouse through a submarine cable; the keepers
+are also in submarine telegraphic communication with the mainland.
+
+When the United States set out to build a similar structure in the
+spacious Delaware Bay, they were confronted with a prospect just as
+forbidding, and a task in every way as difficult, as that offered in
+connection with the Rothersand. There is a dangerous shoal about twenty
+miles off the land, where the Atlantic beats with furious rage, and
+where vessels were apt to stick hard and fast. It was described as
+“Fourteen Foot Bank” by mariners, from the depth of the water flowing
+over the shoal, and this colloquialism has provided the name for the
+present guardian light. The open situation did not augur favourably for
+the completion of a lighthouse at this spot, but the American engineers
+were resolved to make the attempt. Accordingly, plans were prepared for
+a construction upon the caisson principle, which was the only method
+promising success.
+
+The preliminary step was the fabrication of a caisson. The first part
+was more like a raft with sides. It was about 40 feet square, 5 feet
+thick, and with walls 7 feet deep. It was built of timber, the staves
+being 12 inches square, and upside down--that is, with the floor
+uppermost--on a building-slip, as if it were a ship, and was launched
+into the water upon similar lines. The sides and top were lined, so as
+to secure water-tightness. In the centre there was a circular space 5
+feet in diameter to form the air-shaft.
+
+As the structure was built upside down, the rim was brought to the
+lowermost position, and this formed the cutting edge, which was to be
+sunk into the sand. On this floating platform a circular iron cylinder
+was erected. This tube was 35 feet in diameter, and was built up in
+plates, 6 feet in width by 1½ inches thick. When three rings of iron
+were set up the cylinder was 18 feet in height. In order to sink it to
+a depth of 15½ feet into the water for towing purposes, it was charged
+with a layer of concrete, 9 inches in thickness, to serve as ballast,
+and in this condition the caisson weighed 400 tons.
+
+This huge barrel was built at Lewes, Delaware, and when it was launched
+two powerful steam-tugs set out to drag it to the shoal, twenty miles
+away. As the tide rises and falls a matter of 6 feet in these waters,
+and the currents are somewhat wicked, the engineers displayed no undue
+haste. They waited for the first favourable opportunity, and seized it.
+But it took the two tugs some six hours to reach the site; an average
+speed of about three and a half miles per hour cannot be construed into
+fast travelling.
+
+When the mighty caisson had been warped and nudged dead into position
+over the desired spot, water was admitted. With a gurgling and hissing
+the hulk sank slowly into the sea. At last a slight jolt, which
+quivered through the mass, signified that the structure was resting on
+the bottom. The engineers gave a sigh of relief, but the next instant
+changed it to a cry of dismay. The caisson began to heel over to one
+side. Was it going to capsize? That was the absorbing fear. It canted
+more and more, until at last it had a list of 12 degrees. _It had not
+sunk vertically!_ There was less than 16 inches of water between the
+sea-level and the rim when the caisson first jarred against the sand,
+and if it careened over too far the water certainly would rush in,
+roll the whole tub over, and tumble it hither and thither over the
+sea-bed. The engineers watched that caisson as closely as a cat watches
+a mouse-hole. Presently it eased up, and then, as the tide rose some
+six hours later, it began to right itself. The engineers were relieved
+once more. The danger was over. But their self-satisfaction was soon
+upset as the tide began to ebb, because again the cylinder gradually
+fell over on its side. The cause of this strange behaviour flashed upon
+them. The surface of the sandbank was not level! The mass in sinking
+had touched bottom on the highest point of the shoal, and was trying to
+find its own level.
+
+Without any further delay, the engineers decided upon an ingenious
+means of correcting this erratic and dangerous action. The tugs were
+despatched hurriedly to Lewes to bring out cargoes of broken stone,
+which had been delivered for the preparation of the concrete. While
+the steamers pursued their errand, the engineers fashioned large
+pockets on the elevated section of the structure, into which the stone
+upon its arrival was placed. Gradually but surely the caisson not only
+was corrected, but the weighted end was induced to settle into the
+sand, until the opposite free edge in its turn was resting upon the
+shoal.
+
+In this manner all danger of further canting now was removed. As the
+rim had been brought perilously near the water-level, and there was
+a possibility of flooding from a rough sea, the walls of the caisson
+were extended vertically with all haste; meanwhile two additional
+rings of iron were placed in position, and the top was brought about
+20 feet above the water. While this work was in progress the structure
+gradually bit farther and farther into the sand, until at last it
+secured a firm hold.
+
+At the earliest possible moment the air-compressors were set to work,
+and air was driven into the space between the cutting edge and the
+roof, in which the men were to work. This space was 40 feet square and
+7 feet deep. The greater pressure of the air drove the water out from
+this space, and the men were able to enter through the air-lock and to
+work upon a dry surface, isolated from the surrounding sea by the fence
+formed by the cutting edge.
+
+The men toiled in eight-hour shifts continuously, removing the sand
+within the space and sending it upwards to be discharged overboard.
+As the area was excavated, the cutting edge sank deeper and deeper,
+so that the structure became more and more firmly embedded. There
+was apprehension that the obstruction offered by the caisson to the
+movement of the currents might set up undermining around the cylinder,
+as in the case of the Rothersand; but the engineers arrested any
+tendency in this direction by dumping large pieces of stone overboard
+around the tub. Some 6,000 tons of stone were used for this purpose, so
+that the caisson has an impregnable protection.
+
+As the structure sank lower and lower, owing to the excavation,
+concrete was dumped around the air-tube above the floor of the space
+in which the men were labouring, while successive rings of iron were
+added to the top of the cylinder. The men worked with great gusto in
+their novel situation, and, the task being prosecuted uninterruptedly
+throughout the day and night, the cylinder sank from 12 to 24 inches
+during the twenty-four hours. This labour was maintained until the
+cutting edge of the caisson was 33 feet below the surface of the shoal,
+when the engineers called halt. They considered that the task had been
+continued to a sufficient depth to secure the requisite rigidity for
+their lighthouse. The men left the working chamber, which was then
+tightly underrammed with sand, so as to form a solid foundation, while
+the air-shaft was filled up with rammed sand and sealed with a thick
+plug of concrete. The wall of the iron cylinder had been intermittently
+increased in height by the addition of successive rings of plates,
+until the rim was 70 feet above the cutting edge and projected about
+30 feet above the water at low-tide. From the bottom to a height of 40
+feet it is virtually a solid mass of concrete, protected by a skin of
+iron 1½ inches thick. Further concrete was added, bringing the solid
+section to within 10 feet of the rim, so that the concrete heart is
+about 53 feet in height and 35 feet in diameter. It is a solid circular
+rock sunk into the sand, and as firm and free from vibration as a
+granite core.
+
+Upon this foundation a house for the light-keepers, crowned by a tower,
+was erected, the focal plane being 59 feet above mean high-water. It is
+fitted with a light of the fourth order, visible for thirteen miles.
+
+One of the most important features in connection with the Fourteen Foot
+Bank light was its small cost, which was below the estimate, especially
+when it is compared with the German work. The United States Government
+appropriated a sum of £35,000, or $175,000, for the undertaking, but
+the total expenditure was less than £25,000, or $125,000, so that a sum
+of £10,000, or $50,000, was handed back to the Treasury--a most unusual
+event in connection with Government contracts. The lighthouse was
+finished and brought into service in 1886.
+
+The success of this novel enterprise prompted the authorities to
+essay a more daring project--the erection of a lighthouse upon the
+caisson principle on the Outer Diamond Shoal, off Cape Hatteras, North
+Carolina. But the storms encountered off this inhospitable coast have
+proved too overpowering for the engineer. Numerous attempts have been
+made, but disaster has been their invariable fate. The Diamond Shoal
+refuses to be indicated by anything except a lightship.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SOME LIGHT PATROLS OF THE FRENCH COAST
+
+
+In the matter of safeguarding its shores the French nation has
+displayed considerable enterprise, and its engineers have added some
+magnificent contributions to this field of engineering. The maintenance
+and welfare of these aids to navigation is placed in the hands of the
+Service des Phares, which is controlled by the Department of Bridges
+and Roads. The French scheme is the disposition of the lights along the
+shore in such a way that their ranges overlap on either side, so that,
+as one passes along the coast, before one ray is dropped the next is
+picked up. Electricity is employed extensively as the illuminant, so
+that the lights are of great power and twinkle like brilliant white
+stars on a clear night.
+
+While the majority of these guides are erected on the mainland, others
+rise from islands lying off the coast, which, by their position in deep
+water, render navigation hazardous. The finest expressions of French
+lighthouse engineering are to be found along the rugged islet-dotted
+coast of the huge indentation in which lie the Channel Islands--the
+cruel coast of Brittany. It was off the western extremity of Brittany,
+which thrusts itself well out into the Atlantic Ocean, forming the
+point generally known as Ushant, that the _Drummond Castle_ lost her
+way, to pull up with a fatal crash against one of the jagged reefs
+stretching to seaward. While this wreck was but one of many in these
+troubled waters, it sent a thrill round the world, owing to the
+terrible loss of life with which it was accompanied.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the French Government has
+endeavoured to remove the evil notoriety which this coast has reaped,
+and to render it as safe as the other stretches lying to the north and
+south. The conditions, however, are against the engineer, as the nose
+of the mainland projects well into the ocean, and receives the full
+brunt of its attacks when gales rage, so that a foothold is precarious.
+
+When the question of lighting this inhospitable stretch of coast arose,
+the French authorities debated whether it would not be easier, cheaper,
+and more satisfactory, to place the lighthouses on the mainland at a
+sufficient altitude, and to fit them with adequately powerful lights
+to indicate the outlying reefs. The general opinion was in favour of
+such a practice. So when Léonce Reynaud proposed to mark the Heaux de
+Bréhat with a magnificent tower, there was considerable opposition. The
+critics maintained that it was a flagrant temptation of Fate to attempt
+the conquest of such an evil wave-swept rock, the head of which was
+barely visible above high-water, and was of such small dimensions that
+work would be possible for only a few hours daily and then by no more
+than a mere handful of men.
+
+The engineer was confident that he could surmount all difficulties in
+construction, and that he would be able to erect a tower which would
+defy wind and wave, so he gained the day and received the requisite
+sanction to proceed with his undertaking. He had surveyed the rock
+and its surroundings thoroughly; had discovered the velocity of the
+currents, and their varying directions under all conditions of weather.
+They tore along at about nine and a half miles an hour, and this speed
+was augmented considerably in rough weather. He selected the site for
+the lighthouse about nine miles from the Isle of Bréhat, where landing
+would have to be made at low-water, owing to the water rushing first
+from the island to the rock, and then in the opposite direction,
+according to the movements of the tides.
+
+The Isle of Bréhat was made the base for operations. It is freely
+indented, and one of the coves was found to form an excellent little
+harbour. A rough stone jetty was run out for a length of 170 feet, and
+while one fleet of boats was retained to convey material from the
+island to the rock, another was kept to bring supplies to the island
+for preparation, and the support of the men, whose quarters were
+established at this depot. Sixty men were employed on the work. They
+dressed the granite stones and prepared the woodwork as it arrived in
+the raw condition, ample workshops being provided for these purposes.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE HEAUX DE BRÉHAT LIGHT.
+
+A striking tower built by Léonce Reynaud off the exposed Brittany
+coast. It is 159 feet high and took six years to complete.]
+
+The face of the rock was cleaned off during the brief intervals when
+it was bared by the sea, and rough stones and masonry were laid in
+concrete and continued solidly to a point 13 feet above high-water.
+Around this confined platform quarters were built for the handful of
+men who stayed on the rock during the periods of calm weather, as too
+much time was lost in travelling to and from the island, while there
+were risks of landing being interrupted by the swell. A temporary light
+was also placed in position while constructional work was proceeding,
+to warn navigation. The facilities also included a small forge for
+the fashioning upon the spot of the iron dogs and bolts whereby the
+stones were clamped together, and this proved highly convenient,
+except for one thing: when the water was somewhat rough and playful,
+the waves, striking the rock, flew into the air, soused the forge, and
+extinguished the fire.
+
+The preparations of the foundations proved exceedingly tedious. The
+rock is a very hard black porphyry, but the surface was so scarred
+with fissures and deep cracks that the whole of the upper surface had
+to be cleaned off, so as to remove all rotten and splintered rock in
+order to secure a firm, solid foundation. Then a circle 38 feet in
+diameter was marked off, and masons cut away all the rock around this
+line to a depth of about 20 inches and of sufficient width to take
+the stones--a trench, as it were. This work had to be executed during
+the short period of low-water, and a special schedule was prepared
+to insure the men concentrating the whole of their energies upon the
+task when opportunity offered. As the ebbing tide began to bare the
+space, the workmen were called, and they followed the receding water,
+never leaving the spot for meals, but toiling continuously until
+the returning tide drove them off. As a rule the men were sufficiently
+fleet to get clear untouched, although they delayed their retreat until
+the very last moment; but at other times the sea was a trifle quicker,
+and the men received an unexpected douche from a scurrying wave.
+
+When this trench had been cleared out and the face levelled, the outer
+ring of stones was laid and secured firmly in position. The inner
+space of the rock was left in its roughly trimmed condition, and was
+then buried beneath cement and rock to the level of the outer ring of
+stones, forming a platform ready to receive the mass of the tower. The
+outer ring was the main consideration, and the work had to be finished
+in such a manner that a tight joint was made with the rock, to resist
+the penetration of the water. When the men were compelled to lay down
+their tools for the coming tide, they hastily applied a thick covering
+of quick-drying cement to the work completed, thereby protecting it
+against the disintegrating and percolating action of the sea.
+
+Ere the work had started thoroughly, the engineer was faced with a
+trouble which he had not anticipated. The men were left to attend to
+their own desires in the way of provisions. This haphazard arrangement
+had the inevitable sequel. Some of the men were stricken down with
+scurvy, and the disease promised to secure a firm hold, when the
+engineer stepped in with a firm hand. He established a canteen, the
+contractor of which was compelled to maintain a supply of varied
+provisions for six months at least, lest the little colony should
+become isolated by rough weather. A regular varied bill of fare
+was imposed upon the workmen, who were compelled to purchase their
+requirements from the canteen. By this firm and timely action the
+disease was stamped out. The engineer also enforced other stringent
+regulations in the interests of health. The men were compelled to bathe
+once a week, and had to turn their sleeping-blankets into the open air
+every day; while the quarters had to be washed out and the walls given
+a dressing of limewash at frequent intervals.
+
+[Illustration: FITTING THE LANTERN OF LA JUMENT LIGHT.]
+
+When the visitor approaches the tower for the first time, he cannot
+fail to be impressed by its unusual design. It appears as if a former
+tower of great diameter had been decapitated, and another more slender
+building placed upon its butt. This is due to the ingenious idea
+adopted by Reynaud. The lower part of the tower rises like the trunk
+of a tree from the base, which is a solid plinth, to a height of 39
+feet above highest spring-tides. At the top this lower tower is 28 feet
+in diameter, as compared with 38 feet at the base. Here the butt is
+levelled off, and from its surface rises the lighthouse proper, in the
+form of a slightly tapering cone, leaving a narrow gallery around the
+superimposed structure to serve as a “set-off” and landing or entrance
+platform.
+
+In carrying out his work, Reynaud followed a principle quite divergent
+from the prevailing practice in lighthouse construction. He did not
+attach every stone irremovably to its neighbours, but merely made
+fast the masonry at varying points, where the mass of water might be
+expected to expend the greater part of its violence. The method he
+adopted is very simple. Keystones are introduced at selected points in
+each course, and these are driven up and held tight by granite plugs
+and wedges. The principle was assailed at the time as being deficient
+in strength, but no apprehensions ever have arisen concerning the
+safety of the tower, so that the engineer’s daring ingenuity has been
+completely justified.
+
+Considering the isolation of the rock and its wind-swept position,
+it was built in a very short time. The whole of the year 1834 was
+devoted to the survey of the rock, close observations of the prevailing
+meteorological conditions, and the preparation of the design. The
+succeeding year was confined to the establishment of the workmen’s
+quarters, the cutting of the annular trench in the rock, and the
+setting of the masonry course. The erection of the superstructure
+occupied nearly four years, the work being completed and the light
+exhibited in 1859, according to the inscription. The tower is 159 feet
+in height, and the light has a range of eighteen miles.
+
+Since the Heaux de Bréhat was conquered so successfully, French
+lighthouse engineering skill has been manifested actively around the
+ill-famed Brittany coast, which now is robbed of the greater part of
+its dangers. Reynaud’s work, however, did not bring complete safety to
+the waters from which it lifts its imposing form. Four miles off the
+self-same island is the plateau of Horaine. This is a chain of rocks,
+the greatest peril of which is that at high-tide nothing whatever of
+them is seen, and their existence is betrayed only by the agitated and
+broken waves rushing over them with fearful force. As the tide falls
+the water becomes more tormented, and is torn into flying foam, until,
+when it has almost ebbed, these jagged fangs may be seen projecting
+above the surf. Bearing in mind these terrible characteristics, it is
+not surprising that time after time vessels which had been driven out
+of their course by tempestuous weather, or had got lost in a dense fog,
+blundered into this death-trap and were lost.
+
+The French Government was sorely puzzled as to how to overcome this
+danger. The engineers fought the elements valiantly for forty years
+in an effort to crown Horaine with a beacon, but time after time they
+were defeated. Landing on the reef is highly dangerous. The rocks are
+surrounded by surging, eddying currents, running at anything from six
+miles upwards per hour, while the slightest ruffle of wind is quite
+sufficient to stir up the water so as to fling it swirling over the
+rocks even at lowest tide. Once or twice, when a period of abnormal
+calm prevailed, the engineers struggled on to the rock and hurriedly
+built a substantial masonry beacon, but its life was always brief.
+The first two or three gales which pounded and roared over the chain
+invariably scattered the handiwork of man in all directions.
+
+Then another expedient was attempted. A party landed upon the ridge,
+drove a hole into the solid rock, and there set a vertical iron girder
+4 inches in thickness, trusting that it would hold fast and indicate
+the reef sufficiently during the day. But its life was short. A gale
+came along and snapped the post in twain, leaving a twisted, bent
+stump, some 36 inches long, remaining on the rock.
+
+[Illustration: PREPARING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE JUMENT LIGHT.
+
+This illustration conveys an idea of the difficulties encountered in
+connection with this work.]
+
+In 1890 another bold effort to subjugate the ridge was made. An
+hexagonal structure was designed, and it was determined to plant this
+on the rock by hook or by crook, and so firmly as to resist the most
+powerful hammerings to which it could be subjected by the waves. Six
+holes were bored into the rock surface to form the corners of the
+hexagon. But before commencing the work proper it was decided to insert
+an iron post, 6½ inches thick, into one of the holes, and to leave it
+to see what would happen. Time after time it was inspected, and was
+found to be safe and sound. Two years had slipped by, practically,
+since the post was planted, and it was still intact. The engineers
+thought they had triumphed, and were preparing their plans, when the
+news came that a heavy storm, which had swept the coast, had broken the
+pillar off flush with the rock.
+
+This necessitated another change in the designs and the plan of
+campaign. After further discussion it was decided to proceed right
+away with a masonry tower, although the engineers were prepared for
+a mighty tussle. The surveys showed that, as the rock upon which the
+building was to be erected was covered by 10 feet of water during the
+highest spring-tides, work upon the foundations would be confined to
+the lowest neap-tides, when about 4 feet of the rock were exposed. But
+the tide sinks to the very low level desired infrequently--about four
+days in every month. Even then work would be possible for only about
+an hour per day--four hours per month! The prospect certainly was far
+from being attractive, especially as even to accomplish this meed of
+toil the calmest weather and smoothest sea were imperative, and it
+was scarcely to be expected that everything would be in favour of the
+engineers at one and the same time.
+
+Another adverse feature was only too apparent. If unpropitious weather
+prevailed just after an hour or two’s work had been completed, the
+chances were a thousand to one that it would be swept away. But this
+was a contingency which had to be faced. The engineer could only do the
+utmost humanly possible to secure his work, and then must trust to luck.
+
+With infinite difficulty a small corps of daring workmen and appliances
+of the simplest description, together with materials, were got out to
+the rock upon the first favourable day when there was a very low tide.
+An outer wall of bricks was built piecemeal, and the space within
+was filled with concrete. This stood, and so the engineer secured a
+level plinth upon which to place his tower. He selected an octagonal
+building, the angles of which touch the circumference of a circle
+20 feet in diameter described on the rock. It was to be 50 feet in
+height, bringing the warning light about 40 feet above high-water.
+The beacon was to be a concrete monolithic structure at least for the
+greater part of its height, as the light was to be of the unattended
+class. Accordingly, the mould was formed by setting a cast-iron post,
+18 inches in height, at each corner of the octagon, this support being
+anchored into the solid rock beneath. These posts contained grooves to
+admit sliding wooden uprights, which were to be firmly wedged, these
+joists being inclined to take the angle, or batter, proposed for the
+tower. Heavy transverse pieces of timber were laid between these posts,
+forming a capacious octagonal box, into which the concrete was poured.
+As the filling process behind the wooden wall advanced, angle pieces of
+steel were superimposed and bolted up.
+
+[Illustration: THE JUMENT LIGHT RECENTLY ERECTED OFF USHANT.
+
+This beacon was built with a legacy left by M. Potron, a distinguished
+French traveller, in the interests of humanity.]
+
+The security of the structure occupied the sole attention of the
+engineer. When work had to cease, and the boat put off with the workmen
+after a spell of toil, the engineer would watch the rising tide and
+the waves sweeping over his structure, until at last it disappeared
+from sight. As the tide fell he followed the receding waters just as
+eagerly, and gave a sigh of relief when he saw that the tower was still
+withstanding the blind forces of Nature. In the early stages an effort
+to protect the work, when the men had to retreat before the rising
+tide, was made by covering it with a heavy piece of sailcloth, lashed
+down and weighted in position with huge masses of pig-iron. This served
+its purpose for a time, but finally the sea got the upper hand, tore
+the canvas from its lashings, and carried it away, together with the
+whole of its weights. Then a wooden protective device was employed, and
+this likewise held out until a particularly unfriendly September gale
+smashed it to matchwood, as well as damaging the concrete slightly here
+and there.
+
+The men took their tools and materials with them on every visit, and,
+as the tower rose, the working spells between the tides became longer
+and longer, until, when a point above high-water was reached, work was
+continued throughout the day whenever the rock was approachable. A
+small wooden platform was erected on one side, on which the concrete
+was mixed, while on the other there was a little shelf with a small
+cistern, which was filled with water from the boats below, through the
+agency of a pump. A jury derrick was rigged up to lift the material and
+men to the working level. As the tower rose in height, the wooden mould
+had to be dismembered and re-erected upon the new level, this operation
+being repeated no less than forty times until the desired height was
+gained. Work was exasperatingly slow and intermittent, while it had to
+be suspended entirely for about six or seven months, as no one dared
+to venture near the rock in winter. Taken on the whole, it was one of
+the most anxious and difficult pieces of the work of this character
+which the French Government has ever undertaken, while the working area
+was so confined that less than a dozen men could toil simultaneously
+without getting in one another’s way.
+
+Recently the Brittany coast has been further protected by another
+magnificent beacon, the Jument lighthouse, off Ushant. This awful spot
+has long been marked by a very powerful electric light at Creach, which
+may be seen over twenty miles away, and, together with its fellow
+on the opposite end of the island, may be said to guide the crowded
+shipping around this promontory very effectively. But foggy weather
+reduces the mariner to helplessness, as the sea for two miles round
+the island is studded with reefs, ridges and rocky humps of a very
+formidable character, so that vessels have to keep well beyond this
+zone. When the light is obscured, safe travelling is possible only by
+going very slowly and making liberal use of the lead, while the captain
+must keep a sharp eye upon the rapid currents which set inshore if he
+would not be thrown upon the rocks he is seeking sedulously to avoid.
+
+The French Government, with its characteristic thoroughness, determined
+to secure the complete indication of the Ushant and all its dangers by
+a carefully-conceived and comprehensive chain of lights distributed
+over the dangerous area. The urgency of such a scheme is obvious
+when it is remembered that it is computed that 24,000 vessels of all
+classes pass Ushant in the course of the year. At the same time the
+sea’s harvest of vessels and lives off this rocky shore every year is
+appallingly heavy. The only handicap to the immediate completion of the
+Government’s humane project is the extreme difficulty of the work and
+its prodigious cost.
+
+Fortunately, through the extreme generosity of a French traveller--M.
+Potron--it was rendered possible to commence the scheme. Upon his
+death, and according to the terms of his will, dated January 9, 1904,
+this gentleman left 400,000 francs--£16,000, or $80,000--for the
+erection of a lighthouse of the latest type and with the most powerful
+lighting apparatus off the coast washed by the open Atlantic, and even
+suggested that a site off Ushant would be found the most beneficial to
+humanity. After consultation between his executor, residuary legatee,
+and the Government, a rock known as La Jument, off the south of the
+Ile d’Ouessant (Ushant) was selected for the site of his monument. The
+lighthouse engineers advocated a tower 118 feet in height, with a light
+of the latest type and a modern fog-signalling apparatus. This proposal
+was accepted, and was sanctioned on November 18, 1904, by the parties
+concerned.
+
+Headquarters were established in the Bay of Lampaul, on Ushant
+Island, which immediately faces the site, and by the end of 1904
+the preparations were well advanced. A steamboat, a launch and a
+lifeboat were secured, the first-named for the purpose of maintaining
+communication with the mainland and to bring in supplies, together
+with suitable craft for transporting material and provisions to the
+rock. The situation of the ledge and its exposure to the worst weather
+rendered approach very difficult. The danger spot itself is completely
+covered at high-tide, and only projects 4 feet at low-water. So far
+as the foundations were concerned, work was only possible for a few
+hours at a time. During the closing months of 1904 seventeen landings
+were made and fifty-two hours in all spent upon the rock, while in the
+succeeding year the men landed fifty-nine times, to put in an aggregate
+of 206½ hours.
+
+The current rushes round the reef with a velocity of some ten miles per
+hour, varying its direction according to the movements of the tides.
+Investigation proved the existence of a small space of water on one
+side where the boats could approach and moor safely in an eddy. The men
+were brought out in the steamer, which also towed the launch and the
+lifeboat. The latter was kept in readiness alongside the rock while
+the men were at work, in case of emergency. A sharp eye had to be kept
+upon the weather while the handful of men laboured hastily preparing
+the face of the rock, and at the first signs of a threatening sky or
+increased movement in the swell the steamer blew its siren, the men
+scrambled aboard, and were hurried back to the island.
+
+The year 1906 was one of bad weather, rendering frequent approach
+impossible. During this season the men landed only thirty-nine times
+and toiled for 152 hours, while the sum of their achievement was the
+least throughout the whole seven years which the tower occupied in
+its erection. The building is solid for about 30 feet above the rock,
+and in 1908 the construction of the tower proper was commenced. The
+base is circular, with a diameter of 33¾ feet; but the tower itself is
+of octagonal form, with a diameter at the base of 28 feet, tapering
+slightly to the top.
+
+One notable feature in connection with the work was the utilization
+of electricity for the operation of the derrick, which was driven by
+a petrol motor coupled thereto. This was supplemented in times of
+pressure with another derrick, driven by current generated on the
+steamer, from which a cable trailed to the rock. Altogether 4,180 tons
+of masonry were transported to the rock and set in position. During
+the seven years the work was in progress, from the first landing to
+the final withdrawal of the workmen, 449 landings were made and 2,937
+hours of work put in. The largest annual aggregate of labour was
+in 1911, when 70 landings were made and 400 hours turned to useful
+purpose. The tower, which is of imposing appearance, has six floors for
+the convenience of the keeper, stores, etc. The apartment immediately
+beneath the lantern contains the fog-signalling apparatus, which
+comprises a siren driven by air which is compressed for the purpose by
+means of a fourteen horse-power petrol motor. The signal is as follows:
+Three blasts of one and a half seconds’ duration with intervening
+intervals of one and a half seconds, followed by a silent period of
+fifty-two and a half seconds, one cycle thus being emitted every
+minute. The light, which is thrown from an elevation of 110¼ feet above
+high-water, throws groups of three red flashes at intervals of fifteen
+seconds, and has a maximum range of twenty miles in very clear weather.
+
+In accordance with the terms of the donor’s will, the light is named
+after the rock upon which it stands, and therefore is known as the
+Jument of Ushant lighthouse. The benefactor’s second wish is also
+respected in the inscription wrought in the solid granite, which
+translated runs: “This lighthouse was built with the legacy of Charles
+Eugène Potron, traveller, and member of the Geographical Society of
+Paris.” The sum set aside by this benefactor of humanity, however, did
+not defray the entire cost of the lighthouse. As a matter of fact,
+the total outlay on the undertaking was more than twice the sum left
+for the purpose, totalling 850,000 francs--£34,000, or $170,000. The
+Government decided that the munificence of its citizen offered the
+opportunity to carry out the first instalment of the scheme it had
+in view upon the most complete lines--hence the heavy disbursement.
+Nevertheless the origin of the Jument lighthouse is almost
+unprecedented in the annals of lighthouse engineering, and it probably
+ranks as the first important light which has been built in accordance
+with the terms, and with funds, left by a will.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE GUARDIAN LIGHTS OF CANADA’S COAST
+
+
+The phenomenal commercial expansion of the Dominion of Canada, which
+has brought about an amazing development in the maritime traffic with
+that country on both its seaboards, naturally has been responsible
+for the display of striking activity in the provision of aids to
+navigation. Both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines bristle with
+dangers of a most terrible nature; the innumerable islands and
+precipitous flanks of rock recall the wild ruggedness of the western
+coast of Scotland or the forbidding Atlantic shoreline of France and
+Spain.
+
+When the ships of Britain first traded with Canadian shores, shipwrecks
+and ocean tragedies were numerous; there is no escape for a ship which
+is caught on those pitiless coasts. The early settlers, therefore, did
+not hesitate to provide ways and means of guiding navigators to safety.
+Their first lights were primitive, comprising bonfires fed with wood,
+of which ample supplies abounded, pitched on prominent headlands; and
+these flickering rays, when not obscured by smoke and fog, served to
+speed the ship safely on her way.
+
+The British pioneers, naturally, did not hesitate to improve upon
+these uncertain crude methods of warning, in course of time, by
+the erection of more substantial lights. These for the most part
+comprised timber-frame dwellings, used by the family entrusted with
+the maintenance of the light, from the roof of which a wooden tower
+extended, similar in design to the buildings favoured for a similar
+purpose in the United States. Many lights of this class are still
+doing faithful service to-day, and although one might anticipate the
+destruction of such a beacon from fire, yet, owing to the unremitting
+care displayed by the families associated with the upkeep thereof,
+this awful fiend has not been responsible for the temporary extinction
+of many lights in the country’s history.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+THE CAPE RACE LIGHTHOUSE, NEWFOUNDLAND.
+
+One of the finest and most powerful beacons in the world. It is
+filled with the hyperradiant apparatus, and the ray is of 1,100,000
+candle-power.]
+
+One of the oldest, if not the first light to be established, was that
+on Sambro Island, to indicate the entrance into Halifax Harbour, Nova
+Scotia. This signpost of the sea was set up in 1758, and fulfilled its
+purpose for 148 years, when it was reconstructed and fitted with the
+most up-to-date appliances. The white flash now bursts forth, at an
+elevation of 140 feet above mean high-water, from the top of a white
+octagonal stone and concrete tower, and is visible from a distance
+of seventeen miles. When it is blotted out by fog, a powerful signal
+is given once every ten minutes by a cotton-powder charge. Mariners,
+however, are cautioned against attempting to make Sambro in fog, as the
+shore is wild and cruel. This explosive signal is emitted rather to
+communicate a timely warning to vessels which have lost their way.
+
+The two most dangerous spots in the approach to Canada, however,
+lie off the mainland. One is the irregular triangular island of
+Newfoundland; the other is a low-lying stretch of sand known as Sable
+Island. Both are amongst the most ill-famed graveyards in the North
+Atlantic, where hundreds of ships have gone to their doom. Even to-day,
+although both are well protected by lights, wrecks are by no means
+uncommon. Sable Island is stalked by the ghosts of scores of seafarers
+who have been the victims of some ghastly ocean tragedy upon its banks.
+
+The island of Newfoundland lies in the jaw of the River St. Lawrence,
+with two narrow passages leading between the Gulf behind and the broad
+Atlantic. Both straits offer dangers to navigation, although in this
+respect that of Belle Ile, whereby the northern corner of the island
+is rounded, is the worse offender. Yet the most dangerous corner of
+the island is, not where the waterways are hemmed in, but that tongue
+which thrusts itself far out to sea, to terminate in the bluff headland
+of Cape Race. This shoreline is as serrated as a fine saw, being a
+succession of indentations and steep promontories, with submerged
+reefs running far out to sea. To the south lies that great submerged
+tableland, invariably curtained in fog, where mighty icebergs that
+have come down from the north pound and grate themselves to pieces,
+which throughout the shipping world is regarded with dread--the Grand
+Banks. This south-eastward corner of the island, by being thrust so
+far outwards, brings the rocky headlands into the path of the vessels
+plying between Europe, Canada, and New York.
+
+The shortest route between the Old and New World extends across the
+northern half of the Banks, with a slight swing southwards to avoid
+Cape Race. So far as the great liners are concerned, they are spared
+this peril, inasmuch as their prescribed lanes give the cruel coast
+a wide berth; but all other shipping has either to swing round the
+headland to enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or strike farther north and
+pass through the Strait of Belle Ile. The latter route, however, is
+available for only five months in the year; the greater volume of the
+traffic skirts the southern shores of the island.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+CANN ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE ON THE EAST COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
+
+This is a typical example of a wooden frame building. The tower
+projects from the roof of the home of the lighthouse-keeper and his
+family.]
+
+Under these circumstances Cape Race is to the western side of the
+Atlantic what the Fastnet and Bishop Rocks are to the eastern
+boundaries of this ocean. Even if the wild character of the coast were
+not sufficient justification for a light, the currents experienced
+off these shores, which are of high velocity and violently broken up
+by the indentations and protuberances, would demand the provision
+of a beacon. Over one hundred vessels of all descriptions have been
+smashed to pieces in the vicinity of Cape Race alone. The Allan liner
+_Anglo-Saxon_ crashed into the cliffs and went down in 1864 with 290
+souls. In this instance the death-roll would have been far heavier had
+it not been for the pluck and grit of the lighthouse-keepers, who,
+observing the wreck, hurried to the water’s edge, lowered themselves
+with ropes from the heights above, and, stumbling, groping, and feeling
+their way through the darkness, at imminent risk to their own limbs and
+lives, rescued 130 of the luckless passengers and crew from the wreck,
+who were huddled on a ledge under the cliffs, hungry, shivering with
+cold, and too exhausted to assist themselves. The light-keepers and
+men from the telegraph-station had to lift these helpless survivors one
+by one to the top of the precipice, a task demanding herculean effort,
+patience, and intrepidity, and to lead and help them to the lighthouse,
+where they were tended until a steamer, answering the telegraphic call
+for help, came round from St. John’s and took the hapless people off.
+
+In 1901 the _Assyrian_ ran ashore in calm weather, and was too firmly
+jammed on a reef to extricate herself. A week later another fine vessel
+and cargo worth £80,000, or $400,000, was battered to pulp by the
+waves, the lighthouse-keepers once more, at great risk to themselves,
+putting out and rescuing those on board in the nick of time. Ere the
+excitement of this wreck had died down, a French emigrant steamer, the
+_Lusitania_, ran full-tilt on to a reef, and but for the timely aid
+rendered by the lighthouse-keepers and the fisherfolk 550 people would
+have been drowned. More fearful catastrophes have been enacted within
+hail of the lights at Cape Race and Cape Ray, hard by to the west, and
+more millions sterling of cargo and ship have been shattered and lost
+here than upon any other corresponding stretch of coast in the world.
+The most noticeable point in connection with these disasters is the
+large number of big boats which have ended their careers abruptly off
+this spot, although the rocks have claimed a big share of small fry as
+well.
+
+The first beacon was placed on the headland in 1856. It was a
+cylindrical tower, built up of cast-iron plates, erected near the edge
+of the cliff, which is 87 feet high. The tower itself being 38 feet in
+height, the focal plane of the beam was at an elevation of 125 feet
+above the sea. It was erected jointly by the British and Newfoundland
+Government authorities, although the maintenance thereof was entrusted
+to Great Britain. In return for the provision of this warning, a tax
+of one-sixteenth of a penny, or an eighth of a cent, per ton, was
+collected in England from vessels passing the light. The beacon was not
+particularly powerful, the ray being only of some 6,000 candle-power.
+
+Some years ago the lighthouse was handed over to the Canadian
+Government to be included in its service, together with the balance of
+the fund which had accrued from the levy of the special tax. This sum
+represented £20,579, or $102,895. The Canadian Government abolished the
+light-due, and the surplus funds were absorbed into the general revenue
+of the country.
+
+The new owners, realizing the importance of the light, subsequently
+decided to provide a new beacon of greater power to meet the demands
+of shipping, which had increased amazingly. In 1907 this structure
+was completed. It is a cylindrical tower, carried out in reinforced
+concrete, 100 feet in height, surmounted by a lantern of the first
+order with hyperradial apparatus. This is the largest type of optical
+apparatus in use at the present time, and the ray of light produced by
+an incandescent oil-burner and mantle is of 1,100,000 candle-power,
+shed from an elevation of 195 feet above the water. The warning flash
+of a quarter of a second every seven and a half seconds is visible from
+a distance of nineteen miles. In addition, the fog-signalling apparatus
+was brought up to date. The steam-whistle, which had sufficed up to
+the date of reconstruction, was replaced by a diaphone of the greatest
+power installed up to that time. This is set up about 250 feet south
+of the lighthouse, with which it is connected by a covered passage.
+The air required to emit the warning blast, lasting three and a half
+seconds once in every half-minute, is compressed by the aid of steam.
+By day the lighthouse is readily distinguishable from its red and white
+vertical stripes, red lantern, and white dwelling with red roof, in
+which the keepers have their quarters. To-day the station ranks as
+one of the finest in the world, complying in every respect with the
+requisitions for one of a first-class character.
+
+Sable Island is perhaps an even more evil spot in the North Atlantic
+than the ill-famed Newfoundland coast. It is a bleak, inhospitable,
+crescent-shaped collection of sand-dunes, eighty-five miles due east of
+Nova Scotia and lying right in the steamship tracks. A more uninviting
+stretch of dry land could not be conceived. Little grows here beyond
+a special kind of brush, which appears to flourish in sea-swept
+billows of sand. But the obstacle is formidable, being twenty-two
+miles in length by a mile in width at its broadest part. This does
+not constitute the extent of its dangers--far from it. The island is
+slowly but surely being swallowed up by the restless, hissing sea,
+with the result that, when one stands on the almost indistinguishable
+line where sea meets land, an aspect of white ruffs of foam curl in
+all directions as far as the eye can see, where the surf is thundering
+over the shoals. I have related the toll that this island of the dead
+has exacted from shipping,[A] and now confine myself to describing
+the means that have been provided to warn the mariner off its bars.
+The Canadian Government maintains two lighthouses, at the western
+and eastern extremities respectively, and those entrusted with their
+safe-keeping have as lonely an existence as may be conceived. The
+welcome face of a stranger never brightens their lives, except when the
+relief-boat draws in as far as it dares in the calmest weather, or when
+some luckless wretches are snatched from a vessel which has fallen into
+the toils of the sand and is doomed. The sea-birds and seals are their
+sole companions on this lonely outpost.
+
+ [A] “The Steamship Conquest of the World,” chapter xxi., p. 299.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+THE LIGHT AT THE SOUTHERN END OF BELLE ILE.
+
+This Canadian beacon throws its rays from a height of 470 feet. In
+foggy weather the headland often is obscured by fog, so an auxiliary
+light has been provided 346 feet below.]
+
+The necessity of indicating this death-trap to the mariner was realized
+at the end of the seventeenth century, but it was not until 1802 that a
+forward step was taken to ease the plight of those who were thrown upon
+its shores. Then the province of Nova Scotia voted a sum of £400 or
+$2,000, per annum, for the maintenance of a fully-equipped life-saving
+station. This sum was too slender to fulfil the purposes conceived, but
+in 1827 the Imperial Government, recognizing the humane character of
+the enterprise, voted a similar appropriation, which is paid regularly,
+or was up to a few years ago, towards its support. When the Dominion of
+Canada became an accomplished fact in 1867, by the confederation of the
+provinces, the matter was taken up whole-heartedly, and since that date
+enormous sums have been expended upon the island for the protection
+of shipping and the mitigation of the sufferings of those cast upon its
+inhospitable shores. At the present time three life-saving stations and
+six relief stations, equipped with the best modern apparatuses, are
+maintained, connected by telephone and equipped with a staff of about
+twenty men. When the gales are raging and the island is encircled in
+a broad band of maddened spray stretching to the horizon, these men
+are out patrolling the shore, ready to man the lifeboat upon the first
+signals of distress. The life of these lonely workers now is lightened
+very appreciably, as the island is fitted with a wireless station,
+wherewith the men are able to talk through space with the mainland and
+with passing vessels.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+THE NORTH BELLE ILE LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+The warning flash, thrown from a height of 137 feet, can be seen from a
+distance of 17 miles.]
+
+The west end light has passed through many vicissitudes, and the
+keepers have experienced innumerable thrills. At this point the ocean
+is devouring the island rapidly. In 1873 the tower was raised in what
+was considered a safe position. It was placed some distance from the
+water’s edge on a favourable knoll, and thought to be immune from
+the gnawing of the sea for many years to come. But Nature disposed
+otherwise. The awful winter of 1881 played havoc with the island. One
+mighty gale carried away a solid chunk 70 feet wide by nearly 1,400
+feet long. When the summer came, and an inspection was made, fears
+were entertained concerning the safety of the lighthouse. The keepers
+had observed violent tremblings, for the tower vibrated considerably
+under the smashing blows of the waves. Nothing could be done that
+summer, and it was hoped that the succeeding winter would be milder,
+to enable plans to be prepared for the construction of a new tower in
+a safer position. The keepers, however, were urged to keep a sharp eye
+on developments, and to be prepared for any emergency. The winter of
+1882 proved to be worse than that of the previous year, and the island
+suffered more than ever. The keepers and their isolated comrades viewed
+the advance of the waves with ill-disguised alarm. Would the island
+around the light hold out until the spring? That was the uppermost
+thought. Every gale brought the waves nearer, and at last it was
+recognized that one good gale would finish matters. So the men prepared
+for the emergency. The demolition of the tower commenced, a race
+between the waters and human labour. The men worked well and had just
+got the superstructure away, when there was a creak, a groan, and a
+crash! The foundations, which had been undermined, disappeared into the
+Atlantic. In less than ten years the hungry ocean had carried a mile of
+Sable Island away.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By kind permission of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+A MAGNIFICENT CANADIAN LIGHT ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
+
+An octagonal tower, 127 feet high, built of ferro-concrete.]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE WEST END GUARDIAN OF SABLE ISLAND, THE GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC.
+
+This tower replaces the structure demolished by the waves.]
+
+In 1888 the present magnificent lighthouse was brought into service.
+It is a ferro-concrete tower of octagonal shape rising from a massive
+plinth of the same form, and is provided with four equidistantly-spaced
+wing buttresses to hold the structure more rigid in rough weather.
+The building is set on a knoll rising 20 feet above the water, and
+about 2,100 yards east of the extremity of the western dry spit of
+land, so that the Atlantic will have to gnaw a considerable distance
+before it will render the position of this light untenable. The tower
+is 97 feet in height, bringing the white ray 118 feet above the level
+of the sea. The light is of the group revolving type, thrown once
+every three minutes. The warning is made up of three flashes, with an
+eclipse of thirty seconds between each flash, followed by darkness for
+ninety seconds, and may be seen sixteen miles away. While the beacon
+mounts guard over the main end of the island on one side, there is a
+dangerous submerged bar which runs north-westwards and westwards for
+seventeen miles. The light at the east end, which was erected in 1873,
+is likewise carried on an octagonal tower 81 feet high, but, being set
+upon a more commanding position, the beam is elevated to 123 feet. It
+is erected five miles south-westwards of the extreme tip of the island,
+and gives a white flash at intervals of three seconds, followed by an
+eclipse of fifteen seconds; it may be picked up seventeen miles away.
+Similarly, this light mounts guard over a submerged sand-bar, which
+extends eastwards for at least fourteen miles.
+
+During the late summer and autumn the majority of the vessels plying
+between ports on the St. Lawrence and Europe take the shorter route
+round the northern corner of Newfoundland through the Straits
+of Belle Ile. This is a highly dangerous passage, inasmuch as the
+narrow streak of water, seventy miles in length, with a maximum width
+of eleven miles, separating the frowning coasts of Newfoundland
+and Labrador, is strewn with menaces, the most formidable of which
+is Belle Ile, which lies right in the centre of the entrance from
+the ocean. The island is really a lofty hump of rock, twenty-one
+miles in circumference, with the shores for the most part dropping
+precipitously into the water. It is an extremely lonely spot, and,
+naturally, is feared by the mariner. His apprehensions, however, have
+been considerably relieved, because the channel is brilliantly lighted
+by several powerful lights visible from twelve to twenty-eight miles,
+while another is being established.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+ST. ESPRIT ISLAND LIGHT, NOVA SCOTIA.
+
+Its white revolving light is visible for 14 miles.]
+
+[Illustration: THE GULL ISLAND LIGHT, NEWFOUNDLAND.
+
+A very lonely beacon, visible for 27 miles.]
+
+The beacons are distributed along the shores of Newfoundland, Belle
+Ile, and Labrador, one powerful light being placed on Cape Bauld, the
+northernmost point of Newfoundland, and another on Cape Norman, another
+promontory to the west. These two lights are visible from twenty and
+sixteen miles respectively, while on the opposite side of the strait
+is Amour Point light, guarding the south-east side of Forteau Bay on
+the Labrador shore, which has a range of eighteen miles. Cape Bauld
+is the most important mainland beacon, inasmuch as it indicates the
+entrance to the Belle Ile Straits. Belle Ile is well protected at its
+two extreme tips, the principal light being at the southern end. The
+necessity of guiding ships between the island and Newfoundland was
+recognized half a century ago, for this light was erected in 1858. It
+is perched on the summit of the cliff, 400 feet above the sea, the
+occulting light of ten seconds’ duration and five seconds’ eclipse
+being thrown from an altitude of 470 feet, rendering it distinguishable
+twenty-eight miles away. Unfortunately, however, the extreme elevation
+of the light often causes it to be enshrouded in impenetrable banks of
+clouds, which drape the headland; so in 1880 an auxiliary light was
+established, 346 feet below the upper light. This beam is similar in
+character to the one above, and, from its elevation of 124 feet above
+the water, it may be picked up from seventeen miles out. Consequently,
+in foggy weather the lower light may be seen when the upper beacon is
+obscured. This is one of the most important points on the coast, being
+a marine telegraph, signal, and ice-report station, while it is also
+fitted with wireless telegraphy. An interesting feature in connection
+with this light is that it was kept going for three generations by one
+family, the Coltons, whose name is legendary in Quebec, and some of
+whom were born and died on Belle Ile.
+
+[Illustration: THE BATISCAN FRONT RANGE LIGHTHOUSE, RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.
+
+_By courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._]
+
+[Illustration: ISLE ST. THÉRÈSE UPPER RANGE BACK LIGHTHOUSE, RIVER ST.
+LAWRENCE.
+
+_By courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._]
+
+The second light, on the northern extremity of the island, to indicate
+the northern entrance into the straits, is of recent date, having
+been brought into operation in 1905. It is a tower of iron, encased
+in a white octagonal reinforced concrete covering capped with a red
+polygonal-shaped lantern throwing a flash of half a second once every
+eleven seconds from a height of 137 feet, visible from a distance of
+seventeen miles.
+
+Fogs and mists are two great perils peculiar to this northern waterway,
+so the splendid lighting arrangements are supported by excellent and
+powerful fog-signals. The northern light has a diaphone giving a blare
+lasting three and a half seconds every minute, while the southern
+station has a siren giving a double tone. First there is a low note of
+two and a half seconds followed by silence for two and a half seconds;
+then a high note of two and a half seconds and a silent interval of
+112½ seconds. This signal is emitted from a point midway between the
+upper and lower lights, the air for the blast being compressed by
+water-power. Another humane provision is the depot at the southern
+station, which is kept stocked with food supplies for the benefit of
+shipwrecked mariners. In 1898 a freighter carrying a deck-load of 400
+oxen went ashore beneath this light and became a hopeless wreck. The
+crew, realizing the impossibility of saving the animals, fired the
+ship, so that the animals were suffocated and bruised, thereby sparing
+the inhabitants of the island a deadly risk, and solving the difficult
+problem which otherwise would have arisen, had the brutes been drowned
+in the ordinary way and their decomposing carcasses cast up on the
+beach. In the following year the Dominion liner _Scotsman_ crashed on
+to the rocks near the same spot, and likewise became a total loss, with
+a death-roll of nine. By dint of great effort the survivors scrambled
+ashore, and had a weary trudge of nine miles over a broken, rock-strewn
+wilderness to gain the lighthouse station and assistance, arriving in a
+famished and exhausted condition, to be tended by the light-keepers and
+their families.
+
+Belle Ile is a lonely station in the fullest sense of the word,
+although the keepers are better off now than they were a few years
+ago. The straits are busy in the summer, being crowded with shipping,
+but with the coming of November all life disappears, and the liners
+do not return until the following May or June. The rock is cut off
+from the mainland by the masses of ice which pile up in the estuary,
+together with the crowds of icebergs which come down from Greenland.
+For six months the guardians of the light are isolated from the world
+at large, although they have a slender link of communication in the
+submarine cable. But the storms and stress of winter often rupture this
+line, and, as the wireless installation is closed down when navigation
+ceases, the keepers and their families settle down to a silent, weary
+vigil, knowing nothing of the rest of the world, and all but forgotten
+by civilization, because an interruption in the cable cannot be
+repaired until the ice disappears.
+
+[Illustration: UPPER TRAVERSE LIGHTHOUSE IN THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+AN “ICE SHOVE” UPON THE BACK RANGE LIGHT IN LAKE ST. PETER.
+
+This photo gives a striking idea of the trouble experienced with ice in
+Canadian waters.]
+
+Even when the Gulf of the St. Lawrence is entered, the navigator is not
+free from peril. The waterway is littered with rocks and islands. Among
+these are Coffin Island and Anticosti, the latter being the private
+property of M. Henri Ménier, the French chocolate magnate. For many
+years the St. Lawrence was a byword to navigation, and wrecks were
+numerous. It was shunned by navigators and abhorred by underwriters.
+Even to this day the latter regard it askance, and the insurance rates
+are high upon vessels trading in these waters. Through the efforts
+of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, the Dominion Government
+is removing this stigma from their great marine avenue, and their
+engineer-in-chief. Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Anderson, to whom I am
+indebted for much information concerning the guardians of the Canadian
+coasts, has displayed commendable enterprise and ingenuity in combating
+the natural odds pitted against human endeavour to render the coasts of
+the country more friendly to navigation.
+
+In the St. Lawrence the great foe is ice. Its onslaughts are terrific,
+and none but the strongest works has a chance to survive the enormous
+pressure exerted when the ice is on the run after the break of winter.
+As is well known, for some five months in the year the river is frozen
+so thick and solid that it will support a train. Naturally, when this
+armour collapses, and the floes are hurled seawards by the current,
+they concentrate their destructive energies upon any obstacles in
+their way, piling up in huge masses weighing thousands of tons. It is
+no uncommon circumstance for the floes to pack in a jagged heap 50
+feet high, while all the time there is a continual push against the
+obstruction.
+
+Under these circumstances extreme ingenuity has to be displayed in
+the erection of the fixed lights. The floating lights, such as buoys,
+escape this peril, as they are picked up when navigation ceases, to be
+housed in quarters on dry land, and replaced when the river is open
+once more. Yet it is not only the ice in itself which causes trouble.
+The level of the river rises when the ice is running, and this pressure
+alone is enormous, while the scouring action about the foundations
+is terrific. The type of structure adopted varies with the situation
+and character of the light. The beacons for the aid of navigation, in
+common with the practice upon American waterways, are divided into
+groups or ranges, and the captain picks out his channel by keeping
+these lights and marks in various lines. Maybe four or five lights have
+to be brought into line, and accordingly the height of the unit of each
+range varies from its fellow. Thus, the front light will be low, that
+behind a little higher, and so on, until the last light in the group,
+or “back light” of the range, as it is called, is a lofty structure.
+
+In some places the light is placed in mid-stream, and perhaps
+mounted upon a massive, high, steel caisson, resting upon a concrete
+foundation, thereby proving immovable to the most powerful of
+ice-shoves. Or a large pier carried out in ferro-concrete and pyramidal
+in shape is used. In the case of the back light there is a skeleton
+tower, which structure is employed to gain the necessary height.
+This is carried upon a high, huge, solid plinth of concrete, even
+if built against the bank. The frazil ice dams the channel, causing
+the water to rise, and unless the foregoing precautions were adopted
+widespread damage would result. All the lights between the gulf and
+Montreal have to be protected in this manner, so that it will be seen
+that the adequate lighting of this waterway bristles with engineering
+difficulties of no light character, and is expensive.
+
+The Canadian Government also is responsible, to a certain extent,
+for the lighting of the Great Lakes, which is described in another
+chapter, where similar difficulties prevail. It has also a long
+stretch of the most rugged part of the Pacific coast to patrol,
+aggregating about 600 miles between Victoria and Vancouver to the
+Portland Canal, where Canadian meets Alaskan territory. This is a
+wicked coast, broken and battered, as well as flanked by an outer
+barrier of islands, recalling the Scandinavian Peninsula in its general
+topographical characteristics. During the past few years the necessity
+of lighting this seaboard adequately has become more pronounced, owing
+to the creation of the new port of Prince Rupert, a few miles below
+Alaskan territory, where the Grand Trunk Pacific reaches down to
+the western sea, and the growing sea-borne traffic with Alaska. The
+fact that a large portion of this navigation is maintained through
+the inside passages, bristling with sharp turns, narrow defiles, and
+jagged headlands, which for the most part are wrapped generally in
+fog, renders the lighting problem more intricate. Probably the most
+important light, and certainly the loftiest on the Pacific seacoast
+north of the Equator, is that on the summit of Triangle Island,
+British Columbia. It was built in 1910, and although the lantern itself
+is only 46 feet in height, the elevation of the headland brings the
+white group-flashing light of 1,000,000 candle-power 700 feet above
+the sea, giving it a range of thirty-four miles. Four flashes are
+emitted during each ten seconds, each flash lasting 0·28 second with
+intervening eclipses each of 1·28 seconds, with an eclipse between each
+group of 5·94 seconds.
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson has introduced a new type of reinforced
+concrete lighthouse with flying buttresses. The latter are not required
+for strength, but are utilized to give greater stiffness to the tower,
+as a column 100 feet or more in height, no matter how strongly it may
+be built, must vibrate and swing in high winds. Yet it is desirable
+to keep the lantern as steady as possible, and this is achieved much
+more completely upon the above principle. The engineer-in-chief of
+the lighthouse authority of the Canadian Government considers this
+method of construction to be the last word in lighthouse building, and
+has completed some notable works upon these lines. Perhaps the most
+important is the Estevan Point light, on the west coast of Vancouver,
+at a place known as Hole-in-the-Wall. The tower, of octagonal, tapering
+form, is 127 feet in height, and throws a white group-flashing light,
+comprising three flashes each of 9·3 seconds with two eclipses, each of
+1·37 seconds, and a final eclipse of 6·36 seconds between each group,
+seventeen miles out to sea. The surroundings of this station are most
+romantic. Landing anywhere in its vicinity is extremely difficult and
+dangerous, and the engineer had to select a point about two miles
+distant for this purpose. From this place a road and tramway have been
+laid through a grand primeval forest, such as is to be found only upon
+Vancouver Island, wherein roams a drove of magnificent wild cattle.
+
+While the Canadian coast cannot point to any lighthouse work comparing
+with the Eddystone, Skerryvore, or Heaux de Bréhat, yet its most
+powerful beacons are of a commanding character, representing as they
+do the latest and best in connection with coast lighting. There is an
+enormous stretch of difficult shore to patrol, along which has to
+be guided an immense volume of valuable shipping. In addition to the
+attended lights, the Government has been extremely enterprising in the
+adoption of unattended beacons (described in another chapter), miles
+of lonely, inhospitable shore being guarded in this way. Although the
+development in this direction is of comparatively recent date, the
+protection of maritime trade is being carried out in accordance with
+a comprehensive policy, so that within a few years the coasts of the
+Dominion will be rendered as safe to the shipping of the world as human
+ingenuity can contrive.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHT
+
+
+Lovers of Longfellow will recall the poet’s song to the lighthouse,
+but how many of his admirers know to what beacon these stirring lines
+refer? When they were penned the author had in his mind’s eye an
+example of the engineer’s handiwork which ranks as one of the finest
+sea-rock lights in existence, worthy of comparison with the most famous
+of similar structures scattered throughout the waters washing the Old
+World.
+
+This is the far-famed Minot’s Ledge light, warning the seafarer making
+to and from Boston Bay of the terrible peril which lurks beneath the
+waves on the southern side of the entrance to this busy indentation.
+“Like the great giant Christopher it stands,” a powerful monument to
+engineering genius, dogged perseverance against overwhelming odds, and
+a grim, bitter contest lasting five weary years between the implacable
+elements and human endeavour. The Minot Ledge is one of those jagged
+reefs which thrust themselves far out into the sea, studded with
+pinnacles and chisel-like edges, which never, or very seldom, protrude
+above the waves. Ship after ship fouled this danger spot, either to be
+sunk or to be so badly crippled that it barely could contrive to crawl
+to safety.
+
+The prosperity of Boston was threatened by this peril to shipping, and
+therefore it is not surprising that a resolution was passed to devise
+some ways and means of indicating its presence to those who go down
+to the sea in ships. The solution was offered in a skeleton structure
+fashioned from iron, which was designed by Captain W. H. Swift, of the
+United States Topographical Engineers. He searched the reef through and
+through to ascertain the point where the beacon should be placed so as
+to prove of the greatest value. This in itself was no simple matter,
+inasmuch as Minot’s Ledge is but one of a great area of wicked crags,
+which collectively are known as the Cohasset Rocks, and which straggle
+over the sea-bed in all directions. After the position had been
+reconnoitred thoroughly, and sounding and levels had been taken, the
+engineer decided that the most seaward rock of the group, known as the
+Outer Minot, would be the most strategical position, and accordingly he
+planned to erect his beacon thereon.
+
+It was a daring proposal, because the reef at the point selected only
+exposes some 25 feet of its mass above the falling tide, and then the
+highest point of the rock scarcely thrusts itself 3½ feet into the air.
+It was realized that the periods of working between the tides would
+inevitably be very brief, while even then, owing to the open position
+of the ridge, a landing would only be possible in very smooth weather,
+and the men would have to suffer exposure to the fury of the waves as
+they dashed over the ledge.
+
+Captain Swift decided upon a skeleton iron structure, not only because
+it would be quicker to erect and would cost less, but because it
+would offer the least resistance to the waves, which would be free to
+expend their energy among the stilts. The task was taken in hand at
+the first favourable opportunity, and, the system lending itself to
+rapid construction, marked progress was made every time the workmen
+succeeded in getting on the ledge. The lantern and keepers’ quarters
+were supported upon nine piles, 60 feet above the rock. The legs were
+so disposed that eight described the circumference of a circle, while
+the ninth constituted the axis.
+
+This tower was completed in 1848, and for the first time the navigator
+making these treacherous waters received a powerful warning to keep
+clear of Minot’s Ledge. For three years the beacon survived the
+battering of wind and wave, but its welcome beam was last seen on the
+night of April 16, 1851. In the spring of that year a gale of terrific
+fury beat upon the Massachusetts coast. The wind freshened on April
+13; the next day it rose to its full force, and did not abate for
+four days. The good people of Boston grew apprehensive concerning the
+plight of the two keepers of the lonely Minot’s light, but, however
+willing they might have been to have put out to the beacon, they were
+absolutely impotent before the ferocity of the elements. Time after
+time the light vanished from sight as it was enveloped in an angry
+curling mountain of water. On April 17 the doleful tolling of the
+lighthouse bell was heard, but the light was never seen again. The
+structure had slipped completely from sight, together with its faithful
+keepers, swallowed by the hungry Atlantic. Evidently the wail of the
+bell was a last plea for assistance, because no doubt the lighthouse
+had bowed to the storm and was tottering when the tolling rang out. But
+the call brought no help; it was the funeral knell of the guardians of
+the beacon. When the sea went down a boat pushed off to the ledge, and
+all that was seen were a few bent piles. Captain Swift had done his
+work well. The waves could not tear his beacon up by the roots, so had
+snapped off the piles like carrots, and had carried away the lantern.
+
+[Illustration: THE MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHT.
+
+Marking the rock off Boston Harbour, it is one of the greatest works
+completed by the lighthouse builders of the United States. It forms the
+theme of Longfellow’s well-known poem.]
+
+This sensational disaster, after a brief existence of three years,
+did not augur well for the permanence of a light upon this precarious
+ledge. The Outer Minot appeared to be determined to continue its
+plunder of ships, cargoes, and lives, untrammelled. Accordingly, for
+three years no effort was made to bring about its subjugation.
+
+In 1855 General Barnard, one of the most illustrious engineers which
+the United States has ever produced, brought forward the plans for a
+structure which he thought would resist the most formidable attacks of
+wind and wave. He took Rudyerd’s famous Eddystone tower as his pattern.
+This was perhaps the strongest design that could be carried out against
+the sea, having one weak point only--it was built of wood. General
+Barnard contemplated a similar structure for Minot’s Ledge, but in
+masonry.
+
+The Lighthouse Board, which had recently been inaugurated to control
+the lighthouses around the coasts of the country, examined the idea
+minutely, and submitted the design to the most expert criticism and
+discussion, but all were so impressed with its outstanding features
+that they decided to support it whole-heartedly. A minute survey of the
+rock was prepared, and the plans were straight away perfected for the
+preparation of the masonry on shore. So carefully was this work carried
+out, that, with the exception of a few blocks of masonry constituting
+the foundations, which had to be prepared on the site, and some slight
+variations in the method of construction, the original ideas were
+fulfilled.
+
+Work was commenced in 1855, the building operations being placed in the
+hands of B. S. Alexander, at that time Lieutenant of Engineers, and
+the successful completion of the work was due in a very great measure
+to his ability and ingenuity, because the whole undertaking was placed
+in his hands and he had to overcome difficulties at every turn as they
+arose.
+
+The builder was handicapped in every way. First there was the brief
+period in which operations could be carried out upon the site, the
+working season extending only from April 1 to September 15 in each
+year. This is not to say that the masons were able to toil upon the
+rock continuously every day during this interval--far from it. In order
+to get the foundations laid there were three essentials--a perfectly
+smooth sea, a dead calm, and low spring-tides. Needless to say, it was
+on very rare occasions indeed that these three requirements were in
+harmony. As a matter of fact, they could occur only about six times
+during every lunar month--three times during full moon, and three at
+the change. Even then, either the wind or the sea intervened to nullify
+the benefits arising from the lowest tides. So much so that, although
+work commenced at daybreak on Sunday, July 1, 1855, only 130 working
+hours were possible upon the rock before labours ceased for the season
+in the middle of the following September.
+
+[Illustration: TENDER LANDING BUILDING MATERIAL UPON THE TILLAMOOK ROCK.
+
+A derrick has been provided to facilitate these operations, while a
+stairway leads from the landing point to the lighthouse.]
+
+On gaining the rock, Lieutenant Alexander decided to make use of
+the holes which had been driven into the granitic mass by Captain
+Swift to receive the piles of the previous structure. The twisted
+and broken pieces of iron were withdrawn and the holes cleaned out.
+Simultaneously the upper surface of the rock was pared and trimmed by
+the aid of chisels, which was no easy task, because at times the masons
+were compelled to manipulate their tools as best they could in two
+or three feet of water. This preparation of the rock to receive the
+base constituted one of the most notable features of the work. In the
+greater number of other outstanding achievements upon sea-rocks the
+surface of the latter has been above the waves at lowest spring-tides,
+whereas in this case a great part of the foundation work was
+continuously submerged.
+
+This preparation of the rock-face necessitated the final trimming and
+shaping upon the site of many of the masonry blocks forming the root of
+the tower. They could not possibly be prepared ashore to bring about
+the tight fit which was imperative. Accordingly, all but the bottom
+faces of the blocks were prepared in the depot on the mainland, and
+they were then shipped to the ledge for final paring and trimming.
+
+The attachment of the bottom courses to the rock-face was carried
+out very ingeniously. Bags of sand were brought on to the rock and
+laid around the spot upon which a particular block of stone was to be
+laid. The sacks, being filled with sand, were pliable, so that, when
+deposited, they adapted themselves to the contour of the ledge, and
+prevented the water making its way in under the rampart. The water
+within this small dam was then removed, sponges being used in the
+final emptying task, so as to suck out the salt sea from the cracks
+and crevices, leaving the surface on which the block of stone was to
+be laid quite dry. A film of cement was then trowelled upon the rock
+surface, and upon this was laid a sheet of muslin. The inclusion of the
+muslin was a wise precaution, because while the work was in progress
+a wandering wave was liable to curl over the rock, swamping the small
+dried space, when, but for the presence of the muslin, the cement
+would have been carried away. At the same time the cement was able to
+penetrate the meshes of the muslin when the stone was deposited, so as
+to grip the surface of the latter and to hold it tightly in position.
+
+Under such abnormal conditions of working the masons had many exciting
+moments. No matter how smooth was the sea, several renegade waves
+would plunge over the ledge. The masons had to be prepared for these
+unwelcome visitors, and precautions had to be introduced to prevent
+them being washed off their slender foothold. A substantial iron
+staging was erected over the working area on the rock, to facilitate
+the handling of the building material. A number of ropes were attached
+to this staging, the free ends of which dangled beside the workmen.
+These were the life-lines, one being provided for each man. A lookout
+was posted, who, when he saw a wave approaching and bent upon sweeping
+the rock, gave a shrill signal. Instantly each workman dropped his
+tools, clutched his life-line tightly, threw himself prostrate on the
+rock, and allowed the wave to pass over him. The situation certainly
+was uncomfortable, and the men often toiled in soddened clothes, but
+an involuntary bath was preferable to the loss of a life or to broken
+limbs.
+
+Work advanced so slowly that during the first two years, which were
+devoted to the excavation of the pit and the preparations of the
+rock-face, only 287 hours’ work were accomplished. In the third year
+this task was completed, and four stones laid in a further 130 hours
+21 minutes. By the end of the working season of 1859 twenty-six
+courses were finished, so that, while the volume of work fulfilled in
+1,102 hours 21 minutes, and spread over five years, certainly was not
+imposing, it was remarkable under the circumstances.
+
+The stones for the foundations were sent from shore with the indication
+-3’ 5”, -2’ 9”, -1’ 3”, and so on, indicating that these stones were
+prepared for positions 3 feet 5 inches, 2 feet 9 inches, and so on,
+below zero. And the zero mark was 21 inches below water! Above the zero
+mark the stones were prefixed by a “plus” sign.
+
+The shaft is purely conical, and solid except for a central well
+extending from the foundations up to the level of the entrance. The
+successive courses of stones were secured to one another, and each
+stone was attached to its neighbour in the ring by the aid of heavy
+iron dogs, so that the lower part of the shaft forms a practically
+solid homogenous mass. What are known as continuous “dowels” were
+sunk through each course of masonry into the holes in the solid
+rock prepared by Captain Swift for his skeleton light, this further
+attachment of the mass to the ledge being continued until the twelfth
+course was gained. Thus additional security is obtained by anchoring
+the tower firmly to the reef.
+
+The solid portion of the building is 40 feet in height from the level
+of the first complete ring of stones, and the tower is 80 feet high
+to the lantern gallery. The over-all height to the top of the lantern
+cupola is 102¾ feet, while the focal plane is 84½ feet above mean
+high-water. The first stone was laid on July 9, 1857, while the masons
+completed their duties on June 29, 1860, so that five years were
+occupied upon the work. In erection 3,514 tons of rough and 2,367 tons
+of hammered stone, in addition to 1,079 numbered stones, were used, and
+the total cost, including the light-keepers’ houses on the mainland,
+was £60,000, or $300,000, so that it ranks among the more costly lights
+which have been provided for the seafarer’s benefit.
+
+On November 15, 1860, nine and a half years after the destruction of
+the first beacon, the light was once more thrown from Minot’s Ledge for
+the benefit of passing ships. The light is of the second order, visible
+fourteen and three-quarter miles out to sea, and is of the flashing
+type, signalling “143” every thirty seconds thus--one flash followed by
+three seconds’ darkness, four flashes with three seconds’ eclipse, and
+three flashes with an interval of fifteen seconds’ darkness.
+
+The tower has been subjected to repeated prodigious assaults, the
+north-east gales in particular thundering upon this reef with
+tremendous fury, but it has withstood all attacks with complete
+success.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE TILLAMOOK ROCK LIGHT-STATION
+
+
+While the Northern Pacific Ocean is the loneliest stretch of salt water
+in the world, yet it possesses one or two busy corners. Prominent among
+the latter is that where it washes the shores of the United States
+around the entrance to the mighty Columbia River. The estuary is wide,
+and, although navigation is handicapped by a bar, it is well protected.
+But coming up from the south there is a stretch of terribly forbidding
+coastline, with the cliffs at places towering 1,500 feet or more into
+the air and dropping sheer into the water. Rock-slides are of frequent
+occurrence, and the beach is littered with heavy falls from above. Here
+and there protuberances rise from the sea, formed of rock sufficiently
+dense and hard to withstand more effectively the process of erosion,
+only to constitute fearful menaces to navigation. Often the mainland
+is completely obscured, either by streaks of mist or heavy clouds of
+smoke produced by forest fires, which in the dry season rage with great
+violence. A ship caught within the toils of this stern coast has no
+possible chance of escape, while the crew would find it difficult to
+get ashore, inasmuch as at places there is not a single landing-place
+within a distance of twenty miles.
+
+Owing to the coast being frequently blotted from view, and to the fact
+that this stretch of sea is swept by furious storms, the plight of
+the mariner making to or from the Columbia River became exceedingly
+precarious. The worst tragedy of these waters was enacted on the dark
+and stormy night of January 3, 1881, when the sailing-ship _Lupata_
+lost her way and went to pieces on the rocks off Tillamook Head.
+
+Under these circumstances it is not surprising that an outcry arose
+for protection along this lonely reach of Oregon’s jagged shoreline.
+The authorities responded to the agitation by the promise to erect
+a lighthouse, once they should have decided the site, which was the
+really perplexing question. In the first instance it was thought that
+its location upon the mainland would suffice, but a survey betrayed
+the futility of such a choice. The light would be too elevated to be
+of any service; for the greater part of its time it would be rendered
+invisible by land fogs. Then, again, it would mean cutting a road for a
+distance of twenty miles through heavy, undulating country and primeval
+forest to gain the point, as the verdant sea of green timber extends to
+the very brink of the cliffs.
+
+After prolonged consideration, it was decided to erect the light upon
+the Tillamook Rock. This is a hard mass of basalt, rising boldly from
+the water to a height of 120 feet, which, when viewed from one side,
+presented the appearance of a clenched fist. It stands about a mile
+off the mainland, twenty miles south of the Columbia River mouth, and
+drops plumb into the sea, where the lead gives readings ranging from
+96 to 240 feet. The whole area of the rock is less than one acre, and
+it is split almost in two; another isolated knot of basalt, upon which
+the seas break heavily when a storm is raging, rears its shaggy head
+into the air near by at low-tide. The only possible landing-point is
+on the east side, where there is a beach sloping upwards sharply from
+the water to the crest. When the ocean is roused the sight certainly is
+terrifying. The waves fall with shivering force upon the base of the
+rock, to rush up its ragged sides and sweep right over its crest in a
+dense curtain of angrily frothing water and whipping spray.
+
+Despite its fearsome character, this rock constituted the most
+serviceable situation for a light, for the reason that, being a mile
+from the shore, it was free from land fogs and clouds. The decision
+of the authorities depended upon three factors only--that a landing
+could be made, the rock occupied, and the requisite building materials
+unloaded. The introduction of such a saving clause was politic,
+because at first it seemed as if the rock would defy the gaining of
+a foothold. The ghastly failure attending the survey, as described in
+a previous chapter, brought public opinion into dead opposition to
+the project, and many fearsome stories were circulated sedulously up
+and down the coast and among the towns fringing the Columbia River
+concerning the perils, hardships, and terrible death-roll, which would
+attend any attempt to place a beacon on this rock.
+
+After the disaster the authorities pressed forward the enterprise with
+greater vigour than ever, so as to get work well under way before
+public opinion would be able to make its influence felt upon the
+unsophisticated minds of workmen required to carry out the undertaking.
+A daring, determined, and energetic leader was secured in Mr. A.
+Ballantyne, and he was deputed to rally a force of eight or more highly
+skilled quarrymen with whom to proceed to Astoria, where the land
+headquarters were to be established. He was informed that upon arrival
+at this point he would find everything in readiness for his immediate
+departure to the rock, with all essentials to enable him to commence
+work at once and to provide quarters for the workmen, who would be
+compelled to suffer isolation and a certain amount of discomfort for
+weeks at a time. It was impossible to take more than a handful of men
+at first, owing to the difficulty of landing provisions.
+
+Mr. Ballantyne started off with his small picked force, reached
+Astoria on September 24, 1879, and there suffered his first check. The
+autumn gales had sprung up, rendering approach to the rock absolutely
+hopeless. There was no alternative; he must wait until the weather
+moderated. As this might be a question of a few hours, days, or perhaps
+a week or two, the chief grew anxious concerning his force. If the men,
+having nothing to do, wandered idly about the town, making acquaintance
+with all and sundry and listening to gossip, then they could not fail
+to be impressed with the extraordinary stories concerning dangers,
+hardships, perils, and adventures; would conclude that the Tillamook
+was a “hoodoo” rock; and would desert him promptly. To guard against
+this contingency, the quarrymen were hurried off and temporarily housed
+in the old light-keeper’s dwelling at the Cape Disappointment light,
+some miles away on the northern portal of the estuary, where they were
+safe from pernicious influences.
+
+[Illustration: THE TILLAMOOK ROCK LIGHT STATION FROM THE SOUTH.
+
+Rising from the sea one mile off the Oregon Coast, it was for years a
+terrible danger spot. The light of 160,000 candle-power, 132 feet above
+high water, is visible for 18 miles.]
+
+After twenty-six days of enforced idleness the squad was picked up by a
+revenue cutter, which steamed to the rock, and made fast to a buoy that
+had been laid previously for mooring the vessels deputed to transport
+building materials and other requirements. With extreme difficulty four
+men were got on the rock, together with a supply of hammers, drills,
+iron ring-bolts, a stove, provisions, supplies, and an abundance of
+canvas, with which the advance staff were to erect temporary shelters
+and to make themselves as comfortable as they could. While the work
+was in progress the wind freshened, the swell rose, and the boat had
+to retire hurriedly before the remainder of the force could be landed;
+but five days later they were transferred to the rock, together with
+further provisions and supplies, as well as a derrick.
+
+The little party soon received a taste of what life would be in this
+lonely spot. Three days after the second landing, and before they had
+shaken down to their strange surroundings, a gale sprang up. Heavy seas
+pounded the rock, and the waves, mounting its vertical face, threw
+themselves over its crest, drenching the workmen and their sleeping
+blankets. It was a startling episode, but it became so frequent that
+the quarrymen became inured to their fate, and were not perturbed in
+any way, except when the Pacific was roused to exceptional fury.
+
+When the first four men gained the rock it was seen that the landing
+of material, especially the heavier incidentals, would constitute the
+greatest difficulty. Then an ingenious idea was advanced. Why not rig
+a heavy rope between the mast of the vessel and the top of the rock,
+draw it taut, and devise a traveller to run to and fro? It was a
+practical suggestion and was adopted forthwith. With much difficulty
+a 4½-inch rope was towed from the vessel--to the mast of which one
+end was secured--to the rock, and grabbed by those in occupation.
+This end was anchored firmly, and constituted the track. Then a large
+single block was rigged to this main line in such a way that it could
+move freely to and fro along the cable. This block was provided with a
+heavy hook on which the weights could be slung. Other blocks were fixed
+on the vessel and on the rock, while an endless line, passing through
+these blocks at each end, and attached to the shank of the hook on the
+travelling block, enabled the traveller to be pulled freely and easily
+in either direction.
+
+Both men and supplies were transferred from ship to shore by this
+primitive, albeit ingenious, system. The men were carried in a novel
+device, described as a “breeches-buoy,” such as is used with the rocket
+life-saving apparatus, but of very crude design improvised on the spot.
+It was contrived from an ordinary circular rubber life-preserver, to
+which a pair of trousers cut short at the knees were lashed tightly.
+This was suspended from the block-hook by means of three short lengths
+of rope. The trip through the air certainly was novel, and not free
+from excitement; indeed, there was just sufficient spice of adventure
+about it to appeal to the rough-and-ready, intrepid spirits who
+constituted the forces of the lighthouse engineer. Also, owing to the
+primitive character of the apparatus, there was just the chance that
+something would go wrong when the man was between ship and rock. The
+breeches were provided to hold the man in a safe position while in the
+air, to guard against a loss of balance and tipping out; while should
+anything give way, and the man make an unexpected plunge into the
+water, the life-preserver would keep him afloat until a boat could draw
+alongside to rescue him.
+
+[Illustration: THE CONQUEST OF THE TILLAMOOK.
+
+The top of the crag was blasted off to provide a level space for the
+lighthouse.]
+
+[Illustration: THE TERRIBLE TILLAMOOK ROCK.
+
+Showing how the menace rises abruptly from the sea on one side.]
+
+There was another factor which had to be taken into consideration, and
+which certainly contributed to the novelty of the trip. As the boat
+responded to the action of the waves the rope alternately drew tight
+and sagged. When she rolled towards the rock the cable was slackened,
+and the man generally had a ducking; the next moment, when the vessel
+rolled in the opposite direction, he was whisked unceremoniously and
+suddenly into the air. It was like being suspended at the end of a
+piece of elastic. The men for the most part enjoyed the fun of the
+journey, and considered it a new and exhilarating “divarshun.” Among
+themselves the effort was to travel in either direction so as to escape
+a cold douche on the journey. When the water was rough, speculation
+took the form of guessing how many dips into the water would be made
+before either terminus was gained.
+
+This novel landing method provoked one amusing incident. The
+supply-boat came out to the rock one day bringing a new raw hand.
+The cableway was rigged up, and the workman prepared for his ride
+to the rock. But the man was somewhat corpulent, and could not be
+thrust through the preserver. This was an unexpected _contretemps_,
+and it seemed as if the superintendent would have to let his recruit
+return. But Ballantyne did not worry over trifles, neither did he
+relish the idea of losing a hand after having him brought so far, so
+he put forward a somewhat daring proposal. He told the captain of the
+steamer to lash the workman to the top of the buoy, and they would
+pull him ashore all right. The labourer was scared out of his wits at
+this suggestion, and resented being handled as if he were a balk of
+timber. Why, even the perishable articles were unloaded in casks to
+protect them from the wet. He expressed his determination to see them
+to perdition before he would make a trip through the air under such
+conditions. Ballantyne was somewhat crestfallen at the cold reception
+of his brilliant idea, so told the captain to take the workman back to
+Astoria, and to ransack the place to discover a buoy which would be big
+enough to fit him.
+
+Two days later the vessel returned with the larger buoy and also the
+corpulent quarryman. His second glimpse of the primitive travelling
+frightened him worse than ever, and he point blank refused to budge.
+In order to reassure the raw hand, Ballantyne hauled the buoy ashore,
+and, jumping into it, made a journey, to illustrate that the system was
+perfectly safe, and that one need not even get wet. But Ballantyne’s
+demonstration was rather unfortunate. The cable was slack, and the
+ship rolled heavily. Result: the superintendent was dragged through
+the water for nearly the whole distance, and at times nothing of him
+could be seen. When he landed on the boat, half-winded and drenched to
+the skin, the quarryman was scared more than ever, and announced his
+intention to return to Astoria. Ballantyne cajoled, coaxed, argued,
+and stormed, in turn, but to no avail. Then another idea came to his
+fertile mind. If the man would not travel via the breeches-buoy,
+why not send him ashore in a bos’n’s chair? This was rigged up
+satisfactorily, and therein the workman consented to go ashore, though
+not without the display of considerable trepidation and anxiety to
+keep out of the water. They got him on the rock safely, and without so
+much as wetting the soles of his feet. The quarryman by his resolute
+opposition set up a record. He was the first man to land dry on the
+Tillamook.
+
+Subsequently this novel and, so far as it went, efficient method of
+“quick transit” was superseded when the men on the rock got their big
+derrick to work. The long arm of this appliance leaned over the water
+far enough to pick up the goods direct from the deck of the vessel
+moored off the rock. This system was quicker, and enabled the goods to
+be got ashore unsoiled.
+
+The first men to land found the rock in the occupation of sea-lions,
+who swarmed its scaly sides in huge numbers, even making their way to
+the crest to bask in the sunshine. These tenants at first resented the
+white man’s invasion, and were somewhat troublesome; but at last they
+recognized that their eviction was certain, so suddenly deserted in a
+body to another equally wild spot farther south.
+
+The first task was the preparation of the site for the building. The
+fist-like overhanging crest was attacked to prepare a foundation,
+thereby reducing the height from 120 to 91 feet. The rock surface was
+scarred and riven in a fantastic manner, owing to the scouring action
+of the waves eroding the soft portions leaving the hard rock behind in
+the form of needles, scales, and ugly crevices. The outer part of the
+rock, moreover, was found to be of an unreliable character, being more
+or less rotten, while the core, on the other hand, was intensely hard,
+and promised an excellent foundation for the beacon. The superfluous
+mass was removed by blasting, this being carried out with extreme care
+and in small sections at a time. The largest blasts did not remove
+more than 130 cubic yards, or tons, of débris at one time. This slow
+blasting, by handfuls as it were, was necessary so as not to shatter or
+impair the solidity of the heart of the rock, which was to support the
+buildings.
+
+Drilling and blasting were carried out in the face of great
+difficulties. Rain, rough seas, spray, and heavy winds, combined
+to thwart the little band of workers toiling strenuously in solemn
+loneliness upon this bleak crag. Often days would pass without any
+tangible impression being made upon the surface. The drilling holes
+would be swamped, and unless care was observed the powder charges ran
+the risk of being damped and rendered impotent or uncertain in firing.
+In the attack upon the crest the workmen distributed themselves around
+the crown. On the precipitous side, as there was not a friendly ledge
+on which to secure a foothold to work the drills, bolts were driven
+into the rock-face, from which staging was suspended by ropes, and
+on this swinging, crazy foothold the men drove their tools with salt
+fleece whirling round them.
+
+Until the men were able to erect more or less permanent quarters, their
+plight at times was pitiable. The canvas was cut up and an A-tent was
+rigged up. It was a cramped home, measuring 16 feet long by 6 feet
+wide, while the ridge pole was only 4½ feet above the ground. This
+domicile just held the ten men in their sleeping-blankets. Naturally,
+they had to crawl rather than walk about, and, as the shelter served
+as a dining-room as well, the little band had to tolerate many
+discomforts. When the wind howled round the rock, causing the canvas to
+flap violently and threatening to carry it away at every turn, when the
+sea swarmed over the rock, and when the heavy rains to which this coast
+is subject poured down pitilessly, the men never knew what it was to
+have dry clothing or bedding. Cooking was carried on in the open, and
+the kitchen arrangements had to be shifted from time to time, according
+to the direction of the wind, so that the fire was brought on the lee
+side of the shelter.
+
+The workers were exposed to danger on all sides incessantly, but
+fortunately in their chief, Ballantyne, they had one of those men who
+appear to be made for such contingencies; who was alert, ready for
+any emergency, nursed his staff sedulously, and whose buoyant spirits
+dispelled all feelings of gloom, loneliness, or homesickness. The
+little band toiled hard and long through the rough autumnal weather,
+and the arrival of stern winter did not bring any cessation in their
+labours. They fought the rock grimly and ignored hardship. Certainly,
+they were cheered by the arrival of the boats with supplies, but
+occasionally a fortnight or more would pass without a call being made
+at the rock, and often, when a boat did come up and prepare to land
+material, it had to slip its anchor hastily to make a frantic run for
+safety before the rising swell and the gathering storm.
+
+Early in January Nature concentrated her forces, as if bent upon a
+supreme effort to shake the determination and courage of the little
+army striving so valiantly upon the rock. On the night of New Year’s
+Day the clouds assumed an ominous appearance, and accordingly the
+workmen were not surprised to meet a stormy and rainy reception
+when they made their way to their duties the following morning. The
+weather grew worse on the third day, the spray enveloping the rock
+and drenching the men, while the wind blew so fiercely that they
+could scarcely keep their feet. During the next two days it increased
+in force, while the sea grew angrier. On the 6th the elements were
+raging in torment, and in the afternoon Ballantyne, taking stock of
+the meteorological signs, came to the conclusion that the party “were
+in for it.” A hurricane, or possibly a tornado, was looming. The
+tools were being swung with infinite difficulty, when suddenly came
+the signal “Stop work!” Ballantyne urged them to set to at once to
+lash everything securely. At six o’clock in the evening the hurricane
+burst, and the workmen witnessed a sight such as they had never seen
+before. The whole coast was in the grip of a tornado, of which the
+Tillamook Rock was the vortex, whereon the elements concentrated their
+destructive forces. The huge rollers assumed an uglier appearance than
+ever; the broken water rushed up the steep sides into the air, where
+it was caught by the whirling wind and dashed on the tiny camp. It was
+impossible to escape that savage attack, as it was driven home from
+all sides simultaneously. The men took to their permanent quarters in
+silence and very gloomy. By midnight the roof was being peppered with
+huge masses of rock, which, detached by the waves, were caught up and
+thrown clean over the rock. Ballantyne urged the men to stay in their
+bunks, to keep up their spirits, and to seek a little rest.
+
+[Illustration: FAMOUS UNITED STATES LIGHTHOUSES OF TWO CENTURIES.
+
+The rear tower was built on Cape Henry in 1789, with stones shipped
+from Great Britain. Owing to the sand thrown up by the sea, another
+light had to be provided nearer the water, and was completed in 1879.
+The old light is retained as an historic building.]
+
+But sleep was impossible. The quarrymen were scared out of their
+wits, and there was every cause for their dismay. It seemed as if
+the very rock itself must succumb to the savage onslaught. The din
+was deafening; the rock shivered and trembled as the breakers hurled
+themselves upon it.
+
+It had just turned two. Suddenly one and all sat up in terror. There
+was a fearful crash--a rending and splitting, which was heard plainly
+above the weird howling of the hurricane. The men tumbled out of their
+bunks panic-stricken, and were about to stampede from their shelter
+to seek refuge upon a higher ledge. But Ballantyne’s pluck asserted
+itself. He, too, had been scared by the awful noise, but he collected
+his scattered wits more quickly than did his comrades. He grasped the
+situation, and with iron nerve commanded all the men to stick tightly
+where they were. An ugly rush seemed imminent, but he stood with his
+back to the door, and in plain English dared the men to leave their
+cover. Any man who attempted to fight his way to the upper refuge would
+be swept overboard by the wind and sea.
+
+The quarrymen were not cowards, and Ballantyne’s action steadied them.
+Then the foreman announced his intention to go out to see what had
+happened. He grabbed a storm-lantern and opened the door. Instantly he
+was hurled back by the wind and sea, which appeared to be submerging
+the rock. For two hours he stood waiting an opportunity to slip out
+against the hurricane. At last he succeeded, and in the intense
+darkness endeavoured to grope his way over the rock. He had been gone
+only a few minutes when he staggered back, battered, shaken, and almost
+exhausted. He could not make headway against the gale. So the men sat
+down and silently waited the approach of dawn. Then they found that
+the rushing waves had fallen upon the building in which all their
+supplies were stored, had smashed it to atoms, and had destroyed and
+carried away nearly all the provisions, the fresh-water tank, and other
+articles, although the requisites for work were left untouched. It was
+the break-up of this storehouse which had woke them from their slumbers
+and had provoked the panic.
+
+For ten days the gale raged, being more furious on some days than
+others. When it decreased in fury the men were able to settle to their
+work for an hour or two, but progress was painfully slow; on other days
+not a tool could be picked up. On the 18th the revenue cutter came
+out from Astoria to ascertain how the men had weathered the tornado,
+and the signal for coal and provisions was answered immediately by
+the lowering of a surf-boat. The sailors had a stiff pull to reach
+the rock, found that the men still had a scanty supply of hard bread,
+coffee, and bacon--this was all--and, taking off the letters, promised
+to send supplies immediately. The construction ship also came up; the
+captain sent ashore all the provisions he could spare, and undertook to
+return at once with a full supply. But another ten days passed before
+the sea went down enough to permit these to be landed, together with
+five more men.
+
+[Illustration: THE RACE ROCK LIGHT.
+
+It marks a dangerous reef in Long Island Sound, where, owing to the
+swift currents, construction of the foundations proved very difficult.]
+
+Nature appeared to capitulate after this terrible assault, and work
+proceeded rapidly. The crest of the rock was removed and levelled off,
+to form an excellent platform for the reception of the beacon and other
+buildings. An inclined tramway was excavated out of the rock-face,
+communicating with the landing-stage, to facilitate the haulage of
+the light-keepers’ necessities, and then the arrangements for the
+completion of the building were hurried forward.
+
+When the public saw that the work was being accomplished without loss
+to life or limb, and that the plucky little party of toilers weathered
+the gales, an intense interest was manifested in the undertaking. The
+foreman was provided with an international code of signals, and passing
+vessels, as an act of courtesy and in recognition of the work that was
+being done to further their safety, always stood towards the rock to
+render assistance in case it was required. The workmen appreciated this
+feeling, and on two occasions, during dense fog, intimated to captains
+who had lost their way, and were groping blindly round the rock, that
+they were venturing into dangerous waters. The warning was primitive
+but effective. It comprised the explosion of giant-powder cartridges
+over the sea in the direction whence the ships’ sirens sounded. In both
+instances the navigators heard the signals in the nick of time, and
+were able to steer clear.
+
+The lighthouse itself comprises a group of buildings for the keepers,
+from which rises a square tower 48 feet in height, bringing the light
+132 feet above mean high-water. The dwelling is built of stone,
+measures 48 feet by 45 feet, and is one story in height. In addition
+there is an extension for housing the powerful siren and its machinery.
+The building contains adequate living-quarters, together with storage
+rooms and a kitchen. As this light is particularly lonely, four keepers
+are stationed on the rock, and their rooms each have a clear length of
+12 feet by 10 feet wide. Also, as the rock is so difficult to approach,
+and relief may suffer extreme delay from adverse weather, sufficient
+provisions are stored to insure full rations for six months.
+
+The light is of the first order, of 160,000 candle-power, and is
+visible at a distance of eighteen miles in clear weather. It is a
+brilliant white flashing beam, occurring once every five seconds, the
+flash being of two seconds, followed by an eclipse of three seconds.
+The fog-siren is likewise of the first order, driven by steam-engines.
+This plant is in duplicate, and the signal is given every forty-five
+seconds, the blast being of five seconds, followed by silence for forty
+seconds.
+
+The conquest of the Tillamook Rock has been one of the most difficult
+tasks that the United States Lighthouse Board ever has accomplished.
+The little band of quarrymen who braved danger, hardship, and
+privation, effected occupation of the rock on October 21, 1879, and
+the light was exhibited for the first time on January 21, 1881, the
+total time occupied in the task being 575 days. It has robbed the
+dreaded Oregon coast of one of its worst perils, and the money which
+was devoted to the provision of this stalwart guardian--£24,698, or
+$123,493--was indeed expended to good purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE COAST LIGHTS OF THE UNITED STATES
+
+
+Few nations have such a varied coastline to guard as the United States.
+On the Atlantic seaboard the northern shore is a shaggy bold rampart of
+lofty cliff, hard and pitiless. Farther south the rock gradually gives
+way to sandy dunes, which the hungry sea is continually gnawing away
+here and piling up somewhere else. Then, as the tropics are entered,
+the sand in turn gives way to coral reefs, every whit as formidable as
+rock and as treacherous as sand, where the hurricane reigns supreme
+and makes its presence felt only too frequently. Across the continent
+a similar variation, though not perhaps so intense, is observable on
+the Pacific side. The coast range runs parallel with the shore, and
+consequently cliff and precipice are common, owing to the lateral spurs
+of the range coming to an abrupt termination where land and water meet.
+
+The result is that no one type of beacon is possible of adoption as
+a standard for the whole coastline. The class of structure has to be
+modified to meet local conditions, but the battle between destruction
+and preservation is none the less bitter and continuous. When ships
+began to trade with the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, the
+erection of warning lights became imperative. This duty was fulfilled
+in the early days by local enterprise, and the first lighthouse on
+the continent was built on Little Brewster Island, at the entrance to
+Boston Harbour. It was completed about 1716, was a conical masonry
+tower, and its cost, which is interesting as being set out to the
+uttermost farthing--£2,285 17s. 8½d.--betrays the scrupulous commercial
+integrity of the first financiers of the United States. The light was
+maintained by the levy of a due of one penny per ton on all incoming
+and outgoing vessels, except those engaged in coastal traffic, and was
+collected by the same authority which subsequently got into trouble in
+the endeavour to collect the tax on tea. This pioneer light is still
+in service, although in 1783 it was rebuilt. The light, of the second
+order, is 102 feet above mean high-water, and gives a white flash every
+thirty seconds, which is visible from a distance of sixteen miles; the
+fog-signal is a first-class siren, giving a blast of five seconds,
+followed by silence for ten seconds, with a succeeding blast of five
+seconds and silence for forty seconds.
+
+The excellent example thus set by the good people of Boston was
+followed by other States and individual authorities along the
+coast. This system of local and arbitrary control was by no means
+satisfactory, so in 1789 the Federal Government took over the control
+of the lighthouse service, and entrusted its safe-keeping to the
+Secretary of the Treasury. There were only eight lights to watch when
+the cession was effected, but the growth of the country soon increased
+the duties of the department. Accordingly, a decree was passed in 1817
+whereby the control was transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury
+to the fifth auditor of the same department, Mr. Stephen Pleasanton,
+who became known as the General Superintendent of Lights. He assumed
+the new office in 1820, taking over fifty-five lights, so that during
+the thirty years the aids to navigation had been under the jurisdiction
+of the Secretary of the Treasury forty-seven new stations had been
+established.
+
+The new official held the post for thirty-two years, and prosecuted
+his work so diligently and systematically that by 1852 the service
+had grown to 325 lighthouses, lightships, buoys, and other guides.
+The lighthouses were maintained under contract, the contractor for
+each light undertaking for a fixed annual sum to keep his charge in a
+perfect state of repair, to supply all illuminant, wicks, chimneys,
+and stores, that were required, as well as making one visit to the
+lighthouse in the course of the year. Subsequently it became necessary
+to award the contracts for terms of five years.
+
+[Illustration: THE CARQUINEZ STRAIT LIGHT.
+
+An imposing station on the north side of the entrance to the Strait.]
+
+As time progressed, and the duties of the Superintendent became more
+onerous, certain individuals took exception to the idea of such an
+important service being entrusted to the charge of one man, vested with
+wide discretionary powers. Accordingly, complaints were formulated
+liberally, and the superintendent became the butt of venomous attack.
+The outcome of this agitation was the formation of a committee, two
+members of which were sent upon a mission of inspection to Great
+Britain and France, the lighthouse services of which were stated to
+be far superior to that of the United States, and more efficiently
+controlled. The result of this investigation was the inauguration of
+an official department known as the Lighthouse Board, constituted of
+capable engineers. In 1852 this authority took over the administration
+of the light service, which has remained under its control ever since.
+In order to secure the utmost efficiency, the coasts were divided into
+districts, each of which is presided over by an accomplished officer of
+the United States Corps of Engineers, who is held directly responsible
+to the Board at Washington for the lights in his area. So admirably
+was the new authority constituted that it has never failed to give the
+utmost satisfaction, and the result is that to-day the Lighthouse Board
+of the United States is comparable with contemporary authorities in the
+Old World.
+
+In the early days the majority of the lights were placed on the
+mainland, and as a rule comprised wooden towers, projecting from
+the roof of the keepers’ dwelling, similar in character to some of
+the older lights to be found on the coasts of Newfoundland and New
+Brunswick in Canada. These buildings were cheap to construct, as they
+were carried out upon the timber-frame principle; but they possessed
+many disadvantages. The greatest objection arose from the attachment
+of the tower to the roof frames of the house. Being exposed to the
+full fury of the tempest, the tower in time would become loosened,
+and the roof itself distorted, so that the inmates had to suffer the
+inconvenience of water penetrating into their rooms. Even the
+few masonry towers which were erected were of the most primitive
+description, and soon fell victims to the ravages of the weather.
+
+Accordingly, when the lighthouse administration was placed upon an
+efficient footing, the first task was the complete overhaul, and
+reconstruction where necessary, of many of the existing lights. Of
+the eight beacons which were taken over by the Federal Government in
+1789, six have been rebuilt. The only two exceptions are the Sandy
+Hook light--a stone tower 88 feet high--and Cape Henlopen, at the
+entrance to Delaware Bay, both of which were built in 1764. Naturally,
+their illuminating apparatus has been remodelled from time to time, in
+accordance with the advances in this field of lighthouse engineering,
+but that is the only change which has been effected.
+
+[Illustration: A CHURCH AS A LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+A fixed white light, thrown from the tower of St. Philip’s Church, and
+visible for 18 miles, forms the rear light of the main channel range in
+Charleston Harbour, South Carolina.]
+
+One lighthouse on the Atlantic coast of the United States possesses a
+pathetic and romantic interest. It indicates the treacherous shores
+around Cape Henry, and mounts sentinel on the headland at the southerly
+side of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. The stranger on the
+passing ship, as he scans the dreary bench of sand rising from the
+water’s edge at this point, has his attention arrested by two gaunt
+towers. The foremost is almost lapped by the water; the other is some
+distance to the rear, and upon a higher level. “Two lights, and for
+what?” is a natural exclamation. But only one tower--that nearer the
+waves--throws its glare by night. Its companion behind has passed its
+cycle of utility long since, but it has not been demolished because of
+its unique history. It was built in 1789 with bricks and stones brought
+from England. In shape it is a tapering octagonal cone, and when first
+erected the waves almost washed its base. But the sea, which eats
+away the rock and soft soil at some parts, casts this débris ashore
+here, so that Cape Henry is slowly but surely thrusting its dismal
+tongue of sand farther and farther into the Atlantic. The old tower
+fulfilled faithful service until the seventies, when, being considered
+too far from the water, it was superseded by the shaft rising from
+the sand-dunes below. After a century’s service the old light was
+extinguished, to permit the fixed white light of the first order in the
+new tower to take its place.
+
+The new building, completed in 1881, is likewise octagonal in section,
+gradually tapering from the base to the lantern gallery. It is built
+upon what is described as the “double-shell principle,” there being two
+iron cylinders, one within the other. It is 152 feet in height, and the
+powerful white beam has a range of twenty miles, while a red beam is
+cast from one side to mark a dangerous shoal. As a powerful flashing
+white light of a similar character is shed from a tower on Cape Charles
+opposite, the mariner has a well-illumined entrance into Chesapeake Bay.
+
+Ice was one of the great difficulties against which the American
+lighthouse builders had to contend, and they laboured valiantly to
+mitigate this evil. It caused more damage to their works than wind and
+wave of the most terrifying violence. The upper reaches of the great
+rivers are encased with thick ice throughout the winter. When the
+spring comes round, this brittle armour is broken up, and, caught by
+the current, is swept toward the ocean, the floes jostling and crashing
+among one another. When the slightest obstruction is offered to their
+free movement, the pieces mount one another, forming large hummocks,
+and the pressure thus imposed is terrific. The “ice-shove,” when it
+assumes large proportions, is quite capable of wreaking widespread
+damage.
+
+When the screw-pile lighthouses came into vogue, this danger was
+advanced as one of the greatest objections to the adoption of this
+idea. It was pointed out that the ice would pack around the slender
+legs, and either snap them, or would bring about such severe distortion
+as to imperil the safety of the superstructure. When Major Hartman
+Bache undertook the erection of the Brandywine Shoal light in Delaware
+Bay, he determined to frustrate the effects of this peril. The light,
+being eight miles from the ocean, was right in the path of the
+ice-shoves of the Potomac, so the nine iron legs upon which the beacon
+is supported--eight in a circle and one central--are protected by what
+is known as an “ice-breaker.” This is a pier of thirty iron piles,
+which likewise are screwed into the sea-bed. Each pile is 23 feet
+long by 5 inches in diameter, and they are connected at their heads,
+and at a point just above low-water, by what are known as “spider-web
+braces.” The result is that, when a shock is inflicted upon one pile,
+it is communicated throughout the entire breaker. This system has
+proved entirely successful, and has protected the lighthouse within
+completely. The main building, although subjected to heavy attacks by
+the piled ice, has never been damaged thereby, although subsequently it
+became necessary to strengthen the ice-breaker, because the onslaughts
+of several winters had left their mark.
+
+Off the coast of Florida, and in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, this
+type of lighthouse is very strongly in evidence, as it was found to be
+the most suitable for the coral sea-bed. The most notable structure
+of this class is the Fowey Rocks light, which rises, a flame-crowned
+skeleton, from the extreme northern point of the Florida reefs. It is
+in an exposed position, where inclement weather is often experienced.
+At this point there is not more than 3 feet of water, and the spot is
+as bad as a mariner could wish to avoid, for no ship could hope to
+escape destruction once it became entangled in these submerged toils.
+
+The building of this light presented many perplexing difficulties,
+the greatest of which was offered by the weather. The structure is
+an octagonal pyramid, with the keepers’ quarters on a lower deck,
+communication with the lantern being afforded by a winding staircase
+encircling a vertical cylinder. The light is 110¼ feet above
+high-water, of the fixed type, with red sectors guarding dangerous
+shoals in the vicinity, while the white beams can be picked up some
+eleven miles away.
+
+The integral parts of this building were prepared by three different
+contractors, were fitted together, and the building set up temporarily,
+on the mainland, so as to facilitate erection at the site. The work
+was started in 1876, the first move being the provision of a platform
+about 80 feet square and 12 feet above low-water, from which to conduct
+operations. The lower piles were driven about 10 feet into the live
+coral reef. Extreme care was observed during this operation, the pile
+after every stroke of the driver being tested with a plumb-line, to
+make sure that it was being sent home absolutely vertically. If it
+diverged, however slightly, from the perpendicular, the error was
+corrected immediately. When the piles had been driven to the requisite
+depth, the tops were levelled to the height of the most deeply driven
+pile; then the horizontal members were placed in position, followed by
+the diagonal bracing.
+
+[Illustration: THE BONITA POINT LIGHTHOUSE OFF THE CALIFORNIAN COAST.
+
+While the tower is only 21 feet in height, its position on a lofty
+cliff gives the light of 27,000 candle-power a range of 17 miles.]
+
+This task occupied some two months, and then a spell of bad weather
+broke over the coast, interspersed with brief intervals of smooth
+seas and calms. As the land depot was four miles away, this involved
+frequent journeys to and fro for the workmen, who had to be brought
+off the work upon the slightest sign of rough weather. To eliminate
+the interruptions arising from this procedure, tents were despatched
+to the site and pitched on the wooden platform, so that the men might
+reside there. At times their situation was alarming; the heavy seas
+rushed and tumbled among the piles beneath the crazy perch, and the men
+were always on tenterhooks lest a hurricane, such as is experienced
+often in this region, should bear down upon them and carry the whole
+colony away. When work was in progress, they did not realize their
+lonely, perilous position so much, since their minds were otherwise
+occupied; but it was the enforced periods of idleness, often lasting
+several days on end, which made them grow despondent, as they were
+virtually imprisoned, and there was very little space in which to
+obtain exercise. The material was brought out in lighters towed by a
+steam-launch, on which steam was kept up day and night, because the
+material had to be sent out at any moment when the conditions were
+favourable. Again, this “standing by” was imperative, in case a sudden
+call for assistance should be given by the little isolated community
+when faced with disaster during a storm. When the men got the
+keepers’ quarters completed, their minds became easier, as they were
+now in possession of a more stable camp. The superstructure advanced at
+a rapid rate, and the light was shown for the first time on June 15,
+1878.
+
+Toil of a different character was associated with the building of
+the Race Rock lighthouse, eight miles from New London, Connecticut.
+This peril is a submerged ledge off Fisher’s Island Sound, and is of
+formidable magnitude, since the ledge is at the mouth of the race,
+where the waters, according to the tide, sweep along with great
+velocity and force, while in heavy weather the waves get up high and
+thunder with awful power. The main ledge bristles with ugly sharp
+spurs, some of which rise above the main cluster, known as Race Rock,
+which is about 3 feet below mean low-water. The situation of this
+lurking danger called for the erection of an efficient beacon, though
+not demanding a light of the calibre of Minot’s Ledge, because even in
+rough weather the water does not mount in the form of thick curtains of
+spray. A smaller and different type of light, therefore, was considered
+to be adequate for the purpose.
+
+[Illustration: POINT PINOS LIGHT STATION, CALIFORNIA.
+
+This mariners’ friend has been tended by a woman for the past 30 years.]
+
+Even then, however, erection was not an easy matter by any means.
+The velocity of the water and the submerged character of the reef
+demanded the aid of divers to prepare the ledge-face and to complete
+the foundations. The rock was levelled as much as possible by the aid
+of small broken stone and riprap. On this a heavy circular stepped
+plinth of solid mass-concrete was laid. This foundation is 9 feet in
+thickness, and is disposed in four concentric layers, the lowermost of
+which is 60 feet in diameter by 3 feet in thickness. The concrete was
+laid in huge hoops of iron, of the desired height and diameter for the
+respective layers, to prevent the mass from spreading. When this task
+was completed, there was a level platform, as solid as the rock itself,
+and projecting 8 inches above mean low-water. On this a conical stone
+pier was built to a height of 30 feet, by 57 feet in diameter at the
+base. The top was crowned with a projecting coping 55 feet in diameter.
+The outer face of this pier is composed of massive blocks of stone
+backed with concrete; while in its heart are the spaces for cisterns
+and cellars. From one side of this pier stretches a short jetty, to
+form a landing-place.
+
+[Illustration: THE FARALLON ROCK AND LIGHT.
+
+The light of 110,000 candle-power is placed on the highest peak of the
+rock, 358 feet above the sea.]
+
+[Illustration: THE FARALLON LIGHTHOUSE OFF SAN FRANCISCO.
+
+Owing to the height of the rock, a tower 29 feet high was adequate to
+carry the lantern and its equipment.]
+
+The lighthouse comprises a granite dwelling of two floors for the
+accommodation of the keepers, from the centre of the front of which
+rises a granite tower, square at the base, but round at the top, to
+carry the lantern, the light of which, of the fourth order, is 67
+feet above mean high-water. The warning is an alternate flash of red
+and white, with a ten seconds’ dark interval. For the protection of
+the base of the pier, the ledge on all sides is covered with a thick
+layer of boulders. The work was commenced in 1872, but, owing to its
+difficult character, occupied six years. The Race Rock lost its terrors
+for all time when the beam flashed out on the night of New Year’s Day,
+1879.
+
+On the Pacific seaboard, while the American lighthouse engineers have
+not been so active in regard to engineering work of an impressive
+nature, owing to the more slender proportions of the maritime traffic,
+they have accomplished some notable triumphs. The Tillamook Rock light,
+described in the previous chapter, is the most important, and is to
+the Pacific seaboard of the country what the Minot’s Ledge light is
+to the Atlantic coast. The majority of the lights on the Pacific are
+stationed on the mainland, or contiguous thereto. These beacons are
+of more modern construction than those on the Atlantic shore, and in
+some instances are very powerful. Pride of place in this respect is
+shared between Point Arena and Cape Mendocino. The former, perched on
+the cliff-shore of California, has a flashing group of two flashes of
+3/8 second in five seconds, with eclipses of 1-1/8 and 4-1/8 seconds
+respectively, thrown by its light of 1,000,000 candle-power over the
+water for a radius of eighteen miles from a height of 155 feet. Cape
+Mendocino light, on the same coastline, has the further distinction
+of being the most elevated light on the United States Pacific coast,
+the 340,000 candle-power beam being thrown for ten seconds once every
+thirty seconds from an elevation of 422 feet. Although the tower
+itself is only 20 feet in height, the cliff sheers up for 402 feet.
+Consequently the flash may be detected from twenty-eight miles out to
+sea in clear weather.
+
+On the other hand, the Point Cabrillo light, a few miles south, whose
+flashing ray is of 650,000 candle-power, is picked up from a distance
+of only fourteen miles, because the light is but 84 feet above mean
+high-water. The Farallon beacon, comprising a tower 29 feet high
+planted on the highest point of Farallon Island, off San Francisco,
+comes a good second in point of elevation, as the 110,000 candle-power
+flash, occurring for ten seconds once in every minute, is projected
+from an altitude of 358 feet, and can be discerned twenty-six miles
+away. For many years the Point Reyes light held the distinction of
+being the loftiest beacon, since its flash of 160,000 candle-power
+once every five seconds is shed from an elevation of 294 feet, but is
+now relegated to third place in this respect. Taken on the whole, the
+lights scattered along the rugged, lonely Pacific seaboard are far
+more powerful than their contemporaries guarding busier shipping on
+the eastern coast of the country; but whereas the latter are placed
+somewhat close together, the former are spaced far apart.
+
+[Illustration: THE PUNTA GORDA LIGHT STATION, CALIFORNIA.
+
+One of the latest built by the United States. Commodious and handsome
+buildings are provided for the wardens of this light.]
+
+There are some points which, while being so extremely perilous to
+the mariner as to demand the provision of a lighthouse, yet cannot
+be guarded at present. The peculiarity of their situations and their
+physical characteristics completely defy the ingenuity, skill, and
+resource, of the engineer. Cape Hatteras, perhaps, is the most forcible
+illustration of this defeat of science by Nature. The sea-bed for miles
+off this point is littered with the most treacherous sandbanks, beside
+which the Goodwins of Britain appear insignificant. Every seafarer
+knows the Diamond Shoals, and gives them a wider berth than any other
+danger spot in the seven seas. For some seven and a half miles out
+to sea from the prominent headland, the Atlantic, according to its
+mood, bubbles, boils, or rolls calmly, over shoals and serried rows
+of submerged banks. The currents are wild and frantic; the storms
+which rage off this point are difficult to equal in any other part of
+the world; and the number of ships which have gone to pieces or have
+been abandoned to their fate in these inhospitable stretches of sea is
+incalculable.
+
+Time after time the engineers have sought to subjugate this danger,
+but without avail. The sea-bed is so soft and absorbing that a firm
+foundation for a tower defies discovery. One brilliant attempt was made
+to sink a caisson, similar to that employed for the famous Rothersand
+light in the River Weser. The mammoth structure was built, and with
+extreme difficulty was towed out to the selected site. But the seas
+roared against this attempt to deprive them of their prey. They
+bore down upon the caisson and smashed it to fragments, causing the
+engineers to retire from the scene thoroughly discomfited. When a huge
+mass, weighing several hundred tons, could be broken up by the maddened
+seas so easily, of what avail were the knowledge and effort of man? The
+Diamond Shoals still resist conquest. The only means of warning ships
+of their presence is a lightship moored well out beyond the pale of
+their sucking embrace.
+
+At the present time the United States Lighthouse Board mounts guard
+over 17,695 miles of coastline. This aggregate embraces, not only
+the two seaboards of the North American continent, but sections of
+the Great Lakes, the Philippines, Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, and the
+American Samoan Islands, the total detailed coast or channel line being
+no less than 48,881 miles. In order to guide the mariner on his way
+through waters over which the Stars and Stripes wave, no less than
+12,150 lights of all descriptions are required, demanding the services
+of an army of 5,582 men and women; while the cost of maintenance
+exceeds £1,200,000, or $6,000,000, per annum. Seeing that the country
+levies no tolls for services rendered in this connection, the shipping
+community, and humanity in general, owe a deep debt of gratitude to a
+powerful nation.
+
+The United States share with Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Spain,
+France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden, the expense of maintaining
+a lighthouse which is situate on the property of none of them. This is
+a kind of no man’s, and yet it is every man’s, light. The beacon is not
+located in an out-of-the-way part of the world, such as the Arctic Sea,
+as might be supposed, but mounts guard over one of the busiest marine
+thoroughfares of the globe--the western entrance to the Mediterranean.
+This unique light is that of Cape Spartel, on the Moroccan coast. While
+it was built at the expense of Morocco, the responsibility for its
+maintenance was assumed by the foregoing Powers, in accordance with
+the convention of March 12, 1867, which has remained in force since.
+There is no other light upon the seven seas which has so many Powers
+concerned in its welfare and maintenance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE LAMP-POSTS OF THE GREAT LAKES OF NORTH AMERICA
+
+
+On the North American continent the efficient lighting of the coasts
+washed by two salt oceans is only one, although the most important,
+concern of the United States and Canadian Governments. In addition each
+has a long stretch of rugged, tortuous shore hemming in those capacious
+depressions draining a vast tract of country, and known generally as
+the Great Lakes. These unsalted seas are rightly named, seeing that
+they constitute the largest sheets of fresh water on the inhabited
+globe.
+
+The responsibility of safeguarding the navigator as he makes his way
+across these wastes is shared equally by the two countries which they
+divide, with one exception. This is Lake Michigan, which lies entirely
+within the United States. The narrow necks of water which link these
+lakes into one long chain likewise are lighted by the two nations.
+For some years the Lower Detroit River, connecting Lakes Erie and St.
+Clair, was maintained for the most part by the United States, but
+the practice was not satisfactory; so, as the result of a conference
+between the two Governments, Canada assumed charge of the aids in
+certain specified portions of the navigable channel lying entirely in
+Canadian waters. The result of this new arrangement has been the better
+patrolling of the waterway.
+
+The water-borne commerce on these lakes, although possible for only
+half the year, is tremendous, while navigation is extremely difficult
+and beset with innumerable dangers.[B] The different means whereby a
+ship is handled and maintained on its course upon the salt-water ocean
+are not completely applicable in this case. The greater number of the
+boats are freighters and engaged in the transport of ore, which, from
+its metallic character, is apt to disturb the compass, rendering it
+somewhat unreliable. Nor is the lead of much avail in thick weather,
+as the lake-bed varies suddenly from comparative shallowness to great
+depths. Navigation on these lakes has been likened to coastal traffic,
+only with land on both sides of the mariner, and the intervals when
+the ship is out of sight of the shoreline are comparatively brief.
+Accordingly, the captain picks his way rather by the aid of landmarks,
+and the vessels are fitted with a bowsprit, to give the master a point
+whereby to judge his direction. But landmarks, however conspicuous and
+trustworthy they may be by day and in clear weather, are useless at
+night and in fog, to which latter visitation, by the way, these waters
+are extremely susceptible.
+
+ [B] For a full description of the marine traffic on the Great
+ Lakes, see “The Steamship Conquest of the World,” chapter
+ ix., p. 119.
+
+Steamship traffic cannot be carried on with financial success by
+daylight and in fair weather only, so it became necessary to distribute
+beacons around the indented shores. This procedure was rendered
+additionally necessary owing to the formidable character of many of the
+dangers besetting navigation, in the form of shoals, projecting ridges,
+and submerged reefs, quite as terrifying to the master of a fresh-water
+ship as similar dangers on an ocean-swept coast.
+
+At the same time, however, one would not expect to find examples of
+lighthouse engineering comparable with the great sea-rock lights
+rearing above the ocean, such as the Minot’s Ledge, Dhu-Heartach, or
+Bishop’s Rock. On the other hand, the uninitiated might conclude that
+buoys and small lights, such as indicate the entrance to harbours,
+would fulfil requirements. So they would but for two or three adverse
+factors. These lakes are ravaged at times by storms of great violence,
+which burst with startling suddenness. Fogs also are of frequent
+occurrence, especially in the spring and autumn, often descending
+and lifting instantly like a thick blanket of cloud. But the most
+implacable enemy is the ice. The engineer can design a tower which will
+withstand the most savage onslaughts of wind and wave with comparative
+ease, at, relatively speaking, little expense; but the ice introduces
+another factor which scarcely can be calculated. The whole of these
+lakes are frozen over during the winter to such a thickness as to defy
+all efforts to cut a channel, becoming, in fact, as solid as terra
+firma.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+A LIGHTHOUSE ON THE GREAT LAKES IN THE GRIP OF WINTER.
+
+This tower marks the Racine Reef in 20 feet of water near the entrance
+to Racine Harbour on the west coast of Lake Michigan.]
+
+In the spring this armour cracks and breaks up like glass shattered
+with a hammer. It then becomes the sport of the currents, which in
+many places sweep and swirl with enormous force round the headlands
+and spits projecting into the lake. This action sets the ice moving
+in stately majesty, but crushing everything that rears in its way, or
+piling and breaking against the obstruction. Ice-shoves, ice-jams,
+and ice-runs, are the three forces against which the engineer has to
+contend, and at places his efforts are so puny as to be useless. The
+ice, if it collects across one of the outlets so as to form a massive
+dam reaching to the lake-bed, immediately causes the level of the
+lake to rise; and when at last the barrage breaks, then the water is
+released in a mad rush.
+
+Lighthouse building on the Great Lakes demands the highest skill,
+incalculable ingenuity, and the soundest of design and workmanship.
+Consequently, some of the guardian lights distributed around these
+shores, such as Spectacle Reef, the Rock of Ages, Colchester, and Red
+Rock lighthouses, are striking evidences of the engineer’s handiwork.
+Of course, where the land presses in on either hand, transforming
+the waterway into a kind of canal, or where the shore is free from
+submerged obstructions, the type of lighthouse on either shore follows
+the wooden frame dwelling with a low tower, as it is completely
+adequate for the purpose.
+
+The one erection, however, which commands the greatest attention is
+the Spectacle Reef light, which has been called the Eddystone, or
+Minot’s Ledge, of the Lakes. In its way it was quite as bold an
+undertaking as either of these far-famed works, and in some respects
+was far more difficult to carry out, although the builder was spared
+the capriciousness and extreme restlessness of tidal waters. Spectacle
+Reef lighthouse rears its tapering head from a particularly dangerous
+reef in an awkward corner of Lake Huron, where commences the Strait of
+Mackinac, leading to Lake Michigan. The spot is dangerous, because it
+is covered by about 7 feet of water; awkward, because it occurs about
+ten and a half miles off the nearest land, which is Bois Blanc Island.
+The reef in reality comprises two shoals, which lie in such relation
+to one another as to suggest a pair of spectacles--hence the name. As
+it is exposed to 170 miles of open sea on one side, when these waters
+are roused the rollers hammer on the reef with terrible violence, while
+at times the currents skirl by at a velocity of two or three miles per
+hour, and the ice in its movement grinds, piles, and grates itself upon
+the reef in impotent fury. When this ice is forced forward with the
+push exerted by the currents, the pressure is tremendous and the force
+wellnigh irresistible.
+
+When the lighthouse was projected, it was realized that it would have
+to be of massive proportions and provided with adequate measures to
+protect it from the assault and battering of the ice. The task was
+undertaken by General O. M. Poe, who was engineer-in-chief to General
+Sherman on his historic march to the sea. This engineer decided to
+take the Minot’s Ledge monolithic structure as his model, seeing
+that the latter had withstood the savage onslaughts of the Atlantic.
+Fortunately, the foundations were of an excellent character, the reef
+being formed of hard limestone.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+BUILDING THE BARRE À BOULARD LIGHT IN THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.
+
+Owing to the severity of the ice piling in this waterway, the
+structures have to be provided with massive foundations.]
+
+The engineer selected as the site for the tower a point where the
+ridge is submerged by 11 feet of water. Seeing that the base was to be
+laid under water, obviously it seemed to be an operation for divers;
+but General Poe prepared a superior means of getting the subaqueous
+foundations laid. He built a cofferdam around the site, and, as the
+work would have to be protected from the winter ice, he built another
+cofferdam, entirely for protective purposes, outside the former. The
+nearest point on the mainland where he could establish a depot was
+Scammon’s Harbour, some sixteen miles away, and here everything in
+connection with the work was prepared and shipped to the site ready for
+placing in position.
+
+The protective work comprised a wooden pier, built up of timbers 12
+inches square, 24 feet in height. This structure was divided into a
+series of vertical compartments on all four sides, leaving a clear
+internal space 48 feet square. The outer compartments or pockets were
+filled with stone, to secure solidity and stability. Landing facilities
+were provided on this pier, together with quarters for the men engaged
+in the construction work.
+
+In the inner space, containing 48 square feet of still water, the
+cofferdam, in which the subaqueous work was to be carried out, was
+lowered. This structure was cylindrical in form. It was built up
+of staves, banded with heavy hoops of iron, so that in reality it
+resembled a huge barrel 36 feet across. It was fashioned at the site,
+being built while suspended directly over the spot on which it was to
+be lowered. When the tub was finished, loosely twisted oakum, 1½ inches
+thick, was nailed all round the lower edge, while a flap of heavy
+canvas was secured to the outside bottom rim in such a way as to leave
+36 inches dangling free. The exact circular shape of the cofferdam was
+insured by liberal cross-bracing from a central vertical post, which
+constituted the axis of the barrel, corresponding to the vertical axis
+of the tower. While this work was in progress, the face of the rock
+was cleared of loose boulders, and then the cofferdam was lowered
+bodily with extreme care, so that it descended with unerring accuracy
+perpendicularly into the water, to come to rest over the desired spot.
+As the surface of the reef was very uneven, the cofferdam stopped when
+it reached the highest projection under its edge. Then each stave of
+the barrel was driven downwards until it came to rest upon the sea-bed,
+and, as the oakum rope was forced down likewise, this served to act
+as caulking. The outer flap of canvas, when the cofferdam was driven
+right home, spread out on all sides, and lay upon the surface of the
+reef.
+
+Pumps capable of discharging 5,000 gallons per minute then were set
+to work, removing the water from within the cofferdam. The oakum
+rope seal prevented the water regaining the internal space under the
+bottom edge of the tub, while the canvas assisted in securing absolute
+water-tightness, because the outer water-pressure forced it into all
+the nooks and crevices.
+
+By these means the workmen were given an absolutely dry space in which
+to carry out their erecting work. The face of the reef was cleaned
+and levelled off, and the first layer of stones was laid. These were
+first fitted temporarily upon a false platform on shore, so that when
+they reached the site they could be set at once without finicking. The
+bottom layer is 32 feet in diameter, and the tower is solid to a height
+of 34 feet above the rock. The stones are each 2 feet in thickness,
+and are secured to one another on all sides with wrought-iron bolts,
+24 inches long by 2½ inches in diameter; while the tower is anchored
+to the rock by cement and bolts 3 feet long, driven through the bottom
+course into the real rock beneath, entering the latter to a depth of 21
+inches. Liquid cement was driven into the holes so as to fill up all
+the remaining interstices, and this now has become as hard as the stone
+itself.
+
+The exterior of the tower is the frustum of a cone, and at 80 feet
+above the base is 18 feet in diameter. The total height of the masonry
+is 93 feet, and the focal plane is brought 97¼ feet above the rock,
+or 86¼ feet above the water-level. The tower is provided with five
+rooms, each 14 feet in diameter, while the entrance is 23 feet above
+the water. The undertaking was commenced in May, 1870, and the light
+was shown first in June, 1874. As work had been confined to the summer
+months, and a fortnight every spring was devoted to preparations, as
+well as an equal period in the autumn to making all fast to withstand
+the rigours of winter, the total working period was only some twenty
+months.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson._
+
+COLCHESTER REEF LIGHTHOUSE, LAKE ERIE.
+
+An isolated station maintained by the Canadian Government. It is a
+fixed light, visible throughout a circle of 16 miles radius.]
+
+The protection against the ice has proved its value completely. The
+ice as it moves becomes crushed against the defence, and then has
+its advance impeded by the shoal upon which it grinds and packs, to
+form in itself a barrier and ice-breaker against other approaching
+ice-fields. This structure was soon submitted to a stern test to prove
+its efficacy. In the spring of 1875, when the keepers returned to
+the lighthouse--the light, in common with all other beacons guarding
+the Great Lakes, is shut down during the winter, when navigation is
+closed--they found the tower unapproachable. The ice-shove had jammed,
+packed, and been frozen into a solid berg to a height of 30 feet, of
+which the tower itself formed the core. The doorway was buried to a
+depth of 7 feet, and the keepers had to carve their way with pickaxes
+to the entrance.
+
+Owing to the success of the design for the Spectacle Reef lighthouse,
+which ranks as a striking engineering achievement, it was adopted for
+the Stannard’s Rock tower. This ledge rises from the water 28 feet
+from shore, and the plant and tackle which were employed in connection
+with the first-named structure were utilized in this undertaking. The
+tower is 191 feet in height, and the light can be seen for about twenty
+miles. During the past two or three years the United States Government
+has erected two other noble lighthouses in Lakes Superior and Michigan.
+The first warns all and sundry off a rock having three ugly pinnacles
+projecting above the water, and known as the “Rock of Ages.” This
+danger stands right in the steamship tracks between Port Arthur and
+Duluth, off the western end of Isle Royale. The engineers selected one
+of the pinnacles as the base for the tower, decapitating the projection
+to 12 inches above mean low-water, so as to secure a sufficiently
+large and level plinth. On this bed a cylindrical foundation pier, of
+massive proportions and strength so as to withstand the ice action, was
+planted, to support a lofty tower in reinforced concrete. The building
+has seven floors, one being set aside for housing the two twenty-four
+horse-power oil-engines which are used to drive the air-compressors
+for the fog-siren. The light is 125 feet above water-level, and
+gives a double flash at ten-second intervals, which can be picked up
+twenty-one miles away. This tower was erected in a very short time,
+the work, commenced in May, 1907, being completed, except for the
+installation of the permanent lens, thirteen months later. The optical
+apparatus was fixed and the light shown first on September 15, 1910.
+
+The second light has been placed on White Shoal, at the north end
+of Lake Michigan, and supersedes a lightship which fulfilled all
+requirements for many years. The shoal is exceptionally dangerous, and
+the crowded character of the shipping demanded the installation of a
+more powerful light and fog-signal. The structure is a striking piece
+of work, comprising a steel cylindrical tower, or shell, lined on the
+inside with brick and faced externally with terra-cotta--an unusual
+material for lighthouse construction. The superstructure is built
+upon a massive concrete pier, about 70 feet square, rising 20 feet
+above water-level, this being borne in turn upon a heavy stone-filled
+timber crib laid on a block-stone foundation, the whole being protected
+thoroughly with riprap. The lantern is of the second flashing order,
+with the focal plane 125 feet above the lake-level, and the 65,000
+candle-power ray is visible twenty-five miles away. The tower is
+fitted with a duplicate plant of twenty-four horse-power oil-engines
+and air-compressors, operating an eight-inch whistle; and there is
+also an electrically-operated submarine bell, the power for which is
+generated by an independent oil-engine, the bell being operated from
+the engine-room. This station is equipped also with a compressed air
+water-supply system and a motor-boat.
+
+[Illustration: THE LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN LIGHTHOUSE ENGINEERING.
+
+Building the hexagonal tower on Caribou Island, Lake Superior, upon the
+lines evolved by Lieut.-Col. W. P. Anderson, the chief engineer to the
+Canadian Lighthouse Department.]
+
+Owing to the peculiar prevailing conditions, the provision of adequate
+beacons upon the Great Lakes is highly expensive. Up to the year
+1883 more money had been devoted to the lighting of the shoreline of
+Lake Michigan than to the illumination of any ocean or gulf in any
+other State in the country. The total expenditure up to the above
+year exceeded £470,000, or $2,350,000. The Spectacle Reef light
+was considered cheap at £75,000, or $375,000; and the Stannard Rock
+lighthouse, owing to the plant and other facilities being available
+from the foregoing work, cost £60,000, or $300,000. By the time the
+“Rock of Ages” tower threw its light, £27,649, or $138,245, had been
+sunk; and the White Shoals lighthouse absorbed £50,000, or $250,000.
+
+The Canadian Government, too, has completed some notable works upon
+the Great Lakes during recent years. In Lake Erie, in the fairway of
+passing traffic, is a ledge known as Colchester Reef, on the south-east
+edge of which a lighthouse, one of the most isolated in Canadian
+waters, has been placed. The circular stone pier is built in 14 feet of
+water, and the lighthouse, comprising a two-story dwelling and tower,
+supports the beacon 60 feet above the lake. The light is a fixed white,
+of the third dioptric order, visible throughout a circle of fourteen
+miles radius.
+
+At the entrance to Parry Sound, on a convenient site offered by the
+solid granite mass of Red Rock, a new lighthouse was constructed in
+1911. This was the third beacon placed at this point, the two previous
+lights dating from 1870 and 1881 respectively. It is a particularly bad
+spot, since the waters of Georgian Bay have a free run, so that the
+rock experiences the full hammering of the sea. The beacon comprises a
+reinforced concrete building, nearly elliptical in section, supported
+upon a heavy stone foundation, which is encased in steel, and which is
+12 feet high. The tower has a height of 57 feet, bringing the occulting
+flash of twelve seconds, with an eclipse of four seconds, 60 feet above
+the water. This station is also equipped with a powerful diaphone. The
+keepers of this light experience exciting times, as in a furious gale,
+such as the lakes only can produce, the waves frequently crash over the
+building.
+
+Another fine light in the stretch of these waters under Canadian
+jurisdiction is found about halfway across Lake Superior, where
+Caribou Island thrusts its scrub-clothed hump above the water, almost
+directly in the path of the vessels running between Sault Ste. Marie
+and Sarnia. This magnificent structure, placed on a small islet lying
+off the main island, is built in ferro-concrete, in accordance with
+Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson’s latest ideas, and was opened for service
+in 1912. It is of hexagonal shape, with six flying buttresses, and the
+focal plane is brought 99 feet above the water-level, so that the white
+flash of half a second may be seen all round from a distance of fifteen
+miles.
+
+The steamship lanes across the Great Lakes are now well lighted. Canada
+alone maintains over 460 lights of all descriptions throughout its
+waters between the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario and the head of
+Lake Superior at Port Arthur. The United States authorities watch over
+694 attended and unattended aids to navigation in the same seas, of
+which total 152 are scattered around the coastline of Lake Michigan.
+The mariner in these fresh-water oceans, consequently, has a round
+thousand lights to guide him on his way, and the number is being
+steadily increased to keep pace with the growth of the traffic, so that
+these seas may become regarded as the safest and best protected in the
+world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE MOST POWERFUL ELECTRIC LIGHTHOUSES OF THE WORLD
+
+
+In a previous chapter I have mentioned that, although oil is the most
+popular form of illuminant in lighthouse engineering, electricity is
+maintained to be preferable, but labours under one heavy disadvantage
+which militates against its more general adoption. It is expensive
+to install and to maintain. Under these circumstances the system has
+been restricted to lights of the most important character, preferably
+landfalls or beacons indicating the entrance to a harbour. Thus, we
+have the Lizard at the entrance to the English Channel; St. Catherine’s
+on the Isle of Wight; the Rothersand at the entrance to the Weser; the
+Heligoland flaring over the island of that name; the Isle of May at the
+entrance to the Firth of Forth; Cape Héve near Havre; and the Navesink
+light on the highlands of the New Jersey coast, to guide the mariner
+into New York harbour.
+
+The first attempt to apply electricity to lighthouse illumination
+was made in the year 1859, by the Trinity Brethren, on the strong
+recommendations of Professor Faraday, who was then scientific adviser
+to the British lighthouse authorities. The South Foreland light was
+selected for the experiments, and the magneto-electric machine invented
+by Professor Holmes, who subsequently perfected the siren, was used.
+
+The installation was built with extreme care, as the imperative
+necessity of reliability, owing to the peculiar nature of the
+application, was recognized very fully. The large wheels made
+eighty-five revolutions per minute, and at this speed produced a very
+steady light. On a clear night, owing to the elevation of the cliff
+the light was visible for over twenty-seven miles, and could be
+descried readily from the upper galleries of the lighthouses on the
+opposite French shore. In order to determine the relative value of
+electric lighting in comparison with the other methods of illumination
+then in vogue, another light emitted by an oil-lamp, with reflectors
+characteristic of the period, was burned simultaneously from a point
+below the top light, so that passing mariners were able to compare the
+two systems of illumination under identical conditions.
+
+The French lighthouse authorities were not dilatory in adopting the
+new idea, and electricity was installed in the Cape Héve lighthouse in
+1863. The light was brilliant for those times, being approximately of
+60,000 candle-power. The French investigators then embarked upon an
+elaborate series of experiments, and in 1881 an electric light of about
+1,270,000 candle-power was established at the Planier lighthouse, near
+Marseilles. The investigations culminated in the great achievement of
+M. Bourdelles, who, while engineer-in-chief of the Service des Phares,
+designed a new electric installation for the Cape Héve light, of
+25,000,000 candle-power.
+
+Meantime British engineers had not been idle. In 1871 Messrs.
+Stevenson, the engineers-in-chief to the Commissioners of Northern
+Lighthouses, advocated strongly the establishment of an electric light
+upon the Scottish coast; but it was not until 1883 that the Board of
+Trade sanctioned the sum necessary to complete such an enterprise,
+and suggested that the innovation should be made at the Isle of May
+lighthouse, as being the most important on the East Scottish coast.
+
+This is one of the historic light-stations of Scotland. Lying in
+the Firth of Forth, five miles off the Fifeshire shore, the islet
+obstructs a busy marine thoroughfare. For 276 years a light has gleamed
+from its summit, the change from the coal fire to Argand lamps with
+reflectors having been made by Thomas Smith, the first engineer to
+the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, when this body assumed its
+control in 1816. Twenty years later it was converted to the dioptric
+system, with a first-order fixed light apparatus having a four-wick
+burner. This arrangement was in service for half a century, when it
+was converted to electricity in conjunction with a dioptric condensing
+apparatus.
+
+The electric installation was designed throughout by Messrs. Stevenson,
+and it possesses many ingenious and novel features to this day, while
+it was the pioneer of modern electric lighting systems as applied to
+lighthouse engineering. Although marked improvements have been effected
+in electrical engineering and science since its completion, it still
+ranks as one of, if not the, most powerful electric lighthouses in the
+world. The beacon is a prominent edifice on the summit of the island.
+The building is somewhat pretentious, rather resembling a battlemented
+castle than a warning for the mariner, the optical apparatus being
+housed in a square turret rising above the main part of the building.
+When electric illumination was adopted, the existing accommodation for
+three keepers was found insufficient, while a generating-station was
+necessary. Instead of extending the old building to accommodate the
+additional facilities, a second station was built at a low-lying point
+near the sea-level. This contains the engine and generating house,
+together with quarters for three more keepers and their families. This
+decision was made because at this point, 810 feet away and 175 feet
+below the lighthouse, there is a small fresh-water loch whence water
+is available for the boilers and condensers, while a marked saving in
+the cost of handling fuel as well as of the haulage of the building
+materials and machinery was feasible. The current is led from the
+power-house to the lighthouse by means of overhead copper conductors.
+
+Some difficulty was experienced in securing electrical apparatus
+suited to the searching exigencies of lighthouse engineering, and the
+designers made one stipulation, which at first appeared to baffle
+fulfilment. This was the placing of the positive carbon below, instead
+of above, so as to enable the strongest light to be thrown upwards, to
+be dealt with by the upper part of the dioptric apparatus, whereby it
+could be used more effectively. One firm struggled with this problem
+for many months, and then was compelled to admit defeat, as time for
+further experimenting was unavailable, since the lighthouse was almost
+completed. Accordingly, the designing engineers had to revise their
+plans, and had to acquire alternate-current De Meriten machines,
+which, although more expensive and less powerful than those originally
+intended, yet were, and are still, wonderfully steady in working, while
+they had previously proved highly efficient for lighthouse service.
+Two generators of this description were secured, and they constituted
+the largest that had been made up to this period, each plant weighing
+about 4½ tons. Each machine has sixty permanent magnets, disposed in
+five sets of twelve each, while each magnet is made up of eight steel
+plates. The armature makes 600 revolutions per minute, and develops an
+average current of 220 ampères.
+
+The installation is so designed that one-, two-, three-, or
+four-fifths, or the whole, of the current can be sent from each unit to
+the distributor for transmission to the lantern, or the two machines
+may be coupled and the full current from both utilized. The current is
+conveyed to the lantern through copper rods 1 inch in diameter, and
+this was the first occasion on which such conductors were utilized for
+lighthouse work. There are three lamps of a modified Serrin-Berjot
+type, one being in service, and the other two held in reserve. By
+means of a by-pass, or shunt, a large percentage of the current is
+sent direct to the lower carbon, only a sufficient amount to regulate
+the carbons being sent through the lamp. The carbons used are about 1½
+inches in diameter, though two-inch carbons can be employed when both
+machines are running, and the rate of consumption is 1¼ inches, or,
+including waste, 2 inches, per hour. The power of the arc thus obtained
+with the current fed from one generator is between 12,000 and 16,000
+candles. In the event of the electric installation breaking down, a
+three-wick paraffin oil lamp is kept in reserve, ready for instant
+service, and it can be brought into use within three minutes.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Siemens Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+THE ELECTRIC SEARCHLIGHTS OF THE HELIGOLAND LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+On the lower level are three projectors spaced 120 degrees apart. Above
+is a fourth searchlight revolving three times as rapidly as those
+below.]
+
+The dioptric apparatus, designed by Messrs. Stevenson, and manufactured
+by Messrs. Chance Brothers and Co. of Birmingham, is of a novel
+character, inasmuch as the condensing principle has been carried to a
+pronounced degree. The light characteristic is four brilliant flashes
+in quick succession every thirty seconds. The lenticular apparatus
+also includes the ingenious idea advocated by Mr. Thomas Stevenson, an
+earlier engineer-in-chief to the Northern Commissioners and perhaps the
+greatest authority on lighthouse optical engineering, whereby the light
+may be dipped during a fog. Thus, in clear weather the strongest part
+of the ray may be directed to the horizon, while in thick weather it
+can be brought to bear upon a point, say, four or five miles away. The
+flashes are produced by a revolving cage of straight vertical prisms,
+which enclose the fixed-light apparatus. This cage makes one complete
+revolution every minute, the rotary movement being secured through a
+train of wheels and a weight, which has a fall of 60 feet in a tube
+extending vertically through the centre of the tower, the mechanism
+being wound up once an hour by manual effort.
+
+The beam of light obtained by the aid of electricity is of intense
+brilliancy and penetration. Its equivalent in candle-power is somewhat
+difficult to determine, because the methods of calculation are
+somewhat arbitrary and misleading. By their own method of calculation,
+the engineers responsible for the installation rate it at 3,000,000
+candle-power with one generator in use, and 6,000,000 candle-power when
+both are going. This is from 300 to 600 times as intense as the oil
+light which was superseded. By another method of calculation the beam
+is of 26,000,000 candle-power, while another principle of rating brings
+it to upwards of 50,000,000 candle-power. In clear weather the light
+has a range of twenty-two miles, being indistinguishable at a greater
+distance, owing to the curvature of the earth; but the flashes of
+light illuminating the clouds overhead may be picked up forty or fifty
+miles away. The total cost of electrifying the Isle of May light
+was £15,835, or $79,175; while the annual cost of maintenance is over
+£1,000, or $5,000.
+
+The most famous English electric lighthouse is that of St. Catherine’s,
+in the Isle of Wight. This point, like the Isle of May, has been a
+beacon for centuries. Its creation for this work even antedates its
+northern contemporary, because in the fourteenth century a chantry was
+built by a benevolent knight on the highest point of St. Catherine’s
+Downs, who furthermore provided an endowment for a priest “who should
+chant Masses and maintain a burning light at night for the safety of
+mariners.” But this protection fell into desuetude.
+
+The station, however, was revived upon the old site in 1785, but it
+had to be abandoned, because it was found to be built at too high
+an elevation. It was so often enveloped in fog as to be useless, or
+at least unreliable, to the seafarer. A new tower, accordingly, was
+erected at a lower level, and brought into service in 1840, the warning
+rays being thrown from a height of 134 feet above the water. Oil was
+used with a burner of six rings, the light being officially known as a
+“fixed oil light of the first class,” while the beam was diffused over
+an arc of 240 degrees. In the middle eighties the Brethren of Trinity
+House decided to bring it up to date, and selected electricity as the
+illuminant, at the same time changing the light from the fixed to the
+revolving class, with a five-second flash once every thirty seconds.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Siemens Bros. & Co., Ltd._
+
+THE HELIGOLAND LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+One of the most powerful electric beacons in the world. Its maximum
+candle-power is 43,000,000.]
+
+The installation is not widely dissimilar from that used at the Isle
+of May. It comprises two De Meriten dynamos in duplicate, while the
+lamps are of the modified Serrin-Berjot type, using carbons, not of
+circular section, but with fluted sides. This shape was introduced by
+Sir James Douglass, who contended that the former type did not produce
+the requisite candle-like steadiness of the flame so essential to
+lighthouse illumination. The dioptric apparatus was of the sixteen
+panel type, so that the rays were thrown out in sixteen brilliantly
+white horizontal spokes. To one approaching the lighthouse at
+night-time, the effect in the sky was somewhat curious. It recalled a
+huge and illuminated cart wheel or Catherine wheel, lying flat on its
+side, throwing its rays to all points of the compass in a steadily
+moving circle. This practice had been borrowed from the French, who
+went so far as to introduce a twenty-four panel system, and, as in
+France, the St. Catherine’s light, when first brought into service, was
+not a complete success. The French considered that, by distributing the
+light through as many panels as possible, the question of bringing the
+flashes into action at short intervals would be facilitated, ignoring
+the fact that by so doing the intensity of each ray was impoverished.
+In other words, with the twenty-four panel light each panel only
+received and threw out one-twenty-fourth part of the volume of light
+emitted by the arc. Similarly, in the St. Catherine’s light only
+one-sixteenth part of the light produced was thrown through each panel.
+A few years ago the optical system was replaced by an apparatus having
+fewer panels. The light thrown from the Isle of Wight pharos, with its
+beam exceeding 5,000,000 candle-power, represents a marked advance upon
+the oil light which it displaced, and certainly it ranks as the most
+brilliant light in the English Channel.
+
+A few years ago another magnificent light was brought into service in
+the North Sea by the installation of electricity in the lighthouse
+of Heligoland. With characteristic Teuton thoroughness, the Germans
+discussed the question of the illuminant for this beacon in all its
+bearings, and resolved to introduce the most powerful light possible.
+This decision was influenced by the dangerous character of the waters
+washing the island, as it is flanked on all sides by highly perilous
+ridges and sandbanks, which must become accentuated owing to the heavy
+sea-erosion that prevails.
+
+The German authorities investigated the various electrical
+installations that had been laid down for lighthouse work, with a view
+to discovering the most suitable system, the advantages and defects
+of existing electric lights, and how the drawbacks might be overcome
+most successfully. Meantime the famous Siemens firm discovered a means
+of grinding glass mirrors into parabolic form, and this discovery was
+accepted as the solution to the problem.
+
+In this type of mirror the back is silvered. The metallic polished
+surface is protected completely from mechanical injury and from all
+possibility of tarnishing. The inventors claim that mirrors so prepared
+are able to compete successfully with lenses and totally reflecting
+prisms--in fact, it was maintained that the silvered glass parabolic
+mirror possessed the advantages of greater reflecting power and
+enhanced accuracy, with less divergence of the beam of light.
+
+Owing to the perfection of the lenses and prisms system of lighthouse
+optics, the introduction of arc lights in conjunction with parabolic
+mirrors was received with considerable hesitation. In order to dispel
+these doubts, the above-mentioned firm forthwith embarked upon an
+elaborate series of comparative tests at Nuremberg to ascertain the
+relative value of the two systems, and as a result of these experiments
+they concluded that quite as good an effect is obtainable with the arc
+and parabolic mirror as with the best examples of any other method.
+
+Accordingly, the authorities decided to install the system in the
+Heligoland lighthouse. They stipulated that the intensity of the beam
+of light should be at least 30,000,000 candle-power, with a maximum
+current of 100 ampères. The duration of the flash was to be one-tenth
+of a second, followed by eclipses of five seconds’ duration.
+
+The electrical engineering firm entrusted with the contract fulfilled
+these conditions by mounting three searchlights spaced 120 degrees
+apart upon a rotating platform. That is to say, each light is projected
+outwards from a point equal to a third of the circumference of a
+circle. The mirror diameter was settled at 75 centimetres (29½ inches)
+and the focal length at 250 millimetres (10 inches), the current being
+taken at 34 ampères when the table made four revolutions per minute.
+
+Subsequently a fourth searchlight was introduced into the apparatus,
+for the purpose of practical experiments and observations concerning
+the duration of the light-flash. This fourth unit was mounted above the
+three searchlights, but in the axis itself. It is so disposed that its
+flash comes midway between any of the two below, and it is arranged to
+rotate three times as quickly as the main group of lights. Accordingly,
+the duration of the flash thrown from the fourth searchlight is only
+one-third of the flash thrown by the others--that is, one-thirtieth of
+a second. This lamp is provided with all the necessary mechanism for
+keeping it in steady rotation at the increased speed, and for drawing
+current from its feed-cable.
+
+Before the installation was placed in the lighthouse at Heligoland,
+it was submitted to searching tests at the Nuremberg works of the
+builders. These trials proved that with a current of only 26 ampères
+the average intensity was as high as 34,000,000 candle-power, with a
+maximum of nearly 40,000,000 candle-power; while with 34 ampères the
+average intensity rose to approximately 40,000,000, with a maximum of
+nearly 43,000,000 candle-power. Accordingly, the terms of the contract
+were fulfilled completely.
+
+The searchlights throw their rays from a massive conical tower, the
+focal plane of which is 272 feet above sea-level. In average weather
+the rays are visible at a distance of twenty-three nautical miles, and
+under the most advantageous weather conditions visibility is limited
+only by the curvature of the earth, although on a clear night the
+light is seen from Büsun, which is about thirty-five miles away. The
+Heligoland electric light ranks as a remarkable development in the
+application of electricity to lighthouse illumination, but it never has
+been duplicated. The cost of maintenance--about £1,400, or $8,000, per
+annum--is an insuperable handicap.
+
+On the other hand, the Hornum electric light, which is the most modern
+of its type in Germany, is more economical, although by no means so
+powerful. The tower is of cast-steel, and carries two electric lights;
+while about half a mile distant is a second tower, which throws a
+third electric light. In the main tower, on the ground floor, is
+installed the electric generating plant (in duplicate), together with
+all accessories, such as switchboards, etc. The floor above is devoted
+to housing 100 accumulators, which are charged during the day. This
+task can be completed by one generating set in about six hours. A
+single charge is sufficient to keep the three lights going for ten or
+eleven hours, and the lights are controlled by a simple throw-over
+switch. By this arrangement the cost of the maintenance of the light is
+reduced very appreciably, as only one keeper is on duty at a time, the
+station being equipped with two men, who have proved adequate for the
+purpose.
+
+Above the accumulator-room is the storeroom and a general workshop,
+followed by a bedroom and above that the service-room. As only one
+keeper is on duty at a time, he is provided with ample devices whereby
+he can summon his comrade in times of emergency; the generating
+machinery is also controllable from this floor. From the service-room
+the lower light-room is entered. This is a secondary or back light
+in the range, the front light being in the tower half a mile away.
+Each of these two light-rooms is fitted with two 150 candle-power
+incandescent electric lights, but only one is burned in each set at a
+time: the second is a reserve. Should the light in action fail from
+any cause, although the keeper is warned of the occurrence, he does
+not have to stir a finger to bring the reserve light into service.
+The short-circuit produced by the accident to the light automatically
+revolves the table upon which the lamps are mounted, swings the reserve
+light into focus, and then sets it going.
+
+Above the secondary light in the main tower is the principal beacon,
+comprising a brilliant rapidly-flashing light, the characteristic of
+which is groups of two flashes alternating with four flashes, the cycle
+being completed once in thirty seconds. The optical apparatus has been
+devised especially for the “differential arc-light,” as it is called,
+with a reflecting lens having a focal distance of 250 millimetres
+(10 inches), the lens itself being 1,180 millimetres (approximately
+47 inches) in diameter. In front of the lens is placed a disperser,
+having a diameter of 1,200 millimetres (48 inches) whereby the ray of
+light is dispersed through an arc of 10½ degrees. Before the disperser
+is the means for producing the characteristic flash. This comprises a
+blind, or shutter, which is opened and closed by mechanism adjusted
+to requirements; while the rotating mechanism, instead of being
+weight-driven, is actuated by an electric motor.
+
+The “differential arc,” which is utilized in this installation, is
+considered by German engineers to be the best system that has yet been
+devised for the exacting purposes of lighthouse engineering, and the
+description has arisen from the disposition of the carbons. While the
+positive carbon is held horizontally, the negative carbon is placed at
+an angle of 70 degrees thereto, and only the crater of the positive
+carbon is considered for the lighting effect, this being placed in
+the focus of the apparatus. The positive carbon is 3/5 inch, and the
+negative carbon 2/5 inch, in diameter, although both have a common
+length of 19 inches, which is sufficient for nine hours’ service. The
+beam emitted is of some 5,000,000 candle-power. This is one of the
+cheapest electric stations at present in operation, the annual running
+charges averaging less than £300, or $1,500.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+SOME LIGHTHOUSES IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS
+
+
+Although the waters washing the Australian continent are not so thickly
+intersected with steamship lanes, and the mercantile traffic is not
+so dense there as in the seas of the Northern Hemisphere, yet, owing
+to the activity in emigration from Great Britain, as well as to the
+increasing prosperity of the various rising industries under the
+Southern Cross, they are becoming more crowded with each succeeding
+year. The efficient lighting of the coasts is an inevitable corollary
+of this expansion. Lighthouse engineering, however, is unavoidably
+expensive, especially when sea-rocks demand indication.
+
+From time to time severe strictures are passed by European shipping
+interests upon the apparent lack of coastal lights in Australasian
+waters, and the various Government departments concerned with
+this responsibility are often accused of parsimony and neglect.
+Unfortunately, the greater number of these critics are apt to consider
+the situation through European glasses; to take the countries of the
+Old World and the United States as a basis for their arguments, and to
+ignore local conditions. It has taken a century or more for Europe and
+the United States to develop their respective organizations, and in
+the majority of instances there are ample funds from which expenses in
+this direction may be met, especially when passing shipping is mulcted
+a small sum in light-dues for the purpose. When the shipping is heavy,
+these levies are certain to represent in the aggregate a large sum
+every year.
+
+From time to time New Zealand has been roundly assailed for its
+apparent negligence in the extension of its lighthouse system. It
+maintains thirty-four lighthouses and beacons, which represent a
+capital outlay of over £200,000, or $1,000,000. The total maintenance
+charges average about £16,500, or $82,000, per annum, while the dues
+collected from shipping for the maintenance of these aids to navigation
+approximate £38,000, or $190,000, per annum. The balance is not
+amazing, and certainly is not sufficient to warrant heavy expenditure
+towards new lights, as the installation of such warnings nowadays is
+highly expensive if they are to conform with modern requirements. If
+the demands of the critics were met, and a comprehensive scheme, such
+as is advised, were taken in hand, the shipowner would have to pay
+to meet the deficiency on the revenue account, and this individual
+complains that he is overtaxed already.
+
+Those Australian States which possess what may be described as a normal
+coastline--that is, one fairly free from solitary rocks rising from the
+sea some distance from land--are fortunate, since the sea-rock light is
+notoriously costly. On the other hand, lights placed on the mainland,
+even of the most powerful type, may be completed for a small outlay,
+relatively speaking.
+
+Such a fortunate condition exists in connection with New South Wales.
+Here and there off the mainland are small reefs and ridges, but, taken
+on the whole, all these danger spots are adequately covered, so that
+the State has not been faced with searching problems of a technical
+or financial character in this connection. The State boasts only two
+“rock” lighthouses, and these obstructions are large enough to be
+called “islands.” The one is South Solitary Island, off the coast north
+of Sydney; the other is Montague Island, to the south of the port. On
+the other hand, the mainland is very well patrolled, some thirty lights
+being scattered between Point Danger and Cape Howe, the respective
+northern and southern sea-limits of the country.
+
+Although the light-keepers upon the rocks may consider themselves
+somewhat isolated, yet their plight is enviable as compared with that
+of some of their comrades in other parts of the world. At Montague
+Island the three keepers and their families are housed in comfortable
+cottages in close proximity to their ward, and they maintain a small
+farm, including a horse, goats, well-stocked gardens, and so forth. The
+keepers on South Solitary Island used to be able to vary the monotony
+of their daily or nightly round by indulgence in exciting sport. This
+assumed the form of rabbit trapping and hunting, as the island was
+overrun with these animals. One form of game must have become somewhat
+nauseating in time upon the menu of the keepers, but this diversion
+is now a thing of the past. A mysterious disease appeared among the
+rabbits, and its ravages were so devastating that within a short time
+Montague Island knew them no more.
+
+The lighthouses of New South Wales deserve distinction in one
+direction. As specimens of architecture they are magnificent pieces
+of work, so that what the towers lack in romance they make up in
+attractiveness. The most imposing is the Macquarie tower, or Sydney
+lighthouse, mounting guard over the harbour. The first beacon was
+erected upon this site as far back as 1816, thereby rendering it the
+first lighthouse in the State, and it was fitted with an oil light,
+while one or two of the English lights were still open coal fires. In
+1883 it was decided to modernize the lighting apparatus, so that a more
+powerful beam might be thrown. Electricity was the illuminant selected,
+the machinery for the generation of the requisite current being
+designed for installation in the original tower. But three-quarters
+of a century’s exposure to the elements had rendered this building
+somewhat too weak to carry the requisite heavy lenses and machinery,
+so a new tower was projected. The old light was kept going while its
+successor sprang up alongside; when the latter was completed, the
+oil light in the famous old tower was extinguished for ever and the
+building demolished.
+
+The new lighthouse is a fine structure. At the foot of the tower is a
+spacious, well-lighted, and artistic one-floor building housing the
+electrical machinery as well as the office. The domiciles for the
+keepers and the engineers are placed on either side of the spreading
+lawn surrounding the station.
+
+[Illustration: THREE STRIKING GUARDIANS OE THE SHORE OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
+
+1. Green Cape Lighthouse. 2. The sentinel of Sugar Loaf Point, or Seal
+Rocks. 3. “Bungaree Norah” station, one of the loneliest on the coast.]
+
+The most southerly light upon the New South Wales coastline is that
+at Green Cape, a few miles north of Cape Howe. As at the other
+stations, three keepers are maintained, being accommodated, with their
+families, in roomy cottages; while a small patch of land is turned to
+agricultural advantage, cows, horses, etc., being maintained by the
+men. The most easterly light on the Australian continent is at Cape
+Byron. This light is perched on a dangerous cliff, which drops almost
+vertically into the water 371 feet below; but it is within touch of
+civilization, a winding road having been cut down the flank of the
+promontory on the land side into the neighbouring town of Byron Bay,
+so that the tradesmen’s carts are able to make their rounds up the
+cliff to satisfy the varied wants of the wardens of the light. One
+of the loneliest lights is that on Norah Head--Bungaree Norah it is
+called--and this is also the latest light erected by the State, as
+it dates from 1903. Although somewhat out of the way, it is not to
+be compared with some of the isolated British, Canadian, and United
+States lights, being, in fact, no more inaccessible or lonely than most
+localities in the Australian Bush.
+
+Sugar-Loaf Point is one of the most serious danger spots along the
+shoreline, but is now well guarded with a fine lighthouse planted on
+its summit, the welcome rays of which are visible for many miles out to
+sea. The light-keepers here had a surprising discovery one morning in
+1910. The _Satara_ fouled the point and was wrecked, though fortunately
+her passengers were succoured by passing steamers. On this vessel at
+the time of the disaster there was a staghound, and although, when the
+rescues were effected, search for the animal was made high and low
+on the wreck, no signs of it could be seen. It was given up as lost.
+Some days later the lighthouse-keepers ventured to the beach below to
+have a look round, and to their astonishment a staghound come bounding
+towards them, yelping with joy at the sight of a human face. For a dog
+to be in such a lonely spot was a strange circumstance, but at last
+it was surmised to be the animal which was missed on the _Satara_.
+Apparently the animal clung to the crippled craft for some time, and
+then, realizing that the ship was abandoned, dived overboard and swam
+ashore. It fraternized with the keepers, and for some time kept them
+company at the station.
+
+One of the worst wrecks which have happened upon the shores of New
+South Wales was that of the steamer _Ly-ce-moon_. By some inexplicable
+means the ship got out of her course on a fine Sunday night, and came
+to grief off Green Cape. The lighthouse-keepers at once hurried to
+the rescue, the hapless passengers, as they were got ashore, being
+tended at the station until they were removed to their homes. The
+lighthouse-keepers worked tremendously hard, but they were not entirely
+successful. Although by herculean effort they brought a large number of
+people to safety, there is a small fenced enclosure in the Bush behind
+the station where lie the remains of some fifty persons who lost their
+lives in the wreck, and whose bodies were washed ashore.
+
+While New South Wales has a comparatively easy length of coastline to
+protect, the neighbouring colony of New Zealand, on the other hand, has
+a wild, forbidding, and extensive stretch of shore. Up to the present
+the Government has concentrated its energies upon the illumination of
+the busiest reaches of water, and has planted prominent outposts at
+the respective extreme tips of the twin islands. During the financial
+year ending March 31, 1912, sixteen wrecks occurred in these seas,
+of which six were total losses. The most ill-famed corner appears
+to be the large sweeping indentation at the southern end of North
+Island, lying between Cape Egmont and Wellington, particularly in the
+vicinity of Wanganui, since this stretch of coast claimed five victims.
+Cook’s Strait, which is dangerous to navigators, is well protected,
+however, the most prominent beacon being that on Stephens Island, its
+group-flashes, occurring every thirty seconds, being particularly
+powerful, and having a range of thirty-two miles.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAPE BYRON LIGHTHOUSE, NEW SOUTH WALES.]
+
+[Illustration: THE MACQUARIE LIGHTHOUSE, SOUTH HEAD OF SYDNEY HARBOUR,
+NEW SOUTH WALES.
+
+The original tower, erected in 1816, was the first lighthouse built in
+the State. In 1882 it made way for the present magnificent station.]
+
+The Marine Department maintains thirty-two coastal lights, of which
+twenty-two are on the mainland, and ten situate on islands off the
+coast. They are of a varied description, ranging from powerful lights
+of the first order to beacons dependent upon dissolved acetylene,
+stored in cylinders of sufficient capacity to keep the light gleaming
+for sixty days continuously. Some of the places in which the warning
+lights are placed are exceedingly lonely and inaccessible, so that the
+perfection of the unattended light has solved a complex problem, and
+has enabled many terrible stretches of forbidding coast to be well
+indicated.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+PAINTING THE TROUBRIDGE LIGHTHOUSE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
+
+Keeping the building in repair is one of the lighthouse-keepers’
+duties. This is especially urgent in the case of an iron structure.
+This tower is 78 feet high, the light being visible for 15 miles.]
+
+The first tower to be brought into service in New Zealand was that
+on Pencarrow Head, to indicate the entrance to the inlet in which
+Wellington nestles. It shed its rays for the first time on New Year’s
+Day, 1859. It is an iron structure, from the top of which a fixed white
+light may be picked up by a vessel twenty-seven miles off the coast.
+The iron had to be prepared and shaped in England, as there was no
+foundry in the islands at that time capable of executing the work. The
+building was shipped to New Zealand in sections and erected. To-day,
+owing to the growth of the iron industry, the country can supply all
+its own needs in this field without difficulty, but in all cases the
+lanterns, mechanism, and lenses, have to be acquired in Europe.
+
+As may be imagined, with such a rugged coastline as New Zealand
+possesses, some of the stations are terribly lonely and difficult
+of access, owing to the treacherous nature of the waters over which
+they mount guard. With the exception of the Brothers light, which
+is situated on an exposed rock in Cook’s Strait, three keepers are
+maintained at each island lighthouse--one as relief--and at the more
+isolated mainland lights. Those of the latter stations which are within
+easy reach of civilization have only two keepers. The Brothers light,
+which is New Zealand’s most lonely station, has four keepers, three on
+the rock at one time, while the fourth is ashore. The spell of service
+on the rock is three months, followed by one month’s leave. The wives
+and families of the men reside at Wellington. The authorities,
+however, do not condemn the light-keeper to one station throughout his
+whole term of service. He undergoes frequent transference, so that
+all may have a turn at good and bad stations. The duration of the
+stay at each light averages about three years, so that there is very
+little possibility of these patient, long-suffering stalwarts being
+condemned to such a period of loneliness as to provoke taciturnity and
+melancholia.
+
+The keeper of the lighthouse light in New Zealand is as well provided
+for as his colleague in any other part of the world. When he enters
+the service, he is placed on probation as assistant keeper for six
+months, at an annual salary of £90, or $450. Emerging from this ordeal
+satisfactorily, he finds his salary increased at once to £100, or
+$500, per annum, rising by increments of £10 every two years, until
+it reaches £130, or $650, per annum. It remains at this figure until
+he is promoted to the position of head-keeper, which post brings
+an annual wage of £140, or $700, rising by biennial increments of
+£10 to a maximum annual remuneration of £180, or $900. In addition
+to the foregoing scale, a keeper receives an extra annual station
+allowance of £10 in the case of third-class stations, which are those
+on lonely rocks and islands, and £5 in the case of stations which are
+not isolated or difficult of access. All keepers in the service live
+rent-free, and are supplied with coal and oil, together with the free
+use of sufficient land, if available, to prepare gardens, as well as
+grazing for two or three cows and a few sheep, etc.; while their stores
+and provisions are carried without charge by the Government steamer
+_Hinemoa_. This vessel is retained solely for attending upon the
+lighthouses and buoys, and visits every light, save in exceptionally
+rough weather, once in three months.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+GREEN POINT LIGHTHOUSE, NATAL.
+
+A well-known South African warning with a range of 23 miles.]
+
+[Illustration: THE PACIFIC OUTPOST OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+The _San Francisco_ Lightship throws a flashing electric beam of 700
+candle-power and is fitted also with the submarine bell.]
+
+At all the isolated and rock stations landing is a hazardous task,
+even under the most favourable conditions. The swell and currents
+breaking upon the rocks render it impossible for freight and men to be
+landed direct from the steamer to the rock. Consequently all the work
+has to be carried out by means of surf-boats, and heavy drenchings
+from breaking waves, and exciting moments, are unavoidable. At times
+the task assumes exceptional difficulty, and is attended with fatal
+mishaps. On June 2, 1899, the _Hinemoa_ stood in towards the East
+Cape, the most easterly promontory on the islands, on the southern arm
+enclosing the Bay of Plenty. The sea looked wicked, but the relieving
+ship decided to go ahead with its work. All went well until a heavy
+roller suddenly came in and caught one of the boats at a disadvantage.
+The craft was capsized before the crew realized their position, and
+the chief officer, with three of his men, was drowned. Such is one of
+the penalties which have been exacted by the relentless sea, while
+courageous men have been engaged in the risky occupation of keeping the
+coast lights shining for the guidance of seafarers.
+
+The New Zealand shores have been the scenes of some heartrending
+catastrophes. The steamship _Tararua_, of 563 tons register, was making
+her way from Dunedin to the Bluff, when she crashed on to the reef
+which juts seaward from Waipapapa Point. There was no light to warn
+the ship--hence the accident. The vessel, battered by sledge-hammer
+seas, broke up very rapidly, and 130 passengers lost their lives. If
+the point had been guarded, no accident would have happened. Now a
+second-order dioptric flashing light of ten seconds guards the reef,
+and may be seen from a distance of thirteen and a half miles. Another
+calamity was the loss of the _Huddart Parker_ liner on a danger
+spot known as the Three Kings Rock. The fearsome character of this
+peril has been recognized for many years past, but, as it is to be
+marked by a light suited to the locality, it is hoped that its evil
+harvest will come to an end. Yet at the same time it must be pointed
+out that the provision of a light does not always prevent a wreck
+even in the clearest weather, owing to the weakness of human nature.
+This was proved by the steamship _Triumph_, of 1,797 tons register.
+She left Auckland on the night of November 29, 1883, picked up the
+Tiri-Tiri Island light--this fixed star can be seen from a distance of
+twenty-four miles--and yet within two hours of her sailing was wrecked
+almost under the lighthouse. In this instance gross negligence was
+only too palpable, and the court of inquiry, after its investigation
+of the wreck, signified its opinion of the carelessness displayed by
+suspending the certificate of the master for three years, and that of
+the chief officer for six months.
+
+Apart from Cook’s Strait, the narrow passage between the two islands,
+the extreme points of the country are well guarded, the towers for the
+most part being located upon the prominent headlands. The southern
+extremity of the South Island is a dangerous coast to navigate, since
+going east, after the Puysegur Point ten seconds flashing light is
+dropped at a distance of nineteen miles from the headland, the vessel’s
+course is set to traverse Foveaux Strait, between the mainland and
+Stewart Island. In the centre of the neck of water is an ominous
+rock, Centre Island, which, however, is well guarded by a first-order
+catadioptric fixed light, shining from a wooden tower, the range of
+which extends for twenty-two and a half miles, with red arcs marking
+the inshore dangers. Overlapping this beacon’s field of patrol is a
+light mounted on Dog Island, revolving once in thirty seconds, and
+visible for eighteen miles, which in turn meets the Waipapapa light.
+Thus the approach to Invercargill is well indicated, and, with the east
+coast promontories all protected, the possibility of a repetition of
+the _Tararua_ disaster is rendered remote.
+
+On the extreme northern tip of the sister isle, the headland known
+as Cape Maria Van Diemen carries a first-order dioptric light,
+revolving once a minute, illuminating a circle of sea having a
+radius of twenty-four and a half miles. The adjacent headland at the
+opposite corner of this spit, North Cape, has not been protected
+hitherto; but this deficiency is now being remedied by the erection
+of a second-order, incandescent, group-flashing white light, giving
+three flashes in quick succession every half-minute. The brilliant
+illumination of this part of the coast is imperative, inasmuch as
+shipping bound for and from Auckland has to bear round this heavily
+indented and rock-strewn coast. The entrance to Auckland harbour in
+particular is disconcerting, but the navigator is assisted by the
+friendly guardians placed on Cape Brett, Moko Hinou, and Tiri-Tiri,
+which have ranges of thirty and a half, twenty-six, and twenty-four
+miles, respectively. The task of the mariner, however, is to be further
+simplified by the erection of another powerful light on Chicken
+Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, which will overlap the Moko Hinou and
+Tiri-Tiri lights. When this light and that at North Cape are placed in
+commission, the sea between Cape Maria Van Diemen and Auckland will
+be very well lighted, and will offer the ship’s master few causes for
+complaint. Two other points are being equipped, Castle Point and Cape
+Terawhiti, the former with a second-order, incandescent, group-flashing
+white light, flashing at intervals of forty-five seconds, with periods
+of darkness lasting eight seconds between each group.
+
+While the majority of the New Zealand coastal lights are attended,
+certain beacons, from their exposed position, come in the category of
+unattended lights, as described elsewhere. These burn acetylene gas,
+and are replaced with fresh supplies of dissolved acetylene every
+three months by the _Hinemoa_. Simultaneously with the provision of
+additional beacons the existing lights are being overhauled and fitted
+with modern apparatus, rendering them more reliable, economical, and
+of greater power. When the service was established, the Doty burner,
+using paraffin-oil, was adopted; but the perfection of the incandescent
+oil system, and its many advantages over that in vogue, have influenced
+the Government towards its adoption. The transformation will be
+completed as soon as practicable, the work being in active progress, as
+maintenance expenses are reduced appreciably thereby, because kerosene,
+a cheaper oil, is used in lieu of paraffin, while, furthermore, less
+oil is burned under the incandescent system.
+
+Before many years have passed, the coasts of New Zealand will be as
+adequately protected as is humanly possible by a complete chain of
+coastal lights, which is being forged as rapidly as the circumstances
+permit. The Government has revised its light-dues in order to meet
+the increased expenditure in connection with the lighthouse service.
+Vessels arriving from outside the Dominion have to pay oversea
+light-dues at the first port of call, and coastal dues at all other
+New Zealand ports which they touch; while vessels arriving from the
+Chatham, Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes, and Bounty Islands also have to
+contribute to the funds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE SIGNPOSTS OF THE SANDBANKS
+
+
+Although by dint of great effort and the expenditure of considerable
+ingenuity the lighthouse engineer has succeeded in erecting a permanent
+masonry tower upon a foundation no more substantial than quicksand,
+yet the general method of indicating these menaces is by the aid of
+a lightship. In this way the estuaries leading to the great ports
+of the world, which are littered with ridges, humps, and mounds, of
+mud and sand brought down by the river or thrown up by the sea, are
+guarded very completely. There is the Nore lightship at the entrance
+to the Thames, the Bar and North-West lightships off the mouth of the
+Mersey, Fire Island near the portal to New York, and so on. Similarly,
+the whereabouts of huge stretches of sand lying off a coast, which
+either defy detection altogether or only partially expose themselves
+at low-water, and which constitute certain death-traps, are shown. The
+most striking illustrations of this application are supplied by the
+Goodwin Sands, the submerged sandy plateau lying off the east coast of
+England, and by the serried rows of ridges running seven and a half
+miles out to sea from Cape Hatteras, the ill-famed headland of North
+Carolina.
+
+The utilization of the lightship, however, is not restricted by any
+means to marking shoals and sandbanks. Here and there are clusters of
+rocks obstructing the ocean highway, which from their extremely exposed
+character would offer the engineer a searching and expensive problem to
+solve, and which, accordingly, are protected by a floating light. But,
+taken on the whole, the lightship is used very sparingly. If it is at
+all possible to provide a permanent structure, even at an apparently
+prohibitive cost, upon a danger spot, this practice is followed in
+preference to the mooring of a light-vessel thereto. A masonry tower is
+stationary in its resistance to the assaults of the wildest tempest,
+but the lightship swings like a cork at the free end of a chain. At
+times it drags its anchors, and thereby unconsciously shifts its
+position, so that it may throw its light from some distance beyond the
+actual area of danger. Again, a lightship, although not costly in the
+first instance, is somewhat expensive to maintain. It cannot withstand
+the poundings of the waves and the force of the wind for long without
+developing some signs of weakness. It may ride over its reef or shoal
+for several years, but depreciation is sure to set in, so that at last
+it becomes too decrepit to be trusted. Moreover, the number of men
+required to man a lightship exceeds the force necessary to maintain a
+lighthouse.
+
+Lightships follow much the same general shape and construction the
+whole world over. There is very little opportunity to depart from
+well-tried lines; the experience of a century and more has indicated
+conclusively the form of hull, as regards both material and shape, best
+adapted to the peculiar work which has to be fulfilled. The modern
+lightship is essentially a British idea, the first floating beacon
+of this description having been built and placed in the mouth of the
+Thames as far back as 1713. From this small beginning, which virtually
+was an experiment, has grown the large fleet of light-vessels scattered
+all over the globe.
+
+The craft is sturdily built, and, although of clumsy appearance,
+is capable of withstanding the onslaughts of the fiercest gales.
+Internally it is made as snug as possible, but the opportunities in
+this direction are not very extensive, as the beacon is built primarily
+to protect ships and lives against accident, and comfort is necessarily
+made subordinate to reliability, durability, and serviceability.
+
+A mere hulk would be the most apt description as applied to the average
+lightship. It is intended to cling to one spot through thick and thin,
+and not to move about. In the majority of instances the vessel is
+without any propelling or sailing accessories. If it should happen to
+break its leashes, it then becomes the sport of the waves, as helpless
+as a derelict, until its signals of distress are espied and it is
+picked up by a passing vessel. Although every precaution is adopted
+to preserve the lightship from this mishap, when the waves become
+exceptionally heavy and violent the strongest chains are apt to snap
+under the sawing and tugging of the vessel. In one or two instances
+lively times have been experienced by the handful of men on board,
+especially off the wicked stretches of the American seaboard which is
+exposed to the attack of hurricane and cyclone.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo, Paul, Penzance._
+
+THE “SEVEN-STONES” LIGHTSHIP.
+
+This vessel, probably occupying the most exposed position around
+England, marks a terrible danger spot off the Cornish coast.]
+
+In her helplessness, the light-vessel depends upon the friendly aid
+of any craft. The rescuer may be the alert tender, which, having
+received intimation that the floating beacon has got adrift, raises
+steam in all haste, hurries out, scours the seas for the wanderer,
+recovers and rechains her to the danger spot below. Or it may be that
+a passing· steamer sights the breakaway, retrieves and restores her to
+the allotted position, making her temporarily secure, and reporting her
+condition when passing or entering a port.
+
+The lightship may be identified easily. There is nothing inspiring
+about her lines. Her ugly hull, built for strength and not beauty,
+is painted red, black, or white, according to the colour practice
+of the country to which she belongs, while on her sides in huge
+letters, stretching almost from water-line to taffrail, is the name
+of her station, “Nore,” “Seven Stones,” “Norderney,” “Ruytingen,”
+“Fire Island,” or whatever it may be. Nor is this the sole means
+of identification. From afar the mariner learns her character and
+business by a huge skeleton sphere, a triangular cage, or some other
+device, carried at the top of the mast or masts. At night a lantern,
+entirely surrounding the mast, and large enough to enable a person
+to stand upright within to trim the lamps, throws its warning glare
+from an elevation about halfway between the deck and the mast-top with
+the intensity of 12,000 or more candles. Oil is the illuminant most
+generally employed for the purpose, although in one or two instances
+electric light is used.
+
+The specific purpose of the lightship, as already mentioned, is to
+warn passing vessels. But the French Government, when they made an
+elaborate investigation of their lightship service with a view to its
+modernization and elaboration, discovered that at times the floating
+signpost fulfils another and unofficial duty. The entrance to St. Malo
+Harbour is flanked by an uneven group of rocks lying about midway
+between the French coast and the island of Jersey. Though a terrible
+spot for mariners, it is one of incalculable value to the sturdy
+French and Jersey fishermen, as in the waters around these barriers
+rich hauls may be made with the net; indeed, the fishing industry here
+affords employment for several score of persons. The French Government
+contemplated the withdrawal of the lightship marking the Minquiers, as
+these rocks are called, and the substitution in its stead of a number
+of powerful automatic buoys which would indicate the exact position
+of the most conspicuous dangers, whereas the lightship only indicated
+their general whereabouts, compelling mariners to calculate their
+distances from the peril, which, by the way, was no easy matter owing
+to the short range of the beacon.
+
+[Illustration: THE “SAN FRANCISCO” LIGHTSHIP.
+
+This vessel, riding in 18 fathoms, marks the entrance to the Golden
+Gate and San Francisco Bay.]
+
+Before making a decision, the Commission interviewed the French
+fishermen to ascertain their views upon the subject. To their intense
+surprise, a suggestion which they thought would be received with
+unmixed approval was condemned unequivocally. There was not a single
+fisherman who could be found to support the buoy system. The unanimity
+of the objection aroused suspicions, and further investigation was
+made to probe the cause of this unveiled hostility. The answer was
+found without effort. The fishermen pushed off in their boats every
+night to the grounds, but they did not spend the whole of their time
+throwing and hauling their nets. When their luck was in, or they were
+satisfied with the catch, one and all pulled for the lightship. There
+was not another café within a dozen miles, and fishing is thirsty work.
+So the lightship was converted into a nocturnal hostelry. The keepers
+charged the glasses, and the captains courageous sipped and quaffed to
+a whistling accompaniment, finally indulging in terpsichorean acts on
+the lightship’s decks, to give vent to their exuberant spirits. They
+did not care whether the light overhead were throwing its yellow beams
+over the waters or not. They made merry, and kept up the orgy until the
+approaching dawn or the watch showed that it was high time to pull for
+the shore with their catches. It was a fortunate circumstance for these
+happy-go-lucky spirits that the beacon was not regarded by mariners
+as of much utility at night, owing to the feebleness of its light.
+If seafarers failed to pick up the Minquiers’s shimmering star, they
+attributed the obscurity to the haze. That was all.
+
+This revelation, needless to say, clinched the Commission’s decision.
+To-day four unattended gas-buoys mount vigil over these rocks, and the
+rollicking days on the floating _café chantant_ are known no more.
+
+The average crew for a lightship numbers some seven men under a captain
+and mate, who take it in turns to have charge of the vessel, the second
+official being responsible during the former’s spell of leave on shore.
+The crew is not a man too many, owing to the several and varied duties
+to be performed, especially when the storm-fiend is roused or fog pays
+a visit. The arrival of the latter demands the foghorn’s mournful
+dirge to penetrate the dense white curtain. Some of the vessels
+possess a hooter, the unmusical wail of which in its discordance is
+almost sufficient to put false teeth on edge, because a blast runs
+through the whole chromatic gamut with variations which would startle
+a disciple of Tschaikowsky or Wagner. But discordance in this instance
+is of incalculable value. The ear of the captain of a passing vessel
+is unconsciously arrested; he can distinguish the sound readily, and
+by noting its character can identify the particular light-vessel from
+which it proceeds, although he cannot get a glimpse of her form.
+
+The southern coasts of England, owing to the density of the maritime
+traffic, especially on both sides of the bottle-neck formed by the
+Straits of Dover, are well patrolled by this form of warning which
+supplements the lighthouses. Those guarding the dreaded Goodwin Sands
+perhaps are the most important. The crew of a vessel in these waters
+is busy throughout the day and night even in calm, clear weather, and
+the feeling of isolation is not so pronounced, since the continuous
+sight of traffic dispels despondency. The Nore light is another station
+which encounters very few minutes of rest throughout the complete
+revolution of the clock hands; especially is this the case when fog
+settles down, rendering the Thames inapproachable, so that incoming
+craft have to line up in long queues, ready to dash forward directly
+the pall lifts sufficiently for them to see 100 yards ahead.
+
+There have been some exciting incidents among the lights strung
+around the south-eastern toe of England. The vessel outside Dover
+harbour appears to be particularly unlucky, or to exercise such a
+peculiar magnetism upon passing vessels that they must needs embrace
+her. This is the peril that a lightship crew dreads more than any
+other. Certainly it seems a sorry trick of Fortune that occasionally
+the workers in the cause of humanity should be compelled to fight
+desperately for their lives from a blow inflicted by the very interests
+they strive might and main to protect. The Dover light was sent to the
+bottom twice within a very short time, and in each instance the men
+were rescued only in the nick of time. On another occasion a relief
+lightship was being towed to a station on the east coast, the acting
+vessel being much in need of overhaul and repair. The tug laboured
+through the North Sea with her charge, and just before daybreak sighted
+the twinkling light which was her goal. She eased up, meaning to
+stand by with her charge until the beacon’s round of vigilance should
+be over, and the light extinguished before the gathering dawn. Her
+crew saw the light grow dimmer, until it was no longer of sufficient
+power to penetrate the whitening haze. With the sun just creeping
+over the horizon the tug weighed anchor, and, heralding her approach
+vociferously on the siren, steamed slowly towards the danger spot. To
+the surprise of the captain, there came no answering blare. When he
+thought he was alongside the light-vessel he stopped, and the haze
+lifted. But there was no sign of the light-vessel; she had vanished
+completely. The captain of the tug and the master of the relief-boat
+wondered what had happened, but without more ado the relief-ship was
+moored in position, and the tug returned home empty-handed. There the
+crew heard one of those grim stories sometimes related in the service.
+The light-keepers had sighted the tug with the relief-vessel, and were
+anticipating keenly their return to civilization, when there was a
+crash! A cliff of steel reared above them like a knife-edge; a vessel
+had blundered into them, cutting their home in two. The next moment
+they were shot pell-mell into the water as their craft sank beneath
+their feet.
+
+On a calm day, when the lightship is riding quietly at anchor, and
+the members of the crew, maybe, are beguiling the tedium by fishing,
+a passer-by on a liner is apt to consider the life one of quietness
+and enjoyment, albeit monotonous. But contrast this placidity with the
+hours of storm. Then the ungainly vessel writhes and twists, saws and
+rasps at the chains which hold her prisoner. At one moment, with bow
+uplifted, she is on the crest of a spray-enveloped roller; the next
+instant she drives her dipping nose into the hissing white and green
+valley, meanwhile lurching and staggering wildly as she ships a sea,
+first on this side and then on that.
+
+The plight of the lighthouse-keeper in a gale is unenviable, but it is
+far and away preferable to that of the lightship crew under similar
+circumstances. The tower may bow slightly like a tree before the storm,
+and the waves may cause it to shiver at times, but that is the only
+movement. On the lightship the crew appear to be tossed, rolled, and
+spun, in all directions simultaneously. The deck becomes untenable, but
+the men in the performance of their duties have to grope and crawl from
+point to point, holding on grimly with both hands when an angry sea
+douches them. The spherical ball overhead gyrates in an amazing manner,
+as if it were a pendulum bob boxing the compass. The crew have a stiff
+struggle, to keep everything below safe and sound, while the waves,
+as they come aboard, thump on the deck as if determined to smash it
+to splinters, and to drive the whole fabric to the bottom. To be so
+unlucky as to be run down by a passing craft under such conditions is
+certain death, as there is no hope of rescue in such maddened seas.
+
+The crew of an English ship emerged badly battered from one heavy gale.
+Two or three rollers got aboard, and drove their blows well home,
+pulverizing the lifeboat on deck, and tearing up stretches of the
+bulwarks by the roots. The crew were flung about like shuttlecocks. One
+of the hands was making his way cautiously along the deck, trying to
+maintain equilibrium upon an alarming incline, when a breaker struck
+him from behind. He grabbed the ratlins to secure himself, but his
+hand was wrenched away, and he was flung against the mast, where the
+wave left him. He was half stunned by the concussion, but a comrade,
+realizing his plight, dashed forward while the vessel rolled over
+in the other direction, grabbed the prostrate form by the collar of
+its coat, and dragged it into the companion-way. The man’s face was
+disfigured, and when bathed it was found to have been cut, or rather
+burst, open from the eye to the chin by the force of the blow.
+
+Bad weather tends to make the crew despondent at times, inasmuch as its
+persistency holds them prisoners, so that they cannot get ashore when
+the relief day comes round. During some seasons of the year a delay of
+ten or twelve days is not uncommon, owing to the weather, but the men
+on the relief tender are so used to hard knocks and rough seas that
+they do not wait for an absolute calm to achieve their purpose. Heavy
+risks are incurred often in order to lighten the lives of those who
+guard the deep by bringing them ashore as near to the scheduled date as
+possible.
+
+Another ship that has to mount guard over a dangerous corner of the
+coast of England is that which indicates the cluster of rocks lying
+between Land’s End and the Scilly Isles, about sixteen miles off the
+mainland. For the most part the reef is submerged, but as the water
+goes down seven ugly scattered pinnacles thrust themselves into the
+air. They are terrible fangs with which to rip out the bottom of a
+steamer, and they have accomplished their fell work only too often. The
+number of the projections has given its name to the graveyard, which is
+known far and wide as the Seven Stones, though the mariner refers to
+them simply as The Stones.
+
+It would be difficult to say offhand which has claimed the greater
+number of victims from the mercantile marine--the sucking, glue-like
+sands of the Goodwins, or the splitting granite teeth of the Seven
+Stones; they run a close race for ill-fame. The latter lie right in the
+path of vessels rounding the western toe of England, and the sea-bed
+on all sides of them is littered with the shivered timbers of wooden
+sailing-ships, the splintered iron and steel of steamers, and the bones
+of scores of unfortunate passengers and crews. Although a light of
+12,000 candle-power strives to warn the seafarer, now and again there
+is a miscalculation, and the intimation is conveyed to the mainland:
+“Ship and all hands lost.”
+
+It was in 1841, owing to the frequency and severity of the disasters
+at this spot, that Trinity House decided to guard it with a lightship.
+A lighthouse would be preferable, but there is such small foothold
+for the engineer, and the position is so fearfully exposed, that
+the erection of a masonry tower would prove a costly and tedious
+enterprise. So the only feasible alternative was adopted, and the
+vessel is kept abreast of modern developments in this phase of coast
+lighting. Lying as it does in a somewhat narrow channel, yet open to
+the full roll of the terrible westerly gales, it meets the Atlantic
+thundering through this constricted passage with awe-inspiring
+violence. It has often suffered greatly from the fury of the sea. Once
+a wave tumbled aboard, crashed a man against the pump, knocked him half
+senseless; picked up the lifeboat and threw it against the deck-house,
+and in so doing caught another member of the crew, mauling his thigh
+badly in passing. Two out of the seven men forming the crew were thus
+put _hors de combat_ by a single wave. The taut little vessel rides in
+40 fathoms of water, about one and a half miles eastward of the danger
+spot, as even a lightship must not be moored too closely to a ridge, or
+she herself would incur the risk of being pounded to fragments.
+
+The French lighthouse service has a magnificent lightship in the
+_Ruytingen_, which rides in 60 feet of water over a treacherous
+sandbank outside Dunkirk. It is a steel vessel about 100 feet in
+length, and displaces in loaded condition about 387 tons. It is held in
+position by massive umbrella-like anchors, weighing some 2 tons, which,
+burying themselves in the ground, refuse to drag even under the most
+fearful tugs and jerks imposed by a gale, while the chains which hold
+the ship in leash are able to give her a run of approximately 1,000
+feet.
+
+The German coast is as dangerous to approach, owing to the shoals and
+banks, as the eastern shores of England, and one or two magnificent
+lightships have been built and stationed over the most notorious
+danger areas, among which may be mentioned the _Norderney_ and _Eider_
+vessels. The latter is about 133 feet in length by 24 feet wide, and is
+fitted with three masts. It throws a fixed white light, which may be
+seen on all sides from eight to eleven miles away. This boat is fitted
+with every modern device to increase its warning powers and service,
+including wireless telegraphy and the submarine bell.
+
+These two latter inventions have improved the serviceability of the
+lightship to a vast degree, inasmuch as the ocean liners and many
+freighters are equipped with both these useful handmaids to navigation.
+The tolling of the bell under water may be heard for several miles, and
+conveys intimation of the approach to danger in foggy weather, when the
+siren or other fog-signal is somewhat precarious.
+
+The _Norderney_ lightship is probably one of the finest craft in
+operation upon the seven seas. Before it was designed the German
+engineers carried out a thorough inspection of all the most modern
+lightships in service in Europe, and from the results of their
+investigations contrived this magnificent aid to navigation. The vessel
+is about 150 feet in length, and is built of steel. The light is shown
+from a lantern fitted with a third-order pendular lens carried at the
+top of a hollow steel mast. The illuminant used is Pintsch’s oil-gas,
+with incandescent mantle, the fuel being stored in reservoirs stowed in
+the hold of the ship; fresh supplies are brought out by the tender at
+periodical intervals. Weight-driven clockwork mechanism is employed to
+revolve the lantern. The light is one of the most powerful in European
+waters, 50,000 candle-power being emitted with an incandescent gas
+mantle having a diameter of 30 millimetres (1¼ inches).
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._
+
+THE “NORDERNEY” LIGHTSHIP.
+
+One of the finest in the world.]
+
+The vessel is also equipped with 200 horse-power oil-engines, driving
+an air-compressor for the operation of the fog-siren, the air being
+stored in reservoirs in the hold and maintained at the working
+pressure, so that the signal may be brought into service at a moment’s
+notice. The vessel is also furnished with a Pintsch submarine bell,
+driven by compressed air. When not required, this bell is housed
+amidships on the spar-deck, and when the occasion arises for its
+service it is lowered into the water through an open tube built in
+the ship for this purpose. This important light-vessel carries a full
+complement of thirteen men, including the captain, mate, and engineer.
+The arrangement is, one-third of the crew on shore-leave at a time; but
+this does not apply to the winter months, when the full number has to
+remain on board, owing to the duties being more arduous and continuous
+during that season of the year.
+
+“Fire Island!” What a thrill the sound of this name sends through the
+floating town approaching the New World from Europe. Its effect is
+magical among the emigrants who scan the horizon eagerly for the first
+glimpse of this outpost of the new home, in which all their hopes
+are centred. The sullen red hull of this flush-deck, schooner-rigged
+steam-vessel, with her two masts, and name painted in huge white
+letters on her flanks, rides in 96 feet of water, nine and three-eighth
+miles south of Fire Island lighthouse. A few miles beyond is a similar
+craft marking the Nantucket Shoals, whence incoming and outgoing
+vessels are reported, while the end of the chain is “No. 87,”
+marking the Ambrose Channel off the entrance to New York.
+
+But the light-vessel controlled by the United States which occupies
+the most responsible and perilous post is the _Diamond Shoal_, off
+Cape Hatteras. It throws its warning rays from a spot about four and
+five-eighth miles beyond the most seaward point of this terrible ocean
+graveyard, and is thirteen and five-eighth miles distant from Cape
+Hatteras light on the mainland. A long way from the actual danger spot,
+you say, but the little squad of men who have to maintain the light
+through storm and calm will tell you that the situation, in 180 feet of
+water, is quite as near as is pleasant when there is the ever-present
+danger of anchors being dragged, or of the craft breaking adrift under
+the force of the cyclonic disturbances which ravage this sinister
+coast. Even in calm weather the relief-boat has many anxious moments,
+owing to the swell and currents, while storms rise with startling
+suddenness. While the exchange of men is being made and stores are
+being transferred, a keen lookout is kept by the relief-boat hands so
+as to be ready to cut and run for the open sea the moment the clouds
+begin to collect ominously. In these latitudes the weather is placid
+one minute; the next the elements are writhing in fury.
+
+[Illustration: THE “FIRE ISLAND” LIGHTSHIP, THE ATLANTIC OUTPOST OF THE
+UNITED STATES.
+
+This vessel rides in 96 feet of water, 9¾ miles south of the Fire
+Island Lighthouse.]
+
+Probably this is the most dangerous station on the whole seaboard,
+and if any heavy trouble is caused by the tempest, the _Diamond
+Shoal_ inevitably bears grim evidence of the conflict. The skill of
+the engineers is taxed sorely to devise ways and means of keeping the
+vessel in the position she is designed to occupy, but moorings and
+anchors must be of great weight and strength to stand up against a wind
+blowing eighty miles an hour, with the waves running “mountains high”
+and repeatedly sweeping the vessel from stem to stern. After every
+battle a careful look round has to be made to determine how far the
+vessel has shifted. Being steam-driven, this craft is not condemned to
+absolute helplessness when her moorings snap. The crew get her under
+control and keep her head pointed in the desired direction, so as to
+mitigate the battering of the wind and waves, and not moving more than
+is essential for safety. Subsequently the vessel crawls back to her
+position, the bearings are taken, and she is anchored firmly once more.
+
+One hurricane swept Cape Hatteras, and the lightship received its full
+energy. The boat strained and groaned at her chains. Suddenly they
+snapped. No steam could hold the boat against the assault. She was
+picked up, thrown about like an empty box, and carried inshore, luckily
+missing the ridges of sand. Had she plumped into one, it would have
+gripped her tightly while the waves pounded her to fragments. The crew
+were helpless and could only wonder what the end would be, as they saw
+the rugged coastline approach nearer and nearer. When they thought all
+was over and that their fate was sealed, a big incoming wave snatched
+the lightship, hurried her along on its bosom, and dropped her on the
+beach, practically uninjured, and safe from further attack.
+
+When the crew surveyed their position, they found themselves faced with
+a difficult proposition. The ship was safe and sound, but on the wrong
+side of the shoals, and the question was how to lift her over those
+greedy ridges. There was only one method. That was to dig a pit around
+her on the beach, let in the water so that she could float, and then to
+cut a wide deep trench out to sea so as to regain deep water. It was
+feasible, and was attempted. While the pond on the beach was being dug,
+a powerful dredger came up, and ploughed its way through the shoals
+from deep water to the stranded light-vessel. When the craft was once
+more afloat, the dredger carved its way back again, the light-vessel
+being taken through the narrow, shallow ditch thus provided, which
+was closed up by the running sand as the two boats crept slowly
+forward, until at last the shoals were negotiated. The ship was taken
+to headquarters, the relief-vessel, which is always kept ready for an
+emergency, having taken up her position on the station immediately the
+hurricane had blown itself out.
+
+Under these circumstances it will be realized that the maintenance
+of the _Diamond Shoal_ light is by no means a sinecure. When these
+adversities are aggravated by the relief-boat being unable to fulfil
+its scheduled duty, when week after week slips by without the men
+receiving the welcome spell ashore, while they are suffering privations
+and experiencing the nerve-shattering pangs of isolation and monotony,
+it is not surprising that despondency shows signs of getting the upper
+hand among the crew. Melancholia is the malady which is feared most
+on a light-vessel such as this, and the men have to pull themselves
+together to resist its insidious grip. Probably at times there is half
+an inclination to desert the light, but fortunately there is little
+fear of this temptation succeeding. The axiom “Never abandon the light”
+is too deeply rooted; besides, the men are safer where they are,
+although it appears a crazy refuge in rough weather.
+
+Prolonged imprisonment on the _Diamond Shoal_ precipitated one mutiny.
+The crew on duty were awaiting the arrival of the reserve vessel
+to take them home; but the weather disposed otherwise. With that
+inexplicable persistence, the wind got round to a rough quarter and
+kept there tenaciously, never moderating for a few hours, but just
+blowing, blowing, blowing, getting up a nasty sea which made the
+lightship reel and tumble, while at intervals a comber came aboard to
+flush the decks.
+
+In the course of ten days or so the crew began to fret and fume
+at the obstinacy of the elements; when a month slipped by without
+bringing any welcome relief, the mate and the engineer incurred the
+captain’s dire displeasure by fraternizing and playing cards with
+the crew, thereby creating a breach of discipline and etiquette. The
+offenders, somewhat overwrought by their continued incarceration,
+ignored the captain’s reprimand. This arrant disobedience played
+upon his nerves, which similarly were strung up. It did not require
+a very big spark to start a conflagration of tempers. The mate and
+engineer brooded over the captain’s remarks, and at last they waited
+upon him, forcibly ventilated their opinions concerning his lack of
+civility and of endeavours to make one and all comfortable under the
+trying circumstances, and expressed their determination to tolerate
+his overbearing manner no longer. This was the last straw from the
+captain’s point of view. Drawing his revolver, he growled that he was
+master of the lightship, and that they would have to do as he told
+them. There was a tussle, but the firearm was wrenched away from the
+master’s hands as being a somewhat too dangerous tool for a man in his
+overstrung condition. The crew naturally sided with the officers, and
+the captain was kept under surveillance until the relief-vessel came up
+some weeks later.
+
+The moment the crew stepped on dry land, every man, with the exception
+of the mate, deserted the ship, thoroughly satiated with the
+uncertainty pertaining to watching the Diamond Shoals. They indulged
+in a hearty carousal, and were arrested. And the captain, who also
+was not averse to enjoyment on shore, having lodged the charge of
+mutiny, followed their example. An inquiry was held, and the sequel is
+interesting. The captain, having deserted his ship upon reaching port,
+was dismissed from the service; the mate, who had provoked the captain,
+not only was acquitted of the grave charge, but was promoted to the
+command of the light-vessel, because there was one outstanding feature
+in his favour which negatived everything else--he had stuck to his post.
+
+Life on a lightship, although somewhat strenuous, has its interludes.
+In fine weather the men have considerable time on their hands, and
+while away the hours in various occupations. Fretwork, mat-making,
+carpentering, and other hobbies, are followed with keen enjoyment.
+Owing to the light attracting flocks of birds during the migratory
+seasons, the men often effect valuable captures on the deck, rare
+songsters and other specimens falling exhausted into their hands. Cages
+are contrived, and the silence of the living-quarters is relieved by
+the piping and trilling of the birds when once they have shaken down to
+their captivity. Meteorological work, which is practised in some cases,
+relieves the round of toil, while contributions to science are made by
+investigating the depths of the sea and its bed with small trawls and
+other devices, so as to secure data concerning life in the deep, the
+vagaries of currents, submarine temperatures, and so forth.
+
+The lightship, however, is both a safeguard and a menace. When she
+is riding quietly at the end of her chains she is an incalculable
+boon to the passing mariner, but after a gale the navigator and the
+light-keepers are suspicious. The boat may, and indeed probably has,
+dragged her anchors somewhat. Now, the seafarer on his chart has the
+precise position which the lightship should occupy. Consequently, if
+she has shifted and he is unaware of the error, his calculations will
+lead him astray. After a tempest the master of a lightship endeavours
+to ascertain if his craft has moved, and if he can he takes his
+bearings at once. If this is impossible, or if he entertains any doubt
+in his mind, he flies a signal, which warns the navigator that the
+lightship has moved. Unless the vessel is able to regain her station
+under her own steam, she communicates with the shore at once, and a
+boat is sent out to reset her. Every time the relief is effected the
+officer in charge takes the bearings, so that the lightship may be
+truly in the position she is intended to assume, and able to effect her
+humane work satisfactorily.
+
+The evolution of the most efficient illuminating apparatus for the
+lightship has been a most perplexing problem to the lighthouse
+engineer. What is applicable for the masonry tower is not necessarily
+adapted to its floating contemporary, since the conditions are so
+dissimilar. The United States service has adopted electric lighting
+on all its steam-driven vessels, the current being easily obtainable
+in this instance. On the whole, however, oil is the most popular form
+of illuminant, the burners--there are several lamps arranged in a
+ring round the mast--being fitted with two circular wicks, one within
+the other; while behind the lamp an ordinary parabolic reflector is
+placed in order to increase the intensity of the light produced.
+These reflectors are disposed in such a manner around the mast that
+the concentrated beam of light from one lamp just overlaps the rays
+which are projected similarly from the lamp placed on either side, the
+result being that a fixed white light of equal luminosity throughout
+the circle is projected. But, unlike the illuminant in the lighthouse,
+the light is not stationary in its vertical plane; it is swung from
+side to side and up and down in rhythm with the movement of the vessel.
+Under these circumstances, at one moment the light would project a
+short ray owing to the declination of the beam in relation to the line
+of the water, thereby bringing it below the horizon, while the next
+moment, when the ship lurched in the opposite direction, the ray of
+light would be thrown into the air and above the horizon. The problem
+is to keep the light at one steady angle, irrespective of the motion
+of the vessel, and this end is achieved by hanging each reflector
+upon gimbals, so that the rolling practically is counteracted, the
+reflectors maintaining a constant vertical position.
+
+Some lights are of the flashing type, and in this instance the
+reflectors are disposed in groups. Here the gimbals, carrying the
+reflectors, are mounted upon the framework which revolves around the
+mast by clockwork mechanism, and are so arranged as to give any type of
+distinguishing flash that may be desired. In the most approved types
+of modern lightships, however, the dioptric apparatus is incorporated,
+means having been discovered to avoid breakage from the rolling motion
+of the ship, while the risk of throwing the beam above or below the
+horizon according to the rolling of the boat is overcome. In this case
+the lamps and reflectors are disposed on a turntable in the lantern,
+with the dioptric apparatus mounted very carefully so as to secure
+a true balance upon gimbals. The apparatus for revolving the light
+is erected in a deck-house, the weight actuating the mechanism being
+permitted to rise and fall in a special tube extending from the bottom
+of the ship to the deck. The rotary action thus produced is transmitted
+from the deck to the lantern above by means of a vertical shaft and
+pinion. While ordinary lamps are installed as a rule in the lanterns,
+Messrs. Chance Brothers and Co., the Birmingham lighthouse illuminating
+engineers, have succeeded in adapting their incandescent oil-vapour
+system, which has proved so eminently successful in lighthouses, to
+light-vessels, with a very decided increase in the candle-power, and
+marked economy in oil consumption and cost of upkeep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A FLAMING SENTINEL OF THE MALACCA STRAITS
+
+
+With the development of commerce between Europe, China, and Japan,
+following the awakening of the East, it became imperative to render
+the seas approaching these countries far safer to navigation. If one
+consults the atlas, and follows the routes taken by the great liners
+from Britain and the Continent to the Orient, he will see a rampart
+forming the boundary between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
+This is the East Indian Archipelago, and it bristles with dangers of
+all descriptions to the mercantile traffic flowing to and fro. After
+leaving India, the steamships turn their noses towards Singapore, at
+the extremity of the Malay Peninsula; but this busy port is shut in on
+the south by the attenuated rocky chain of islands forming the Dutch
+East Indies, of which Sumatra and Java are the most important.
+
+The steamship lane lies between Sumatra and the Asian mainland, and
+is known as the Straits of Malacca. It is a fearsome neck of water,
+studded with islands and sandbanks, some visible above high-water,
+others revealed only by the falling tide; while still more never see
+daylight at all, yet owing to their shallow position are none the less
+perilous.
+
+In order to foster the growth of the sea-traffic with China, these
+unattractive waters demanded full illumination, while the rock-girt
+shores of China and Japan were similarly in need of protective
+outposts. Japan was particularly enterprising in this forward movement.
+The country was emerging from the state of suspended civilization in
+which it had reposed so calmly for centuries. The rising forces were
+not slow to realize that unless they safeguarded steamship traffic
+their ports would wait in vain for the ships from Europe. In fact, the
+mercantile interests of the Western world bluntly stated that unless
+this course were followed their ships would not come to trade.
+
+Japan at that time had not capable men at home for the purpose of
+completing the first part of a comprehensive coast-lighting scheme, and
+it was acknowledged that years must elapse before the country would be
+able to walk alone in this field. Accordingly they sought Britain’s
+assistance. The Stevenson family, as narrated already, elaborated a
+comprehensive scheme, which was accepted. The structures were prepared
+in Britain, sent out piecemeal to Japan together with a force of
+competent men, and erected at the desired points.
+
+Upon this foundation the Japanese built up their excellent lighthouse
+service. The Eastern pupil, in his own estimation, became as competent
+as the Scottish teachers. At all events, Japan has since completed
+all works of this description at home and unaided. China followed
+suit, but in this instance it was due to British initiative purely and
+simply. The British Inspector-General of the Imperial Maritime Customs
+took up the question. He appointed an engineer-in-chief, to whom
+the construction and repair of the lights were entrusted. The chief
+engineer was provided with a coast inspector, upon whom devolved the
+responsibility for the personnel and the maintenance of the stations,
+he in turn being assisted in his exacting and, at that time, difficult
+work by a corps of zealous officers.
+
+Although the countries concerned and the shipping companies of Europe
+appreciated this forward policy, one class of individuals resented
+this introduction of Western ideas into Oriental life. This was the
+population who lived by wrecking and piracy. They recognized the fact
+only too well, that, if brilliant beacons were to be permitted to be
+erected freely throughout these troublous seas, their despicable but
+remunerative calling would cease. Their solution of the problem assumed
+a characteristic Chinese and Malay form; they endeavoured to wreak
+their revenge upon the lights. Now and again there were sharp tussles
+between the engineering staffs and these high-water brigands, but
+firearms well handled by the white men invariably got the better of
+the argument. Pirates caught in the attempt to tamper with the lights
+received very short shrift. One engineer who had seen service in these
+waters related to me that in the early days the amount of lead expended
+in protecting a light from these marauders exceeded the quantity of
+this metal used in the tower itself.
+
+The Malacca Straits, from their exceedingly dangerous nature,
+constituted a happy hunting-ground for these gentlemen, and the
+lighting of these waters was effected as soon as possible. Among the
+innumerable menaces abounding, a shoal some sixteen miles west of the
+coastline was particularly harassing to mariners. It became known as
+One Fathom Bank, and the shallowest part was only about 18 feet below
+the surface at high-water. When these waters were guarded first, a
+lightship did duty; but the position is so open, and is so exposed to
+the full fury of the monsoon, that she frequently dragged her anchors,
+so that the warning became somewhat uncertain.
+
+Accordingly, it was decided to supersede the floating light by a
+permanent structure, and a lighthouse on stilts, similar to those
+familiar to American waters, was erected in 1874, and emitted a white
+flash once a minute. Although this ironwork structure was pounded
+mercilessly by the seas, it withstood all assaults completely, and was
+only superseded eventually owing to the ever-increasing exigencies of
+commerce, which demanded a more powerful and elevated light.
+
+The present tower was commenced in 1907. The engineers appreciated the
+fact that they were being called upon to carry out an undertaking in an
+especially trying position. The bank is well out to sea, and when the
+monsoon is in full blast waves 8 feet in height thunder upon the shoal,
+their ferocity varying according to the state of the tide, which rises
+and falls a matter of 14 feet. The difficulties attending the building
+of the Rothersand and Fourteen Foot Bank lighthouses under closely
+similar conditions were not forgotten, and the prospect of building
+a huge caisson on the mainland, and then towing it to the site to be
+sunk, was by no means attractive, even if the fullest avail were taken
+of the spells of calmest weather.
+
+Therefore an alternative method of construction, possessing the
+qualities of being simpler, quicker, and less expensive, which was
+advanced by a well-known firm of engineers in Singapore, Messrs.
+Hargreaves, Riley and Co., upon the designs of Mr. O. P. Thomas,
+received the closest consideration. This scheme proposed a lighthouse
+constructed on piles, with the focal plane 92½ feet above water-level,
+wrought in ferro-concrete.
+
+The project was somewhat novel and daring, because, although this
+constructive principle had been adopted previously for stations
+upon the mainland, it had never been utilized in connection with
+exposed sea-lights. The system recommended was that known as the
+Hennebique, which had been employed extensively for buildings,
+bridges, sea-defences, and other works. The proposal was investigated
+thoroughly by the Hon. A. Murray, M.Inst.C.E., the Colonial Engineer
+and Surveyor-General for the Straits Settlements, and, as it met with
+his full approval, the work was handed over to the Singapore engineers
+to fulfil upon the lines advanced.
+
+The structure comprises the main building, including the
+living-quarters, supported upon piles disposed in two rings, an inner
+and an outer, about a central pile, the whole being well braced
+together. The shape is octagonal in plan. From the roof of the
+living-quarters, to which point the outer piles are carried vertically
+from the sea-bed, these members rise with an inward rake, forming an
+octagonal pyramid, with the lantern and its room below forming the apex.
+
+The underwater work was the most difficult, owing to the situation
+and the climatic conditions. Seeing that the nearest land is sixteen
+miles distant, it was impossible to carry the men to and from the
+scene of their labours every day when the weather permitted. A base
+was established on the coast for the preparation of materials and as
+a point for shipping all requirements to the site, but the men were
+accommodated with special facilities upon the spot. Here a temporary
+staging was built on piles, on which platform a large hut was erected
+to provide quarters for the men, as well as a workshop.
+
+The piles forming the main support to the building were made 50½ feet
+long, and hollow. The concrete, composed of broken granite and Portland
+cement, encased a steel skeleton, consisting of four longitudinal round
+steel rods, 1¾ inches in diameter, laid at the corners, and laced
+together with steel wire 3/16 inch thick. Eight of these piles were
+made 18 inches square, while nine were 24 inches square, and each was
+fitted with a pointed end to facilitate driving into the sea-bed.
+
+As these piles were prepared on shore, their transference to the site
+was a pretty problem in itself. Ordinary methods of transport were
+impracticable. The engineer overcame the difficulty in an ingenious
+manner. He built up a raft of barrels, twenty-six of which were lashed
+together in two rows, between which the pile was laid flat and evenly.
+The raft was built upon peculiar lines, so as to facilitate the
+unshipping of the pile when it reached its destination. It was divided
+into four sections, each of which could be detached without disturbing
+the other three parts. The raft and its pile were towed out to sea by
+a steamer, and when the work was gained the raft was cast off, to be
+floated under the staging and to the exact point where it was to be
+set up. A chain sling was lowered from the platform and attached to
+the head of the pile, and the lashings to the first section of the
+raft were released, thus permitting the strapped barrels concerned to
+float away and to be recovered. The pile was then slowly and carefully
+hoisted at the head, the second part of the raft being released when
+the pile had gained a certain height. This procedure was repeated
+until finally, when the last part of the raft was freed, the pile
+hung free, as vertically true as a plumb-line, with the pointed foot
+resting on the sand. In order to send it truly into the sea-bed, heavy
+timber guides were set up, and as the pile descended it was frequently
+tested with the plummet, to see that it was sinking in an absolutely
+perpendicular manner.
+
+[Illustration: COMPLETING THE ONE FATHOM BANK LIGHTHOUSE IN THE MALACCA
+STRAITS.
+
+The keepers live on the lower floors. The upper floor beneath the
+lantern is the service room.]
+
+The piles were sunk into the soft sea-bed by means of water-jets,
+which, playing about the foot of the pile, burrowed a hole into which
+it could move downwards. A depth of 15 feet had been considered
+necessary to secure the desired rigidity, and as a rule the pile could
+be driven to this depth in about four hours. When the pile-driving
+commenced, however, it was found that the sandbank had undergone a
+marked change since the surveys were made. Erosion had been very active
+owing to the currents having been checked by the obstructions which
+the legs of the staging offered. Under these circumstances a novel
+experiment was made upon the site. One of the piles was lengthened
+by 14½ feet, to be driven to its limits, just to ascertain how far
+it would go into the sand. This in itself was a somewhat daring
+undertaking, seeing that the tiny colony on the staging did not possess
+the facilities which were available on shore for the work. However,
+it was accomplished satisfactorily, and when the pile was sunk it
+was found to descend another 13½ feet, where it touched hard rock.
+This discovery brought about a modification in the plans. As a solid
+foundation could be gained at a depth of 28½ feet, and as the piles
+could be lengthened successfully upon the site, it was decided to
+extend all the piles to a complete length of 64½ feet, and to drive
+them down to the hard bottom. When the piles were all lowered, they
+were subjected to four blows from a “monkey” weighing 2½ tons, dropped
+from a height of 4 feet. But these four final blows only drove the
+piles from ¼ to 7/8 inch farther into the sea-bed, whereas, according
+to the specification, a margin of 1 inch was allowed for this test.
+
+The diameter of the tower at the base is 40 feet, and heavy bracing
+is introduced at a point 4 feet below high-water to hold the fabric
+together, and to supply the requisite strength and rigidity. At a
+height of 21 feet above this main bracing is the floor of the
+superstructure, comprising an octagonal two-floor building, surrounded
+by an overhanging gallery, built on the cantilever principle, 5 feet in
+width, which forms the landing platform. The two floors have a total
+height of 24 feet, and constitute the keepers’ home. The roof is flat,
+in order to facilitate the collection and conduct of rain-water into
+two ferro-concrete cisterns, each holding 1,000 gallons. The lower
+floor is devoted to housing stores, oil, etc., while the upper story
+forms the living-quarters. The roof is caused to overhang a distance of
+4 feet on all sides, thereby providing a flat surface 44 feet across.
+From this point the eight main columns of the building slope inwards,
+until, at a height of 30 feet, they have a diameter of 18½ feet, where
+the lantern is introduced. The lower part of the latter constitutes the
+service-room, and leads directly to the lantern above. Access to the
+different levels is afforded by means of a teak-wood staircase, while
+that leading from the entrance floor to the water for landing purposes
+is hinged, so that it may be accommodated to the condition of the tide.
+
+The lantern, which weighs 17½ tons, is of the modern type, and is
+more powerful than that of the 1874 light, which it displaced. The
+white light is thrown in groups of flashes every fifteen seconds,
+and the warning is visible from the deck of a vessel some fifteen
+miles away. The central pier, which carries a great proportion of the
+total weight of the tower, and which extends continuously from the
+bed-rock foundation to the lantern-room, is solid to the roof of the
+living-quarters. Above this point it is hollow, having a bore of 12
+inches, and in this space the weight actuating the revolving mechanism
+of the light moves up and down.
+
+[Illustration: THE ONE FATHOM BANK LIGHTHOUSE, MALACCA STRAITS, IN
+COURSE OF ERECTION.
+
+It is built throughout of ferro-concrete, and is supported on piles
+driven into the sand. At the left are the quarters provided for the
+lighthouse builders who lived on the spot.]
+
+Although the idea was novel at the time, the complete success of
+the work justified the recommendations of the designers as to the
+suitability of this form of construction for open-sea lighthouses. In
+this instance the enterprise not only was completed for a less sum
+than would have been required for a corresponding lighthouse erected
+in masonry upon orthodox lines, but the structure is lighter, was
+more rapidly built, and is thoroughly hygienic. The complete weight of
+the whole tower is less than 1,000 tons; and from the setting of the
+first pile to the lighting of the lamps only fourteen months elapsed,
+notwithstanding the fact that work was interrupted and hindered
+frequently by inclement weather. Any doubts that were entertained
+concerning the ability of the structure to resist the attacks of the
+wind and seas encountered in these latitudes was dispelled during
+erection, because the monsoons which broke during the period of
+erection were abnormally heavy, and submitted the fabric to exceptional
+strains and stresses, which it withstood with complete success.
+
+Another fine light which has been provided for the benefit of the
+navigator in these Eastern seas is that on Gap Rock. This is a rugged,
+lofty eminence, rising from the sea, thirty-two miles south of
+Hong-Kong. Being exposed on all sides, it is difficult to approach,
+while at the same time it lies in the path of vessels. A few years ago
+the Hong-Kong Government decided to conquer this islet, and to deprive
+it of its perils to shipping. With great effort a landing was effected,
+and one of the pinnacles was decapitated and levelled off, to form a
+spacious platform for landing. The light itself rises from the highest
+point of the rock, and its rays are visible through a circle of twenty
+miles radius. The Gap Rock light is also a signal-station, being in
+telegraphic communication with Hong-Kong.
+
+Although the days of human hostility to the lighthouse in Eastern
+waters have passed, the engineer is confronted by an enemy which is in
+every way as destructive. This is the white ant. The ravages of this
+insect are so relentless and complete where wood is concerned that
+timber towers are quite impracticable. Moreover, this material has to
+be used only sparingly for fittings, even in masonry and iron buildings.
+
+A curious experience with this insidious and implacable foe was related
+to me by a lighthouse engineer. He was engaged in the erection of a
+new beacon at a remote point on the coast. The lenses and lantern
+apparatus, as usual, had been ordered in England, and were despatched
+to the East carefully packed in substantial tin-lined cases. In order
+to secure the utmost protection during transit, each metallic and
+lenticular part was wrapped in tow. Care also was bestowed upon the
+sealing of the tin case, since the propensity of the ant to discover
+the smallest pinhole so as to reach the interior was emphasized upon
+the packers. Accordingly the seams were doubly soldered.
+
+In due course the cases with their precious contents reached the site
+of erection, but unfortunately the season was so far advanced that the
+engineer concluded he could not complete the erection of the lantern
+before the monsoon broke. As the contents of the cases were preserved
+by the tin armour from climatic attacks, he stored the cases securely,
+and with his workmen left the place until favourable weather returned.
+
+Some weeks later the chief and his toilers reappeared upon the scene.
+All preparations for setting the optical apparatus were completed.
+Imagine the dismay of the engineer when, on opening the case containing
+the most important parts of the lantern, he found that it had been
+raided by white ants. They had driven their tracks spirally through
+the tow, which evidently they had enjoyed, and although this was of
+little consequence, the formic acid had played sad havoc with the
+bright surfaces of the spindles. In lighthouse engineering the surfaces
+of these parts must be as bright and as clean as a mirror to insure
+smooth, steady working. But now these spindles were as pitted and
+marked as a victim to smallpox. It was a maddening contretemps, since
+the only way to restore the vital bright surfaces was to turn them
+in the lathe. Such a tool was not available within a hundred or more
+miles. Erection had to be delayed, however, until this treatment was
+effected.
+
+Seeing that the tin case was soldered up with such infinite care, the
+question arises. How did the ants get into it? To the engineer it
+seemed an inscrutable puzzle, but he subjected the case to a minute
+examination. Finally he solved the problem. At one corner he found
+that a nail, while being driven during the process of nailing up the
+heavy outer wooden case at the English factory, had turned slightly, so
+that its point had punctured the inner metal case. The ants, too, had
+discovered this minute breach, and through it had swarmed to the attack
+upon the interior.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+UNATTENDED LIGHTHOUSES
+
+
+During the past fifty years engineering science as applied to
+lighthouses has made remarkable advances. This has been due largely
+to the indefatigable perseverance and ceaseless labour of the chemist
+in regard to illumination. This wonder-worker has given us acetylene,
+has evolved means whereby oil-gas may be compressed to a pressure
+of several atmospheres with safety, and has discovered other gases
+obtainable by inexpensive and simple means. The engineer has not
+hesitated to profit from these developments, and has devised highly
+ingenious apparatuses whereby these illuminating mediums may be stored
+and used, so as to dispense with the human element almost entirely; in
+fact, in these instances the latter factor has been reduced to such
+a degree that it is only called upon to perform certain perfunctory
+operations, such as the recharging of the storage vessels at long
+intervals--three, six, or twelve months, according to circumstances.
+
+This combination has provided the lighthouse engineer with a new,
+powerful, and efficient means of overcoming abnormal difficulties.
+Many a rock, reef, or stretch of uninhabited coastline has demanded
+indication, but has defied such protection from motives of cost,
+inaccessibility, or searching problems concerning the accommodation and
+relief of the keepers. As I have shown in the course of this volume,
+the erection of a first-class lighthouse is a costly undertaking,
+and the shipping interests, which in the case of Great Britain and
+a few other countries are called upon to pay the bill, naturally
+demur, unless the rock or other obstacle is situate in the centre
+of the marine thoroughfare, or the approach to a pitiless coast is
+extremely hazardous, when the erection of the tower becomes absolutely
+imperative. If one were to add up the costs of all the great lights
+scattered throughout the seven seas, it would be found that several
+millions sterling had been sunk in this humane effort, and yet,
+relatively speaking, but a small area of danger in the aggregate is
+safeguarded.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLATTE FOUGÈRE LIGHTHOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
+
+This automatic light marks a dangerous reef, off the Guernsey coast,
+which is familiar to readers of Victor Hugo’s “Toilers of the Sea.”]
+
+Then the human factor demands consideration. A colony of four or six
+men scarcely could be found willing to suffer isolation from the world
+at large and to be deprived of intercourse with their fellow-beings in
+the interests of shipping, say, through the Straits of Magellan, around
+Cape Horn, among the icy fastnesses of the Northern Labrador coast, or
+in Hudson Bay. Life in the lighthouses which guard the busy steamship
+lanes is monotonous and nerve-shattering enough, but to maroon men
+in such remote places as those mentioned above would be to promote a
+wholesale rush of inmates for the lunatic asylums.
+
+This is where the chemist and the engineer in collaboration have
+triumphed. By their joint efforts it is now possible to supply the
+most inhospitable shore with a belt of lights equal in every respect
+to those mounting sentinel over the more densely populated reaches of
+coast in the civilized parts of the globe. The unattended lighthouse
+is a modern development born of necessity, which has proved highly
+serviceable, effective, and reliable. The passenger, as he lolls
+against the taffrail of the steamer ploughing her way carefully through
+the lane 375 miles long separating the mainland of South America from
+Tierra del Fuego, and watches the faithful star twinkling upon the top
+of a frowning cliff and urging the mariner to keep clear, may cherish
+a feeling of pity for the man who has to keep that beam shining. But
+his commiseration is misplaced. No human hands touch that beacon,
+perhaps, for six months or more at a time. It is a triumph of automatic
+operation. The same applies to the wicked shores of New Zealand, the
+uninviting northern stretches of the Gulf of Bothnia, the iron-bound
+coasts of Norway and Sweden, and many another unattractive mainland and
+island.
+
+All the great maritime nations possess several of these silent,
+faithful lights, which, although upon their introduction they were
+regarded with a certain amount of suspicion, owing to the urgent
+necessity of a light never failing in its duty for the guidance of the
+seafarer, yet have been proved by the convincing lesson of experience
+to be as reliable in every respect as the light which is tended by
+human hands.
+
+So far as Great Britain is concerned, the unattended light has been
+brought to a high stage of efficiency and utility by the efforts of
+Messrs. David and Charles Stevenson, while in other parts of the world
+the apparatus and methods perfected by Mr. Gustaf Dalén of Stockholm
+are used extensively.
+
+The most interesting example of the Stevenson unattended lighthouse is
+provided in the English Channel, indicating the entrance to the strait
+which leads to the Guernsey capital of St. Peter Port. This was one of
+the first of its character to be erected, but the type is now being
+adopted widely owing to the success of this initial undertaking. The
+Channel Islands have achieved an unsavoury reputation in marine annals,
+as they form a graveyard of the Channel; they have claimed their
+victims, during recent years at any rate, mostly from the ranks of the
+heavy cross-Channel traffic.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLATTE FOUGÈRE LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+This beacon, designed by Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson, probably is the
+finest unattended lighthouse in existence. On the top of the tower is
+the automatically controlled acetylene light.]
+
+The Russell Channel, leading to St. Peter Port from the north, is
+exceedingly dangerous, the sea being littered with granite rocks both
+submerged and exposed, of which the Grande Braye, Barsier, and Platte
+Fougère, form the outer rampart. Readers of Victor Hugo may gather some
+realistic idea of the perilous nature of these waters by perusing “The
+Toilers of the Sea,” in which these rocks figure very prominently,
+particularly the Platte Fougère. The menace of this corner of the
+channel is accentuated by the velocity of the tidal currents which
+swing and swirl round the reefs, together with the extreme range of
+the tides, which averages about 30 feet. Formerly, in thick weather,
+vessels found it almost impossible to pick up the Russell, and often
+a captain, by the rip and crash of metal being torn, to his dismay
+learned that he had swung too far to the westward.
+
+[Illustration: SETTING THE COMPRESSED-AIR RESERVOIR AT FORT DOYLE.
+
+The Platte Fougère automatic light is supplemented by a land station on
+the island of Guernsey a mile away.]
+
+The companies engaged in this traffic repeatedly petitioned the
+authorities to mark the entrance to the strait by some adequate means.
+A light was not required so keenly as a sound-signal, because in clear
+weather navigation was tolerably safe. The proposal was discussed
+time after time, but no solution appeared to be forthcoming. To erect
+a lighthouse on the outer fringe of the barrier would have entailed
+prodigious expenditure, which the island authorities could ill afford,
+even if such a scheme were practicable.
+
+The question was taken up boldly by General Campbell during his
+occupation of the post of Governor-General of the Island of
+Guernsey, and he pressed forward the scheme vigorously in a resolute
+determination to bring about a diminution in the number of maritime
+disasters at this point. He approached Messrs. David and Charles
+Stevenson, who had considerable experience of similar conditions
+around the Scottish coasts, and they, after an elaborate survey of the
+site, recommended the erection of a light and fog-signal station upon
+the Platte Fougère, which should be controlled from the land a mile
+distant. They agreed that the erection of a tower similar to those
+generally planted on sea-rocks would be a formidable undertaking and
+enormously expensive, owing to the conditions prevailing, but the
+station they suggested was quite practicable, and would serve the
+purposes equally well.
+
+Instead of a massive, gracefully-curving tower, measuring some 40
+feet in diameter at the base, these engineers suggested a building of
+irregular octagonal shape, measuring 14½ and 17 feet across the faces,
+80 feet in height, and carried out in ferro-concrete. They advocated
+its erection upon the Platte Fougère, because there the fog-signal
+would be brought into the most serviceable position for shipping. A
+narrow or thin building was advised, to offer the minimum of surface
+to the waves, which break very heavily on these ridges. The wisdom of
+this design has been revealed very convincingly since the tower has
+been in service. The seas fall on either side, divide and rush round
+the building, so that it does not experience the full brunt of their
+heavy, smashing blows. As the engineers pointed out, “It is better to
+avoid heavy sea pressures, where feasible, in preference to courting
+them.”
+
+Still, the Platte Fougère was not an ideal rock from the engineers’
+point of view, although it is a solid knot of granite. Its head is
+visible only at low-water spring-tides, while it is difficult to
+approach, even in the smoothest weather, owing to the tides and
+currents. Much of the foundation work had to be carried out under
+water. The season was unavoidably limited, as the days when both the
+wind and the sea are calm in this part of the channel are very few and
+far between.
+
+The tower is solid for a height of 46 feet above the rock, and the base
+is formed of Portland cement placed in iron moulds, with iron bars
+driven into the solid rock to anchor the concrete firmly. On the side
+to which the building is exposed to the heaviest seas, massive beams
+of rolled steel are driven into the rock, so as to impart additional
+strength to the part of the tower where the greatest strains are likely
+to be set up.
+
+On the entrance level is a compartment containing an electric motor and
+air-compressor, while on the floor immediately above is a duplicate
+installation. The siren projects through the top of the tower, the
+trumpet being so turned as to throw the sounds in a horizontal
+direction over the water. On the top of the tower is a small automatic
+acetylene gas plant and light, such as the engineers have employed
+so successfully in their unattended Scottish light-stations, two
+air-receivers, and a water-tank. A new type of burner is used, and a
+clockwork mechanism is incorporated to extinguish the light at dawn and
+to ignite it at dusk, with a special arrangement to allow for the short
+summer nights and the long periods of darkness during the winter.
+
+[Illustration: THE FORT DOYLE SIREN.
+
+This installation on the island is maintained so as to take the place
+of the automatic lighthouse a mile out to sea, in the remote event of
+the latter breaking down.]
+
+As mentioned above, the station is controlled electrically from a point
+on shore. In deciding the latter, it was necessary to discover the most
+favourable landing-place for the submarine cable in relation to its
+route, and Doyle Fort was selected as meeting all requirements in this
+direction. Here a two-floor dwelling has been erected for the keepers,
+together with an adjoining engine-house, which measures 32 feet in
+length by 20 feet wide. The tower being a mile distant, the designers
+had to meet the possibility of the machinery therein breaking down.
+Accordingly, at the shore station there is an auxiliary fog-siren and
+air-compressing plant, which is brought into use when the sea apparatus
+is deranged.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By courtesy of Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson._
+
+AN UNATTENDED BEACON LIGHT PLACED UPON A WILD PART OF THE SCOTTISH
+COAST.
+
+These lights will run for several months without any human attention,
+and, by means of ingenious mechanism, light and extinguish themselves
+automatically.]
+
+The machinery includes two oil-engines which drive three-phase
+alternators, and an air-compressor for working the land siren when
+required. One of the greatest difficulties arose in connection with the
+submarine cable which connects the land-station with the sea-tower.
+Owing to the broken, rocky nature of the sea-bed, the viciousness of
+the currents, and the heavy seas, the cable had to be of exceptional
+strength; indeed, it had to be made specially for the purpose. It is
+a double-sheathed, steel-armoured cable of the heaviest “rock” type,
+being 11 inches in circumference, and weighing 45 tons per nautical
+mile. As the current used is three-phase, there are three conductors,
+which weigh 1,100 pounds per mile, protected by a thick layer of
+gutta-percha averaging 450 pounds per mile. In the centre of the core
+are two other wires for switching and telephone purposes respectively.
+The laying of the cable was a peculiar and exacting task in itself;
+6,504 feet had to be paid out. But by waiting for a very calm day
+and slack water this task was achieved without mishap. In the tower
+there is a simple switch operated by an electro-magnet, whereby the
+motor-driven air-compressors are thrown in and out of action. The
+two compressors are used alternately, so as to keep them in thorough
+working order; and as they have to be left sometimes for months without
+being examined, special attention has been devoted to their lubrication.
+
+A visit to this lighthouse is a somewhat curious experience. Climbing
+the ladder and entering the building, one finds it apparently
+abandoned. Not a sound beyond the murmuring of the waves playing about
+the rocks below disturbs a silence which is uncannily tense. Suddenly
+there is an almost imperceptible click. The keeper at the light-station
+has moved his switch, and simultaneously that in the tower has
+closed. The electric motors instantly commence to revolve, with a low
+grunt at first, but rising quickly to a loud humming as they settle
+down to their stride, driving the air-compressors. Then comes the
+ear-splitting, deep-toned roar from the siren overhead, attended by
+the whirr of machinery in motion. The humming of the motors and the
+compressors dies down, and in a few seconds absolute stillness prevails
+once more. The sensation is decidedly eerie. It seems impossible that a
+silence so intense as to be felt should be interrupted by a click--the
+result of a slight movement by an unseen hand a mile away--which gives
+forth such a nerve-shattering din as to convey the idea that Bedlam
+had been let loose. At the land-station the experience is similarly
+weird. The keeper moves his switch which brings the tower machinery
+into action. Presently there is the sharp tinkle of an electric bell.
+This notifies the keeper that the blast on the tower has been given,
+but conclusive evidence of this fact does not arrive until five seconds
+later, when the baying of the siren comes rolling over the water.
+
+A complete check is kept upon the isolated station out at sea. If the
+electric bell does not ring out at the appointed period, to notify
+the keeper that the siren has emitted its warning note, he knows that
+something is amiss. The land-station is brought into service without
+delay, the intimation to the mariner to stand clear being thrown from
+Doyle Fort once every ninety seconds. The men on shore take it in turns
+to mount watch for fog both day and night, and their vigil is checked.
+There is an electric alarm, which maintains silence only so long as the
+man on duty fulfils his appointed task and records this fact upon his
+mechanical register at scheduled intervals. Should he fail to perform
+this function, there is a frenzied clanging by the alarm-bell, which
+summons the second keeper to duty.
+
+[Illustration: THE GASFETEN LIGHT: A LONELY BEACON IN SWEDISH WATERS.
+
+This was the first tower to be fitted with the Dalén “sun-valve” in
+conjunction with the Dalén flasher. Several automatic lights of this
+type are used to show the way through the Panama Canal.]
+
+Apparently, the weakest point in the installation is the submarine
+cable, but the engineers entertain no apprehensions on this score. It
+is too stoutly made and too heavily armoured to rupture very readily.
+Experience has proved its efficiency and reliability, while a long
+life is anticipated for it. The Platte Fougère unattended lighthouse
+has opened up new possibilities for protecting wild coasts. It has
+proved conclusively that there is no difficulty in maintaining such
+a station and controlling it from a distance so long as automatic
+apparatus which has proved its worth is employed. This practical
+application should serve to solve many peculiar problems. No longer can
+the bogie of expense be put forward as an argument against safeguarding
+a notoriously evil length of shoreline or isolated rock, even if the
+latter is exposed to the heaviest seas known. The Guernsey installation
+was completed for £8,500, or $42,500, and is as serviceable as the
+ordinary type of tower, which in this instance would have cost at least
+£60,000, or $300,000, to build and equip. From the maintenance point
+of view it is equally convincing and economical, inasmuch as only two
+keepers are required in the place of the four who otherwise would have
+been necessary.
+
+[Illustration: THE DALÉN “SUN-VALVE,” THE MOST WONDERFUL INVENTION OF
+MODERN LIGHTHOUSE ENGINEERING.
+
+Depending upon the action of daylight alone, it automatically ignites
+and extinguishes the light at dusk and dawn respectively.]
+
+The system which has been devised by Mr. Gustaf Dalén of Stockholm,
+and which is exploited by the Gas Accumulator Company of the Swedish
+capital, operates with dissolved acetylene. The first light in
+Scandinavian waters to be brought into action upon the “Aga” principle,
+as it is called, was installed in the Gasfeten tower, an exceedingly
+isolated beacon which offered every means of testing it thoroughly.
+The idea follows the broad lines of that adopted in connection
+with lightships, and, the Gasfeten experiments proving completely
+successful, it has been adopted extensively since, not only by the
+Swedish authorities for the lighting of lonely waters in the Baltic
+Sea and Gulf of Bothnia, but by various other Powers. The Straits of
+Magellan are protected in this way, and when one recalls the sparse
+population which dwells upon the banks of this short-cut between the
+Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and bears in mind the fact that the lights
+have to be left to their own automatic action for some months on end,
+then one may realize the perfection and reliability of the invention.
+The failure of a light in such treacherous waters would be notified
+speedily to the authorities responsible for the illumination of this
+sea-lane, but no such complaints appear to have been received from
+passing vessels. These lonely lights for the most part are of a very
+simple character, a result due to local conditions. As a rule they are
+planted on lofty eminences--not at too high an elevation, as thereby
+they might be rendered useless by headland fogs--at a height varying
+between 150 and 250 feet. The base of the tower forms a space for the
+accommodation of the gas-accumulators, wherein the illuminating medium
+is stored under pressure, surmounted by the lantern which carries the
+requisite optical apparatus, and the flasher whereby the characteristic
+visual warning is given.
+
+Although adoption of the flasher enabled the consumption of gas to
+be reduced very appreciably, there was one noticeable drawback: the
+light had to burn both night and day, unless clockwork mechanism were
+introduced to extinguish the light at sunrise and to ignite it at
+twilight. Some authorities, however, do not place trust in clockwork
+mechanism. Certainly it is liable to fail at a critical moment, and in
+the case of an isolated light, several hundred miles from the nearest
+base, this would be a serious calamity, intimation of the fact not
+being available until several weeks after the disability had been
+observed.
+
+In order to overcome the fallibility of clockwork, and to insure a
+still further marked decrease in the consumption of gas, Mr. Gustaf
+Dalén devoted his energies to the perfection of a device which
+should achieve the self-same end, but be operated by Nature herself.
+His efforts were crowned with complete success by the invention of
+the “light-valve,” but which has become more widely known as the
+“sun-valve.”
+
+[Illustration: THE GAS ACCUMULATORS EMPLOYED IN THE DALÉN AUTOMATIC
+SYSTEM.
+
+The size of the storage cylinder varies according to the work,
+character, and position of the beacon.]
+
+This device is based upon a well-known principle. If two objects,
+fashioned from the same metal, and identical in every respect except
+that one is made light-absorbing and the other light-reflecting, are
+exposed to daylight, while the former will expand, the latter will
+remain unaffected. This result is due to the fact that the one which
+absorbs light transforms it into energy. The acting part of the
+“sun-valve” therefore is a light-absorber. It consists of a central
+rod, the surface of which is coated with lampblack, so that its
+light-absorbing qualities are enhanced as much as possible. The lower
+part of this rod is connected to a small lever, which opens and shuts
+an orifice through which the gas passes to the flasher in the lantern
+above. Around this central black copper rod are three other copper
+rods, disposed equidistantly. They resemble the former in every respect
+except that they have no light-absorbing qualities, but they are given
+polished gold surfaces, so that their light-reflecting properties are
+raised to the maximum.
+
+This sun-valve is exposed. At the break of dawn, under the gathering
+intensity of daylight, the central black rod absorbs the luminosity,
+the amount of which is increased by the light thrown from the
+gold-burnished outer rods, and, converting it into energy, expands
+longitudinally. In so doing it forces the lever at the base downwards,
+closing the opening through which the gas flows to the flasher. In a
+short while, when the day has broken fairly and there is no further
+need for the beacon’s services, the gas-feed is cut off entirely, only
+the pilot burner remaining alight, the gas-supply to this not being
+affected by the sun-valve. In order to bring the greatest possible
+pressure upon the lever, the blackened rod is so arranged that it can
+expand only in one direction--namely, downwards.
+
+Upon the approach of evening, owing to the daylight becoming weaker,
+the blackened rod contracts, and, the pressure upon the lever being
+released, the gas commences to flow once more to the burner. It is a
+small stream at first, but as the darkness gathers, and the shrinking
+continues, the valve opens wider and wider, until at last, when night
+has settled down and the copper central rod has fully contracted, the
+gas-valve is opened to its fullest extent, permitting the greatest
+pressure of gas to flow to the burner, so that the beacon throws its
+most brilliant light. This automatic action continues infallibly every
+dawn and dusk, and is the simplest and at the same time most reliable
+means of economizing gas during the day that has yet been devised.
+
+There is another feature of this system which must not be overlooked.
+Suppose, for some reason or other, that the sea becomes shrouded in
+suffused light, such as might arise from the obscuring of the sun by
+an overhanging bank of fog or smoke, the beacon comes automatically
+into service, as the cutting off of the daylight must bring about a
+contraction of the blackened copper rod controlling the valve.
+
+The central rod can be adjusted to any degree of sensitiveness, by
+means of a screw, while protection of the vital parts is insured by
+enclosure within a heavy glass cylinder. The first apparatus of this
+character was tested by the Swedish authorities in 1907, and proved
+so successful that it is now in service at all the exposed unattended
+lighthouses in Swedish and Finnish waters; while it has been adopted,
+also, very extensively by the United States, more particularly for the
+lighting of the lonely stretches of the Alaskan coastline and of the
+Panama Canal.
+
+Of course, the saving of gas which is rendered possible by the use of
+the sun-valve varies according to the season of the year. During the
+winter, when the nights are long, the saving may not be very marked,
+but in the summer, when darkness does not last more than four or five
+hours, the economy is very noticeable. According to the experience of
+the Swedish authorities, the average saving of gas during the year
+varies from 35 to 40 per cent., as compared with similar lights not
+fitted with this device.
+
+But there is another factor which is influenced to a very appreciable
+degree by the utilization of the sun-valve. By cutting off the light
+when it is not required, the capacity of--_i.e._, the duration of
+service upon--one charge is lengthened, and this in the case of an
+isolated light is a very important consideration. In fact, with the
+“Aga” system wherein the sun-valve is combined with the flasher, it is
+possible for the light to work a round twelve months without the least
+control or necessity for intermediate inspection, and at as low an
+annual charge as £2 15s., or about $14.
+
+[Illustration: THE LAGERHOLMEN LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+It marks a lonely dangerous rock in the Baltic Sea, and operates
+upon the Aga unattended automatic system, with Dalén flasher and
+“sun-valve.”]
+
+One of the latest unattended installations which have been carried out
+upon these lines is the Lagerholmen lighthouse, marking a dangerous
+rock in the Baltic Sea. It is a cylindrical tower, with the focal
+plane 56 feet 4 inches above sea-level, and the flashing light, with
+sun-valve control, has a range of eighteen miles. The geographical
+range, however, is only thirteen miles, owing to the comparatively low
+height of the tower.
+
+An interesting and ingenious automatic unattended light has also been
+established in an isolated part of the Bristol Channel. It was designed
+by Sir Thomas Matthews, the engineer to the Brethren of Trinity House.
+This is purely and simply a clockwork-controlled apparatus in which
+extreme care has been taken to eliminate the disadvantages incidental
+to such mechanism. This type of light was designed to fulfil three
+conditions--to give a flashing light; to light up and go out at
+the proper times; and to require attention only at long intervals.
+Acetylene is the illuminant used, the gas being stored in a reservoir
+under high pressure. The gas as it emerges from the supply cylinder is
+expanded, so that the pressure at the burner does not exceed 2 pounds
+per square inch.
+
+The outstanding feature of this apparatus is that the clockwork
+control cutting off and turning on the gas does not require to be
+wound by hand, but is actuated by the mechanism which revolves the
+lenses, through a simple set of gearing. The gas as it issues from the
+reservoir passes into one of two cylinders. Each of these is provided
+with an inlet and an exhaust valve, while the upper end is closed
+with a lid of leather, covering the top like the vellum of a drum.
+To each leather cover is attached a circular piece of metal, smaller
+than the leather diaphragm, and from this in turn extends a vertical
+rod, the upper end of which is connected to one end of a centrally
+pivoted rocking arm. When the gas enters one cylinder, naturally in
+expanding it forces the leather lid upwards, and with it the vertical
+rod. This elevates the corresponding end of the rocking arm, and
+simultaneously drives down the rod attached to the opposite end
+of the beam, which in turn drives down the leather lid of the second
+cylinder, and forces out any gas that may be therein. The apparatus
+consequently is something like a double pump, owing to the rocking arm
+having a seesaw motion. This reciprocating action serves to wind up
+the clock, and also to revolve the lenses through spurs and pinions.
+The mechanism, however, is controlled completely by the clock whereby
+the light is started, inasmuch as without this the apparatus cannot
+be set in motion. There are two dials, one of which is divided into
+twenty-four divisions, corresponding to the hours of the day, and the
+other into twelve divisions, representing the twelve months of the
+year. The clocks work together, and the time of lighting up is advanced
+or retarded, according to the time of the year, through the clock train
+wheels.
+
+The apparatus is very compact, highly ingenious, and has proved
+efficient in service. Although this is the first application of the
+idea for rotating the lenses by the gas which feeds the burners,
+so far as England is concerned, it has been employed under similar
+circumstances in Germany with conspicuous success, in combination
+with the Pintsch oil-gas apparatuses, but it lacks the simplicity and
+reliability of the sun-valve.
+
+[Illustration: AN UNATTENDED BEACON LIGHTING THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN.
+
+This warning, fitted with Dalén flasher and sun-valve, is visited once
+in six months.]
+
+[Illustration: AN AUTOMATIC LIGHT-BOAT.
+
+This novel warning was constructed for installation at the mouth of a
+Swedish river owing to the extreme velocity of the current. Such a boat
+may be left unvisited for a year if desired.]
+
+A different system, which has been adopted widely throughout the
+East and in Australian waters, is the Wigham petroleum beacon. This
+system possesses many notable features, the most important being
+that well-refined petroleum oil is employed. In many parts of the
+world carbide of calcium is not readily obtainable, and, moreover, is
+somewhat expensive, whereas, on the other hand, oil is comparatively
+cheap and available in unlimited quantities. The principle of working
+is somewhat novel. The wick is not burned in the manner generally
+followed in regard to lamps--viz., at the end, which within a short
+time becomes carbonized and brings a marked diminution of the
+illuminating power--but it is moved so that the same part is not
+exposed continuously to the action of the heat arising from combustion.
+It is caused to travel horizontally over a small roller, in a
+specially-constructed burner, combustion taking place, therefore, on
+its flat side. It is moved slowly and continuously over this roller,
+so that it cannot burn through, and in this manner the flame, being
+constantly emitted from a fresh surface, is of uniform intensity.
+
+[Illustration: THE WIGHAM THIRTY-ONE DAY UNATTENDED PETROLEUM LIGHT.
+
+The type at left shows the lamp carried upon a cast-iron pillar; while
+on the right it is mounted upon a lattice tower.]
+
+The lamp comprises three main parts. There is the lantern, with the
+lens and the projecting panes of plate-glass, in the focus of which
+the burner is fixed. Then there is the burning-oil reservoir, which
+feeds the wick as it moves towards the burner. This reservoir is
+circular in shape, somewhat shallow, and serves as a deck on which
+the lantern is built up. The third part is the float cylinder, made
+of copper, which is attached to the underside of the oil reservoir.
+This cylinder is filled with oil, which is kept quite distinct from
+the burning oil, and thereon floats a weighted copper drum, to which
+one end of the wick is secured by means of a hook. At the lower end of
+this cylinder is a micrometer valve, which when opened permits the oil
+to drip away at a certain speed. This causes the float to fall with
+the oil in the cylinder, and to drag the wick over the burner roller
+and down the float cylinder after it, so that a fresh surface of the
+wick is presented continuously for combustion. The lamps themselves may
+be divided into two broad classes--the single-wick and the three-wick
+respectively. The latter obviously emits the more brilliant light, and
+is the type which is coming into more extensive use at the present
+time. In the latest type a duplex burner is employed, and this has
+been found to give a very powerful light with a comparatively low oil
+consumption.
+
+The light is generally carried at the top of a lattice-work steel
+tower. A support of this character can be taken to pieces, packed
+within small compass, and transported without difficulty, while
+erection is simplified and facilitated. Seeing that a large number
+of these beacons have been erected on headlands along the wildest
+stretches of the African continent and the loneliest coasts of
+Australia, where the methods of transport are restricted to coolies
+or mules, this method of packing is distinctly advantageous. The lamp
+is secured to the top of the tower, with the float cylinder of the lamp
+depending from the centre. In this arrangement, as a rule, a small tank
+is provided into which a drain-pipe empties the oil dropping from the
+drip-valve. In this way the oil may be drawn off, filtered, and used
+again in the float cylinder. In some instances the lamp is mounted upon
+a cast-iron column, in which case the float cylinder and the oil-drip
+tank are placed within the tube, access thereto being obtained through
+a door.
+
+The length of service on one charge varies according to the situation
+of the light. If in a very exposed and inaccessible place, it may be
+required to burn for two or three months without attention. Taken
+on the average, however, a monthly charge has been found to offer
+the greatest advantages. But in some places the longer interval is
+unavoidable. For instance, the Wigham light which is mounted upon the
+extremity of the Manora breakwater at Karachi cannot be approached for
+three months at a time during the monsoon. Under these circumstances a
+one-hundred-day service is imperative.
+
+The lenses are of the dioptric order, consisting of six elements built
+up into a strong gun-metal framework. The internal diameter naturally
+varies with the size and number of the wicks, and ranges from 10 inches
+for a 1-1/8 inch single wick, to 15 inches in the case of a 1-5/8 inch
+three-wick lamp. In the larger sizes a curved plate-glass pane is
+fitted outside the lens as a protection from the action of the weather.
+These storm-panes are set in copper doors, so that the glasses may be
+easily cleaned and polished when the lamp is being retrimmed.
+
+[Illustration: WILLSON GAS AND WHISTLING FLOATING LIGHT OFF EGG ISLAND,
+NOVA SCOTIA.]
+
+[Illustration: THE WILLSON “OUTER AUTOMATIC,” HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA.]
+
+The maintenance charges are guided by the local market values
+of materials and labour, the item of repairs and renewals being
+practically negligible. So far as oil consumption per month is
+concerned, this fluctuates according to the type of lamp used,
+ranging from 1-1/5 pints per twenty-four hours, or 4·8 gallons per
+month, in the case of a 1-1/8-inch single-wick burner, to 2¼ pints
+per twenty-four hours, or 8¾ gallons of oil per month, in the case
+of the latest 1-5/8-inch duplex-wick burner. American petroleum-oil,
+of a specific gravity of about 0·795, gives the best results and
+the brightest and clearest flame. Russian and other heavier oils
+generally used in lighthouses are unsuitable. In view of the world-wide
+operations of the Standard Oil Company, however, no difficulty is
+experienced in procuring adequate supplies of this oil anywhere between
+the two Poles.
+
+The oil used in the float cylinder, as mentioned previously, is quite
+distinct from the burning oil, and is used only to support the float to
+which the wick is attached. As the oil escapes through the drip-valve,
+it may be allowed to run to waste, or, what is far preferable, it may
+be caught, filtered, and used again for this purpose, to bring about a
+reduction in the cost of upkeep. The float cylinder of a thirty-one-day
+light, irrespective of the number of wicks, requires the same quantity
+of oil for the float cylinder--9½ gallons.
+
+The advantages of the unattended, automatic light have been appreciated
+by the various maritime Powers, and their application is being
+developed rapidly. They are inexpensive in first cost, and their
+maintenance charges are very low. In Sweden a second-order light,
+consuming 6 cubic feet of acetylene gas per hour, throwing a fixed
+white light of 4,000 candle-power, and visible for seventeen miles in
+clear weather, costs about £15, or $75, per annum; while the smaller
+lights, with a 300-millimetre lens and a 12-inch burner emitting 360
+candle-power, may be run for £2, or $10, per annum, the low cost in
+this instance being attributable to use of the Dalén flasher and
+sun-valve.
+
+The cost of the acetylene gas averages ¾d., or 1½ cents, per cubic
+foot, a result attributable to the fact that Scandinavia is the world’s
+largest producer of carbide of calcium.
+
+The Wigham petroleum system has proved similarly economical and
+reliable, and has been installed in some of the wildest corners of
+the globe. The Congested Districts Board for Ireland have established
+a number of these beacons on the rugged west coast to assist the
+fishermen in making their harbours at night. Many are placed in very
+exposed positions on headlands, where they are frequently swept by the
+full force of the Atlantic gales. The Austrian Government has adopted
+the principle for lighting the dangerous coasts of the Adriatic near
+Trieste, while the shoreline of Jamaica is safeguarded by more than
+sixteen lights of this type. Many of these lights suffered severely
+from the effects of the earthquake which overwhelmed the island a few
+years ago, but others withstood all the shocks successfully. In this
+instance, had expensive and massive lighthouses of the usual type been
+erected, the loss would have been considerable, in view of the severity
+of this seismic disturbance and the widespread destruction which was
+wrought. These lights play a very prominent part in the guarding of
+the southern ocean, the Australian shores being protected by over
+sixty such beacons, many of which are established in very exposed and
+isolated positions off the mainland.
+
+While the day is still far distant when expensive graceful towers,
+carrying immensely powerful lights, will be no longer constructed, the
+perfection and utility of the unattended light, in one or other of
+its many forms, are assisting tangibly in the solution of the problem
+of lighting busy shorelines adequately and inexpensively. Structures
+costing tens of thousands sterling in future will be restricted to
+important places, especially in connection with sea-rocks, such as
+landfalls, or to those some distance from the land, where a fog-signal
+station must be maintained, unless the example of the Platte Fougère
+land-controlled station becomes adopted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+FLOATING LIGHTHOUSES
+
+
+Hand in hand with the development of the unattended light for service
+on land positions has proceeded the adaptation of the floating
+light. This may be described briefly as an enlarged edition of the
+lighted buoy, which is such a conspicuous feature of our harbours and
+estuaries. Yet it is more than a buoy. It can fulfil all the purposes
+of a light-vessel, both as regards the emission of a ray of light or a
+distinctive sound, so that both audible and visual warning are given
+simultaneously. These lights likewise are automatic in their action,
+and, when set going, require no further attention for some time. Nine
+months or more are often permitted to pass without human hands touching
+them, and they have solved some very abstruse problems in connection
+with coast lighting.
+
+For instance, there is probably no such lonely stretch of coastline as
+that of British Columbia and Alaska. There is only one large port north
+of Vancouver--Prince Rupert--and this rising hive of maritime activity
+is 550 miles distant. The coast is as wild as that of Norway, which,
+indeed, it resembles very closely, bristling as it does with fjords and
+islands, with rugged cliffs rising abruptly from the water to a height
+of several hundred feet. Navigation at night is extremely hazardous,
+as the path leads by devious ways through deep channels intersecting
+the outer barriers of islands, where fogs hang low and thickly. The
+captain has to pick his way carefully, determining his course by timing
+the period between the blast of his siren and its echo, as it is
+thrown from headland to headland. As the passenger traffic developed,
+the masters of the vessels entrusted with so many human lives felt
+the increased responsibility keenly, and agitated for more adequate
+protection. The erection of lighthouses, even of the most economical
+type, would have entailed huge expenditure by both the United States
+and Canadian Governments, while the question of maintenance would have
+bristled with searching problems.
+
+Accordingly, it was decided to adopt the floating automatic system,
+which had proved eminently satisfactory in other parts of the world.
+In this manner a highly successful and inexpensive solution of the
+difficulty was found. These buoys have been installed at all the most
+treacherous points leading to sounds and canals, as the lochs are
+called, and have been found in every way equal to the simplest type
+of attended lighthouse. The southern coast of Nova Scotia has been
+protected in a similar manner, a chain of automatic lights, spaced ten
+miles apart, having been completed, so that this wild, rugged shore
+is patrolled very efficiently at the present moment. Other countries
+have not been dilatory in adopting the same methods. Consequently,
+to-day the automatic floating lighthouse is one of the handiest, most
+efficient and reliable devices for assisting navigation that the
+lighthouse engineer has at his command.
+
+The lights assume different forms, this factor being influenced by
+position, specific duty, and local conditions. Similarly, the character
+of the illuminant employed also varies, acetylene, compressed oil-gas,
+petroleum, and electricity, being utilized, according to circumstances.
+On the whole, however, acetylene gas appears to be the most favoured
+illuminating medium, inasmuch as the preparation of the carbide of
+calcium has undergone such marked improvement.
+
+When Mr. Thomas L. Willson discovered the cheap process for the
+manufacture of carbide of calcium upon a commercial scale, and the
+new industry became placed upon a firm footing, it was only natural
+that the inventor should realize the possibilities of applying the
+new illuminant to the assistance of navigation. Acetylene gas gives
+a brilliant clear light of intense whiteness, which is capable of
+penetrating a great distance. Accordingly, he set to work to devise
+a buoy lighted by this gas, and able to carry sufficient storage of
+calcium carbide to burn for weeks or months without attention. When
+he had completed the first apparatus of this character, he handed it
+over to the Marine Department of the Canadian Government for submission
+to any test that they might consider expedient, in order to ascertain
+the limits of its application. The buoy was set in position and
+watched carefully. Periodically it was examined to ascertain whether
+overhauling and cleaning were necessary, as well as the behaviour
+of the light under all conditions of weather. Captains of vessels
+passing the beacon were requested to pronounce their opinions upon the
+quality of the light, and their remarks concerning its range, facility
+with which it might be picked up, reliability, and so forth, were
+carefully marshalled and digested by the authorities. Precisely what
+the officials thought of the invention is reflected most convincingly
+by the fact that to-day over 300 lights working upon this principle are
+stationed in Canadian waters, both upon the storm-bound ocean coasts
+and upon the wind-swept shores of the Great Lakes and waterways.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.--SECTIONAL ELEVATION OF THE WILLSON AUTOMATIC
+FLOATING LIGHT. (See next page.)]
+
+The Willson buoys are absolutely automatic in their operation. All
+the impurities in the gas are removed by passing it through a special
+purifier, so that the burner cannot become clogged or the light
+impoverished. A charge of 1,300 to 1,500 pounds of carbide is carried
+within the apparatus, and the gas is generated _under low pressure_.
+The lantern is fitted with a Fresnel lens, so that the light is
+condensed into an intensely powerful and penetrating horizontal beam.
+One prominent feature is that the candle-power of acetylene gas is
+seven times as high as that of compressed oil-gas, while the reservoir
+of a given size will contain this equivalent of more light. The
+candle-power of these floating lights obviously varies, the largest
+size being capable of emitting a beam of 1,000 candle-power, this flame
+being the maximum that the lens will stand without breaking.
+
+The construction and the principle of operation are exceedingly simple,
+as may be gathered from reference to Fig. 16. The beacon comprises
+a gas generator tube of steel (1), which is supported by the steel
+float chamber (2), on the upper side of which is placed the support
+(3) carrying the lantern (4). Stability is insured by means of the
+counterweight (6) attached to the lower end of the generator tube.
+A few feet from the bottom of the latter is a diaphragm (7), fitted
+centrally with a conically-seated valve (8) which is mounted on a stem
+(9). This extends through the centre of the generator and its head
+(10). The upper end of the valve stem carries a hexagonal nut (11),
+while the stem itself at this point has a keyway cut into it. A spline
+is fitted into the generator head to engage the keyway, and when the
+nut (11) is turned to close or to open the valve, the stem itself
+cannot move with it, except in two directions only--up or down. The nut
+itself cannot be turned too far, in which event it might drop the stem
+and valve, as there is a stop-collar (12). Leakage of gas is prevented
+by a cap (14), which is screwed into the generator head and sealed with
+a rubber washer. This cap is sufficiently long to permit the valve stem
+to be raised or lowered so as to adjust the movement of the valve. The
+stem of the valve is protected from the carbide by enclosure within
+a tube (13), which works through a guide bar (24) bolted to the side
+of the generator tube. A grid (23) is fitted in the centre of the
+diaphragm (7) and surrounding the valve (8), so as to prevent small
+pieces of carbide, which may pass through the grate (16), from falling
+into the water, and thereby being wasted. The steel grate upon which
+the carbide rests is attached to the inside of the generator, a short
+distance above the diaphragm. The grid (23) also acts as a valve seat,
+and is provided with a rubber packing (15), which is held in a groove
+in the seat, and projects a sufficient distance to make a good joint
+with the valve (8) when it is closed, even if the valve happen to be
+foul.
+
+The carbide of calcium, in the form of large crystals measuring about
+8 by 4 inches, is placed in the generator tube when the beacon is
+immersed in the water, the valve (8) being opened and the valve-cap
+(14) screwed down. In the centre of the counterweight (6) is an orifice
+through which the water enters from the outside, and passes through
+the open valve, to come into contact with the carbide resting upon the
+grate. Gas is generated instantly, to ascend through the carbide into
+the purifying chamber (5), where all deleterious matter is removed, the
+gas escaping thence through the small aperture (17) and pipe (18) to
+the lantern, to which the supply-pipe is connected by the aid of the
+coupling (19).
+
+Of course, at times gas is liable to be generated more rapidly than
+it can be consumed. What happens? The apparatus is not provided with
+facilities to receive the surplus gas. Being unable to escape upwards
+through the generator tube, it collects at the bottom, and as the
+pressure increases it gradually forces the water away from the carbide,
+so that generation ceases, and is not resumed until the surplus gas has
+been absorbed, when the water once more is able to come into contact
+with the carbide. Thus it will be seen that the gas generation is
+controlled automatically, and that it is almost impossible for the gas
+pressure within the plant to reach a disruptive degree, owing to the
+fact that when it exceeds a certain limit it has a free vent from the
+bottom of the device, where the water normally is permitted to enter to
+carry out its designed purpose.
+
+This invention has been utilized for a wide variety of purposes, from
+the lighting of harbours, navigable channels, rivers, bays, and so
+forth, to that of exposed coasts. The automatic beacon, properly so
+called, has a tower, which brings the focal plane to an elevation
+varying between 50 and 100 feet, this tower being built of lattice
+steelwork attached to the top half of the buoy, with a day mark
+surrounding the lantern gallery, access to which is secured by an iron
+ladder. This type of light carries a sufficient storage of carbide
+in a single charge to keep the light burning continuously for about
+forty weeks. In this instance the only modification from that already
+described is that the water for the production of the gas is admitted
+into the top instead of to the bottom of the generator. When an excess
+of gas occurs, the pressure thereof drives the water away from the
+carbide until the surplus has been consumed. Another type, somewhat
+smaller, carrying a charge sufficient for nearly six months, has proved
+highly successful as a coastal light, some thirty beacons of this class
+being stationed along the shore of British Columbia. The only trouble
+experienced therewith in these waters has been due to frost, which,
+solidifying the water around the buoy, has interrupted the designed
+functions.
+
+But probably the most complete and useful type of Willson acetylene
+gas beacon is that in which the Courtenay whistling device is
+incorporated, so that in thick weather audible warning of the danger
+may be extended. In this instance the floating chamber which supports
+the superstructure carrying the light and also the generator tube, is
+fitted with two further tubes which project from the base like huge
+legs. These tubes are open at the bottom, but are closed at the top
+except for a connection with a valve-casing, which is fitted with a
+ball-valve, and upon which a powerful whistle is bolted. Now, if the
+buoy is lowered and anchored in absolutely still water, the water will
+rise to the same level within the tubes as it is outside; but when the
+buoy is lifted upon the crest of a wave, the level of the water falls,
+so that the air space within the tubes is increased. Air enters this
+augmented space through the ball-check inlet valve in the valve-casing.
+When the beacon falls, naturally the water endeavours to maintain its
+level within the tubes, and therefore the air which was admitted into
+the space becomes compressed, to be expelled through the only possible
+vent--the whistle--thereby producing a very powerful blast. Thirty of
+these combined light and whistling buoys have been strung along the
+rugged Nova Scotia coast, and have proved highly popular, that outside
+Halifax harbour being known colloquially among seafarers as the “Outer
+Automatic.”
+
+Another acetylene system, but working upon a better principle, has been
+perfected in Sweden, and, indeed, now has been adopted universally,
+owing to its many excellent features. This is the “Aga” light, which
+is the invention of Mr. Gustaf Dalén,[C] and which has been brought
+to a high stage of commercial success by the Gas Accumulator Company
+of Stockholm. I have pointed out the one objection to the Willson
+acetylene automatic light--namely, its uselessness when the surrounding
+water becomes frozen. While this drawback does not affect its sphere
+of utility to a noticeable degree in Canadian waters, it acts somewhat
+adversely in other seas where similar conditions prevail, but where
+the navigable channels are kept open by ice-breakers, such as, for
+instance, in the Baltic Sea. Mr. Dalén recognized this weak point in
+any system wherein contact with water is responsible for the generation
+of the gas, and accordingly sought for a superior method. Fortunately,
+the perfection of a new means of handling acetylene, by French
+inventors, offered the complete solution of the problem in a practical
+way. The principle of this lies in the use of dissolved acetylene,
+which is perfectly safe from explosion, and can be handled with the
+greatest facility. The gas can be stored in cylinders similar to those
+used for containing oxygen and hydrogen under pressure, gases which
+are easier to transport than carbide of calcium, and, what is far more
+important, climatic conditions do not exercise the slightest influence
+upon it.
+
+ [C] The humane labours of Mr. Dalén received recognition by the
+ award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912.
+
+Dissolved acetylene may be stored within the cylinder, or accumulator,
+as it is called, to a pressure of at least ten atmospheres, and at
+this pressure it contains 100 times its own volume of acetylene gas.
+The accumulators may be made of any desired size, this factor being
+governed by considerations of transport and application, as well as of
+the consumption of the burner.
+
+The perfection of the dissolved acetylene process came as a great boon
+to the Swedish lighting authorities, inasmuch as they have probably
+the most difficult stretch of coastline in the world to protect. At the
+same time, owing to the wild, exposed character of many of the points
+which demanded lighting, a perfect, economical, and reliable automatic
+system was in urgent demand. Acetylene was an obvious illuminant,
+since, while the country is deficient in the essential resources for
+the preparation of other fuels, carbide of calcium is very cheap,
+Sweden, in fact, being the largest producer of this commodity. The
+Swedish Board of Pilotage experimented with acetylene lighting for six
+or seven years, submitting every known acetylene lighting system to
+searching practical trials, but failed to be sufficiently convinced on
+the vital question of reliability. Freezing-up was the most pronounced
+shortcoming, but when dissolved acetylene appeared as a commercial
+product this disadvantage was removed completely, and acetylene was
+adopted.
+
+[Illustration: THE “KALKGRUNDET,” SWEDEN’S LATEST AUTOMATIC LIGHTSHIP.
+
+The Dalén Flasher is used, and this undoubtedly is the finest vessel of
+its type in the world.]
+
+Yet dissolved acetylene, though completely successful, possessed one
+drawback. It was expensive as compared with oil-gas. Accordingly, there
+was great scope for a means of economizing the consumption of the fuel
+without interfering with its lighting value and efficiency. At the same
+time a superior flashing system was desired. The methods which were
+in vogue to this end were satisfactory so far as they went, but they
+involved a considerable useless consumption of gas.
+
+This is where Mr. Gustaf Dalén completed one of his greatest
+achievements. He perfected a flashing apparatus wherein the gas passes
+to the burner in intermittent puffs, to be ignited by a small invisible
+pilot light. The device was tested and proved so successful that it
+was adopted throughout the service. In Swedish waters to-day there are
+127 aids to navigation operating upon this system, of which five are
+lightships. The success of the invention in the land of its origin
+attracted other nations to its possibilities. At the present moment
+over 700 lights, scattered throughout the world, are working upon this
+principle.
+
+If a beacon throws a fixed light, unless it is of extreme power, it is
+liable to be confused with a ship’s mast-light, a fact which was found
+to be one of the greatest objections to the fixed white light of the
+acetylene aid to navigation. On the other hand, a flashing warning must
+be of such a character that it cannot be mistaken for the twinkling
+of a brilliant star, or of a light which has nothing to do with
+navigation. This is where the “Aga” flasher emphasizes its value. It
+throws a short, powerful gleam at brief intervals. The mariner cannot
+possibly confuse or misconstrue it; the regularity of the flash arrests
+his immediate attention, and its purport may be divined instantly. The
+apparatus is simple and highly effective, while it has the advantage
+that the periods of light and darkness can be altered in relation to
+one another, or grouped, as desired.
+
+From the maintenance point of view, however, the invention is of far
+greater significance. As the gas is consumed only during the light
+periods, which are very brief in comparison with the eclipse, the
+economy effected is very appreciable. When the apparatus was first
+brought within the range of practical application, many authorities,
+which had become wedded to the oil-gas lighting system, wherein the
+light flashes are of long duration in comparison with the dark periods,
+maintained that the Dalén flash was too short to be of any value. They
+disregarded the fact that the power of the acetylene-gas flash is about
+seven times as intense as that of the oil-gas light. For instance, when
+the United States acquired the first Aga light in the autumn of 1908,
+the authorities demanded either a characteristic signal comprising ten
+seconds of light followed by five seconds of darkness, or flashes and
+eclipses of equal duration--five seconds.
+
+[Illustration: THE “SVINBĀDAN,” UNATTENDED LIGHTSHIP IN SWEDISH WATERS.
+
+It works upon the Dalén system with flasher, giving a flash of 0·3
+second duration, followed by darkness for 2·7 seconds.]
+
+There was a prejudice against short, powerful, and oft-repeating
+flashes, mainly because their advantages were misunderstood. Practical
+experience, however, demonstrated the fact that the period of light
+might be reduced very considerably, and, as a result of prolonged
+investigations, the Swedish Board of Pilotage adopted a characteristic
+comprising 0·3 second light followed by darkness for 2·7 seconds. This
+has become known since as the “one-tenth flash,” owing to the luminous
+interval occupying one-tenth of the combined period of light and
+darkness. It will be seen that, as a result of this arrangement, twenty
+flashes are thrown per minute.
+
+As the flame is lighted for only one-tenth of the signal period,
+it will be seen that the saving of gas amounts to 90 per cent., as
+compared with the light which is burning constantly. Accordingly, the
+gas charge will last ten times as long with the flashing apparatus;
+consequently, the accumulator need have only one-tenth of the capacity
+of that for a similar beacon which burns constantly. The economy really
+is not quite 90 per cent., as a certain volume of gas is consumed by
+the pilot flame, which ignites the charge of gas issuing from the
+flasher burner. This, however, is an insignificant item, inasmuch as
+the quantity of gas burned by the pilot light does not exceed one-third
+of a cubic foot per twenty-four hours.
+
+Not only has this highly ingenious system been adapted to varying types
+of buoys, similar in design and range of action to those described in
+connection with the Willson apparatus, wherein the light may be left
+unattended for as long as twelve months, according to the capacity of
+the accumulator, but it has also been applied to “light-boats” and
+light-vessels. The “light-boat” is a hybrid, being a combination of the
+buoy and the lightship, and was devised to meet special conditions.
+Thus, the “Gerholmen” light-boat stationed in the mouth of a Swedish
+river, where the current runs exceedingly strongly, resembles a small
+boat with a water-tight deck. From the centre of this rises a steel
+tripod, at the top of which the lantern is placed. The gas accumulators
+are stored within the hull, and are of sufficient capacity to maintain
+the light for a round twelvemonth without attention, as the flashing
+apparatus is incorporated.
+
+The Aga light has come to be regarded as one of the greatest
+developments in lighthouse engineering, and has been adopted
+extensively throughout the world in connection with either floating
+or fixed aids to navigation. The United States have decided to adopt
+the system exclusively henceforth, until a further progressive step is
+achieved, and several floating lights of this type have been acquired
+already to guard wild and lonely stretches of the coastline.
+
+Here and there attempts have been made to apply electricity to
+inaccessible lights. The most interesting endeavour in this direction
+was in connection with the lighting of the Gedney Channel from the
+open Atlantic to New York harbour. This formerly constituted the only
+available highway for the big liners, and it is exceedingly tortuous
+and treacherous--so much so that vessels arriving off Sandy Hook
+in waning daylight invariably anchored and awaited the dawn before
+resuming the journey. The great difficulty in connection with Gedney’s
+Channel was the distance of the main lights on shore, the direct range
+at one part being over thirteen miles. Consequently the land lights
+were of little utility to the pilot.
+
+The authorities decided to convert the channel into an electric-lighted
+waterway. Buoys were laid down on either side of the thoroughfare. They
+were of the spar type, resembling decapitated masts projecting from
+the water, and were held in position by mushroom anchors, weighing
+4,000 pounds, or nearly 2 tons, apiece. Each buoy was crowned with
+a 100 candle-power incandescent electric lamp, encased within a
+special globe having a diameter of 5 inches. An electric cable was
+laid on either side of this street and connected with each buoy. The
+first section was completed in 1888, the electric gleams being shed
+for the first time on November 7 of that year. The system appeared
+to give such complete satisfaction that it was extended. Altogether
+six and a quarter miles of cable were laid down, which in itself was
+no easy feat, while prodigious difficulties were experienced in its
+maintenance, owing to the severity of the currents and the treacherous
+character of the sea-bed. The lights were controlled from a central
+point ashore, and the idea of being able to switch on and off a chain
+of aids to navigation by a simple movement presented many attractive
+features. Although navigation appreciated this improvement, the Great
+White Waterway did not prove a complete success. It did not possess
+that vital element of complete reliability which is so essential to
+navigation.
+
+Compressed oil-gas has been employed extensively for unattended
+floating lights, but it possesses so many shortcomings that it is being
+superseded on all sides by acetylene, with the exception of one or two
+countries which appear to be inseparably wedded to this principle. It
+is expensive both to install and to maintain, while the “radius of
+action”--otherwise, the period during which it may be left without
+human attention--is unavoidably brief. For temporary purposes, such as
+the indication of a submerged wreck, it is efficient, while it is also
+serviceable for accessible positions, but it is not regarded as being
+a satisfactory system for places which human hands cannot reach for
+months at a time.
+
+Crude petroleum in conjunction with the Wigham long-burning petroleum
+lamp, wherein the flame is produced from a moving wick, has been
+adopted widely. Lights installed upon this principle may be left for
+ninety-three days at a time without anxiety. In many instances the
+Wigham light is mounted upon steel boats; in other cases it is attached
+to floating wooden structures. The British Admiralty in particular is
+partial to this type of light, and it must be confessed that it has
+proved highly serviceable and reliable.
+
+I have described already the general principles and features of this
+system. When it is applied to a floating beacon, and it is desired
+to save the oil dropping from the drip valve, a tank is fixed to the
+deck of the floating structure, and connected by a flexible pipe to
+the coupling at the bottom of the float cylinder. A universal joint is
+attached to the connection on the top of the tank to prevent the pipe
+being twisted by the swinging and swaying motion of the lamp on the
+gimbals. When the lamp is inspected, the oil may be pumped out of the
+tank, strained, and used time after time in the float cylinder.
+
+One of the most interesting of this type of floating boat-lights is
+to be seen in Queenstown harbour. The hull is 30 feet in length, and
+has a beam of 11 feet. On this, within a conical structure measuring
+7½ feet high and 6½ feet in diameter at the deck, is mounted the
+lantern. Although the lamp is exposed to drenching seas and heavy
+storms, it has never yet failed, a fact which conclusively points to
+its efficiency. It rides well, and the lamp is kept much drier than the
+lights on ordinary buoys, according to the observations of the engineer
+responsible for its maintenance. In this case the focus of the light is
+brought 12 feet above the level of the sea.
+
+Probably the most compelling illustration of the utility of the
+automatic beacon is offered by the unattended lightship. The Otter Rock
+vessel is one of the most interesting examples of this development.
+It was designed by Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson, and comprises a
+substantial steel hull, the deck of which is covered so that the
+interior is absolutely water-tight. The craft is provided with a
+central and heavy bilge keels, so as to reduce rolling to the minimum.
+Two heavy steel bulkheads divide the craft into three water-tight
+compartments, in the centre of which two large welded-steel gas tanks
+are stowed. These are of sufficient capacity to feed the light for
+several months without replenishment. The light is mounted upon a steel
+tower placed amidships, which brings the focal plane 25 feet above the
+water. The gas is fed from the tanks to the lantern through the tower,
+a valve reducing the pressure, while a ladder enables the attendants
+to climb to the lantern gallery to adjust the burner and flame, and to
+clean the lenses, upon the occasion of their periodical visits.
+
+The gas cylinders are charged from the supply-ship through flexible
+hoses, the gas being compressed to about 180 pounds per square inch.
+The light is of sufficient power and elevation to be seen from a
+distance of some twelve miles. The beacon gives not only a visual, but
+also an audible warning. On the deck of the boat a bell is mounted,
+this being rung not only by the motion of the ship, in the manner of
+a bell-buoy, but also by the gas on its passage from the tanks to the
+lantern, the bell being fitted with two clappers for this purpose. The
+gas in passing from the tank enters a receptacle having a flexible
+diaphragm, which, as it becomes filled with gas, is naturally pressed
+outwards. On this is mounted a central metal piece, which is connected
+to a rod and lever. As the diaphragm is forced outwards, it moves the
+rod and actuates the lever, which, when the diaphragm falls, return
+to their normal positions. Attached to this mechanical arrangement
+is the bell-clapper, which alternately is lifted and dropped upon
+the dome of the bell, thereby causing it to ring. After the gas has
+performed its duty in raising the clapper lever and rod, it passes
+to the lantern to be consumed. Thus, while the light gleams brightly
+and steadily, the bell rings with unerring regularity--about three
+times per minute--day and night for months on a single charge; both
+must continue in operation until the supply of gas is expended. The
+success of this interesting and novel lightship has been responsible
+for similar installations in other similarly wild and exposed positions
+where approach is uncertain and often impossible for weeks at a time.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _Photo by permission of Messrs. Edmondsons Ltd., Dublin._
+
+THE LANTERN USED IN THE WIGHAM AUTOMATIC PETROLEUM BEACON.
+
+The circular shallow reservoir contains the burning-oil, which feeds
+the wick as it moves towards the burner, and also acts as a deck on
+which the lantern is built. In this ingenious system the flame is not
+produced at the end of the wick as in the ordinary lamp, but from the
+flat side of the wick, which is moved continuously in a horizontal
+direction over a small roller. By this means a light of uniform
+intensity is obtained, as carbonization cannot occur.]
+
+One misadventure befell the Otter Rock light-vessel, which is moored in
+an open position over the rock of that name near Islay, although it was
+not the fault of either the system or the designing engineers. There
+was a flaw in one of the shackles, and while the ship was sawing and
+tugging at her anchors during a heavy gale the flaw asserted itself,
+the shackle broke, and the lightship got away. She was recovered with
+some difficulty, after having drifted about twenty miles. She was found
+stove in, having embraced the rocks during her wayward journey, but
+otherwise was unharmed. She was towed into port, repaired, and then
+taken back to her station, where she was secured more firmly than ever,
+while her chains were closely inspected to make assurance doubly sure.
+No repetition of the accident has occurred since, and the Otter Rock
+lightship, tethered firmly to the rock, rides gales and calms, throwing
+her welcome rays and droning her musical warning the whole year
+round as steadily and efficiently as if she had a crew aboard.
+
+A similar lightship was built for the Trinity House authorities from
+the designs of their engineer, Sir Thomas Matthews, for service on the
+English coast. This boat, built of steel, measures 65 feet in length,
+by 18½ feet beam and 10½ feet depth, with the lantern carried at the
+point of an open steel pyramidal structure, rising sufficiently high
+above the boat’s deck amidships to bring the focal plane 26 feet above
+the level of the water, thereby giving it a visible range of some ten
+miles. The boat is provided with two holds, in which the gas reservoirs
+are placed, the total gas capacity being about 1,500 cubic feet--enough
+to keep the light burning for one hundred days.
+
+This light is of the revolving type, and the rotation of the apparatus
+is accomplished very ingeniously. Before the gas passes to the burner,
+it drives a tiny three-cylinder engine, the crank-shaft of which is
+connected to the revolving apparatus through gearing. The speed of the
+turntable is kept constant by the aid of a governor, and the apparatus
+works so smoothly and perfectly that there is not the slightest
+divergence from the rate at which the apparatus is set. As the gas
+emerges from the engine, it passes to the burner to be consumed. By
+means of a novel apparatus, should anything befall the little motor or
+the rotating mechanism, the light does not drop out of service. In that
+event the gas flows directly to the burner, the only difference being
+that a fixed instead of a revolving light is emitted.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of Messrs. Edmondsons Ltd., Dublin._
+
+THE “6-BAR” FLOATING AUTOMATIC WIGHAM LIGHT IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR.
+
+This beacon, burning crude petroleum, burns for thirty days on a single
+oil charge.]
+
+When the Scandinavian liner _Norge_, while on her way to the United
+States in July, 1904, fouled the terrible Rockall and lost 750 of her
+passengers, the outcry about the absence of all means of indicating
+this spot to the navigator vibrated round the world. Yet it was a
+useless agitation. Rockall is a no-man’s land; no nation has planted
+its flag upon its cone of granite; no Power cares whether it continues
+its harvest of human lives or otherwise. The various countries appear
+to think that it is too much off the map to be worthy of a moment’s
+thought; its existence is brought home only by a holocaust.
+
+After this heartrending disaster, Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson
+adumbrated a promising means of indicating this awful graveyard to
+the seafarer. They suggested that two automatic unattended lightships
+should be constructed, and that one should relieve the other every six
+months. The project was eminently practicable, but every country seemed
+to shirk responsibility in the expense of its adoption. But Rockall is
+a unique danger spot; in no other part of the known world does such a
+formidable isolated peak of granite rise from the ocean depths, for
+it is in mid-Atlantic, 160 miles west of St. Kilda, and 290 miles off
+the Scottish mainland. It may be away from the great steamship lanes
+of the Atlantic, yet a vast volume of shipping passes within sight
+of its curious formation. Seeing that the foremost maritime Powers
+defray between them the cost of maintaining the light off Cape Spartel,
+surely the dictates of humanity are sufficiently pressing to secure the
+indication of this islet. The maintenance of an unattended automatic
+beacon, such as Messrs. Stevenson advocated, would not impose a severe
+strain upon the treasuries of the leading Powers of the world, whose
+interests are associated intimately with the North Atlantic.
+
+The perfection of the unattended lightship, working automatically, has
+provided the lighthouse engineer with a powerful weapon for marking the
+most exposed and out-of-the-way danger spots. When the new development
+is carried to its uttermost lengths, no graveyard of the ocean, no
+matter how remote and inaccessible, need be without means of warning
+shipping of its whereabouts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE LIGHT-KEEPER AND HIS LIFE
+
+
+The life of the guardian of a blazing signpost of the coast is much
+the same the whole world over. It is unavoidably monotonous under
+the best conditions. Each succeeding day and night brings a similar
+round of toil, with very little variation. There are the same duties
+to be performed in strict accordance with routine, and under normal
+circumstances there are many idle hours which have to be whiled away
+as best one can. On the mainland, especially in the South of England,
+France, Germany, and the United States, the loneliness and monotony are
+not felt so keenly by the wardens of the light, as in many instances
+they are in close proximity to ports and towns, where a little welcome
+relaxation may be obtained during the rest spells; while in the
+summer evenings, if the lights should be only a few miles away from
+civilization, visitors are frequent. Again, the keepers as a rule live
+with their families in cosy solid buildings, and, having a stretch
+of garden flanking their homes, can expend their hours of leisure to
+advantage.
+
+On the isolated, lonely rock, however, the conditions are vastly
+different. The average person, when regarding on a calm day the tall
+slim outlines of a tower rising from the water, is apt to regard
+the life of those responsible for keeping the light going as one
+enveloped in romance and peace, far removed from the trials and worries
+of the maelstrom of civilization. But twenty-four hours on one of
+these beacons completely dispel all romantic impression. The gilt of
+fascination wears away quickly, and the visitor recognizes only too
+forcibly the terrible desolation of it all, and admires the little band
+of men who watch vigilantly over the deep for the guidance of those who
+go down to the sea in ships.
+
+The keepers of such stations are marooned as completely as any castaway
+on a barren island. In many instances they cannot even signal to the
+shore. If anything should go wrong, they must wait until a ship comes
+in sight, to communicate their tidings by flag signals. If the call is
+urgent, say for illness, and the passing boat carries a doctor, she
+will heave to, and, if conditions permit, will launch a boat to carry
+the medical man to the rock to administer aid. If it is a matter of
+life or death, the ship will take the man off.
+
+As may be imagined, upon a sea-rock, owing to the slender proportions
+of the tower, the quarters are inevitably very cramped, with no
+facilities for the men to stretch their limbs. The manner in which
+space is economized in the small circular apartments is astonishing.
+The essential furniture is built to the wall, and liberal cupboard
+space is provided, the governing consideration being to provide the men
+with as much open space as the restricted circumstances will permit.
+The only exercise that the men can obtain in the open air is upon the
+narrow shelf forming the landing platform, or the narrow gallery around
+the lantern. In the majority of circumstances it is less than that
+provided for the benefit of a prisoner in an exercise yard.
+
+The lamp is lighted at dusk, and, unless it is a fixed white light, the
+clockwork driving the occulting and revolving mechanism has to be wound
+up. Seeing that this entails the lifting of a ton or so up the vertical
+cylinder in which the weight travels, this is no mean task in itself.
+
+Unremitting vigilance has to be maintained while the lamp is burning.
+It demands attention from time to time, while, should anything serious
+go wrong, the attendant must bring the reserve lamp into service
+without a moment’s loss of time and without interruption of the ray.
+
+“The light must not go out!” That is the inflexible rule of all
+attended lights between the two Poles. Even if it failed only for a
+minute, the circumstance would not escape observation. Some vessel
+would detect the breakdown; it would be recorded in the captain’s
+log-book. When he touched the first port, intimation would be sent to
+the organization responsible for the beacon, setting forth the fact
+that on such and such a night, at a certain hour, this light was not
+showing in accordance with the official light list, or was giving a
+warning different from that laid down for the guidance of the seafarer.
+An inquiry would be instituted immediately to ascertain the reason, and
+the light-keeper probably would find himself in an awkward position,
+although months might have elapsed since the incident.
+
+There is nothing haphazard about the control of lights. The
+circumstances are too serious to permit the slightest deviation from
+hard-and-fast regulations. The passing mariner is entirely dependent
+upon these blazing guardians, maybe from a distance of fifteen miles or
+more. He has his chart wherewith he is able to steer his way, but he
+must have certain marks to guide him at night, so that he may be sure
+of his course and position. Accordingly, every lighthouse possesses
+some individual characteristic in regard to its light. As explained
+elsewhere, it may be a group flash, an occulting flash of a distinctive
+nature, a revolving light which completes a revolution once in a
+certain period of time, or a fixed blaze.
+
+Fortunately, the men watching over the lights appreciate the gravity
+of their responsibility, and are reliable to an heroic degree. Each
+is a man picked for the duty, who is not appalled by loneliness, and
+is of unimpeachable precision. Of course, accidents will happen, but
+dereliction of duty is criminal, because it may bring about loss of
+life. Carelessness on the part of a light-keeper precipitated the
+loss of the steamer _Victoria_ when crossing the English Channel from
+Newhaven to Dieppe on April 12, 1887. The French coast, as it was being
+approached, became shrouded by the inexorable fog-fiend. The captain
+lost his way, although he knew, from the time he had been steaming,
+that he must be perilously near the French shore. He listened for
+the droning of the fog-siren mounted on Pointe d’Ailly, but in vain.
+He sent to the engine-room to ascertain the number of revolutions
+the engines had made, and this convinced him that he must be close
+inshore, despite the silence of the fog-signal. Thinking that he might
+have strayed some distance east of Dieppe, he brought his vessel
+round, and then crawled slowly ahead. But he had scarcely settled into
+his forward stride when there was a crash--a terrible splitting and
+crunching. The vessel had kept a true course, and now had hit the very
+rocks which the captain had sought to avoid. The passengers, being
+ready to land, were got into the boats and pushed through the dense
+curtain for land, but some thirty passengers and crew were never seen
+again.
+
+The subsequent inquiry revealed an amazing breach of duty on the part
+of those in charge of the light-station. The head lighthouse-keeper,
+off duty at the time, was asleep in bed, but his wife awoke him as she
+observed the fog settling upon the water. He dressed hurriedly, and
+rushed to see what his companion was doing. This official had failed
+lamentably in his duties. Instead of starting the boiler fires to raise
+the steam to work the siren upon the first signs of the approaching
+enemy, as he should have done, he had delayed the duty. The result
+was that an hour was wasted, and during this interval the unfortunate
+captain took his ship upon the rocks. To make matters worse, the
+keepers did not perceive the wreck until some two hours after the
+disaster, although they admitted that they heard the cries of people
+an hour and a half previously, but never suspected the cause of the
+turmoil.
+
+The man on watch during the night maintains a keen lookout. The
+faintest signs of a gathering mist are sufficient to cause him to wake
+his assistant to manipulate the fog-signal, even if the precaution
+proves to be unnecessary. “It is better to be safe than sorry,” is the
+lighthouse-keeper’s motto; so he runs no risks.
+
+When the gathering brightness of the dawn enables the form of the
+tower to be identified from a distance of several miles, the light is
+extinguished. Heavy curtains are drawn across the windows, not only
+to protect the lenses from the sun, but also to give a characteristic
+colour to the lantern. Thus, by daylight a lantern may appear to be a
+dull red or an intense black. To give a brilliant light by night and be
+a prominent landmark by day forms the dual duty of the guardian of the
+coast.
+
+When the lantern has cooled, the keepers coming on the day shift have
+to clean the lamps and put them in order for service the following
+evening. Everything has to be overhauled and got ready for use at a
+moment’s notice. The oil reservoirs have to be examined and charged,
+and the panes of glass, with which the lantern is glazed, cleaned and
+brightened. The reflectors have to be polished, for they must be kept
+in a constant state of mirror-like brilliancy. All brasswork has to be
+cleaned and polished until it gleams like burnished gold, while the
+rooms must be washed and kept in the pink of condition, free from the
+smallest specks of dust.
+
+The necessity for extreme cleanliness and spotlessness is emphasized
+in every lighthouse. The inspector has a highly-trained, quick
+eye for detecting carelessness, and he has one instinct developed
+peculiarly--the discovery of dust. He draws his fingers over
+everything, and squints quizzically at an object from all angles. Woe
+betide the keeper if the slightest trace of dirt is detected. Then the
+inspector closes the other eye, and the keeper receives a squint which
+does not augur well for his future. A few sharp, pointed remarks are
+rasped out, and it is not long before the relief-boat comes out with
+another man.
+
+The engineers and other representatives of authority are remorseless.
+A man is judged from apparently trifling details. If he permits a
+door-knob to become sullied, he is just as likely to overlook the
+polishing of the lenses, or to perform some other vital task in a
+perfunctory manner.
+
+One of the Stevensons achieved a peculiar notoriety among the Scottish
+keepers for his unbending attitude in this connection. He had a scent
+for dust and untidiness developed as keenly as that of a mouse for
+cheese. When his boat came alongside a light, and the keeper stepped
+forward to extend a helping hand, the eyes of the engineer scanned
+him searchingly. If the man’s appearance were not immaculate,
+trouble loomed ahead. This engineer maintained that if a man were
+indifferent to his own appearance, and permitted dust to collect upon
+his own clothes, he could not be trusted to maintain the delicate
+apparatus of a lighthouse in apple-pie order! What was more to the
+point, the engineer generally was correct in his deductions. He spared
+no effort to place the most responsible lights in the hands of men
+above suspicion in regard to cleanliness. Although, as this martinet
+confessed, nothing pained him more than to have words with any of his
+keepers, cleanliness had to be maintained.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
+
+THE PUMPS WHEREBY THE OIL IS LIFTED FROM THE LOWEST FLOOR TO THE
+LANTERN-ROOM.]
+
+When the keeper has completed his routine duties, he is at liberty to
+spend his leisure according to his inclinations. As a rule the men turn
+these periods to advantage. Reading is a popular recreation, and the
+authorities maintain a circulating library, the books being changed
+with every relief. But the men could accept twice as much literature
+as is available at present. Here a word should be said concerning the
+Lighthouse Literature Mission and its work, which is international.
+The idea was conceived by Mr. Samuel H. Strain, and the work is
+conducted from Belfast, Ireland. The most conspicuous feature of this
+organization is that every penny received is turned to good and useful
+purpose in connection with the object. The founder conducts it without
+monetary reward, so that the item of “operating” charges does not
+swamp the greater proportion of receipts, as is the case with so many
+so-called missions in other fields. There are few organizations which
+are so deserving of financial support, because this mission brings
+welcome relaxation to a hard-worked community whose vigil secures the
+safety of those who travel on the sea. The labours of Mr. Strain are
+highly appreciated by those who keep watch and ward in seagirt prisons,
+and the mission deserves far stauncher support from the philanthropic
+than it receives at present. Sympathizers with the loneliness of the
+lighthouse-keeper are prone to think that these men are in dire need
+of spiritual pabulum, and are apt to send literature of an emphatic
+goody-goody nature. But the keeper of the light is as human as the
+clerk in the city. He is so accustomed to the company of Nature, and
+has cultivated such a deep respect for the Master of the Universe
+during his spells of duty, that he welcomes a diversion therefrom in
+his hours of leisure. A humorous paper is more welcome than a tract on
+the evils of drink.
+
+When the weather is favourable the men seek a little relaxation in
+fishing, but here again they have to suffer considerable denial, as
+the tackle invariably becomes inextricably entangled with the rocks,
+so that the losses exceed the prizes. In the United States the greater
+number of the keepers maintain a garden well stocked with vegetables
+and flowers. The tending of these charges carries the minds of the
+men from their work completely, and for the opportunity to practise
+this hobby they are indebted to the kindness of the Government, which
+supplies seeds free of charge.
+
+It is when the gale is raging tumultuously that the men in the tower
+are compelled to realize their position. The waves pound the rock and
+building so ceaselessly and relentlessly that the latter trembles
+and shakes like a leaf. At times the din is so deafening that the
+men cannot converse; they are compelled to communicate with each
+other by signs. The waves pick up stones and hurl them with terrific
+force against the lantern. Occasionally the elements triumph in their
+assault, and the missiles shatter the glass. To step out on the gallery
+in the teeth of a blizzard to clear the snow away demands no little
+courage. As the man emerges upon the narrow platform, he is engulfed in
+the swirling flakes, and often is pinned against the masonry so tightly
+by the wind that he cannot move a limb; at other times he is swept
+almost off his feet. While engaged in his freezing task, he also runs
+the risk of being drenched by a rising comber.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
+
+COMBINED KITCHEN AND LIVING-ROOM IN THE LIGHTHOUSE.]
+
+The men on the lonely, exposed Tillamook Rock, off the Oregon coast,
+have had more than one occasion to respect the storm-fiend. One night,
+while a fearful gale was raging, a huge mass of rock was torn away from
+the islet, snatched by the waves, and thrown high into the air. It
+fell with terrific force upon the dome of the lantern, splintering the
+roof and smashing the light, so that no welcome rays could be thrown
+from the tower again that night. The keepers at once set to work with
+the fog-signal, and during the hours of darkness worked like slaves,
+blaring out a warning by sound which they were unable to give visually.
+
+Fortunately, such an experience as befell the keepers of the American
+Thimble Shoal light is very rare. This beacon marks the shoal of that
+name, and is, or rather was, a screw-pile iron lighthouse, marking 11
+feet of water at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, U.S.A. On
+December 27, 1909, the keepers were immersed in their tasks, when there
+was a terrible crash followed by a dismal rending and splitting. The
+building shivered from top to bottom. The keepers were thrown off their
+feet, and when they regained their wits they found that the schooner
+_Malcolm Baxter Junior_, while being towed by a tug, had blundered into
+them, and had carried a considerable portion of the building away. The
+impact upset the light; the scattered oil burst into flame, and within
+a few minutes the lighthouse was blazing like a gigantic bonfire. The
+keepers stuck to their posts, and endeavoured frantically to extinguish
+the outbreak, but their efforts were too puny to make any impression.
+At last, when a foothold was no longer possible with safety, and under
+extreme pressure, they abandoned their charge. When the flames had
+completed their destructive work the lighthouse presented a sorry
+sight, being a mass of broken and twisted ironwork. A wooden tower was
+erected with all despatch, and a fog-signal was installed, so that the
+men could carry on their duties while the reconstruction of the station
+was hurried forward.
+
+The keepers turn their hands to strange occupations. Fretwork,
+wood-carving, poker-work, and similar hobbies, are practised freely.
+A few devote their leisure to intellectual improvement to fit them
+for other walks in life. The keeper of Windward Point, Guantanamo
+Bay, Cuba, devoted his energies to studying, and obtaining diplomas
+in, mechano-therapy and suggestive therapeutics, as well as becoming
+proficient in Esperanto. The keepers of two other American lights set
+themselves to the mastery of jurisprudence, and in due course resigned
+their positions and rented offices in the city, where in the course of
+a few years they built up very remunerative legal practices. As a rule
+the lighthouse-keeper is an expert handy-man, as he is compelled to
+complete a whole list of duties in addition to maintaining the lights.
+In the summer the metal and wooden lights have to be given a coat of
+paint, while plumbing and other displays of skill in metal have to be
+carried out, even if only temporarily.
+
+The calling is exceedingly healthy, which accounts for the immunity
+from illness which these men enjoy. Also, as a rule, the land-lights
+are set amidst wild romantic surroundings. Some years ago a number of
+American families, in the search for a quiet, health-restoring rest,
+were in the habit of spending their vacations at lighthouses, to the
+financial profit of the keepers. Eventually, however, the authorities,
+fearing that the keeper might be distracted from his duties, issued a
+summary order forbidding this practice, much to the disgust of the men,
+and “attractive lighthouse apartments” became a thing of the past. In
+Great Britain an order was issued that “no ale or other intoxicating
+liquor be allowed to be sold in any lighthouse.” The precise reason for
+this strange ordinance is not quite clear, but it is significant to
+note that it came into force immediately after the disastrous fire at
+the Leasowe lighthouse, on the Wirral shore.
+
+The lighthouse invariably is an object of attraction among the general
+public, but this interest seldom goes to the length narrated by a
+keeper of one of the West Indian lights. One night two of the men at
+this particular station decided to hunt for red crabs on the beach
+below. They started off with a hurricane lamp, but were astonished,
+when they gained the foreshore, to see a large sloop hard and fast
+on the reef, although the night was beautifully clear and the light
+was burning brilliantly. With much effort the keepers got out their
+dory, put off to the wreck, and endeavoured to get the sloop out of
+her uncomfortable position, but, finding her too well fixed, took off
+the passengers. The survivors were housed in the keepers’ quarters
+until next morning, when they were succoured. The head-keeper asked the
+captain how he managed to get into such a position, and to his surprise
+learned that, as the passengers were anxious to obtain a clear close
+view of the light, the master had stood inshore, not knowing that the
+reef over which vigil was mounted ran out far into the water. That
+navigator paid dearly for his attempt to satisfy curiosity. His sloop
+broke up, since she was impaled too firmly to be salvaged.
+
+It is not often that the utter loneliness and monotony of the daily
+round unhinges a keeper’s mind, but this awful fate overtook the warden
+of a somewhat isolated American light. The man had served with Admiral
+Dewey off Manila, and upon his return home the Government placed him in
+charge of a station as an occupation for the evening of his life, and
+as a recompense for faithful service. He settled down with his wife and
+family, but the isolation soon began to affect his brain. For days he
+would absent himself from the light, which would soon have failed had
+it not been for the unswerving devotion of his wife and the assistance
+of one of two friends living in the locality. They spared no effort
+to keep the beacon burning, lest the authorities might hear about
+the keeper’s strange behaviour, and deprive him of his charge, and,
+incidentally, of his livelihood. In due course the incident did reach
+the authorities, and, not knowing what was the matter with the man,
+they took action accordingly. As the keeper entered the station after
+one of his inexplicable expeditions of a fortnight’s duration, he was
+arrested for desertion. He was examined promptly by two doctors, who
+found him hopelessly insane, and was incarcerated in an asylum, where
+in the course of a few days he became a raving lunatic.
+
+Often the keepers, although only condemned to imprisonment for a
+certain period at a time, have to tolerate a longer stay, owing to
+the relief-boat being unable to approach them. In some instances the
+delay may run into five weeks or more. During the winter the relief of
+the Eddystone, Longships, Wolf, Fastnet, Skerryvore, and Dhu-Heartach
+lights is always a matter of extreme uncertainty. Although the men
+have to provide themselves with supplies, a reserve is maintained at
+the station by the authorities for such emergencies. Even some of the
+land stations are not approachable readily. There is the Punta Gorda
+light-station on the Californian coast, the situation of which is wild
+and forbidding. There is a landing about eight miles above the station,
+but it is extremely precarious. Still, unless a certain element of risk
+is accepted in coming ashore here, it is necessary to face a tramp or
+stage journey of nearly fifty miles across country in order to gain the
+lighthouse.
+
+The lighthouses in the Red Sea are, perhaps, among the most unenviable
+and trying in the world. This stretch of water, lying between two
+blistered coasts of sand, is no more or less than an oven, where even
+the strongest constitution finds it difficult to hold out for long.
+Moreover, the absence of civilization, owing to the extreme aridity of
+the country, renders the life exceptionally depressing. In the summer
+the heat is wellnigh intolerable. The thermometer hovers between 95°
+and 110° F. in the shade throughout the twenty-four hours, so that
+night brings no relief to the oppressiveness.
+
+At some of the stations the men seek a little diversion, and
+incidentally add occasionally to their pocket-money, by shark-catching,
+which is a tolerably profitable pursuit, since these waters are thickly
+infested with this fish. The jawbone and backbone invariably find ready
+purchasers, the former being mounted as a curiosity, while the backbone
+forms a novel and serviceable walking-stick.
+
+One method of trapping these monsters which affords keen delight was
+related to me. The requirements are an electric battery, some rope, a
+few feet of electric wire, a cartridge, and an empty box, with a chunk
+or two of bad meat. The cartridge is fitted with an electric primer,
+the wire of which stretches to the battery. This cartridge is buried
+in a hunk of meat, the whole being dangled from a box--an empty cask is
+better--which serves as a float, while a rope is stretched from the box
+to the shore, with the electric wire spirally wound round it. A short
+length of chain is preferable, if available, to attach the bait to the
+float, but a short piece of rope will do. This novel line is thrown
+into the water, and the man keeps his eye on the float, with one finger
+on the battery. The hungry shark, espying the tempting morsel, makes a
+grab and swallows it, but the chain prevents him tearing away with it.
+The pull causes the float to disappear, the man’s finger presses the
+button, and the trick is done. There is an explosion, and pieces of
+shark and showers of water fly into the air. The incident is all over
+too quickly for the fish to marvel about the strange indigestibility
+of the tainted meat he grabbed so greedily. The men enjoy this sport
+hugely when it can be followed, as they regard the shark with intense
+detestation.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
+
+KEEPER CLEANING THE LAMP AFTER IT HAS COOLED DOWN.]
+
+Despite the vigilance of the various Powers, slave-running is still a
+lucrative business on these forbidding coasts. Now and again a forced
+labourer gets away from his taskmaster, and comes panting into the
+lighthouse territory. This is sanctuary to the hapless wretch, and
+although the keepers invariably receive a call from the runaway’s
+master, he meets with scant courtesy, while his demand for the
+surrender of the fugitive is answered by a point-blank refusal. The
+slave-driver may storm, threaten, and abuse, to his heart’s content,
+and, as he is generally a past-master in Arabian invective, the
+keepers have to listen to a pretty tune. But the slave is kept in the
+lighthouse until the relief-tender makes its periodical call, when he
+is taken back to Suez and liberated.
+
+Fortunately, owing to the extreme care that is manifested by the
+authorities, mishaps at a lighthouse are few and far between. The
+men are supplied with rules and regulations which are drawn up with
+an eye for every possible emergency. Yet accidents will happen, due
+in the majority of instances to familiarity bred of contempt. The
+majority of these calamities occur in connection with the explosive
+fog-signalling apparatus, although every device is adopted to safeguard
+the men. At one of the Scottish stations a keeper was manipulating
+the fog-signal, but, flying in the face of instructions, he caused
+the charge to explode prematurely. The man escaped injury, but the
+detonation shattered several panes of glass in the lantern.
+
+One of the keepers of the Rathlin light, on Altacarry Head, was not so
+fortunate. The White Star Canadian liner _Megantic_ was rounding the
+corner of Ireland to enter the last lap of the homeward journey one
+Saturday evening, when the captain’s attention was arrested by a signal
+of distress flying from the lighthouse. The interpretation of the
+signal revealed the fact that a doctor was wanted, so, easing up the
+ship, he lowered a boat, and the doctor was sent away to the island.
+Upon landing he found one of the men in dire straits. He had been
+cleaning the fog-gun, when a charge, which had been left in the weapon
+inadvertently upon the last occasion it was used, exploded. The man’s
+arm had been wrenched off, and he was burned terribly. It was a stroke
+of luck that the liner hove in sight at the moment she did. There was
+no chance of extending succour to the injured man on the spot, and he
+would have died before a doctor could have been summoned by boat from
+Ballycastle, nine miles away. The surgeon bound up the man’s injuries,
+lowered him into his boat, and, on regaining the liner, placed him
+in the hospital, where he was tended until the vessel’s arrival in
+Liverpool, where he was landed and placed in hospital.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ _By permission of “Syren and Shipping.”_
+
+A LIGHTHOUSE BEDROOM.
+
+Owing to the limited space the furniture is reduced to the minimum, the
+bunks being built against the wall.]
+
+More remarkable was the accident which happened at the Flannen Islands
+light-station in 1900; it remains an unsolved mystery to this day. This
+is one of Scotland’s lonely lights, mounting guard over a group of
+islets fifteen miles off the Hebrides. On December 26 the relief-tender
+approached the station on her usual fortnightly visit, but, to the
+amazement of those on board, no signs of the keepers or the usual
+signals were to be seen, while the lantern was not dressed in its
+daylight garb. The crew landed hurriedly, wondering what was amiss.
+They found the lighthouse absolutely deserted; not a sign of any of the
+three keepers was to be seen or heard. They examined the log, and found
+that the light had not been burning for some days, the last entry being
+made about 4 a.m. nearly a week previously. The rock was searched, but
+yielded no clue to the mystery of the complete disappearance of the
+men. The light had not been abandoned; it had simply burned itself out.
+It was a fortunate circumstance that very little shipping frequents
+these seas during the winter, or there would have been one or two
+marine disasters, as the islands are often wrapped in fog.
+
+It is surmised that one of the men ventured outside on to a rocky ledge
+in the early hours of the morning. According to the log, a vicious
+storm was raging at the time, and probably in the darkness the man was
+swept off his feet and carried into the sea. The second keeper on duty,
+marvelling at the non-return of his assistant, evidently had roused his
+other companion, and the two had instituted a search in the storm, only
+in turn to be caught by a wave and carried away.
+
+In Great Britain, since 1860, men only have been employed by the
+Trinity House Brethren for the maintenance of the lights, but in
+the United States women still are engaged in this duty. Some of the
+British lights have been controlled by one family through two or
+three generations. It was only a few years ago that a Darling retired
+from the vigil on the Longstones of Farne Islands, the scene of Grace
+Darling’s heroism, while for a century and a half one family kept the
+South Foreland light faithfully. The Casquets light off Alderney, in
+the Channel Islands, was maintained by one family, some of the children
+spending the whole of their lives on the rock, son succeeding father at
+the post of duty.
+
+On the American coast, however, women are more extensively employed.
+Seeing that many of the lights are burned in a low tower projecting
+from the dwelling-house, this circumstance may be readily understood,
+as the duties beyond the maintenance of the light are not exacting.
+One of the most notable instances, however, is the Point Pino light
+at the entrance to Monterey Bay, on the Californian coast, the
+guardianship of which has been in feminine hands for the past thirty
+years. For something approaching half a century a woman maintained the
+Michigan City harbour light on the Great Lake of that name. Indeed,
+the associations were so deep-rooted and long that the beacon became
+popularly known as “Miss Colfax’s light,” after the name of its keeper.
+Even when she attained the age of eighty years she was as active and
+attentive to her charge as on the day, in 1861, when she first assumed
+responsibility for its safe-keeping.
+
+In those times there was a beacon established on the end of the wooden
+pier, which railed off an area of the restless lake for the purposes of
+the inland port. Those were strenuous days. Her home was on shore, and
+every night and morning she tramped the long arm of woodwork to light
+and extinguish the lamp. Lard-oil was used, and during the winter the
+food for the lamp had to be heated to bring it into a fluid condition
+before she set out from home. It was no easy matter struggling along on
+a blusterous, gusty evening, with a pail of hot oil in one hand and a
+lamp in the other, over a narrow plank. Often, when a gale was raging,
+progress was so slow that by the time the beacon was reached the oil
+had cooled and congealed, rendering it a difficult matter to induce
+the lamp to burn. Once set going, however, it was safe for the night,
+as the heat radiated from the burner kept the lard melted. In addition
+to this lamp, there was another light in the tower projecting from the
+roof of her house, which had to be maintained, and this, being the main
+light, was the more important of the two.
+
+In 1886 the pier tower was taken out of her hands for ever. A furious
+gale, such as is peculiar to these inland seas, and which cannot be
+rivalled on the ocean for fury, was raging. At dusk she started on her
+usual journey. Time after time she was wellnigh swept off her feet, so
+that she staggered rather than walked, for the spray and sand flecking
+her face nearly blinded her. When she gained the tower she paused, and
+observed that it was trembling violently. Undismayed, she ascended, lit
+the light, and tramped back to the shore. Scarcely had she gained the
+mainland, when, glancing seawards, she saw the light sway from side
+to side for a second or two, and then make a dive into the water. A
+few moments later a crash reverberated above the noise of the storm:
+the decrepit pier had succumbed at last. Hers was a lucky escape, but
+she hurried home, and sat by the main light gleaming from her roof all
+that night, apprehensive that some vessel might endeavour to make the
+harbour and come to grief. When the pier was rebuilt, a new beacon
+was placed on its extremity, but its upkeep was taken over by the
+harbour authorities, leaving only the shore light in the trusty woman’s
+keeping, the wicks of which for over forty years were trimmed and lit
+at dusk, and extinguished with the dawn, with her own hands.
+
+During the migratory season of the birds extraordinary sights are
+witnessed around the light at night. The brilliant glare attracts
+enormous flocks, which flit to and fro. As the monster flaming spoke
+swings round, the birds, evidently blinded by the glare, dash with such
+fury against the glass panes of the lantern as to flutter to the floor
+of the gallery with broken necks and wings, while large numbers, dazed
+or killed, fall into the water. The birds are of all species, and at
+times may be picked up by the basketful. Then the light-keepers are
+able to secure a welcome change in their dietary. Moths, too, often
+hover in clouds round the light, and are of such variety that an hour
+on the gallery would bring infinite delight and rich harvests to the
+youthful entomologist who has to be content to hunt around electric
+lamps in quiet streets at night.
+
+While the lamp is burning, time cannot drag, owing to the multitude
+of details which compel the keeper’s constant attention. The official
+log has to be kept posted with a host of facts, such as temperature,
+barometric readings, weather conditions as they vary from hour to
+hour, behaviour of the lamps, etc.; while, when the lighthouse is
+a marine signal-station as well, passing ships have to be signalled
+and reported. The spell of labour varies from four to five hours or
+more. Obviously, the task is more exacting and arduous in the winter
+than in summer. During the former season the lamps have to be lighted
+as early as 3.15 p.m., and are not extinguished until eight o’clock
+the next morning. In the summer, on the other hand, the lamps may be
+required for less than six hours or so. In northern latitudes where the
+daylight is continuous owing to the midnight sun, the light scarcely
+seems necessary. Yet it is kept burning during the scheduled hours of
+darkness.
+
+Thus, night in and night out the whole year round, a comparatively
+small band of faithful toilers keeps alert vigil over the dangers of
+the deep, for the benefit of those who “go down to the sea in ships,
+and do their business in great waters.” The safety of thousands of
+human lives and of millions sterling of merchandise is vested in
+their keeping. The resources of the shipbuilder, the staunchness of
+the ship, the skill and knowledge of the captain--all would count for
+nothing were it not for the persistent, steady glare of the fixed,
+the twinkling of the occulting, or the rhythmic, monotonous turning
+spokes of the revolving light, thrown over the waste of waters from the
+lighthouse and the lightship.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+ Aberbrothock, Abbot of, 96
+
+ Acetylene: as illuminant, Daléngas, 49, 274;
+ systems for floating lighthouses, 238, 278, 285-95;
+ cost of lighting by, 282;
+ dissolved, French system of using, 291;
+ use in Sweden, 291-94
+
+ Acetylene gun, the, 68-71
+
+ Admiralty, the: adoption of the siren, 60-61;
+ use of the Wigham light, 296
+
+ Adriatic shoreline, 203
+
+ “Aga” principle of lighting, 274, 277, 291, 293;
+ adopted by the United States, 294-95
+
+ Ailly, Pointe d’, 303
+
+ Ailsa Crag, system of fog-signalling, 63-65, 66
+
+ Alaska: trade of, 173;
+ controlled by the Lighthouse Board, 206;
+ unattended lighthouses, 277;
+ coastline 284
+
+ Alderney coastline, 12-13
+
+ Alexander, Lieutenant B. S., the Minot’s ledge-light, 8, 179
+
+ Alexandria, Pharos of, 2-3
+
+ Allerton Point lighthouse, 6
+
+ Altacarry Head, 313
+
+ Ambrose Channel, 251
+
+ American Thimble Shoal lighthouse, 308
+
+ Amour Point light, 169
+
+ Anderson, Lieutenant-Colonel William P., 172, 174, 217
+
+ _Anglo-Saxon_, Allan liner, wreck, 163-64
+
+ Anticosti, 171
+
+ Antifer, Cap d’, lighthouse, 39
+
+ Antipodes, the, 239
+
+ Arbroath, 97
+
+ Arena Point, 204
+
+ Argand burner, the, 47, 55, 79, 219
+
+ Argyll, Duke of, 115;
+ lays foundation-stone of Skerryvore, 105
+
+ Ar-men light, Finisterre, 20-24
+
+ Arthur, Port, 214, 217
+
+ _Assyrian_, the, wreck, 164
+
+ Astoria, 13, 185, 188, 193
+
+ Auckland coastline, 236, 237, 238
+ harbour, 238
+ Islands, 239
+
+ Auer, Dr. von, the incandescent mantle, 47-48
+
+ Australia: lighthouses of, 229-39;
+ unattended lighthouses, 283
+
+ Austria, lighthouses, 48
+
+
+ Bache, General Hartmann, 63;
+ Brandywine Shoal light, 200-201
+
+ “Back lights,” 20
+
+ Ballantyne, A., the Tillamook Rock lighthouse, 185-95
+
+ Ballycastle, 313
+
+ Baltic Sea, unattended lighthouses of the, 274, 278, 291
+
+ Bar lightship, Mersey, 240
+
+ Barnard, General, the Minot’s Ledge light, 178-82
+
+ Barra Head, 113
+
+ Barra Island, 113
+
+ Barsier rock, 269
+
+ Bauld Cape light, 169
+
+ “Bay of the Dead,” Finisterre, 21, 22
+
+ Beachy Head lighthouse, 24-27, 94
+
+ Belfast, 306
+
+ Bell Rock lighthouse, 9;
+ lighting, 53;
+ fog-signals, 59;
+ the reef, 96-97
+
+ Bell-buoys, 68
+
+ Belle Ile, 51;
+ the beacons, 169;
+ the Northern light, 170-71;
+ the Southern light, 169;
+ the auxiliary light, 169-70;
+ isolation of, 171
+
+ Belle Ile, Straits of, 162, 163, 169
+
+ Bells: on lighthouses, 58;
+ submarine, 249-50
+
+ Biscay, Bay of, gales, 3-4
+
+ Bishop Rock lighthouse, 38, 51, 81-87
+
+ Black Prince, the, in Gascony, 4
+
+ Black Sea, lighthouses on the, 18-19
+
+ Blau liquid gas, 48-49
+
+ “Blowing-holes,” 62-63
+
+ Bluff, the, 236
+
+ Bois Blanc Island, 211
+
+ Bordeaux, trade of, 3-4
+
+ Boston Harbour: lighting, 6, 33-4, 196;
+ Minot’s Ledge light, 176-82
+
+ Bothnia, Gulf of, unattended lighthouses, 268, 274
+
+ Bounty Islands, 239
+
+ Bourdelles, M., investigations, 56, 219
+
+ Brandywine Shoal light, 200-201
+
+ Brebner, Alexander, 117
+
+ “Breeches-buoy,” used at Tillamook Rock, 187-89
+
+ Bréhat, Heaux de, Reynaud’s tower, 149-53
+
+ Bréhat, Isle of, 149
+
+ Bremerhaven, 132, 138, 139, 141
+
+ Brett, Cape, lighthouse, 238
+
+ Brewster, Sir David, lighting methods, 29
+
+ Bridges and Roads, Department of, 148
+
+ Bristol Channel: the Flat Holme light, 7;
+ unattended lighthouses, 278-79
+
+ British Columbia coastline, 284
+
+ Brittany coastline, 148
+
+ Brothers light, the, 234-35
+
+ Bull Rock lighthouse, 39
+
+ Bullivant cableways, 25-26
+
+ Bungaree Norah. _See_ Norah Head
+
+ Buoys: bell and whistle, 68;
+ gas-buoys, 244;
+ the Willson, 286-89;
+ combined light and whistling, 290
+
+ Büsun, 226
+
+ Byron Bay, 232
+
+ Byron Cape, 232
+
+
+ Cabrillo Point light, 205
+
+ Calf Rock light, 123
+
+ California coastline, 204
+
+ Campbell, General, 270
+
+ Campbell Island, 239
+
+ Canadian Marine Department, 8;
+ systems of building, 18-19;
+ fog-signalling apparatus, 66-68;
+ lighting of the coastline, 161-75;
+ lighting of the Great Lakes, 208-17;
+ floating lighthouses, 286
+
+ Caribou Island lighthouse, 216-17
+
+ Carmel Head, 94
+
+ Carolina, North, 240
+
+ Carrington, W. H. T., 25
+
+ Casquets lighthouse: the approach to, 12-13;
+ keepers of the, 314
+
+ Castle Point lighthouse, 238
+
+ Casuarina Island, 55
+
+ Catoptric system of lighting, 28
+
+ Centre Island lighthouse, 237
+
+ Chance Bros. and Co.: systems of lighting, 33, 36, 42, 55, 256;
+ the hyperradiant method, 38-39;
+ lenses, 40;
+ clockwork mechanism, 43-44;
+ the incandescent mantle, 48;
+ works carried out by, 53, 222
+
+ Channel Islands coastline, 269
+
+ Charles, Cape, 200
+
+ Chatham Island, 239
+
+ _Chauffer_, the, 4-6
+
+ Chesapeake Bay lights, 199, 200, 308
+
+ Chicken Rock light, 9, 94, 238
+
+ China, coast-lighting, 258-59
+
+ Clear, Cape, 121
+
+ Coffin Island, 171
+
+ Cohasset Rocks, 177
+
+ Colchester Reef lighthouse, 210, 216
+
+ Colfax: “Miss Colfax’s light,” 315-16
+
+ Collinson, Sir Richard, rocket system invented by, 58-59
+
+ “Colossus,” the Rothersand caisson, 138-9
+
+ Colton family, the, 170
+
+ Columbia River, 183, 184, 185
+
+ Colza oil as illuminant, 46, 47
+
+ Concrete, reinforced, use of, 18, 174
+
+ Cook’s Strait, 233, 234, 237
+
+ Cordouan, rocks of, 4
+
+ Cordouan, Tour de, 4-5, 30
+
+ Cornish plunderers of the Wolf Rock, 88
+
+ Corunna lighthouse, 3
+
+ Couedie, Cap de, lighthouse, 55
+
+ Courtenay, whistling device, 290
+
+ Creach, electric light at, 156
+
+
+ Daboll, C. L., invention of the trumpet fog-signal, 59, 60
+
+ Dalén, Gustaf: the sun-valve, 49;
+ system of lighting, 274, 275, 291;
+ unattended lights, 269;
+ honour for, 291 note;
+ experiments, 292-93
+
+ Danger Point, 230
+
+ Darling, Grace, 95, 314
+
+ Daudet, Alphonse, “Phares de Sanguinaires,” 93
+
+ Delaware Bay, 143, 199, 200
+
+ Denmark, coastline, lighting, 48
+
+ Detroit River, Lower, 208
+
+ “Deviline” toy whistle, 61
+
+ Dewey, Admiral, 310
+
+ Dhu-Heartach lighthouse, 9, 107, 113-20, 311
+
+ Diamond Shoal, dangers of, 205-6;
+ the lightship, 251-53
+
+ “Diaphone,” the, 67, 68, 165
+
+ Dieppe, 303-304
+
+ Differential arc, use of, 227-28
+
+ Dioptric system of lighting, 37, 220
+
+ Disappointment Cape lighthouse, 186
+
+ Distances, table of, 52
+
+ “Divergence,” 39
+
+ Dog Island lighthouse, 237
+
+ Doty burner, the, 238
+
+ “Double-shell” principle of construction, 200
+
+ Douglass, Sir James: design for the new Eddystone, 78-80;
+ preservation of the Bishop Rock, 86-87;
+ system of lighting, 223
+
+ Douglass, William, and the Fastnet, 123
+
+ Dover Harbour lightship, 245
+
+ Dover, the pharos at, 3
+
+ Doyle Fort, 271-74
+
+ _Drummond Castle_, wreck, 148
+
+ Dues, lighthouse, 4, 7, 239
+
+ Duluth, 214
+
+ Duncansby Head, 108
+
+ Dunedin, N.Z., 236
+
+ Dungeness light, 94
+
+ Dunkirk, 249
+
+
+ Earraid, 115, 116
+
+ East Cape, N.Z., 236
+
+ East Indies Archipelago, 257
+
+ Eddystone lighthouse: lighting of, 38, 41, 55;
+ fog-signals, 59;
+ description, 72, 82;
+ the Winstanley construction, 73-4;
+ John Rudyerd’s lighthouse, 74, 75, 94;
+ Smeaton’s work, 75, 78, 80;
+ the Douglass tower, 78-80;
+ keepers of, 311
+
+ “Eddystones,” 72
+
+ Edinburgh, Duke of, 79
+
+ Egmont, Cape, 233
+
+ Electricity: as luminant, 50-51, 148, 218, 295-96;
+ used in operation of derrick, 159
+
+ _Eider_ lightship, 249
+
+ Erie, Lake, 208, 216
+
+ Estevan Point light, 174
+
+
+ Fair Isle lighthouse, 39
+
+ “Family of Engineers (A),” 8-9
+
+ Faraday, Professor, 218
+
+ Farallon Beacon, 205
+
+ Farallon Isles, fog-signalling on, 63
+
+ Farne Islands, 95, 314
+
+ Faro, the, 3
+
+ Fastnet lighthouse, 121-31;
+ lighting, 41;
+ keepers, 311
+
+ Ferro-concrete, use in construction, 18-19
+
+ _Feu-éclair_, the, 56
+
+ Finisterre, Cape, 3;
+ the Ar-men light, 20-24
+
+ Fire Island lighthouse, 250
+
+ Fire Island lightship, 240, 242, 250
+
+ Fisher’s Island Sound, 203
+
+ Flamborough Head light, 95
+
+ Flannen Islands lighthouse, 9, 113;
+ disappearance of keepers, 313-14
+
+ Flat Holme light, the, 7
+
+ Florida coastline, 201
+
+ “Focal point,” 39
+
+ Fog-signals: discharge of guns, 57-58;
+ rockets, 58-59;
+ explosion of gun-cotton, 59;
+ the Daboll trumpet, 59-60;
+ the siren, 60-62;
+ blowing-holes, 62-63;
+ installation on Ailsa Crag, 63-66;
+ diaphone on Ailsa Crag, 66-68;
+ the acetylene gun, 68-71;
+ diaphone at Cape Race, 165;
+ Belle Ile diaphone, 170
+
+ Foix, Louis de, 4-5, 8
+
+ _Forfarshire_, the, 95, 314
+
+ Forteau Bay, 169
+
+ Forth, Firth of, lighthouses in, 7, 218-19
+
+ Fourteen Foot Bank, 132, 143-47
+
+ Foveaux Strait, 237
+
+ Fowey Rocks lights, 201-3
+
+ French coast: lighting of, 148;
+ lightships, 243, 249
+
+ French Lighthouse Commission (1811), 29
+
+ Fresnel, Augustin: system of lighting, 28, 33, 286;
+ adopted by the United States, 36
+
+
+ Gap Rock lighthouse and signal-station, 264
+
+ Gas Accumulator Company, of Stockholm, 49, 274, 291
+
+ Gas as illuminant, the incandescent mantle, 47-48
+
+ Gasfeten tower, 274
+
+ Gedney’s Channel, lighting of, 295-96
+
+ General Superintendent of Lights, office of, 197-98
+
+ Georgian Bay, 216
+
+ Gerholmen light-boat, 294
+
+ Germany: coastline of, lighting, 48, 50-51;
+ the lightship service, 249-50
+
+ Gironde lighthouse, 19
+
+ Gironde, the, rocks of the estuary, 3-4
+
+ Goodwin Sands, 205, 240, 244-45, 248
+
+ Grand Banks, the, 163
+
+ Grande Braye Rock, 296
+
+ Grand Trunk Pacific, 173
+
+ Granite, use of, 18
+
+ Great Lakes of North America: lighting of the, 27, 173, 208-17;
+ Lighthouse Board, control of, 206;
+ floating lighthouses, 286
+
+ Green Cape lighthouse, 232-33
+
+ “Grouting,” 27
+
+ Guantanamo Bay, 308
+
+ Guernsey coast lighthouse, 9, 16;
+ unattended lights, 269
+
+ Gun-cotton, explosion of, 58, 59
+
+
+ Halifax Harbour: lights, 192;
+ the “Outer Automatic,” 290
+
+ Halpin, George, the Fastnet lighthouse, 121-23, 129
+
+ Hand Deeps, 79
+
+ Hanois lighthouse, 16
+
+ Hargreaves, Riley and Co., 260
+
+ Harkort, Society of, Duisburg, 133-34:
+ the Rothersand contract, 136-43
+
+ Hatteras, Cape: coastline, 147, 251-53;
+ sandbanks, 205-6, 240
+
+ Hauraki Gulf, 238
+
+ Hawaiian Islands, 206
+
+ Hebrides, lighthouses of the, 112, 313
+
+ Heligoland lighthouse, 133, 218;
+ use of the rocket system, 59;
+ the electric installation, 224-26
+
+ Hellespont, Sigeum lighthouse, 2
+
+ Henlopen Cape, light, 199
+
+ Hennebique system, 260
+
+ Henry, Cape, lighthouse, 20, 199-200
+
+ Héve, Cape, lighthouse, 218, 219
+
+ _Hinemoa_, New Zealand Government steamer, 235, 236, 238
+
+ Hoheweg lighthouse, 138
+
+ Hole-in-the-Wall, Vancouver, 174
+
+ Holland coastline, 48
+
+ Holmes, Professor, fog-horns, 60-62, 64, 66, 218
+
+ Holophotal revolving apparatus, 33
+
+ Hong-Kong, 264
+
+ “Hoo-doo,” 91
+
+ Horaine, plateau of, 153-56
+
+ Horn, Cape, 268
+
+ Hornum light, the electric installation, 226-28
+
+ Howe, Cape, 230, 232
+
+ _Huddart Parker_, liner, wreck, 236
+
+ Hudson Bay coastline, 268
+
+ Hugo, Victor, “The Toilers of the Sea,” 269
+
+ Hunting Island tower, South Carolina, 19-20
+
+ Huron, Lake, 211
+
+ Hynish harbour, 107
+
+ “Hyperradiant,” the, 37, 41;
+ the quicksilver trough, 42-43
+
+
+ “Ice-breakers,” 201
+
+ “Ice-stoves,” 200-201, 210
+
+ Inchcape. _See_ Bell Rock
+
+ Ingrey, Charles, scheme for Ailsa Crag, 64, 66
+
+ Invercargill, 237
+
+ Iona, 100
+
+ Ireland, Congested Districts Board beacons, 282-83
+
+ Irish lights, Commissioners of, 7;
+ the Fastnet, 123, 127
+
+ Iron, use in construction, 19-20
+
+ Islay, 298
+
+
+ Jamaica coastline, lighting, 283
+
+ Japan, coastline, lighthouses, 9-10, 257-58
+
+ Java, 257
+
+ Jersey coastline, 243
+
+ Jument of Ushant, 156, 160
+
+
+ Karachi, unattended light, 281
+
+ Kavanagh, James, the Fastnet, 125, 128
+
+ “Kingdom of Heaven,” 92
+
+
+ Labrador coastline, 169, 268
+
+ Lagerholmen lighthouse, 278
+
+ Lampaul, Bay of, 157
+
+ Land’s End coastline, 247
+
+ Lard-oil as fuel, 46, 47
+
+ Leasowe lighthouse, 16;
+ fire at, 309
+
+ Lenses, preparation, 39, 40
+
+ Lewes, Delaware, 144
+
+ Lewis, Isle of, 113
+
+ Lewis, Winslow, invention of, 34, 35
+
+ “Light-boats,” 294
+
+ Lighthouse Board, U.S.A., 178-79
+
+ Lighthouse dues, origin, 4, 7;
+ levy of, 7, 239
+
+ Lighthouse Literature Mission, 306
+
+ Lighthouses, construction of, 174;
+ wooden towers, 198;
+ electric, of the world, 218-28;
+ unattended, 267-83;
+ floating, 284-300
+
+ Lighting: candles, 33;
+ Fresnel system, 28-33;
+ holophotal revolving apparatus, 33;
+ hyperradiants, 33-41;
+ sperm-oil, 46;
+ colza-oil, 46-47;
+ lard-oil, 46, 47;
+ petroleum, 47-48, 296-98;
+ paraffin, 47-48;
+ oil-gas, 48-49, 296;
+ various gases, 49-50;
+ electric lighting, 50-51, 148, 295-96;
+ acetylene system, 69-71, 238, 291
+
+ Light-keepers, life of the, 301-17
+
+ Lights: wood or coal in open braziers, 28;
+ tallow candles, 28;
+ indentification of, 32;
+ classification of, 37, 44-45;
+ “divergence,” 39;
+ focal point, 39;
+ white and coloured, 45-46;
+ candle-power, 51, 53;
+ subsidiary, 53-55;
+ duration of flash in revolving, 55-56
+
+ Lightships: the Stevenson unattended, 70;
+ maintenance of, 240-41;
+ description, 241-42;
+ the Minquiers light, 243-44;
+ average crew for, 244-45;
+ incidents, 244-55;
+ illuminating apparatus, 255-57
+
+ “Light valve,” the Dalén, 275-78
+
+ Lipson’s Reef, 55
+
+ Little Brewster Island lighthouse, 196-197
+
+ Lizard Head, 72, 82, 94
+
+ Lizard lighthouse, 94, 218
+
+ Lloyd’s, signalling-station at the Fastnet, 131
+
+ Longfellow, lines to Minot’s Ledge light, 176
+
+ Longships light, 82, 92, 311
+
+ Longstones lighthouse, 95, 314
+
+ Louis XIV. and the Eddystone, 75
+
+ Lundy Island, 92
+
+ _Lupata_, sailing-ship, wreck, 183
+
+ _Lusitania_, French emigrant steamer, wreck, 164
+
+ _Ly-ce-moon_, steamer, wreck, 233
+
+
+ Mackinac, Strait of, 211
+
+ Macquarie, tower, 231
+
+ Magellan, Straits of, 268;
+ unattended lighthouses, 274-75
+
+ Malacca Straits lighthouse, 257;
+ One Fathom Bank, 259-64
+
+ Malay Peninsula, 257
+
+ _Malcolm Baxter Junior_, schooner, collision with the lighthouse, 308
+
+ Man, Isle of, Chicken Rock light, 94
+
+ Manacles, wrecks on the, 7
+
+ Manilla, 310
+
+ Manora breakwater, the Wigham light, 281
+
+ Manora Point light, Karachi, 39-41
+
+ Maria Van Diemen, Cape, lighthouse, 237, 238
+
+ Marine and Fisheries, Department of, Canada, 171
+
+ Marine Department, New Zealand, 233
+
+ Matthews, Sir Thomas, 26;
+ light designed by, 278-79, 299
+
+ May, Isle of, lighthouse, 7, 218-23
+
+ _Megantic_, White Star liner, 313
+
+ Meldrum, Sir John, the North Foreland lighthouse, 81
+
+ Mendocino, Cape, lighthouse, 204-5
+
+ Ménier, Henri, 171
+
+ Mercury float, the, 42, 43, 56
+
+ Meriten (De), dynamos, 221, 223
+
+ Mersey lightship, 240
+
+ Mew Island lighthouse, 38, 41
+
+ Mexico, Gulf of, coastline, 201
+
+ Michigan City Harbour light, 315-16
+
+ Michigan Lake, lighting of, 208, 211, 214, 215, 217
+
+ Minches, the, 112, 113
+
+ _Minnehaha_, wreck of the, 82, 83
+
+ Minot’s Ledge light, 11, 74, 204;
+ Captain Swift’s tower, 176-78;
+ General Barnard’s structure, 178-82
+
+ Minquiers lightship, 243-44
+
+ _Mohegan_ wreck, 7
+
+ Moko Hinou, 238
+
+ Monach Island light, 113
+
+ “Monolithic” method of construction, 16-19
+
+ Montagu Island lighthouse, 30-31
+
+ Monterey Bay, 315
+
+ Morocco, Cape Spartel light, 207
+
+ Moye system of lighting, 69
+
+ Muckle Flugga, 109-112
+
+ Mull, Isle of, 102, 115
+
+ Mull of Kintyre, 108
+
+ Murray, Hon. A., 260
+
+
+ Nantucket Shoals lightship, 250
+
+ Navesink lighthouse, 51, 218
+
+ Needles light, the, 94
+
+ New Jersey coastline, 218
+
+ New London, Connecticut, Race Rock lighthouse, 203-4
+
+ New South Wales, lighthouses of, 230, 231, 232-33
+
+ New York Harbour: lighting, 218, 295;
+ lightships, 251
+
+ New Zealand: system of lighting, 33;
+ lighthouses of, 229-30, 233-35;
+ the lighthouse-keepers, 235;
+ unattended lighthouses, 268
+
+ Newfoundland coastline, 162, 169
+
+ Newhaven, 303
+
+ “No. 87” lightship, 251
+
+ Norah Head lighthouse, 232
+
+ Norderney lightship, 242, 249
+
+ Nore lightship, 240, 242, 245
+
+ _Norge_ liner, wreck, 299
+
+ Norman Cape light, 169
+
+ North Cape, New Zealand, lighthouse, 237, 238
+
+ North Foreland light, 81
+
+ North German Lloyd Atlantic liners, 132, 137
+
+ North Island, New Zealand, coastline, 233
+
+ North Ronaldshay lighthouse, 33
+
+ North Unst lighthouse, 9, 109, 110-12
+
+ Northern lighthouses, Commissioners of, 8-10, 37, 63, 64, 94, 96,
+ 100-02, 105, 109, 114, 219
+
+ North-West lightship (Mersey), 240
+
+ Nova Scotia: Sable Island lighthouse, 166;
+ floating lighthouses, 285, 290
+
+ Nuremberg, tests carried out at, 225-26
+
+
+ Oil-gas, compressed, use of, 48, 296
+
+ One Fathom Bank lighthouse, 259-64
+
+ “One-tenth flash,” 294
+
+ Ontario Lake, 217
+
+ Oregon coastline, 13, 195
+
+ Orkneys coastline, 108, 109
+
+ Otter Rock lightship, 9, 297-99
+
+ Ouessant, Ile d’. _See_ Ushant
+
+ “Outer Automatic,” Halifax Harbour, 290
+
+ Outer Diamond Shoal lightship, 147
+
+ Outer Minot light, 177, 178
+
+
+ Panama Canal, unattended lighthouses, 277
+
+ “Panels,” system of dividing the light by, 31-32
+
+ Paraffin, use of, 47
+
+ Paris Exhibition of 1867, 61
+
+ _Paris_, wreck of the, 7
+
+ Parry sound, 216
+
+ Patents granted for upkeep of beacons, 5-6
+
+ Pei Yu-Shan lighthouse, 39
+
+ Pencarrow Head lighthouse, 234
+
+ Pentland Firth, 108
+
+ Pentland Skerries light, 109
+
+ Petroleum gas, use of, 47, 48, 279, 296-98
+
+ _Phare_, the term, 3
+
+ _Phares, Service des_, 19, 148, 219
+
+ _Pharos_, constructional vessel, 110
+
+ Pharos, the, Dover, 3;
+ of Alexandria, 2-3
+
+ Philippines coastline, 206
+
+ Phœnicians, beacons erected by the, 3
+
+ Pilgrim Fathers, the, and lighthouses, 6
+
+ Pilotage, Board of, Sweden, experiments with acetylene, 292, 293-94
+
+ Pino Point lighthouse, 315
+
+ Pladda, Island of, 64
+
+ Planier lighthouse, 219
+
+ Platte Fougère, land-controlled station of, 269-74, 283
+
+ Pleasanton, Stephen, 197-98
+
+ Plenty, Bay of, 236
+
+ Plymouth Harbour, 72
+
+ Plymouth Hoe, 80
+
+ Poe, General O. M., Spectacle Reef lighthouse, 211-14
+
+ Portland Canal, 173
+
+ Portland, Duke of, lighthouse on the Isle of Man, 7
+
+ Portland stone, used for building Eddystone, 76
+
+ Port of Dublin Corporation, 121
+
+ Potomac, ice-shores of the, 200-201
+
+ Potron, Charles Eugène, generosity of, 157, 159-60
+
+ Prince Rupert, port of, 173, 284
+
+ Pulsometer Engineering Company, Reading, 66
+
+ Punta Gorda light-station, 311
+
+ Puysegur Point, 237
+
+
+ Queenstown harbour floating light, 297
+
+
+ Race, Cape, lighthouse, 39, 43;
+ the lens, 40-41;
+ clockwork mechanism, 43;
+ fog-signalling apparatus, 67;
+ dangers of, 162-64;
+ the first beacon, 164-65;
+ the new beacon, 165
+
+ Race Rock lighthouse, 203-4
+
+ Ralph the Rover, 96
+
+ Rame Head, 72
+
+ Rathlin light, 313
+
+ Rattray Briggs lighthouse, 9
+
+ Ray, Cape, 164
+
+ Red Rock lighthouse, 210, 216
+
+ Red Sea lighthouses, 311
+
+ Rennie, John, the Bell Rock light, 97
+
+ Reyes Point, 205
+
+ Reynaud, Léonce, tower on the Heaux de Bréhat, 149-53
+
+ Rhins of Islay, 113
+
+ Ribière, 8
+
+ Rock Island, 124
+
+ Rock of Ages lighthouse, 210, 214-15, 216
+
+ Rockall, the, 299-300
+
+ Rockets, use of, 58-59
+
+ Rose of Mull, the, 113
+
+ Rothersand lighthouse, 11, 218;
+ the first attempt, 132-36;
+ work of the Society Harkort, 136-43
+
+ Round Island lighthouse, 39
+
+ Royale, Isle, 214
+
+ Rudyerd, John, the Eddystone lighthouse, 74, 75, 92-93
+
+ Russell Channel, the, 269-70
+
+ Russian lighthouse authorities, 18
+
+ Rutingen lightship, 242, 249
+
+
+ Sable Island, 162;
+ description, 165-66;
+ lighthouses and chief station, 166-67;
+ the west end light, 167-68;
+ the east end light, 168
+
+ St. Agnes light, 81
+
+ St. Catherine’s Downs, 223
+
+ St. Catherine’s lighthouse, 55, 94, 218;
+ the electric installation, 223-24
+
+ St. Clair, Lake, 208
+
+ St. David’s Head, 92
+
+ St. John’s, Newfoundland, 164
+
+ St. Kilda, 300
+
+ St. Lawrence, Gulf of, 163;
+ dangers, 171
+
+ St. Lawrence River:
+ fog-signalling apparatus, 66-68;
+ entrance, 162;
+ the ice, 172;
+ lighting of the, 172-73
+
+ St. Malo Harbour, 243
+
+ St. Mary’s, 85
+
+ St. Peter Port lighthouse, 269-70
+
+ Sambro Island lighthouse, 162
+
+ Samoan Islands, American, controlled by the Lighthouse Board, 206
+
+ San Francisco: bay, 63;
+ coastline, 205
+
+ Sand, lighthouses built on, 132-47
+
+ Sandbanks, signposts of the, 240-56
+
+ Sandy Hook lighthouse, 199, 295
+
+ Sarnia, 216
+
+ _Salara_, the, wreck, 232-33
+
+ Sault Ste. Marie, 216
+
+ Scammon’s Harbour, 212
+
+ _Schiller_, German packet, wreck of, 86
+
+ Schukert, 225
+
+ Scilly Island, 81, 82, 247
+
+ Scotland: lighting, 50;
+ sea-rock lights of, 96;
+ the coastline, 108
+
+ _Scotsman_, Dominion liner, 171
+
+ Scott, C. W., and the Fastnet, 123-24, 129
+
+ Scott, Sir Walter, _quoted_, 100, 101
+
+ “Screw-pile lighthouses,” 19, 83, 200-203, 261-62
+
+ Sea-rock lighthouses, construction, 20 _et seq._
+
+ Serrin-Berjot lamps, 221-23
+
+ Seven Hunters. _See_ Flannen Islands
+
+ Seven Stones lightship, 242, 248-49
+
+ Seven Wonders of the world, 2
+
+ Shark-catching, 311-12
+
+ Sherman, General, 211
+
+ Shetlands coastline, 108-109
+
+ Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, 82
+
+ Sigeum lighthouse, on the Hellespont, 2
+
+ Singapore, 257
+
+ Siren, the, developments, 59-60, 159
+
+ Skerries light, 94
+
+ Skerryvore lighthouse, 11, 59, 100-107, 113, 311
+
+ Slave-running, 312
+
+ Slight, Mr., the modern siren, 62
+
+ Smalls, The, 92-93
+
+ Smeaton, John, the Eddystone lighthouse, 8, 75-78, 80
+
+ _Smeaton_, the, 97-99
+
+ Smith, Thomas, 9, 219
+
+ Solent, the, 94
+
+ Sound, aberration of, 68
+
+ South Carolina, lighthouses of, 19-20
+
+ South Foreland lighthouse: lighting, 38, 95;
+ electricity adopted, 218-19;
+ keepers of the, 314
+
+ South Island, N.Z., coastline, 237
+
+ South Solitary Island lighthouse, 230, 231
+
+ South Stock light, 94
+
+ Southey, ballad of the Bell Rock, 96
+
+ Spain, early beacons, 3
+
+ Spartel Cape lighthouse, 207, 300
+
+ Spectacle Reef lighthouse, 74, 210-14, 215-16
+
+ Sperm-oil, as luminant, 46
+
+ “Spider-web braces,” 201
+
+ Spurn Point lighthouse, 38-39
+
+ Standard Oil Co., 282
+
+ Stannard’s Rock lighthouse, 214, 216
+
+ Start Point, 94
+
+ Stephens Island, 233
+
+ Stevenson, Alan: “Skerryvore,” 9, 100-107;
+ improvements in lighting, 32-33;
+ table of distances by, 51-52
+
+ Stevenson, Charles, 9
+
+ Stevenson, David, “North Unst,” 9
+
+ Stevenson, David and Charles: the acetylene gun, 68-71;
+ the unattended light, 269;
+ the Platte Fougère fog-signal, 270-71;
+ the Otter Rock light, 297;
+ scheme for Rockall, 300
+
+ Stevenson, David and Thomas: works carried out by, 15, 53;
+ the Chicken Rock light, 94;
+ building of the Dhu-Heartach, 114-20
+
+ Stevenson, family of engineers: preeminence of, 8-10;
+ systems of lighting, 36-38;
+ adoption of electricity, 219-22;
+ work in Japan, 258;
+ characteristics, 305
+
+ Stevenson, George, and the Fastnet, 122
+
+ Stevenson, Robert, and the Bell Rock lighthouse, 9, 97-100;
+ Skerryvore, 101
+
+ Stevenson, Robert Louis, “A Family of Engineers,” 8-9
+
+ Stevenson, Thomas, 9, 222
+
+ Stewart Island, 237
+
+ Stornoway lighthouse, lighting, 53-54
+
+ Strain, Samuel H., 306
+
+ Subsidiary lights, 53-55
+
+ Suez, 312
+
+ Sugar-Loaf Point lighthouse, 232
+
+ Sule Skerry lighthouse, 9, 39
+
+ Sumatra, 257
+
+ “Sun-valve,” the Dalén, 275-78
+
+ Superior, Lake, lighting of, 214, 216, 217
+
+ Sweden: floating lighthouses, 291;
+ unattended lighthouses, 277-82
+
+ Swift, Captain W. H., the Minot’s Ledge light, 176-78, 182
+
+ Sydney lighthouse. _See_ Macquarie Tower
+
+
+ _Tararua_, steamship, wreck of the, 236, 237
+
+ Tay, Firth of, 96
+
+ Terawhiti, Cape, 238
+
+ Thames lightships, 240-41
+
+ Thomas, O. P., 260
+
+ Three Kings Rock, 236
+
+ Tierra del Fuego, 268
+
+ Tillamook Head, 183
+
+ Tillamook Rock lighthouse, 13-15, 183-95, 204;
+ the keepers, 307-8
+
+ Tiri-Tiri Island lighthouse, 236-38
+
+ Torrain Rocks, 113
+
+ Tory Island lighthouse, 39
+
+ Trade, Board of:
+ collection of light dues, 7-8;
+ and the siren, 61;
+ Mr. Ingrey’s scheme, 64;
+ adoption of electricity, 219
+
+ Trewavas, John R., death of, 14-15
+
+ Triangle Island, British Columbia, light, 174
+
+ Trinity House Brethren: purchase of patents, 6;
+ maintenance of English lights, 7, 26;
+ adoption of the Daboll trumpet, 60;
+ and the Eddystone, 77;
+ and the Wolf Rock, 88-89;
+ and the Whiteside light, 93;
+ and the Fastnet, 122;
+ adoption of electricity, 218, 223;
+ the light on the Seven Stones, 248
+
+ Trinity House Museum: Smeaton’s clock, 76-77;
+ Bishop Rock fog-bell, 85-86
+
+ _Triumph_, steamship, wreck, 236
+
+ Tyndall, Professor, 59
+
+ Tyree, island of, 100, 102, 105, 107
+
+
+ United States Corps of Engineers, 63, 198
+
+ United States Lighthouse Board, 13 36, 195;
+ coastline lighting, 20, 196-207;
+ methods of lighting, 46-47;
+ inauguration, 198;
+ extent of control 206-7;
+ lighting of the Great Lakes, 208-17;
+ lightship service, 255;
+ adoption of the Aga light, 294-95
+
+ United States Typographical Engineers, 176
+
+ Unst, island of, 112
+
+ Ushant, 148, 156, 157
+
+ Ushant Island, 158
+
+
+ Vancouver, 173;
+ coastline, 284
+
+ Vancouver Island, 174
+
+ Victoria, 173
+
+ _Victoria_, steamer, wreck, 303-4
+
+
+ Waipapapa Point lighthouse, 236, 237
+
+ Walker, James, 8;
+ Bishop Rock light, 84-5
+
+ Wanganui, N.Z., 233
+
+ Water-gas, 48
+
+ Wellington, N.Z., 233-4
+
+ Weser River estuary, 132
+
+ West Indies lighthouses, 309
+
+ White ant, ravages of the, 264-66
+
+ White Shoal lighthouse, 215, 216
+
+ Whiteside light, 92, 93
+
+ Whistles on lighthouses, 58
+
+ Wigham light, 279-280, 282, 296-97
+
+ Willson, Mr. Thomas: the acetylene automatic light, 285-89, 291, 294
+
+ _Winchelsea_, wreck of the, 72, 74
+
+ Windward Point, Cuba, 308
+
+ Winstanley, Henry: the Eddystone lighthouse, 73
+
+ Wireless installation: on the Fastnet, 131;
+ station, Sable Island, 167;
+ Belle Ile, Southern Point, 170;
+ the Eider lightship, 249
+
+ Wirral, 16, 309
+
+ Wolf Rock lighthouse, 14;
+ blowing holes, 63, 87-92;
+ relief, 311
+
+ Women as lighthouse-keepers, 314-15
+
+ Wrath, Cape, 112
+
+ Wreckers of the Wolf Rock, 88;
+ Chinese, 258-59
+
+
+BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
+predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
+changed.
+
+Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
+quotation marks retained.
+
+Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
+
+Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
+
+Ditto marks in the Index have been replaced by the actual text.
+
+Empty, featureless areas along the side(s) of some illustrations have
+been removed by Transcriber. This allowed those illustrations to be
+shown larger and with greater detail.
+
+Page 233: “Ly-ce-moon” likely is a misprint for “Ly-ee-moon”.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lightships and Lighthouses, by Frederick A. Talbot
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTSHIPS AND LIGHTHOUSES ***
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