re 375" H4-3 (Hmmll Utttemtg J itonjg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME | PROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OP iieniril HJ. S^q* . X891 UMisu. /!-. 5 8-8EH8 DE MON ENTEKDEJIENT MODBKir TOWBB OF CORDOUAIf. See page 14. TOWER OF CORDOVAN. 13 LK OENTII, INGKNIEVX DE CE SVPEaiBE OWRAGB ■Lh. Hi DISCOVRT en I,VT KT DTN MVET LAJiGAGE TE VA LOVAOT SVBTH, EU CE POINT MESMEMEKT QVE TV BRIDES LES FLOTS DV QRONDEVX ELEMENT ET DV MVTIN NEPTVN LA TEMTESTE ET l'OKAGE O TKOIS QVATRE FOIS BIENHEVKEVX TON ESPRIT DE CE qVaV FEONTE DEESSE CE PHAKE IL ENTREPRIT POVR SK PEEPETVEE BANS LHEVKEYSE MEMOIRE TV TES ACQVIS par la nN HONXEVR INFINI QVI KB FINIRA POINT QVE CE PHABB BE GLOIRE LE MO.N1IE FISISSANT NE SE RENDE FIXV. A description is unnecessary of the beautiful arcbitecture which forms the interior and exterior decoration, it being easy to judge of it from the section and elevation. I trill only add that the arms of France are on the front of the first story, accompanied by two statues, one representing Mars with his ordinary attributes, the other a female ^ore holding a palm in one band and a diadem in the other. Lower are two niches : in the right-hand one is the bust of Henry II, and in the other the bust of Henry IV. The portico is opposite the entrance to the platform; on the opposite side is the staircase, partly built in the thickness of the wall, and partly outside. For more than a century this tower was the admiration of all connoisseurs, but at length, the heat of the fire having injured the walls of the lantern, the Court, in 1 71 7, ordered that it be demolished, to prevent its falling, and that the light be established below it, instead of repairing the damaged parts, and keeping the light at the same height. It was not long before it was seen what a mistake this was, for the lantern had no sooner been taken away than aH the sailors complained that the l^ht could not be seen at a distance of two leagues, as was formerly the case. Things were in this state when, in 1 720, the tower passed from the jurisdiction of Rochelle to that of Bordeaux. Then the Count of Toulouse, Admiral of France, and Marshal Asfeld, Director of Forti- fications, entrusted the reparation of the tower to Monsieur de IJitre, 14 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. Engineer-in-Chief of Bordeaux, who sought the means of reeslab- lishing the light at its former height by a lantern which should not intercept the light to the same extent as the old one. He accom- plished this by building an iron lantern, as shown in the plate. This was successfully placed in 1727. The brazier for burning the fuel held two hundred and twenty-five pounds of coal, which was lighted at sunset, and burned all night. The old brazier was too small. Oak wood was burned in it ; the flame was large, but it had to be replenished every three hours. The height of the new lantern was greater than the old one, so that the tower was increased in height to 175 feet from its base to the weather-cock. This elevation was not sufficient to enable mariners to see the light at a very great distance, so Teul&re, Engineeivin-Chief of the district of Bordeaux, performed the difficult task of raising it, at the end of the last century. The height was increased to 197 feet above high tide, giving a great increase to the range, but marring its architectu- ral beauty, as the absence of ornament in the modern part contrasts painfully with the elegance and richness of the work of the Renais- sance. The first impression of the tower, however, is still very striking, rising as it does with such majesty and boldness from the bosom of the sea. About thirty years ago, this light-house was completely renovated, many of the stones, worn by time, were replaced, and the carvings, which had become almost indistinguishable, were recut ; it now con- tains in its lantern, in place of the old oak or coal fire, that nearly faultless piece of apparatus known as the Fresnel lens, by means of which all the light possible is utilized in strengthening the friendly beam. There is a lofty and ancient tower overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at Corunna, Spain. It is called the Pillar of Hercules, and it is thought that the name Corunna may be a corruption of the word "Columna." By some writers the origin of this tower is attributed to the Carthaginians, by others to Caius Servius Lupus, who dedicated it to Mars. It was restored by Julius Cajsar, and ITALIAN LIGHT-HOUSES. 15 again by Trajan. Its architecture relates to remote antiquity. A tradition states that it was erected by an ancient king of Spain in heroic times ; it is now ninety-two feet high.. At Ravenna there is a large square tower standing out from the side-walls of the Church of Santa Maria in Porta Fuori, and now used as a campanile or bell-tower : it is supposed to be tlie pharos of tlie port constructed by Augustus. In the fifth century this port was so silted up as to be obliterated, and its site was converted into gardens. Ths beautiful light-house at Genoa, called Torre del Capo, was originally built on the promontory of San Berrique in 1139, and first lighted in 1326. It was removed in 1512, and re-built by the Repub- lic in 1643. It is a square tower, in two stories, with battlemented terraces, the lower portion nine metres square, the upper seven. Rising from a rock fortj'-two and one-half metres above the sea, it carries its light at the height of one hundred and eighteen and one- half metres above the water. In 1841 it was fitted with a Fresnel, first-order lens : for beauty and elegance of structure this historic light is one of the finest in existence. The Pharos of Meloyia was built by the Pisins in 1154. It indi- cated the direction to be taken by ships bound for Porto Pisana, and gave warning of a dangerous sand-bank. This tower was three times destroyed — in 1267 by Charles of Aniou,in 1287 by tlie Genoese, and in 1290 by the Guelphs. Having determined to abandon Meloria, the Pisans erected, in 1304, the liglit-house which still exists at Leg- horn. It is celebrated by Petrarch. Standing near the entrance of the harbor, to the south of the new mole, it rises forty-seven metres above the level of the sea. It is built of stone, in the form of two battlemented cylinders, surrounded at the base by a polygonal enclos- ure of tliirteen sides. CHAPTER II. EDDTSTONE LIQUT-HOUSE. To THE Kino: — " I have it not in iny power to present Youn Majrstt with a fine piece oil writing, or o( drawing; neither literature, nor tlie fine ixrts hfiving ueen much the objects of my study; bat I humbly cubmit to Youa Majesty, a plain account of the construction of a plain and simple buildins, that has nevertheless been acknowledged to bo, in itself, curious, difficult, and use- ful; and, as such, I trust, worthy of observation." ^ EJdystone, the most famous of modern light-houses, built and de- stroyed so many times, has a history of its own, and though the pres- ent structure is not the one built by the famous Smeaton, yet we owe to his genius and strong common sense the design of a tower which has become a type. Eddystone Rooks, probably so called from the various and conflict- ing currents running through them, are situated about S. S. W. from the middle of Plymouth Sound, nearly fourteen miles from the town of Plymouth, and ten miles from Ram-I-Iead, the nearest point of land. They are nearly covered at high water, and, being just within the line joining Start and Lizard Points, they must have been very dan- gerous to vessels coasting up an.I down the Channel, before they were marked by a light; in fact, many a rich craft, homeward bound from foreign ports, has been lost upon them. From the position of these rocks, near the entrance to the English Channel, they are exposed to the full force of all southwest storms, and what still further augments the force of the waves is the fact that these rocks stretch across the Channel for about six hundred feet, and slope gradually to seaward, > Extract from the dedication of John Smeaton's narrative of thi building, and desoripiion of the oonsiruotion of the Eddystone Llght-houBO with stono. Second Edition, London, 1793 a n> on ^ so s (^ . ^ 5F s t-^ V w s t^ . ^ i ^ ^ C/2 ^ ^ - ■—( ■J' ^ ~^, t-< § ? g^ ^ w 1 5- ^ 8 cr 1 W WIN STANLEY'S EDDY STONE LIGHT. 17 so tbatiwhen the sea is calm elsewliei'C yet the ground-swell, running up their slope, breaks with great violence ; and even when, there is only a moderate swell from the Southwest, yet, owing to the .pecu- liar shape of the House Rooks, the water flies thirty or forty fee* high. ' Without going into further detail, it will be seen that the erection of a light-house on this exposed place was an arduous and dangerous undertaking. Yet, in 1696, there having been so many fatal acci- dents to vessels running on the rocks, there was found a man hardy enough to attempt the task. This was Mr. Henry Winstanley, of Littlebury, in the County of Essex. Mr. Winstanley had a certain turn for mechanics, but his ingenuity ran to the grotesque. At his house in Littlebury there were various amusing and startling con- trivances : in one room there was an old slipper carelessly lying on the floor ; if you gave it a kick to one side — a most natural thing to do — a ghost would start up before you ; if you sat down on a certain conveniently-situated chair — to look at the ghost at your ease, per- haps — you would be immediately clasped by a couple of arms, so strongly and effectually that you would need the assistance of your attendant to release you; should you rest in an arbor in the grounds by the side of a canal to meditate on these marvels, you at once found yourself afloat in the middle of the canal, there to remain until the manager chose to return you to shore. This bent of Mr. Winstanley's probably accounts for the whimsi- cal structure he erected for light-house purposes. This structure took him four years to erect, the entire work of the first year consisting in drilling twelve holes in the rock and fastening in them twelve large irons. The second year a pillar twelve feet higli and fourteen feet in diameter was built. The third year the diameter of the pillar was increased to sixteen feet, and the tower was completed to a height of sixty feet, or to the top of the vane eighty feet, and lighted for the first time the 12th of November, 1698. The fourth year, finding that the sea at times buried the lantern, the thickness of the tower was further increased to twenty-four feet, the tower made solid for a height 18 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. of twenty feet, the upper part of the building taken down^and en- larged, and the height of the tower raised forty feet ; yet the sea in storms appeared to fly one hundred feet above the vane, and at times would cover half the side of the house and lantern as if they were under water. Mr. Winstanley does not state of what material he constructed the base of his tower, but from the appearance of a drawing — said to be made at the rock — it would appear that the material used was stone, and that the joints were protected by iron hoops, to prevent the mortar washing out. The picture shows the completed tower. With all its whim- sicalities and absurdities — its bay-window, derricks, ornamental gim-cracks and mottoes, it was a brave and heroic deed to erect it. Some idea can be formed of the violence of the storms which it with- stood, as, after it was finished, it was commonly said that it was pos- sible for a six-oared boat to be lifted up by a wave and driven through the open gallery. Mr. Winstanley believed in its strength, and had the courage of his convictions. In November, 1703, he went to superintend some repairs, and some one expressing fears that the structure was not strong enough, and some day might be overturned, he replied : " I am so very well assured of the strength of my building that I should only wish to be there in the greatest storm that ever blew, that I might see what effect it would have upon the structi^re.'' His wish was gratified. While he was there with his workmen and light-keepers, on the 26th of November, a tremendous storm visited Great Britain, and on the next morning it was found that the light- house had disappeared, with all the people in it. Nothing was ever seen of it except a few of the large irons used for holding it to the rock, and part of an iron chain jammed in a crevice. At the same time that the light-house was destroyed, the model of it, in Mr. Win- Btanley's house at Littlebury, in Essex, two hundred miles distant, fell down and was broken to pieces. Not long after this accident the Winchehea, iv homeward-bound, Virginia man-of-war, was wrecked RUDYERiyS EDDY ST ONE LIGHT. 19 upon the rocks on which the light-house stood, and most of the crew were drowned. Though Winstanley proved that it was not impracticable to build a light-house on the Eddystone rocks, and though the light had shown itself to be of great use, yet it was not until the spring of 1 706 that an act of Parliament was passed " for the better enabling the Master, Wardens and Assistants of Trinity House at Deptford Stroud to re- build the same." The work was commenced the following July. By this act the duties payable by shipping passing the light were vested in the corporation of Trinity House, and they were empowered to contract for its erection. In consequence of these powers, they em- ployed a Capt. Lovel, or Lovet, to build it, giving him in payment the duties for a term of ninety-nine years, commencing from the date the light should first be exhibited and continuing so long as it should be shown. Captain Lovet engaged Mr. John Rudyerd to be hia engineer — an apparently strange choice, as Mr. Rudyerd was a silk mercer, who kept a shop on Ludgate Hill, London. This choice proved, however, to be a happy one. Mr. Rudyerd avoided the errors of his predecessor ; he chose a circle instead of an irregular polygon for the plan of his building, and omitted the unwieldy ornaments, the open gallery, the cranes, and other contrivances. Rudyerd's light-house was a frustum of a cone, twenty-two feet eight inches in diameter at the base and fourteen feet three inches at the top, sixty-seven feet high to tlie floor of the lantern ; the height of the centre of the light was nine feet above the balcony floor, and the total height of the tower from the lowest part of the base to the ball on top of the lantern was seventy feet.' It was built mainly of wood ballasted with stone ; this is probably due to the fact that Mr. Rudyerd's associates in the work were Mr. Smith and Mr. Morcut, shipwrights from the King's yard at Wool- wich, and further accounts for the structure being more in the nature of ship-joinery than of ordinary carpenter's work. 20 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. To prepare the foundation the surface of the rock was Qrst .approx- imately levelled off in stops, in which holes were drilled to receive heavy iron bolts or branches, as they were called, which were in their turn securely fastened to the timbers. These holes were made dovetail in shape — two and one-fourth inches wide, seven and one-half broad at top, eight and one-half at bottom and from fifteen to sixteen inches deep, and as they could not all be made alike, each bolt was forged to fit its respective hole ; the latter were made four and one-half inches broad at the surface of the rock and six and one-half at the bottom ; when placed in the hole a space would thus be left three inches wide at the top and two at the bottom in which a key could be driven. After all the holes were drilled and the bolts and keys fitted, the holes were cleared of water as far as possible and filled with melted tallow; the bolts and keys were then heated to a blue heat and driven home ; thus all the interstices would be filled with the tallow ; when this was done coarse pewter was melted in a ladle and run in; it of course displaced the tallow, or a greater part of it. This an- swered so well that fifty years afterward when these bolts were taken, out the tallow still remained fresh and the iron not rusted. These boltswere not placed very regularly, but the plan in general was to arrange them in two concentric circles, one about a foot inside the other ; in addition there were two large tiolts fixed near the cen- tre, to which was attached the mast. The lower part of the tower consisted of a solid oak grillage, carried two courses higher than the top of the rock ; on top of this were placed five courses, one foot thick, of stone, laid without cement, but held together with iron cramps, then two courses more of solid timber, surrounded with timbers conforming to the contour of the circle, so that when the outside upright timbers were placed the bolts fastening them would not enter the horizontal timbers withi the grain ; some courses of the lower grillage were arranged in the same way. The outside of tlie tower was then formed of upright timbers, S,.„/A ET,EVATIQN Sc SECTION vf RUDTEllDS LIGHTHOUSE, See page 20. RUDYERD'S EDDYSTONE LIGHT. 21 bolted to the grillage courses and to each other, and terminated by a planking three inches thick which formed the floor of the lantern. The seams between these uprights were caulked with oakum and payed with pitch. The tower was perfectly plain except the cornice at the top and a protection at the bottom ; the former served to throw off the sea at the top and prevent it from striking the lantern. The latter was probably an afterthought to protect the bases of the uprights from the shock of the waves. This structure was a great advance on the first one ; it stood for forty-six years and was then destroyed, not by a storm but, by fire. Three years after it was commenced a light was exhibited from it, and the next year, 1709, it was entirely completed. Louis the XIV was at war with England during the construction of this light, and once a French privateer captured all the men at work and carried them to France with their tools. The captain quite prided himself on his achievement and expected to be well rewarded, but the king, when he heard of it, clapped the captain and his crew into prison, released the workmen, loaded them with pre- sents and sent them back to their work saying that, though he was at war with En<;land he was not at war wilh mankind and that the Eddystone lights-house was so situated as to be of equal service to all nations navigating the English Channel. No repairs of any moment were necessary until the vear 1723 when it was found that the lower ends of the uprights, especially on the lower side were being eaten by a small worm, possibly the limno- ria; they were then thoroughly repaired. In 1744 there was a tre- mendous storm which tore away thirty of the uprights and made a breach into the store-room, but by great exertion this disaster was repaired before the close of the year. For many years after the light was established there were but two keepers ; this number was ample for its maintenance, but it so happened that one of the men sickened and died, and the other, fearing to throw the body into the sea lest he might be charged with 22 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. murder, allowed it to remain in the light-house and hoisted a flag, which was the signal that he needed assistance. The weather was so bad for a whole month that the attending boat could not land, and when they finally succeeded the stench was so noisome that it was with the greatest difficulty that they could dispose of the body by throwing it into the sea, and it was not for long after that the rooms could be rid of the foul odor. After this the proprietors employed three men, to guard against the recurrence of such an accident. This also allowed each one ^n turn to go on shore for a month during the summer. The fire which destroyed this light-house, which had withstood the fiercest storms for nigh half a century, took place in December, 1755. The keeper going to snuff the candle at 2 a. m., found the lantern full of smoke, and when he opened the door was driven back by a burst of flame. The candles were twenty-four in number and weighed two and one- half pounds each ; their long continued use must have thoroughly dried the woodwork of the roof of the lantern which hesides was probably covered with soot, so that a spark would easily ignite it. The poor keeper did what he could to put out the fire ; he after a while succeeded in awakening the other two keepers and they all tried to throw water on the flames, but as it had to be brought seventy feet high, they soon found their elSorts unavailing, and in addition one of the keepers, the one who discovered the fire, was disabled by a curious accident. While he was looking upwards, endeavoring to see the e£fect of the water he had thrown, a shower of molten lead fell on his head, neck and shoulders' — part of it ran inside his shirtrcoUar and burned liim badly ; he also felt an intense burning inside, and supposed that part of the lead had passed down his throat. The three men gave up the unequal struggle and descended from room to room, as they were driven by the heat and melting metal. Early in the morning the fire was seen on shore, and a pliilan- thropis gentleman fitted out a fishing boat which arrived at the RUDYERDS EDDYSTONE LIGHT 23 lighthouse at 10 a. m. The fii-c had then been burning eight hours; the light-keepers had been driven from the tower, and to avoid the falling timbers and red-hot bolts, had taken refuge in the hole or cave on the cast side of the rocks under the iron ladder, near the landing. The men were stupefied, and the wind being from the east made a landing extremely hazardous, if not impracticable. They, however, were saved by the crew first, anchoring the large boat, then a small boat was rowed toward the rock, paying out a rope which was attached to the large boat ; when near enough to the rock a heav- ing-line waa thrown to the men. Each light-keeper in turn fastened the rope around his waist, and jumping into the sea was hauled into the boat. As the fishing-boat could do nothing to quell the flames it returned to Plymouth to land the keepers ; one as soon as he got on shore ran awa}', it is supposed in a panic ; the one burned by the melted lead was sent to his own houseior medical attendance ; he was ninety-four years old, but remarkably active considering his age. Ho told the doctor that he had swallowed the molten lead, and that be could not be cured unless it was removed. He lived until the twelfth day, when he suddenly expired — the doctor opened his stomach, and found therein a solid oval piece of lead weighing more than seven ounces. The doctor sent an account of the case to the Royal Society, but that wise body pooh-poohed the whole matter, and doubted the truth of the story. This nettled the good doctor, and to prove that animals might swallow molten lead and still survive, he tried the experiment on dogs and fowls, and found that they did live until he opened them to extract the lead. There is particular mention of one cock, who though dull would eat barley corn, from whose crop was removed a lump of lead weighing three ounces. These experiments seemed to prove the doctor's case pretty efiectually, but about all the satisfac tion he got was being censured for cruelty to animals. As soon as the light-house was destroyed, the proprietors set themselves to work to find some one to rebuild it ; fortunately their 24 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. choice fell on John Sraeaton, formerly a philosophical instrument maker, hut later a mechanical engineer, and Fellow of the Royal Society, and it is to him we owe the famous Eddystone Light-House. He went to work methodically, and examined with great care the work of liis predecessors, rejecting the weak and retaining the strong points; he then argued the matter out logically. In the first place he concluded that the weight should be as great as possible, and the mass as small, and that the structure must be safe from fire ; these conditions he filled by choosing stone as the material from which to build it, and by so shaping the tower as to give it a broad base and slender waist — as he called it — he states that this form was suggested to him from contemplating the trunk of an oak, which had withstood a storm which had prostrated its fellows. He at once saw that the tower would not be secure if built of squared stones, like an ordinary wall, but that the stones must be bonded together so as to form one solid mass ; this was in principle, the same as Rudyerd adopted, but as the material used was different, the result had to be accomplished by different means. A natural solution was to anchor the stones with iron bolts, but this idea was discarded as involving too great time and expense, and instead the original idea was invented of dovetailing the stones to the rock and to each other ; in this way the lower courses would be riveted to the rock, and each of the upper ones be equivalent tq one solid stone. In addition, it was considered necessary to fasten the stones of each course more securely to each other bo as to prevent all lateral motion among them, and also to fasten each course to the one below it. The first was accomplished by oak wedges ; each stone had two grooves, cut from the top to the bottom of the course ; these grooves wera one inch wide and three broad ; when the stone was accurately placed on its mortar-bed, and beaten down with a wooden maul, two wedges were placed in the groove, one point, the other head down ; they were then driven home rather gently at first with a rammer ; these wedges were three inches wide, one inch thick at the head, and Ong^mil IDEAS, HINTS, JbSKETCHESjT^wK'-^^wo? t/te Form ifthc^SKESESiX BUILDING war - ' '""'"'- ■•iiBiTiiiir •! r-*^ • ^•"lilll—IIIW ■laiiiiaiiaiMliHiiililiiiiliMiaillllMMI . Ill SMEATON'S EDDYSTONE LIGHT. 25 three-eighths inch at the point. As the pressure of these wedges was lateral they solidified the course. Each course was fastened to the one beneath with oak tree-nails, two one-and-one-fourtli-inch holes were bored in the outer end of each stone at the yard ; when tbcy were placed and wedged, a hole onc- and-one-eighth inch in diameter was bored in the stone beneath, and the tree-nail driven in, to insure its jamming tight in tlie lower hole, the lower end of the tree-nail was split and a wedge inserted, so that when it reached the bottom the wedge would expand it, and ef- fectually tighten it, the top was then cut off flush with the top of the course, and two wedges at right angles to each other driven into it. Ail the outside joints were then carefully pointed, and the other joints filled with grout. I have thus far described the general plan in considerable detail, but it would bo tedious to recount all the devices used in bringing this structure to completion; for other information the reader is re- ferred to the accompanying drawings. Every pains was talien that ingenuity could devise to make this tower so strong that the utmost power of the fiercest storm would have no effect upon it. The light was first shown from the tower on the night of October 16, 1759. On August 5, 1756, the cutting of the rocks to receive the foundation was begun ; from the time Itudyerd's light was de- stroyed by fire till the completion of Smeaton's tower was three years, ten months and sixteen days, the actual working time on the rock itself being one hundred and eleven days and ten hours. Notwith- standing the danger, difficulty and novelty of the undertaking it was completed without the loss of a single life, and scarcely with a serious accident. This was doubtless in a great measure due to the fact that Mr. Smeaton, the designer and builder *superintended every part of the work himself, both on shore and at the rock, so that the work- men were never without his intelligent assistance. When the gilt ball surmounting the lantern was brought from shore, he fastened it in its position with his own hands, standing on a scaffolding consisting of four boards nailed together in the shape 26 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. of a square, and slipped over the top of the lantern, a workman stand- ing on the opposite side of this precarious platform to balance Mr. Smeaton's weight. I have been thus particular in the description of this tower, as it is the type of most all that have succeeded it on rocky sites similarly exposed; it was a magnificent conception, and so far as its inherent strength was concerned it might be -standing until the present day. The following inscriptions were engraved upon it. On the first stone of the foundation, 1757, over the entrance, 1758. Round the tipper store-room upon the course immediately under the ceiling, EXCKPT THE LOKD BCILD THE HOUSE THEY LABOR IN VAISTHAT BUILD IT. Psalm cxxvii. Over the south window, 1 759 ; on the outward faces of the basement of the lantern, 5*6 . NE. (door) . SE . S. SW . W . NW. Upon the last stone set, being that over the door of the lantern on the east side, 24th Aug. 1 759. LAUS DEO. In 1877, Sir James Douglass, member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, explained to the Institution the necessity for substituting a new light-house for Smeaton's famous structure. There were two reasons — the first was that though the existing structure was " in a fair state of efficiency, yet unfortunately the portion of the gneiss rock on which it is founded had been seriously shaken by the incessant heavy strokes on the tower, and the rock was considerably undermined at its base." The second reason was that in stormy weather the waves rise con- siderably above the summit of the lantern, thus frequently eclipsing the light and altering its distinctive character. The latter defect was of but little importance for a long time after THE NEW EDDYSTONE LIGHT. ^ 27 the erection of this light-house, but of late years when the coast lights were so much multiplied, and in addition all vessels carried sig- nal lights, which formerly were not required, it now became a matter of absolute necessity that every coast light should have a reliable distinctive character. ' In 1877, the Trinity House (the Light-House Board of England) determined on the erection of a new light-house and directed their .Engineer-in-chief to submit a design and- estimate of cost including the removal of the upper part of Smeaton's tower, that portion above the solid work ; this demolition being necessary for the security of the lower part. The site selected for the new tower was on the reef S. S. E. from Smeaton's liglit-house, about one hundred and twenty feet distant. There was no probability of the rock being undermined here, as there was no surrounding point of attack at a lower level ; the main drawback was that the lower courses had to be laid below the l-swest tides. The estimate was $390,000, but as the lowest bid from firms expe- rienced in sea-wort was considerably above' this sum, it was deter- mined that the Engineer-in-chief should do the work witliout a con- tractor; By reference to the plate it will be seen that the general outline of the tower above the foundation was a; curve, but that the face of the foundation was vertical ; this change was mads because it was found tliat the tendency of the curvilinear outline was to elevate the centre of force of each wave-stroke on the structure. Therefore a cylindrical base was a^doptcd and was carried two and one-half feet higher than the highest tides ; the difference in height to which heavy seas rise on the two structures is very marked — this cylindrical base has the further advantage of affording a convenient landing platform. The stones of the various courses are so cut as to interlock into each other, and were also fastened together with bronze bolts'; the shapes of the stones differ from Smeaton's, but the principle is the same. 28 ANGIENT AND MODERN UG3T-H0USES. The first landing was made on the 17tb July, 1878, when the site was examined and staked off for the workmen. The first work done was to build a central core of rough granite laid in Portland cement; this core or platform was raised ten feet above low tide, and was of the greatesb use. For a radius of ten feet eight inches from the centre of the core the rock was cut in benches and cleaned, to prepare it to receive the foundation : around this and six inches from where the founda- tion would come a strong coSer-dam was built of bricks and Roman cement, the rocks were carefully cleared of all sea-weed with picks, and where they projected above the surface of the water strong sul- phuric acid was used — every available moment by day and night was utilized in building this dam — it was seven feet thick at the base and its maximum height was also seven feet ; three radiating walls were formed in the dam, (1) for strengthening the.dam, (2) for reduc- ing to a minimum the quantity of water to be ejected at each tide before commencing work, and (3) for affording, as they frequently did, a lee dam for carrying on the work, when otherwise it would have been impossible to keep the whole area free from water. While those portions of the dam which were two feet below low water were building, heavy bags of concrete were first deposited along the outside of the dam — occasionally a few courses of brick were carried away, but the dam never suffered any serious in'ury. In connection with the work the twin screw-tender Hercules, one of the two steam vessels employed in the construction of the Great and Little Basses Rock Light-Houses at Ceylon, was used here ; she was fully equipped with all necessary machinery and was moored about thirty fathoms from the rock. The water was removed from the dam by two three-inch rubber hose, canvas covered and internally wired ; they extended from the tender to the rock and the pumps of the tender, together with buck' ets used by the men, could empty one section of the dam in fifteen minutes. No blasting was allowed for fear of damaging the rock, so all the ,^r*w'^/k- Rock or.yAt East Side, ««yr/^WoKK^,v,v,„.„//-Y,w^.^xv/«,^^y,/.«^,^/^ENTRt'u>i KiK.s .//„■«■,,, ^Ia5 <} See page 31. ^ 6^ v ^len^o-^ ^iC &V3-^^^ ^^^^ e£„^ Engi-wvcd bv JJlorslmrgb L-ci^ -pi-c^i.^ ^^L/t^is^ .^'^ieX^^'/ /u^ --ti-^:-house. From the preceding statements some idea cap, be obtained of the tremendous seas to which thi.s rock is exposed. The first survey for the purpose of dptermining the exact position cf the proposed, tower was made by James N". Douglas in 1861. He landed upon the rock and made the best use possible of the short time he could stay; but the sea, getting up meanwhile, put a stop to his work, and as a boat could not with safety approach the rock owing to the increased swell, he was hauled on board through the surf by a line fastened around his waist. This mode of taking the workmen from the rock, when caught by a sudden change of weather and increase of surf was frequently employed afterwards under sim- ilar circimistances. In March, 18G2, the working party was landed and commenced 60 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGET-EOUSHS. work on the foundation pit. The insecurity of the foothold, and the constant breaking of the surf over the rock, rendered great precau- tions necessary for the safety of the men. Heavy iron stanchions -were sunk into the rock around the site for the foundation, to which were attached safety-ropes within easy reach of the men. An expe- rienced man was stationed on the summit to look out for the seas, and would give warning of such waves as would be likely to sweep the rock, when the men would hold on, head to the sea, while it washed over them. Picks, hammers, and jumpers, some exceeding twenty pounds in weight, were frequently carried away. During the first year, 1862, only twenty-two landings had been effected and eighty-three hours of work obtained during the season, although not a single opportunity had been lost to work, even if only for half an hour. The work was confined to blasting and cutting out the foundation pit for the tower, and in the erection of the landing- platform. By the end of the season of 1864, thirty-seven stones of the first entire course or second course of the tower were set, the landing- platform was nearly completed, and the landing-derrick or crane erected on the end of it. This landing-platform was constructed on account of the great dif- ficulty of landing upon the Wolf, which can only be effected on the northeast side, and even there the surface is rugged and without any vertical face for a boat to approach. As the material for this plat- form could only be landed from boats, small granite ashlar set in cement, similar to old English bond, was adopted, with the exception of some larger ashlar used for the steps and coping, and some rubble filling obtained from the foundation pit. The stones were each 24" X 12" X 6" rough pick dressed and laid in fresh Medina Eoman cement. Frequently tides which were not low enough to allow work on the foundation pit allowed the men to work at this platform, which greatly facilitated the erection of the light-house and proved of permanent value, from the convenience it affords for landin" and embarking at times when it would be impossible without it. ^^ ■8" 15 WOLF BOCK LIGHT-HOUSE. 61 The accompanying plate shows the amount of work accomplished each working season up to 1868. The last stone was successfully laid in 1869. The general internal arrangements are shown on the section of the tower. The same plate shows the methods of dove- tailing adopted. The step-ladders for ascending from floor to floor, and the par- titions between the rooms and staircases are of cast-iron, and the use of wood for fittings has been avoided as much as possible as a precaution against fire. The doors, windows and storm-shutters are constructed of gun-metal. The windows of the service-room are specially arranged for the air-supply of the lantern by means of valves which admit the air above the heads of the keepers, and upwards through an iron grating in the lantern floor. The relative position of the mooring buoys, barges and landing- boat, when at work, are shown on the plan. S S are the stone barges, L the landing-barge, and M M the mooring buoys. Each barge, when at the landing-crane, was moored, stem and stern, with ten-inch coir-hawsers, and the stern hawsers, which were the shorter, -frere frequently parted, notwithstanding their large size. ■ The barrack schooner, containing the resident engineer, his assistants, and the working party, was moored east-northeast from the rock, at a distance of three-fourths of a mile, and remained there as long as there was any opportunity of doing any work. The landing-boat was built diagonally, of two five-eighths inch thicknesses of elm plank, without timbers or floors, and was provided with a landing-deck and mast forward. This deck and the gunwale were covered With rough rope matting, to afford a good foothold in Jumping from or into the boat. Each workman was provided with a life-belt, which he was required to wear while landing on or embark- ing from the rock, and it was frequently necessary for the safety of the men that they should wear them while at work. A similar landing-boat is still used. It is warped in by means of a line made fast to a buoy astern and two lines from the bow, the lat- ter being managed by men on the rock. The person who is to land 62 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES stands on the landing-deck forward, holding fast to the stout mast or'^ stake, and when he is warned by the coxswain that the proper in- stant has arrived, he seizes the rope lowered from the derrick-boom on the landing-platform, places his foot in a loop at the end, and is quickly hauled up by the men at the winch on the rock. When the keepers are reliered it is sometimes impracticable to drop them into the boat ; in such cases they are hauled to it through the surf. This light-house contains, exclusive of the platform, 44,506 cubic feet of granite, weighs 8,296 tons, and cost a little over $300,000. It is one of the most striking examples of light-house engineering of which the Eddystone furnishes the type. It was Ughted for the first time on January 1, 1870. The actual time snatched from the sea which the men could work is shown in the following table : — Year. TSo. of landings. Houis of work. 1802 22 83 1863 39 Z06J 1864 42 267 1866 41 2D8 18G6 SI 224 1867 40 3131 1868 80 276l 1869 21 194i Total 266 1814^ MAPLIN SAND LIGHT-HOUSE. Mr. Alexander Mitchell, of England, invented the screw-pile for submerged sand-banks; it is described by him as a "project for obtaining a much greater holding power than was possessed by any pile or mooring then in use ; the former being nothing more than a pointed stake of considerable size, easily either depressed in or extracted from the ground. . . . The plan which appeared best adapted for obtaining a firm hold of soft ground or sand was to insert, to a considerable distance beneath the surface, a bar of iron having at its lower extremity a broad plate or a disk of metal in MAPLIN SAND LIGHT-HOUSE. 63 a Spiral or a helical form, on the principle of the screw, in order that it ehould enter into the grdund with facility ; thrusting aside any ohstacles td its descent, without materially disturbing the tex- ture of the strata it passed through, and that it should at the ^/\C«hCiW. \Ov'l./»«t. same time offer an extended base, either for resisting downward pressure or an upward strain." In 1838, the inventor and his son bmlt for the corporation of the Trinity House the foundation of the light-house on Maplin Sand, at the mouth of the Thames. This was the first screw-pile light-house, so 64 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. far as the foundation was concerned, although the one at Fleetwood was actually completed before the Maplin. It is an hexagonal structure, with one central and eight exterior piles. The piles were driven vertically! but above the water-line they bend toward the centre, and incline in a pyramidal form to the lantern floor. The screws are four feet in diameter ; the piles five inches, and they support cast-iron columns twelve inches in diameter, which are strongly braced. The principle of the screw-pile has been very largely used in light- house construction in the United States : it is specially applicable to inland waters, not exposed to very heavy seas, where the bottom is such that a screw-pile can be forced through it. In places where there is much running ice, it has been found advisable to protect these Btructiu:es against the impact of the ice, either by a wall of rip- rap, or by ice-breakers detached from the foundation. *" JJl '~~^.^:^Z-^ •' *»^<»'«'>«*i».''^« 1 in OQ 3 H s I OB - ^ "0 o > -< > > o It 1 if (i " . "■*'. i'. ^ p-ry* , T < »< " - r -J 'I r^ in 16 CHAPTER VL MINOT'S LEDGE LWHT-HOUSE. Capt. W. H. Swift, U. S. Engineer's, strongly impressed by the sncoes'sful application of Mitchell's mooring-screws to the forcing of iron post^ into the sand as a framework to iron-skeleton light- houses, built the first work of the kind in the United States : an iron beacon at the entrance of Black Bock flarbor, Conn. He then designed and erected a more important structure. The following account is taken from his official report (November, 1848). "Minot's Rocks — or as they are more generally called 'The Minots,' — lie ofE the south-eastern chop of Boston Bay. These rocks or ledges, with others in their immediate vicinity, are also known as the 'Cohasset Kocks,' and have been the terror of mar- iners for a long period of years ; they have been, probably, the cause of a greater number of wrecks than any other ledges or reefs upon the coast, lying as they do at the very entrance to the second city of the United States in point of tonnage, and consequently where ves- sels are constantly passing and repassing. The Minots are bare only at three-quarters ebb, and vessels bound in with the wind heavy at north-east, are liable, if they faU. to the leeward of Boston light, to be driven upon these reefs. The rock selected for the site of the light-house is called the ' Outer Minot,' and is the most seaward of the group. At extreme low water an area of about thirty feet in diameter is exposed, and the highest point in the rock is about three feet and a half above the line of low water. It is very rarely, how- ever, that a surface greater than twenty-five feet in diameter is left 66 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. bare by the sea. The rock is granite, with vertical seams of ta'ap rising through it. The form of the light-house is an octagon, twenty- five feet in diameter at the base. The structure is supported on ■>vyy viofa T.aU-Tlie Miuot'a light-house cost leas thau $40,000. 70 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. have been placed beyond the reach of storm waves, the enlarged base affording requisite stability for the increased height. The limited sum at the disposal of the engineer forbade such dimensions. The diffi- culties of drilling the shaft-holes were, as we have seen, very great, even where the most available parts of the rock were chosen. The enlarged tower, which we now know to be necessary, would have cost three times the sum at the command of the engineer." The importance and necessity, to commerce and to life of a light at this point were so apparent that Congress promptly made an appro- pi^iation for the purposes of relighting the Minot's Ledge rocks, stip- ulating, however, that the tOTyer should be erected on the outer Minot and charging the Topographical Bureau with its construction. This Bureau, after advertising for proposals, finally recommended, in view of the great difficulties in the way, and bearing in mind the awful fate of its predecessor, that one of the inner rocks should be selected as the site. While the matter was pending, the present Light-House Board was created (in 1852), and the whole subject was turned over to it. General G. J. Totten, Chief of Engineers, then a member of the Board, devised the project for the new structure ; he advocated and designed a light-house to be erected on the original site. The plans were drawn under his directions and he selected for its execution Captain (afterwards General) Barton 8. Alexander, Corps of En- gineers, an officer whose experience, skill, boldness and seK-reliance eminently fitted him for this arduous task. Alexander thus described the difficulties of the, work. "It was a more difficult work of construction than either the Eddystone, the Bell Kock, or the Skerryvore, for the Eddystone was founded all above low water, part of its foundation beinc up to high-water level. The foundation of Bell Rock was about three feet above low water, while the Skerryv-ore had its foun- dation above high-water level ; whereas a good part of the Minot's light was below low water. There had to be a combination of favor- able circumstances to enable us to land on the Minot rock at the be- MINOT'S LEDGE LIGHT-HOUSE. 71 ginning of that work : a perfectly smooth sea, a dead calm, and low spring tides. This could only happen about six times during any one lunation ; three at full moon and three at the change. Frequently, one or the other of the necessary conditions would fail ; and there were at times months, even in summer, when we could not land there at all. Our working season was from April 1 to September 15. Work was prosecuted with all possible diligence for more than three years before a single stone could be laid. The diiEculty was to cut the foundation rock into the proper shape, and then to lay these stones." Major Ogden, under the orders of the Board, made a careful topo- graphical survey of the rock, with the horizontal curves only three inches apart. The survey showed a plan of the rock at low water, with the curves where horizontal planes, passed three inches from each other vertically both above and below that level, would inter- sect the rock, these curves being projected on the rock. This survey showed that the highest point of the rock was three feet six inches above low water, and also that it would not be possible to obtain a tower of greater diameter than twenty-two feet without going outside the low-water limit, but by going outside this limit in five places, a diameter of thirty feet could be obtained. On the first of May, 1855, Captain Alexander first visited Minot's Ledge ; he found the stumps of the broken iron piles on the rock, and the wreck of the old light-house was visible under the water. It was difficult to stand on the rock, covered as it was with mus- sels and sea-weed ; but he succeeded in remaining on it for about an hour, and in remeasuring it at dead low water, with the hope that he could get a few inches more than the thirty feet for the founda- tion ; but in this he was disappointed. Captain Alexander arrived at the following facts and conclusions : Landings, even in summer, could not be made for weeks at a time ; partsof the ledge were always under water, and the remainder was only bare for three or four hours ; the space was contracted, and during easterly weather the sea broke wij;h such violence that no coffer-dam was possible. The cutting of the rock into shape would 72 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. evidently be a long, tedious, troublesome and expensive operation, requiring incessant vigilance and the employment of a large party of skilled workmen with all the necessary tools and implements. To have engaged such a party and placed them on board vessels near the rock with instructions to work at every favorable opportunity would have been an easy matter ; but the men would have been idle nine-tenths of the time. Their discipline would become lax ; when wanted they would not be at their posts, and even if they had they could not have worked like men inured to daily labor. Their hands and muscles would soon have become soft, and they would shortly have been disqualified for the hard labor and exposure in store for them. A better plan was, therefore, to combine the operation of cutting down the rock with that of preparing the stono for the tower, and to have both done by the same party of workmen, who would thus have constant employment and full wages. To do this an establishment on shore was necessary, with wharf accommodations, store-rooms, work-shops and a stone-yard. In addition there were required the necessary vessels and boats ; a gang of stone-cutters could then work on the ledge when sea, weather and tide would permit, and when these would not they would find full employment on shore cutting stone for the tower. A permanent scaffold on the ledge, not a bea- con-house, was considered essential. This was to be a structure of iron, to which the workmen could be secured to prevent their being washed from the rock, and would aiford temporary security in case of accident to boats or vessels. It would also answer the purpose of a derrick for laying the lower courses of masonry in the tower, and its legs, being enclosed in the masonry, would be so many huge holts to secure it to the rock. These ideas were embodied in a report to the Board dated May 81, 1855, and were approved. On the 20th of June a few men were employed to loosen the wedges around the stumps of the old iron piles, and to remove the mussels from the ledge, which was accomplished in a few days. The first landing for cutting down the rock was made at daylight CO n a "S MINOT'S LEDGE LIGHT-HOUSE. 73 on Sunday, July 1, 1855. But a small party of men were employed, and the first season's work was confined- to marking points of the various levels which were to be cut away, to cutting level spaces around the rock upon which the workmen could stand and upon which tools could be placed in comparative safety, and in general to laying out work for a larger party the next year. During the year 1855 there were one hundred and thirty hours' work on the rock. During the season of 1856 the iron scaffold pre- viously mentioned was erected. It consisted of nine wrought-iron shafts inserted into the holes of the old iron light-house, and rising to a height of twenty feet above low water, the whole bound together at the top by a strong wrought-iron franis ; these shafts were ten inches in diameter at the bottom and seven inches at the top. It gave great confidence to new hands. By stretching linos between the posts across.the rock in various directions, and about two or three feet above it, every workman had something within easy reach to lay hold of wlien a wave broke over the rock. This year and nearly the whole of the next was consumed in cut- ting the rock to receive the masonry : the foundation pit was nearly completed, and in 1857 four stones of the foundation were laid. On the nineteenth of January, 1857, the bark "New Empire," loaded with cotton, was thrown against the scaffold and swept it from the rock, breaking off the iron posts very much as those of the iron light-house had broken when it was carried away, and shattering the top of the rock in some places so that a portion of the work of the preceding year had to be done over again ; in 1856 and '57 the work on the rock was one hundred and fifty-seven and one hundred and thirty hours respectively. Although a permanent coffer-dam about this rock was impractica- ble, temporary coffer-dams around small portions of the rock were of great use, both in completing the foundation-pit and in laying the lower stones of the structure. These coffer-dams were made of sand- bags similar to those used in building sand-bag batteries. The bags were about half filled with sand and, being made of heavy cotton 74 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. (luck, were practically *ater-tight. They were easily handled. Two or three hundred of these bags built up, at- low water, around the small portion of the founilation-pit which it was desired to finish, or where a stone was to be laid in mortar, would keep out the water for fully half an hour if the sea was very smooth ; the water in the little pits thus made was then bailed out and by means of large sponges was kept nearly dry. These dams required but a few moments in construction, and, as they were easily removed, they were inexpen- sive. They enabled the engineers to see that the work was properly done, that the foundation was properly completed, that the wooden patterns for the lower stones were correct, and that the lower stones were laid in a bed of mortar properly spread on its foundation. Xearly all the stones were thus laid. The lowest stone, laid July 11, 1858, and some others, had to be laid in water. The method for securing a bed of mortar under these stones was as follows : A large piece of thin muslin was spread on the platform and a layer of mor- tar of the required thickness was then spread over it ; the stone was then laid on this bed of mortar, the vertical joints of the stone were tlien plastered with mortar and the cloth was folded up and laid smooth against these vertical joints, cutting away its superfluous parts. After remaining five or ten minutes the mortar would begin to set so that it and the cloth would adhere to the stone. The stone was then laid in its envelope which protected the mortar from the dissolving action of the water, while it was being luwered into posi- tion. Previous experiments on shore on stone cemented together in this way under water, showed that the mortar would ooze through the iloth and make a good bond to the stone below. All the lower courses of stone were laid from an iron mast which was setup in the central hole of the former light-house. The machin- ery and rigging which completed the derrick had to be put on and taken oft every day that landings were made for laying masonry. It was of simple construction and so arranged as to float in the water, so that all that had to be done in " stripping the derrick " after a MINOT'S LEDGE LIGHT-HOUSE. 75 tide's work was over, was to cast the machinery loose from the mast and throw it, with the attached rigging, overboard ; it could then be towed to the tender. The mortar used throughout the work was the best quality of pure Portland cement ; no lime nor sand was used. The sketches show how the stone was landed on the rock at differ- ent stages of the work. During 1858 the foundation-pit was finished and the masonry carried up to the sixth course inclusive ; this took two hundred and eight workingThours. \i 1859 the tower was finished to the top of the thirty-second course, sixty-two feet above low water, in three hun- dred and seventy-seven working-hours ; and -in ISCO the tower was completed, the last stone being laid on the twonty-nintli of June, just five years, lacking one daj-, from the time the workmen landed on the ledge. Ko life was lost nor was any one seriously injured during the build- ing of the light-house. TJie following were the principal regulations for the safety of the 76 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGIIT-IIOUSES. workmen while cutting-down tlie ledge and laying the masonry of tlio foundation : 1. No person should be umployiid on tlio worlc who could not awim, or who could not pull an oar and manage a small boat. 2. Xo landing should be attempted on the rock Crom one boat ; there must always be, at least, two boats. 3. 'Whilo the workmen were on the ledge, a small boat, with at least three men in it, should be Btationed immediately alongside the rock, on its lee side, to pick up the men who were occasionally washed from the rock. A£ter the destruction of the scaffold which had been en'cled on the ledge, a. new one was prepared similar to the first, bnt it was never erected as a scaffold. The eight ciiler posts, however, were inserted in the eight outer holes of tins former ,li';lil-hoiise, after thi! masonry of the tower had been carried up to the tenth courser, IIk; spaces around the posts being filled witli a grout of Portland cement. Tliey are supposed to give additional Btrength to the tower, holding it more securely to its rock foundation. MJNOT'S LEDGE LIGHT-HOUSE. 77 The light was exhibited tor the first time at sunset, November 15, 1860. The cost of the light-house and of the keeper's dwellings on shore, was S300,000. The structure is solid, around a central well up to the level of the entrance door. Above that there is a hollow cylindrical space, four- teen feet in diameter, arched over at the level of the cornice ; this s^ace is divided into five stories by four iron lloors ; these five com- partments and a sixth immediately under the lantern constitute the keeper's rooms, store-rooms, etc. The shaft is purely conical, the linuted bottom area forbidding the expansion respired for the tree-like spread to the base, usual in European sea-rock light-houses, which is now believed to be a useless expense and founded on a false analogy. The following tables may be useful for reference : Year. 1855. Excavating foundation-pit, 1856. " " " . 1857. " " " and laying 4 stones, 1858. " " " and laying 6 conrscs, 1859. Laying 36 courses, Number of tons rough stone, " hammered stone. Number of stones in light-house. Height from bottom of lowest stone to top of pinnacle. Height of focal plane above lowest point, " " " " mean high water. Diameter of third, or first full course, " top of 22d course (solid p.irt), (See Appendix A. } Woiking-h ours. 130 137 130.21 ra. 208 377 ■3514 2307 1079 114 ft. lin. G6ft. lin. 84 ft. 7 in. 30 ft. 23 ft. 6 in. CHAPTER VII. SPECTACLE REEF LIGHT-HOUSE. There is but one other light-house in the United Stalus of the same type as Minot's. This one is situated on Spcctaele Keef, Lake Huron, and is not properly a «ea-rock light-house, as the destructive agencies to which it is exposed are not sea-waves, but chiefly ice-packs. It stands on a roof at the northern end of Lake Huron, off the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac. There are two shoals of limestone rock in situ, covered with boulders so situated with respect to each other as to resemble a pair of spectacles. The light-house stands on the southerly end of the most northerly shoal. In 1868 the Light-house Board recommended an appropriation to erect this light, estimating the cost to be about $300,000. The wreck of two vessels at one time, the preceding fall, gave emphasis to its necessity, as these wrecks involved the loss of a sum greater than that necessary to mark this danger. An appropriation of $100,000 was granted to commence the work, and tioxt year an additional sum of $100,000 was appropriated. An examination of the site showed that the least depth of water on the shoals was about seven feet, and at the locality selected for the light-house, rock was found at a depth of eleven foot. The nearest land is Bois Blanc Island, about eleven miles distant. A depot for tliis work was established at Scararaon's Harbor, in Les Cheneaux, sixteen miles from the site. The greatest exposure to waves is from the southeast, the sea SPECTACLE REEF LIGHT-HOUSE. 79 having a fetch of about one hundred and seventy miles. Their force, however, is not so great as to require any great precautions to in- sure stability. But . at times currents are developed here having a velocity of from two to three nules per hour, and during the winter season serve to move to and fro ice-fields two feet thick and thou- sands of acres in extent. This ice, formed in fresh water, is of ex- treme solidity, and when in motion has a hving force which is almost irresistible. The object was, therefore, to oppose to it a structure against which the ice would first be crushed, and then its motion so impeded as to cause it to ground upon the shoal itself, thus forming a barrier against subsequent action. To give some idea of the necessity for this, it may be mentioned that in the spring of 1875, when the keepers returned to the station, the light being discontinued during the winter months, they found the ice piled up against the ligh1>-house, seven feet above the sill of the door-way, which is twenty-three feet above the lake, and they were only able to obtain entrance to the house by cutting their way through the ice. The plan contemplated building first a crib-work or " protection pier," with a large central opening, in which was to be placed a cof- fer-dam. The water was then to be pumped from the coffer-dam, the rock levelled, to prepare it for the foundation of the light-house, and then the light-house was to be buUt of stone, carefully cut and strongly fastened together. The protection pier was built at Scammon's Harbor during 1870- 71. In the former year a careful survey was again made at the site, when it was discovered that the huU of the schooner Nightingale, wrecked the preceding fall, covered, with her cargo of iron ore, a good portion of the bed of rock on which the tower was to stand. As there was no other place on the reef where bare bed-rock could be found, except in eighteen feet of water, it was necessary to remove that portion of the wreck covering the area required for the coffer-dam. It was intended to buUd the light-house of granite, but the con- tractor utterly failed to furnish this stone. Limestone from Marble- 80 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGIIT-UOUSES. head, Ohio, was therefore purchaBed in suflioient quantity to continue the work. The coffer-dam was framed at Detroit, Mich., during the winter, and was taken to Scammon's Harbor on the opening of navi- gation of 1871, to be in readiness for use as soon as the crib should bo placed in position. The origin?,! intention was to put this crib in position in four sec- tions, but upon further consideration it was decided to attempt plac- ing it as a whole upon the reef. This was successfully accomplished as follows : four temporary cribs, eaph fifteen by twenty-five feet, of round timber, were placed in from eight to ten feet of water, in a line corresponding with the proposed eastern face of the pier of pro- tection, and filled to the level of the water with ballast-stone. They were then connected together and decked over. On this deck were placed about seventy cords of ballast-stone, ready at the propeir time to be thrown into the pier of protection. The two lower courses of this pier, fastened together with screw-bolts, forming a raft, were towed to the site and moored directly over the position to be occu- pied by the finished pier. Its position was marked upon the tempo- rary pier mentioned above, and soundings taken at intervals of two feet along each timber in the raft, thus obtaining accurate contours of the surface of the reef within the limit of those timbers. The raft was then towed back to the harbor, hauled out upon ways, and by means of wedges of timber the bottom was made to conform to the surface of the reef. The raft, now become the bottom of the pier of protection, was then launched and additional courses of tim- ber added, until its draught of water was just sufficient to permit its being floated into position on the reef. Meanwhile five barges at the harbor had been loaded with ballast- stone, making, with that at the temporary pier, 290 cords (about 1800 tons) at command, with wliich to load the pier of protection and secure it to the reef, as soon as it should bo placed in position. This crib was ninety-two feet square, and between eleven and twelve feet high, with a central opening forty-eight feet square. It thus oc- cupied a space nearly a quarter of an acre in extent. 19 WOLF EOCK LIGHT. (FOUNDATION.* See page 59 SPECTACLE REEF LIGHT-HOUSE. 81 On the evening of the 18th July, 1871, everything being in readi- ness, and the wind, which had previously been blowing freshly from the north-west for three days, having somewhat moderated, at 8 p. M. two tugs took hold of the immense crib, and started to tow it to the reef, fifteen miles distant, followed by the fleet of stone barges. The construction-scow, with tools, etc., on board, was towed with the crib. At 2 A. m., next day, the fleet hove-to off the reef, await- ing daylight, and the abatement of the wind, which had again fresh- ened up. At half-past six, it having moderated, the pier was placed in position, with considerable difficulty, and after being secured to the temporary pier, and to moorings previously set for it, all hands went to work, and by 4 p. m. had succeeded in throwing 1200 tons of stone into the compartments. By this time the wind had so increased that the rising sea made it necessary to stop work, but early next morning the rest of the re- serve stone was put into the compartments. After the pier was in position, a schooner was moored on the reef, to serve as temporary quarters for the workmen, who proceeded at once to build up the pier to the required height, twelve feet above water. More stone was brought, and by the 1 2th of September the pier reached its fuU height, and, by the 20th, quarters for the workmen were built upon it, when the schooner was discharged. A diver was then employed to clear off the bed-rock within the opening of the pier, and the coffei^dam was commenced. This coffer-dam consisted of a hollow cyhnder, forty-one feet in diameter, composed of wooden staves, each four by six inches, and fifteen feet long ; it was braced and trussed internally, and hooped with iron externally to give it the requisite strength. It was put together at the surface of the water, and, when complete, was low- ered to its position by means of iron screws. As soon as it rested on the rock, whose contour was quite irregu- lar, each stave was driven down to fit as closely as possible, and a diver then filled with Portland cement all the openings between its lower end and the rock. A loosely-twisted rope of oakum was then 82 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGET-EOUSES. pressed closely down outside the lower end of the cof!Eer-dam, and outside this a larger rope made of hay. The pumping-machinery having been got ready in the meanwhile, the co£Eer-dam was pumped dry, and on the same day, October 14, a force of stone-cutters descended to the bottom and commenced the work of levcUing-o££ the bed-rock so as to prepare it for the. first course of masonry. The rock sloped from the west to the east, and, in order to make a luvei bed, it was necessary to cut down about two feet on the high- est side, involving a large amount of hard labor, and rendered still more difficult by the water forcing its way up through the seams in the rock. This work was finally accomplished, as much care being taken to cut and level the bed as with ,any of the masonry courses. The first course of mastnry was set and completed October 27. The water forcing its way through the seams gave much trouble as it disturbed the mortar ; for this reason water was let into the dam every evening and pumped out in the morning, to give the mortar time to. harden during the night. The mortar was composed of equal parts of Portland cement and screened silicious sand, and became as hard, or harder, than the bed-rock or the stone of which the tower was built. As the weather now became boisterous, frequent snow -squalls interfering with the work, it was determined to close operations for the season, so everything was put in safety for the winter, and by the end of October all the men had left the rock except two, who were left to tend the fog-signal and the fourth-order light, which had been erected on the men's quarters ; they were taken ofi at the close of navigation. The degree of success of this model cofEcr-dam may be inferred from the fact that, though provided with pumps having an aggregate capacity of 5,000 gallons per minute, not more than a capacity of 700 gallons was used, except when emptying the coffer-dam, and then only to expedite the work ; once emptied, a small proportion of this capacity was ample to keep the coffer-dam free from water, and SPECTACLE REEF LIGHT-HOUSE. 83 this at a depth of twelve feet of water, on rock, at a distance of eleven miles from the neai-est land. Every one connected with this work may well feel a just pride in its success. The following season opened a month later, so work was not re- sumed at the harbor until the 3d of May, 1872, and upon the reef on the 20th of the same month. On May 13 the ice was a compact mass of sotne feet in thickness, and masses of ice lay on top of the pier itself. As soon as possible the ice was cleared away, and the work of setting the additional courses began. By the close of the season the work had been carried to the seven- teenth course inclusive, completing the solid portion of the tower. In September there was a violent storm, and the following account will give some idea of its violence and the damage done : " The sea burst in the doors and windows of the workmen's quar- ters, tore up the floors and all the bunks on the side nearest the edge of the pier and the platform between the quarters and the pier. Everything in the quarters was completely demolished except the kitchen, which remained serviceable. The lens, located on top of the quarters was found intact, but out of level. Several timbers on the east side of the crib were driven in some four inches, and the temporary cribs were completely swept away. The north side was so completely filled up that the steamer can no longer lie there. A stone weighing thirty pounds was thrown across the pier ; but the greatest feat accomplished by the gale was the moving of the revolv- ing derrick from the northeast to the southwest corner. At three o'clock in the morning the men were obUged to run for their lives, and the only shelter they found was on the west side of the tower. The sea finally moderated sufficiently to allow them to seek refuge in the small cement shanty standing near the southeast corner of the crib. Many lost their clothing." During the following winter the workmen's quarters, from which the light had been exhibited, was carried away by the ice, and together with the lantern was totally destroyed. This was not unex- pected, and in view of the probable result, the lens had been re' 84 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. moved and stored in a place of safety. The fog-signal was uninjured and was sounded whenever required. Work was continued during the working-seasons of 1873-4, and the light was exhibited for the first time on the night of June 1, 1874. The exterior of the tower is a frustum of a cone, thirty-two feet in diameter at the base and eighteen feet at the spring of the cor- nice, eighty feet above the base. The cornice is six feet high and the parapet seven feet. The focal plane is four feet three inches above the parapet. Hence the entire height of the masonry above the base is ninety-three feet, and of the focal plane ninety-seven feet three inches. The tower is solid to a height of thirty-four feet ; above this it is hollow, and divided into five stories, each fourteen feet in diameter. The walls of the hollow portion start with a thickness of five feet six and three-tenths inches, and are eighteen inches thick at the spring of the cornice. The whole interior is lined with a brick wall four inches thick, separated from the outer wall by an air-space of two inches. All stones below the cornice havt^ a uniform thickness of two feet. All sashes, shutters, and doors arc made to open outward, which admits of such an arrangement of the rabbets as to effectually prevent the entrance of water at the window and door openings. The stones in the solid portion are cut to form, in the simplest manner, a most complete lock upon each other in each course, and the several courses are bolted to each other with wrought-iron bolts two and one-half inches in diameter and two feet long. The lower course is bolted to the rock with bolts throe feet in length, which penetrate the rock to a depth of twenty-one inches. All the bolts are wedged at each end with conical wedges, and all bolt-holes are filled solidly with pure Portland-cement mortar. Above the solid portion no bolts are used except in the first course, but on the build of each course a ribbon has been cut, fitting into a corresponding recess in the course above. The reader will notice the similiarity of the "bond " in this tower to that used at Minot's Ledge. SPECTACLE REEF LIGHT-HOUSE. 85 Deducting the time while work was suspended for the winter, and that consumed in giving notice to mariners, the aggregate working- time was twenty-four months, but as at least two week's time was lost at the beginning and end of each season getting ready for and in securing the work, the actual available time did not exceed twenty months. The total cost, including the steamer and appliances of every kind was, in round numbers $375,000. The crib and coffer^iam were designed by Col. and Bvt. Brig.- (Jenl. TV. F. Baynolds, and the tower by Lt. Col. and Bvt. Brig.-Genl. O. M. Poe, both of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army. The latter officer had charge of the difficult part of flae work until the foundation was brought above water. The tower was completed by Maj. and Bvt.-Brig.-Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, Corps of Engineers, since deceased. Any account of Spectacle Reef Light-House should give much credit to Mr. Anthony L. Ederle who was the Superin- tendent of Construction from the beginning until the completion of all work of any difficulty. The construction-pier, which has been 'repaired from time to time, is still standing, and is most useful as a landing-place and a site for the steam fog-whistles. Of late years, however, it has become much deteriorated and is beyond economical repair ; next summer the Light-house Board will probably build an iron caisson filled with concrete adjacent to the tower, to form a foundation for the fog-signal apparatus, after which it will be a matter of little moment whether the construction-pier is destroyed or not. The sea-rock light-houses of the world are few in number; the following is a list of all, including those already described : Eddy- stone ; BeU Rock ; Bishop Rock (1853), off the Scilly Islands ; the Small's Rocks, entrance to the British Channel; Hanois Rocks (18G 2), Island of Alderney; Barges d'Olonne (1861), west coast of France; Wolf Rock (1869), off Land's End, England; Alguada 86 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. Reef (1865), Bay of Bengal; Great and Little Basses Light, off the coast of Ceylon ; Minot's Ledge, Boston, and Spectacle Keef, Lake Huron. The examples selected show bufficiently well the yarious difBculties and dangers attending this class of work, and how they were over- come in each case ; so it is not considered necessary to give detailed descriptions of every work of this kind. Though the above are all the sea-rock light-houses properly so called, there are many light-houses in this and other countries which are built upon isolated rocks in the sea, yet these rocks are sufficiently above the surface of the sea, to afford a moderately safe base of operations when a landing has once been effected upon them. Among these latter may be mentioned John of Unst's House, or " North Unst." The erection of this tower, finished in 1864, though not offering difficulties comparable to those at the sea-rock light- houses described, yet was a work of much interest. As shown in the sketch it is rooted upon an isolated rock, near the Shetland Islands, called Muckle Flagga ; the tower is sixty-four feet high, JOHN OF UNST'S HOUSE. 87 and the light is two hundred and thii-ty feet above high water, and can be seen twenty-one mile's away. The north face which is perpendicular, is exposed to the full fury of the ocean ; while the south face, thoc^h less abrupt, is extremely difiScult of ascent ; the summit is just large enough for the founda- tions of the tower which contuns the lantern-room, bed-room, kitch- en and office. At its base is the store-room for oil, coal and water. Landings are only possible in fine weather. There are four keep- ers, those not on duty liye on the Island of Unst, about four miles from the light. Th« HMmiM ^»I e*K*C«4?7^a^l CHAPTER Vm. TILLAMOOK ROOK. On June 20, 1878, Congress appropriated 050,000 for building a light-house on Tillamook Head, and on June 16, 1880, appropriated $5,000 more for continuing the work. On March 8, 1881, there was appropriated $25,000 for completing the work on the rock of Tillamook. There were many reasons for this change ; the Head is inaccessible by sea, so that a road about twenty miles long would have to be built and maintained through an unknown and difficult country ; the crest is too high above the sea for a light to bo visible during foggy weather; and there is no natural bench or lower level where the light could be placed, which would not be endangered by land-slides. Maj. G. L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., Brevet Lieut. Col., was then in charge of this work, and in June, 1879, he made an inspection of the rock from the deck of a light-house ten- der, the sea being too rough to permit a landing ; he reported as follows to the Light-House Board : VIEW or STONE. SECTION A B. D E T A 1 L S F. DOVETA^LIHC. Stale,)4 £ieh - IJTevt ■~XnA of fHUvn- Mtf4- Stiiiing dofu ]tr Asnit. Sit it AImIUvJ wiAOwwiA J WOLF HOCK LIGHT. (SECTION ASTD CHART.) See page 6i UtTING AHD SETTtNC GEAR. TILLAMOOK LIGHT-HOUSE. 89 " I was enabled, however, to approach sufficiently near to become convinced that the rock is large enough, and the only suitable place for the light To be efficient, the Ught should he exhibited as low as it is safe to have it ; the headland is entirely too high, even on the lowest bench, and if located ashore, a costly road must be built. Though I could not make a landing, I am of the opinion that it is practicable to use the rock for a light station, and am desirous of being allowed to make the attempt." As will be seen farther on, the great difficulty was in effecting a landing on this rock, around which the sea is almost constantly boil- ing and surging even in moderate weather. In June, 1879, Mr. II. S. "Wheeler, superintendent of construction, went to the rock, and succeeded in landing two men, but they were unable to do anj-thing, as the sea commenced to rise, so fearing that they would be separated from their companions, they jumped into the sea, and were rescued by life-lines. On the 2oth of the same month, Mr. Wheeler made another attempt which was more success- ful, as he succeeded in landing in person, and by means of a tape- line, taking measurements of the most important dimensions. The plan for the buildings and the course to be pursued in adapt- ing them to the rock was, in general, the occupancy of the rock by a small working force, well suppUed with provisions and tools for a stay of four or five months, with instructions to fii-st pre- pare quarters for themselves, and then to reduce the summit of the rock by blasting until a level was reached, above the destructive action of the sea, sufficiently large to contain all the necessary build- ings. While this work was going on, it was proposed that all the various appliances, such as derricks, engines, etc., should be got ready and sent to the rock as rapidly as possible, and that all the stone should be quarried, dressed to dimension, and shipped to Astoria ready for use, together with all other needed material, such as cement, sand, brick, etc. Before any work was definitely ordered to be begun, it was necessary 90 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES that the rock should bo carefully surveyed by a competent person, so that the proper places for the quarters, derricks and engines could be selected, the size of the force be determined, and other useful data collected. Mr. John R. Trewavas, a master-mason of Portland, Oregon, was selected for this work. He had at one time been employed upon the construction of Wolf Rock, England, an:T">-f V. .i ••.!<-;<•.■■■*■ i^<".': '; { •:;;. :.:- .t; fit i:p; £H "I* --■«; *.h. .*:-. ;i j."4 i I i i'l ". I- j-»"; ■; -1- ■-•! --■ ; - -•.•■■••••, J- -I r- ' ;-4«f ^i-:^ .ji.;r^ ■■«...-i.d^;.. ■ i :Ei&-5r:]= rS^il.' •.,. ;i> i" !.|i ' i '.1 fc .> .V" J »[■ •¥".'. ^ ' ' rs' ■; ■;! "t*«- : 1 ' ■..1,.,? ;-4 ^>t-r\.^-f~ t^^<- a... <^^\/ CHAPTER IX. NOKTHWEST SEAL ROCK. Northwest Seal Eock, or, as it has been re-christened St. George's Reef Light Station, is now in process of construction on a small rock forming the outermost danger of St. George's Reef, opposite Crescent City, California. Capt. A. H. Payson, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., is in charge of this work. The high rocky coast from the bight of Crescent City to Point St. George, four and one-half nautical miles, trends in a north- erly direction, and is bordered by a belt of numerous high, rocky islets and sunken dangers, nearly a mile in width. North of the Point the coast-line turns nearly at right angles to its previous direction and becomes low and sandy, but the direction of the obstructions remain unchanged for about six nautical miles to seaward, and make what is known as St. George's Reef. Inside the reef, close under Point St. George, is a broad and deep channel, sometimes used during heavy northwest weather by north- 98 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. erly-bound steamers, but only in daylight and clear weather, and pio bably at some risk from sunken dangers not shown on the charts. The position of Point St. George, about midway between Capes Mendocino and Blanco, would naturally suggest it as an appropriate place for a first-order light, did not experience at Cape Blanco, an almost similar situation, show that the headland itself would but im- perfectly answer the purpose. When there is not dense fog there is usually so much haze in this climate that vessels forced by the reef to give the point a berth of ten to twelve miles, would rarely see even a first-order light upon it, while a fog-signal, six miles from the danger it is designed to mark, would be practically useless. Northwest Seal Rock is nearly two miles outside of its nearest neighbor. Southwest Seal Rock, with a clear and deep, but unused passage between, and has close to it on all sides from' one hundred and eight to one hundred and eighty feet of water, with no outlying dangers. It is a mass of metamorphic material, varying considerar bly in character, extremely hard to drill, and brittle under the action of explosives, but offering almost the resistance of glass to the action of the sea. The superficial area of the rock at the water-line is about forty- six thousand square feet, and its general form is an oval with a high central ridge running nearly east and west along its longer axis, sloping gently on the north, but more steeply on the sides from its crest to the sea level. To the westward is a prolongation, called Little Black Rock. The greatest height of the ridge, fifty-four feet, is at its eastern end. The gentle lower slopes and smooth, water-worn surfaces, were plain indications that the sea at times swept over its top. Yet, to gain the requisite area for the foundation, it was necessary to excar vate at a point fully thirty feet below the crest. There was no space available on the site where even temporary security of men or mate- rial could be assured, and the frequency and quickness with whieli all parts of the rock became untenable, greatly exceeded any previ- ous anticipation. It is a peculiarity of this coast that a heavy sea. NORTH-WEST SEAL ROCK LIGHT-HOUSE. 99 which results from off-shore winds and cannot be predicted from any sign, will begin to break upon the rock ; and so suddenly did this happen during the working season of 1883 that in three or four hours from a dead calm the topmost surface of the rock was swept. The general features of the site for construction upon it could hardly have been more unfavorable. Crescent City, thirteen miles away, ia the nearest point at which a landing on the coast is possible. This is a shoal and rock-encum- bered bight, quite open to the south and west, but offering a some- what disturbed shelter to be reliedon from the middle of June to the following September. During the remainder of the year it is exposed at any time to the entrance of the prevaiUng westerly swell which breaks outside the anchorage and endangers any vessel lying in it. Crescent City is a small and isolated settlement, distant by difficult mountain roads one hundred and fifty miles from the telegraph, and more than three hundred miles from a railway. The nearest harbor is Humboldt Bay, where there is a good-sized town and frequent communication with Sai. Francisco. The depth of water on the bar varies from fourteen to twenty feet. This often causes detention, but is not a serious obstacle. Its main drawback as a depot is its distance from the rock, but this is unavoidable. The project for the foundation consisted of an oval outline adapted to that part of the rock which included the required area, and neces- sitated the cutting of four horizontal terraces for the foot of the pier-wall, and the suitable preparation of the mass of rock left standing within, for a bond with the pier filling ; provision was to be made for water storage in the otherwise solid mass of the pier below the top of the rock. Since it was impossible to leave men and material on the site, it was necessary either to take then to and from the nearest landing at Crescent City, as. occasion served, or t3 provide floating accom- modations near the rock. The saving of time, so vital to success, and other evident advantages of the latter course, were stjong argu- ments in its favor ; it was, therefore, adopted, and a top-sail schooner 100 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. of one hundred and twenty-seven tons, called " La Ninfa " was selected. She was nearly new and strongly built for carrying copper ore on the west coast of South America, and had shown her fitness for the work by being used temporarily as a light-ship to mark the wreck of the " Escambia " on San Francisco bar. She was altered and in various ways specially fitted for the work. Her outfit was made as complete as the large experience of Mr. Ballantyne could suggest. He had been appointed superintendent of construction of this work, owing to his success in building the station at Tillamook Rock, a work of similar character, and, besides, many of the men who had worked there were also employed here. The steamer " Whitelaw" was chartered to tow the schooner to the rock and to place the moorings. After several attempts she suc- ceeded in doing so, arriving at the rock on the morning of April 9, 1883; she placed the big twelve thousand pound mooring and at- tached the schooner to it, but was then, owing to the boisterous con- dition of the sea, compelled to abandon the attempt to place the other moorings and stood off to sea. From then until the sixteenth a continuous gale prevailed, the schooner holding on in g.eat discom- fort and the steamer lying by in the offing, but the weather then moderated sufficiently to enable soundings to be made on the site of the remaining moorings. They disclosed the fact that the depths were greater than those shown on the coast-survey chart, so Mr. Ballantyne availed himself of the presence of the steamer and went in her to Humboldt Bay to get larger spar buoys, where he was de- tained until the 27th. Leaving on the evening of that day he arrived at the rock on the 28th only to find that the schooner and the big mooring-buoy had both disappeared. The weather becoming fine, the steamer laid the remaining moorings, and then cruised in the neighborhood of the rock until the 3d of May, awaiting the re-ap- pearance of the schooner, when she again went to Humboldt Bay to communicate with Captain Payson for instructions. On arrival there she found that the " La Ninfa " had been sighted during a gale off Cape Mendocino, on the 30th of April, The NORTH-WEST SEAL ROCK LIGHT-HOUSE. 101 " Whitelaw " put to sea in search, and on the 6th of May fell in with the missing vessel twenty-five miles south of Crescent City. She had parted her new eight-inch hawser during a furious gale on the night of the 22d of April, and had since been blown first north and then south in a vain endeavor to keep near her work. Taking her in tow the steamer, for the second time, placed her in position on the morning of the 9th of May, and the weather being favorable a land- ing was at once made on the rock, ring-bolts put in, a temporary trav- eller rigged, and the work on the rock finally and auspiciously begun. Arrangements were made with a small coast-steamer, making regu- lar trips between Crescent City and San Francisco once every ten days, to visit the rock on each trip. The southerly winds, which had so far prevailed, were almost im- mediately succeeded by the violent northwesters of early spring, and rock-cutting mSide but little progress until the early part of July. In the mean time a small donkey-engine had been put on the " La Ninfa " to assist in handUng the numerous moorings and spring lines, and to work the traveller. A new bad-weather mooring was put down to replace the one lost, various attempts to recover it having failed. From this time forward the work went on without material inter- ruption. There was much parting of lines and tackle, and the men often had to be taken hastily off the rock just after they had been put on, but in spite of many narrow escapes and some dangerous accidents, there was no serious injury to any one. Work on the north low bench was the most difficult, though it was twenty-five feet above the sea ; the men there were almost constantly drenched with spray, and hardly a day passed when the sea did not break upon it at high water. During a gale on the 29th and 30th of September stones, over a ton in weight, which had been rolled overboard from this bench, were swept like chips up along its whole length and over again on the east end. On September 10, while two quarrymen were drilling a hole on the lee side, just below the top of the rock, a tremendous sea swept completely over it, washing them down the steep south slopes nearly 102 ANCIENT AND. MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. thirty feet, where they fortunately lodged on the south bench, none the worse save for a few bruises. It was judged best to 5tore the high explosives, of which there were at times six hundred pounds in stock, on the rock itself. The magazine, built of heavy timbers, was put in a square excavation, made especially for it, in the topmost pinnacle, fifty feet above the sea, and secured by a network of four-inch lines set over its top as tightly as possible to r'ng bolts in the rock ; yet the magazine was several times twisted around by the sea under its rope lacing. The presence of this large amount of explosive in such close proximity to the blasting was a source of much apprehension, but the precau- tion was taken to wrap it in many thicknesses of tarred canvas and no accident occurred. To avoid the delay of frequent and tedious changes in the position of the schooner she was hauled in close enough to the rock to permit the use of the wire traveller-cable, and kept there as long as the spring lines held. She was much exposed to flying fragments, which often went over her in showers, marring her appearance a good deal, but doing no serious damage. The total distance over which the cage of the traveller passed was three hundred and fifty feet. The traveller-block was made of two pieces of boiler-plate, bolted together, and forming the bearings for the axles of four grooved gun-metal wheels, which just held the cable between the upper and lower pairs, and made it impossible to nip or bind, even were it twisted completely round the cable by the sea. The cage was a horizontal iron ring four feet in diameter, sus- pended from the traveller-block by three cords, attached at equal distances around its circumference, and having hung below it a piece of pldnk on which the passengers stood. At first the men were hauled to and fro singly in a breeches-buoy, but the cage was found much more convenient as it permitted the transport of at first four, and later of six men at a time, and allowed them to easily extricate themselves should any accident happen. The whole arran~emenv worked perfectly, and by the aid of the engine a round trip, taking NORTH-WEST SEAL ROCK LIGHT-HOUSE. 103 off six men, and return, could be made in three minutes. The shore end of the cable being some sixty feet above the sea, and the lowest point of its curve not over fifteen feet, the cage, when released from the rock ran down this slope with great speed. Taking advantage of this, and standing by to haul in with the engine, the men were often taken on board dry, when every sea went over the low part of the cable ; such confidence did they gain in this means of retreat that they did not think of leaving the work till the sea began to run continuously over all the working levels ; then, lashing their tools to ring-bolts prepared for the purpose, the cage was put in use and in twenty minutes all hands would be in safety. But one accident oc- curred with it, and that was the parting of the traveller-rope in a heavy sea just as four men were being swung off the rock, but, luck- ily, they had only started, and so fell unharmed on the east bench. Whenever the sea would permit, the men were taken to and from the rock in a surf-boat to save the costly item of water and also time. It was extraordinary to see how, little by little, they became more venturesome, till, at the, end, they would jump out one by one from the boat, holding to a life-line from the rock, with the sea rising and falling fully fifteen feet on the nearly vertical east face. The schooner's position near the rock, the character and position of the moorings, and the manner in which the traveller was rigged, are shown in the accompanying plate.^ About the middle of August the foundation benches had been roughly formed, and needed only the finishing touches of the stone-cutters. The position and size, eleven thousand cubic feet, of the cistern having been fixed, the party commenced to work on this ; the ten days from the 18th to the 28th of September were the finest of the whole year, and the men, warned by the lateness of the season and the ominous westerly swell, and very anxious to end their long seclu- sion, worked with such eagerness, that, contrary to the expectations of the foreman, everything planned for the season was finished by 2 p. M., September 28. The tools were taken on board that evening 1 See full-page picture, upper lialf. 104 ANCIENT AND MODERN LI GET-HOUSES. with the men, and by 2 A. m. next day the long-expected first winter gale had reached such violence that all the rock-lines parted, and the schooner was lying by a single line to the outer buoy. The storm continued until the Ist of October, and on the 2d the steamer " Cres- cent City " came out to the rock with instructions for closing up the work. As it was too rough to communicate there, the schooner, at 9 A. M. on the 2d of October cut her last remaining mooring-line and followed the steamer under the lee of Point St. George, where the stone-cutters and quarrymen were taken off, and she started to make the best of her way to San Francisco, where she arrived forty-eight hours after, being favored with a strong northerly gale. The steamer did not arrive at San Francisco until three days later, when the working force was disbanded and the plant stored at the depot on Yerba Buena Island. The sketch * shows the appearance of the rock at the end of the working season. The next year's work was dependent on the action of Congress in granting an additional appropriation, and, as it was along session, no more money would be available until July or August; therefore, to save time, the steamer " Whitelaw " was sent to the rock to replace the moorings and to erect the big derrick in anticipation of the sea- son's work ; this she safely accomplished by July 2, but as Congress appropriated but $30,000, too small a sum to continue work at the site, it was devoted U> the preparation of material at Humboldt Bay. Before any work had been done at the rock it was first determined to get the necessary granite from the Sierra Nevada and to use sand stone for filling, but a rumor having reached Captain Payson that granite had been discovered on Mad Eiver near the railroad from Humboldt, he at once examined the place and found a deposit of ex- cellent quality, but no evidence of the existence of the rock in place. The side of the mountain showed, within perfectly defined and narrow limits to the right and left, but extending for a considerable distance with less-marked boundaries up and down the slope, the tops of > Sen lall-page picture, lower half. ELEwio^plNOT^ [EDGE [iGHTH 'SMrciiffijei. nezvr (jphas« 2Z iHTHOUJC Ge,i86o. 5ection on B^. 8* CouR'jE. Irom [1GHTHOU5E 01. /liNorj JenBE DeynW^D Ina GaLC yAPRILl6,18Jl. "Massachusetts Bay: NORTB-WEST SEAL ROCK LIGHT-HOUSE. 105 what looked like water-worn boulders, some of them of apparently several hundred tons in weight. This discovery materially diminished the cost of the work and made the delivery of the stone more certain and speedy. Enough granite was found here not only for the facing, but also for all the interior filling. It was taken from the quarry to the depot at Hum- boldt to be dressed to shape. The next year, 1885, Congress appropriated $40,000 more, which was also devoted to quarrying and dressing stone. In 1886 there was no money appropriated. The small appropriation of 1884-5 necessitated the abandonment of measures already taken, the waste of much money in useless pre- paration, and the suspension of work upon the rock. In 1887' Congress appropriated $120,000, active preparations were at once made to commence laying the stone aheady prepared, and __it is hoped to complete the first eight courses on the rock by the end of this working season. The amounts so far appropriated are as follows : August 7, 1882, $60,000. March 3,1883, 50,000. July 7, 1884, 30,000. March 3, 1885, . . 40,000. March 3, 1887, 120,000. Total $290,000. It will take about $160,000 to finish the work: had the appropria- tiono been of adequate sums it would now be completed, and at much less expense. In a future article I expect to finish the history of this light-house, which may fairly rank among the sea-rock light-houses of the world. LIGHT-HOUSE OF TRIAGOZ. The light-house of Triagoz in the Department of Cdtes du Nord, France, is also established on an isolated rock in the sea called Guen Bras. The plateau of Triagoz is of considerable extent, being about four "miles long from east to west by about one mile wide, but only 106 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. isolated points of rock are exposed even in the lowest tides. The rock selected as the site of this light-house is the most elevated point on the south side, and, in consequence, marks the northerly limit of the channel followed by coasting-vessels. In front it has the appearance of an almost vertical wall, and on the opposite side it falls off with a depression in the surface forming a small open creek. This is the most accessible place during the three or four hours of low tide. The depth of water, which is over sixty feet at L^V^bouJi: of" Tfug» the lowest tides at the foot of the rock on the south side, increases rapidly as you leave it; the bottom is rocky, and the tidal currents so strong that the plan originally intended of keeping a vessel anchored here during the fine season to serve as quarters for the workmen, had to be abandoned. It was, therefore, necessary to build a hut, after having levelled ofi the summit of the rock, on the part corroeponding to the interior opening of the tower. It enclosed a vertical post set in the centre of the structure, rigged with a boom for raising stones up to the work. The landing of the material was LIGHT-HOUSE OF TRIAGOZ. 107 done by means of two derricks, one placed at the entrance of the little creek before mentioned, the other on the south-east end of the rock. They were worked with great rapidity whenever the sea was smooth enough for landings to be made. The sketch gives a view of the work when the construction had been well advanced. The base of the tower was fixed above the level of the highest tide; the edifice consists of a square tower with a salient staircase enclo- sure on one of its sides. On the level of the first floor is a vestibule leading to the staircase with a store-room oh each side of it. There are three rooms above the ground floor, one of which is reserved for the engineers. They are roofed over with cloistered arches and are provided with fireplaces. In the upper part of the tower is the watch-room which serves at the same time as a store-room for imple- ments that are to be kept free from moisture. The cast-iron stair- way to the lantern leads from this room. A platform conforming to the shape of the rock surrounds the edifice ; it is reached by means of flights of stairs, which are built into the side of the rock, starting from the point whore the landing is least difficult. Under the front part of the platform are store-rooms for fuel and other materials. 108 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. The work was executed in rubble masonry with cut-granite trim- mings; the outside faces of these stones were dressed to give an appearance of rustic masonry. The work was commenced in 18G1 and finished in 1864 ; it cost about $60,000. The tower is ninetv-two feet high, the light is ninety-eight feet above high water, is of the third order, fixed, varied by red flashes, and is visible twelve miles. THE SMALLS LIGHT-HOUSE. Although it is not necessary to give further details of the methods employed in building sea-rock light-houses, yet before leaving this part of the subject it is proper to make reference to some incidents connected with the erection of the Smalls Light-house off the wjst coast of Wales. The motive which influenced Mr. Pliilipps, its con- structor, was of a more elevated character than that of other light-house builders of his time. In lighting these dangerous rocks he proposed, above all, "to serve and save humanity." Sixty years later, when the heirs of this philanthropist ceded the structure to the Trinity House, they wore awarded an indemnity of upwards of $850,000. The task undertaken by Pliilipps was suflicicntly unpromising. The rock selected for the site projects in ordinary weather twelve feet above the sea, but in rough weather, which is frequent in this vicinity, the rock is entirely submerged. At the time this work was undertaken, engineers were not so numerous as now, and Pliilipps had difficulty in finding a suitable superintendent ; he did find one, however, in the person of a young man named Whiteside, a mnsical- instrument maker, of Liverjwol, with a remarkable genius for mechanics. In the summer of 1772 Whiteside first made the acquaintance of the place on which he was to indelibly grave his name. lie disem- barked on the rocks with a gang of Cornish miners, and the obstacles which they met at the commencement of the work nearly disgusted him with the enterprioe. He and his companions had started the THE SMALLS LIGHT-HOUSE. 109 work when a storm suddenly broke upon them. The wind blew with great force, and the cutter which had brought them had to % before the fury of the gale. The workmen left on the rock hung on the best they could for two days and nights. Whiteside, however, was not discouraged, and finally brought the work to a successful end, but not without being exposed to many dangers. One day the dwellers on the coast picked up on the beach a " message from the deep," that is to say, a cask inscribed " Open this and you will find a letter ; " inside was a carefully-sealed bottle and in the bottle a document as follows : "Smalls, February 1, 1777. " Sir, — Finding ourselves at this moment in the most critical and dangerous condition, we hope that Providence will guide this letter to you, and that you will come immediately to our succor. Send to 110 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-BOUSES. seek for us before spring or wo will perish, I fear ; our supply of wood and water is almost exliausted, and our bouse is in the most sad state. We do not doubt that you would come to seek us as promptly as possible. We can be reached at high tide in almost any weather. I have no need to tell you more, you will comprehend our distress, and I remain, Your humble servant, " H. . Whiteside." Below this signature were these words : " We were surprised on the 23 January by a tempest ; since that time we have not been able to light the temporary light for want of oil and candles. We fear we have been forgotten. "Ed. Edwakds, G. Adams, J. PnicE. "P. S. We do not doubt that the person in whose hands this will fall will be sufficiently charitable to send it to TIi. Williams, Esq., Trelethen, near St. Davids, Wales." The history of Smalls has other and darker pages. It is related that at the beginning of this century there was a winter so stormy that for four months the two keepers were entirely cut off from any succor from shore. It was in vain that vessels were sent to the rock, the furious sea always prevented a landing. One of them returned one day with a strange report. Its crew had seen a man, standing and motionless, in a corner of tlie exterior gallery. Near him floated a signal of distress. But was he alive or dead? No one could. say. Each evening anxious looks were cast at the light-house to see if its light would be shown, and each evening it shone brightly, proof that some one was still there. But were both keepers alive, and if there were but one, -vvho was the survivor ? This was learned later. One evening a fisher from Milford who had succeeded in landing at Smalls in an intermission of calm weather, brought to Solway the two keepers, but one of them was a corpse. The survivor had made a coffin for his dead comrade, then, after having carried it to a THE SMALLS LIGHT-HOUSE. Ill eorner of the gallery, he had stood it on end, attaching it firmly. Left alone he had done good service. When returned on shore he was so changed, so emaciated, that his relatives and friends could scarcely recognize him. He asserted that Lis comrade died of disease; he was believed, but after this time there were always three keepers at Smalls in place of two — a wise precaution which has since been taken for light-houses placed in similar conditions. CHAPTER X. LIQHT-B0USE8 ON THE ATLANTIC COAST OFTHE UNITED STATES. Our Atlantic coast does not afford any examples of rocks as Ugh as Tillamook, bnt tliere are many oatlying dangers which had to be marked by powerful lights exhibited from tall towers. At Petit Manan, for example, off the coast of Maine, is a taU granite tower carrying a firstorder flashing-light at a height of one hundred and twenty-fire feet above sea level, which can readily be seen at a distance of seventeen nautical miles. Clustered around the base of the tower are dwellings for the keepers and an additional XIGBT HOnSI xr.SEEClAa IiAKE HUIUJN. See page 84 MATINIGUS ROCK LIGHT-STATION. 113 dwelling has beeu built one hundred and fifty feet to the westward. The keepers at this station have not only to attend to the light, but also to a steam-whistle which is sounded during foggy weather. The next important Ught along this coast is on Mt. Desert Rock. This tower was built with a very broad base and thick walls ; at times the sea has washed entirely over the rock, and the keepers with their families have had to take refuge in the tower. The keepers succeed in raising a few flowers and fresh vegetables in earth brought by boat from the mainland and deposited in sheltered spots. The station is noted for the number of sea-birds, especially gulls, which lay their eggs there. The keepers never molest them. Matinicus Rock is twenty-five miles out in the ocean from the mainland, directly in the pathway of the ocean-steamers plying from Boston and Portland to Eastport, St. John, Yarmouth and Halifax, and of the immense fleet of coasting and fishing vessels trading between the United States and the British Provinces. This barren and jagged rock, covering an area of thirty-nine acres at low tide, is inaccessible except during favorable weather, and on it stand the two towers, dwellings and fog-signal which comprise the Matinicus- Kock Light-station. The station was first built in 1 82 7 and consisted of a cobble-stone dwelling with a wooden tower at each end. In 1846 a new dwelling of granite with a granite tower at each end was substituted for the old dwelling which was used for an out-house, and the wooden towers were removed. Steam fog-signals were placed here in 1856, and in 1857 the granite towers of the dwelling were cut down to the roof and two isolated towers erected farther apart than the old ones. In the spring of 1853, Samuel Burgess obtained the position of light-keeper; his family consisted of an invalid wife, four small daughters and a son, who, though making his home on the rock, was absent much of the time fishing in Bay Chaleur and elsewhere. The eldest daughter, Abbie, fourteen years old, was the keeper's only assistant ; she aided in caring for the light as well as attending to the principal household duties. In the occasional absence of her 114 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-BOUSES. father, the whole care of the lights devolved upon her. She modestly says : " I took a great deal of pride in my light-house work and tried to do my duty" — a duty on the faitliful performance of which depended the safety of many a vessel and its crew. She soon became proficient, and, as subsequent events proved, was fully competent to assume full charge. On the morning of January 19, 1856, Abbie then being seventeen years of age, the Atlantic was visited by one of those terrific gales, to which it is subject. This was the same *^^«,Til«l«uft *T^eK. ^** gale that destroyed Minot's Light-house and its keepers. Her father was away, and the following letter written by her to a friend will show the dangers and responsibilities in which this brave girl was placed : "Dear , You have often expressed a desire to view the sea out upon the ocean when it was angry. Had you been here on the 19 January, I surmise you would have been satisfied. Father was away. Early in the day, as the tide arose, the sea made a complete breach over the rock, washing every movable thing away, and of the old dwelling not one stcne was left upon another. The new dwellin" was flooded, and the windows had to be secured to prevent the vio- lence of the spray from breaking them in. As the tide came, the sea MATINICUS ROCK LIGHT-STATION. 115 rose liigher and higher, till the only endurable places were the light- towers. I£ they stood we were saved, otherwise our fate was only too certain. But for some reason, I know not why, I had no mis- givings, and went on with my work as usual. For four weeks', owing to rough weather, no landing could be efEected on the rock. During this time we were without the assistance of any male member of our family. Though at times greatly exhausted with my labors, not once did the lights fail. Under God I was able to perform all my accus- tomed duties as well as my father's. " You know the hens were our only companions. Becoming con- vinced, as the gale increased, that unless they were brought into the house they would be lost, I said to mother: 'I must try to save them.' She advised me not to a,ttempt it. The thought, however, of parting with them without an effort was not to be endured, so seizing a basket, I ran out a few yards after the rollers had passed and the sea fell off a little, with the water knee deep, to the coop, and rescued all but one. It was the work of a moment, and I was back in the house with the door fastened, but I was none too quick, for at that instant my little sister, standing at the window, exclaimed : ' Oh, look I look there ! the worst sea is coming.' That wave destroyed the old dwelling and swept the rock. I cannot think you would enjoy remaining here any great length of time for the sea is never still, and when agitated, its roar shuts out every other sound, even drowning our voices." In the spring of 1857, Mr. Burgess left the rock to obtain his salary and secure needed provisions and fuel. The weather pre- vented his return, and the family ran short of food. Waiting till famine stared them in the face, the son started in a little skiff equipped with a sail, made by the aid of his sister, to obtain succor; Pushing from the rock in his frail craft, he was at first lost sight of in the trough of the sea, he reappeared on the top of the waves for a short distance and was seen no more for twenty-one days, during ' which time the mother and the four girls were reduced to a cup of corn-mfial and one egg each per day. Added to risk of perishing of 116 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. famine in mid-ocean was the torturing suspense as to the fate of father and son. During all this time Abbis attended to the light, cared for her sick mother, and, by her spirit and example, cheered the little family clustered together on this wave-beaten rook in the Atlantic. Fortunately, father and son finally safely returned to their ocean home. In 1861, Mr. Burgess was relieved of his duties by the appoint- ment of Captain Grant and son Abbie instructed them in their duties and in the same year married Mr. Isaac II. Grant, the son. The season of 1875 found her still on the rock, the mother of four children, and, a vacancy occurring at the Wliite Head Light, Me., her husband was appointed keeper with her as assistant. They are still at this station, though it is her ambition to retire from the light- house service to a farm. HALFWAT BOCK, ME. This light-house, located on a barren rock, so swept by the sea that there is absolutely no soil, contains the dwelling and living- rooms of the keepers, and forms their rather desolate residence. •ST-.. From a distance the gray granite tower, showing a third-order light eighty feet above the sea, appears to stand in the water. The rock is so storm-swept that landings are almost impossible except in pleas- ant weather : a boat-house was built here of concrete, but the ways where first placed were destroyed by storms, so their location had to be changed, necessitating the cutting of the boa^hoa8e in two. i The light-house was built in 1871. > See (ketch, page 100. BOON ISLAND, ME., LIGHT-HOUSE. 117 BOOK ISLAND, ME. Like the preceding, this light-house also seems to spring from the waves ; the granite tower is one hundred and twenty-three feet high, -t-'-'a '■_ a its base being ten feet above the sea level ; alongside is the granite dwelling for the keepers. It was built in 1812 and shows a second order light visible for eighteen miles. 118 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. Before the improvement in the lenticular apparatus had reached its present perfection, by which the characteristics of adjacent lights can be made so dissimilar that there can be no danger of confound- ing them, the same object was secured by building two, or even tliree lights close together on the point to be marked. Some relics of this expensive, and, I trust, obsolescent custom still remain, not- ably, at Cape Elizabeth, Casco Bay, Me., at Thatcher's Island, Mass., and at Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, Mass. At Cape Elizabeth the two towers were built in 1828, and show, the one a white light, and the other a white light varied by a white flash every minute at a height of one hundred and forty-three feet above the sea level ; both lights are of the second-order, and can be seen for eighteen miles. The Cape Ann towers, on Thatcher's Island, are handsome gran- ite structures one hundred and sixty-five and a-half feet above the sea, carrying first-order lights, visible for nineteen miles. They were first established in 1790 and rebuilt in 1861. At Nauset Beach there are three little, low towers, eighteen feet high, but situated on a blufE, so that the fourth-order lights they carry are ninety-three feet above sea level and can bo seen over fifteen miles. There are double lights also on Gurnet Point, near Plymouth, Mass., and on Baker's Island, Mass., but these are of use mainly as " ranges." BO8T0K uonT. The oldest light-house in the United States is the Boston Light, situated on Little Brewster Island on the north side of the main entrance to Boston Harbor, Mass. It was established in 1716 and rebuilt in 1859. The light is erf the second-order, flashing every thirty seconds, is shown from a tower one hundred and eleven feet above sea-level, and is visible for sixteen and one-half miles. The following account of this light, and of some of its various vicissitudes is taken from the Boston Evening Transcript of August 26, 1880. In the Eeening Transcript, copied from the Providence Journal, the latter paper is mistaken in saying that the light-house built in 1 740 on Beaver Tail, the south end of Conanicnt, was the oldest Ught-hoiise built BOSTON LIGHT. 119 on the New England coast, or oven on the American coast ; the second being the Brant light, entrance of Nantucket Harbor, in 1754, etc. Our Massachusetts records, and also those of Nantasket (Hull), give evidence of one built by the Massachusetts Colony thirty-four years previous to 1749, viz. : " The General Court of the Province [of Mass. Bay], order a Light house erected by the Province, June 9, 1 715, & a committee named to build it, viz : William Payne, Colo. Samuel Thaxter, Colo. Adam Winthrop, the Hon. William Tailer, & Ad- dington Davenport added to it. Approved by Gov'r Dudley — enacted in July, & Irf a ton inward & Id a ton outward to be paid to the Eeceiver of Imposts by all ships or vessels except coasters : & an application made to Hull for little Brewster for it, £60 allowed Payne and Capt. Zac Tuthill to build and finish it. Lt Governor Tailer assented." The cost was £2,385 17s. i^d. Hull generously assented as " at a legal meeting of the Proprietors of the undivided lands in Hull, on Monday, Augt 1, 1715 Colo. Sam- uel Thaxter for the com'e on application for building- a light house on Brewster Island, so called, adjoining to the Great Brewster, being present and ' censeble ' of the general benefit to trade and particularly to themselves, by unanimous vote have granted the said Brewster Island in the Province of Mass Bay for the use of a Light house for- ever : provided said proprietors of the Great Brewster be held harm- less. Hull Augt 11715." "1716. A com'e of Hull petitioned the Genl Court for liberty to choose a Light House Keeper.'' But "June 25, 1716 the General Court appointed a committee to choose one, at £50 a year, & chose George Worthylake, husbandman, M. 43, as the 1st keeper." In the second year, on his petition, his salary was raised to £70 as "he lost 59 sheep by drowning in a severe storm, his attendance on the Light House preventing him from saving them." He and wife and daughter Lucy, or lluth, were drowned Novem- ber 3, 1 718, going to Noddle's Island, and were buried in Copp's Hill cemetery, Boston. Benjamin Franklin issued a ballad on the occasion and hawked 120 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. ' it about Boston. November 18, 1718, John Haynes was chosen the second keeper of the light; he was a mariner and pilot, and re- signed August 23, 1733, and was succeeded by Capt. Robert Ball, an Englishman, on August, 1733. He married Mrs. Martha King, of Charlestown, whose daughter Martha married Adam Knox. In 1776 the town of Hull dissented from Robert Ball's proposals, paying him «£5 for 4 years past & same anualy, as long as he keeps the Light House." By this, Hull had some interest in the keeper, or, perhaps, employed his services for the beacon or watch-house. Ball was taxed in Hull, 176 7, but he refused, as non-resident; it was finally abated in 1774. His son, Capt. Robert Ball, sea captain, wills, in 1772 or 1782, Calf Island, Boston Harbor, and Green Is- land in Hull to his son John, and to his daughter Sarah, the outer Brewster Island (which was sold in 1 794 for £50). Robert Ball, Sr., kept the light-house from 1 733, under the Royal Government, to or after 1766, and one account thinks till after the British fleet left Boston Harbor in the Revolution. June 19, 174G, John Fayerweather, a merchant of Boston, in his account-books on that date charges the " Town of Boston 60«., cash FIRST ORDER L.H XlMaHan,SlaiUh Sidsi, thawing Ike XeOk a* U appaeinnl art, •■';*». Perspective View H^orn ihe l^orihT]a3ir, showing ihe Sim AMOOK ROCK, OREGON >age94 24 Jj./f. Engineer ess of CondruetioTt. Sea, at lowed Stage, and ver^ quiet. BOSTON LIGHT. 121 paid at yc Light House Tavern, for sundry meetings held thei'e with ye committee to measure ye rocks from ye lower middle ground, for order to sink hulks, if occasion, & 8s Gd more for drink, for the boats crew in April — total £3-4s-8c/." And gave an order to Henry King to receive it. He credits "received of King £2-19-8." 1 751. The light-house injured by fire was repaired. 1775. The light-house in possession of the British fleet, was de- stroyed July 19 by the Americans ; Admiral Graves of the British fleet repaired it. July 31, 1775 the Americans again destroyed it ; it was again re- paired, and when the British fleet were driven from Boston Harbor Captain Bangs, of the " Renown," placed a train of powder under it and blew it up. A keeper who was at the light-house with his wife when destroyed by the Americans, left his property and fled to Dorchester; there his wife saw one of her dresses on a woman in the street. 1783. Massachusetts rebuilt it, sixty-eight feet high, of stone, with four lamps of a gallon of oil each, and four burners, and on November 28th of that year, Capt. Thomas Knox, pilot, was appointed keeper by Governor Hancock. Hia father, Adam, and mother, Martha Knox, resided there with him ; she died there J anuary, 1 790, and Adam died there December of the same year, aged eighty-one. 1790. The island was ceded to the United States. In 1829, Jonathan Bruce, pilot, was keeper, being recommended by the Boston Marine Society. Neal, in 1719, says : " The light-house was built on a rock above water, 2 leagues from Boston, where, in time of war, a signal is made to the castle & by the castle to the town, by hoisting and lowerin" the Union flag so many times as there are ships approach- ino' ; if they exceed a certain niambcr, the castle fires 3 guns to warn the town of Boston, & the Gov'r' if needs be, orders the Beacon fires, which alarms the adjacent country, and gives 6 or more hours to prepare for their reception." " Shaw's History of Boston " (Pemberton's account), 181 7, says : " Light-House Island is 122 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. - a high rock of 2 or 3 acres, | of an acre of it good soil ; a bar, dry at low water, connected with Great Brewster ; a stone Lt house shows one light ; it is 8^ miles from Long Wharf, Boston, and was formerly known as Beacon Island, &c. ; pilots here have a piece of artillery to answer signal guns." This and all the islands and Nantasket, including its beaches, were, on the settlement of the colony, covered with dense woods. Boston Light. In 1676-77, the proprietors of Hull divided the wood on the lesset Brewster, as they afterwards did on the other Brewsters, to clear them for planting and grass, to be done by May 1, 1679, the land and lots to be divided by lot. 1801. Sumner's " East Boston '' speaks of the Brewsters wearing away. 1815. Boston Marine Society petitioned to have the light-housp lit in winter (probably closed in war of 1812). 1860. The old tower was heightened and had a revolving-light. There was, no doubt, quite early a beacon and watch-house erected on Beacon or Light-House Island, as well as on Point Allerton Hill, BOSTON LIGHT. 123 by the town of Nantasket (Hull) to look out for and warn of an enemy's approach. On the Massachusetts archives is this: "Hull, March 9, 1673-4. A true copy of the charges of the town of Hull hath been at about the Beacon, with the persons that warded the said Beacon, with an account of corne that was spoyled by carting over the said corne, and what was pluct up to set up the Beacon. The ward was, first, Benj. Bosworth, Sen'r, 17 days [other names omitted here] total 66 days. In the name of the Towne Serg't Bosworth, Nathaniel Bos- worth. " Charges about the Watch-house — timber & setting up, 2s., 300 of boards, 10s. 6d. ; nails, 2s. ; carting to the place, 2s. is £0 16s. 6d. ; more for the beacon : a kettle, 5s. ; for pitch, 2s. ; John Loring & John Prince for making fier bales with pitch and ocum to make the bales, Is. 6d. ; for men to go to Boston to fetch more pitch for the beacon, 4s.; sum, £0 16s 6d. ; total, £l 13s. Od. For the corne spoyled by carting of the beacon setting up, which corne Capt. Oliver bad a note of, to show to authority, which was three bushels." March 9, 1673-74. The petition of the inhabitants of Hull about the trouble of setting and warding the beacon erected on Point Aller- ton, says : " We are a small people, our employment is wholly at sea, constantly every week of summer time, so that the whole burden lay upon a few men, whereby those men not only lost their time, but by continued working and warding, made unfit to carry on our employ, which we think is not the case with any other town in the colony. Yow do not consider how harcHy it pinched us ; yet we are assessed to pay our whole rate to the county & the castle. We think it too hard, &c. Notwithstanding that at the request of the Hon'd per- sons betrusted with the castle edifice, who send to us to dig and have some stone quarried at Brewsters Islands, which we consented to, & gave a gratuity thereto to the number of 400 boat loads, we hear that other towns had abatement in those rates, but we have none, tut the castle got our stones and we may pay for the boating of them. We request the Hon'd court to weigh well these pre- 124 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. iniscs, and dcubt not that they Tvill do right, and have eent this 2nd address, and we, committing you unto the Lord's direction, we take leave to rest yours, in all humble subscription, Nath'l Boswortli, Thos. CoUyer, John Benson, Sen'r, John Loring,. Kobert Goold, Selectmen, and in the name of the rest, Hull, March 9, 1673-74." Indorsed "The magistrates remit the town of Hull the county rate, their brethren, the Deputies, consenting, Edward Kawson." "The Deputies consent not hereto, but judge meet to refer ye answer to the said petition to the next Court. The Hon'd Magis- trates consenting hereto, Wm. Terry Oliver, 2 7-3-1 G 74, consented to go to ye Magistrates, Edw. Kawson, 29 May, 1G74." Hull's county tax for 1674 was £8 4s. The beacons on Point AUerton and Beacon Island were, no doubt, the origin of the liglit- house on the latter. --v{,-..^ H^*^^ '^^^ •■ CHAPTER XI. TEE ROTHERSAND LIGHT TOWER. low tr^icje. The light-houses so far described were built upon solid rocks; the engineers found a stable foundation on which to erect hi dhcjb bide •■ their structures, hi9h bid e, and if the towers were properly root- ed to the rock there would be no fear of their destruction from the undermin- ing or changing of their bases. But there are many cases where the safety of life and commerce im- peratively demands the erection of these guides to mariners on shifting shoals at long distances from shore : then are the difficulties and dangers multiplied many fold, and the skill and ingenuity of the engineer severely taxed. In many localities in this and other 126 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. countries dangerous outlying fboals arc marked by light-ship*, but wherever light-houses can replace thom, even though a great outlay may be necessary, it is advisable to erect the latter, which need but a few men to attend them, and which make a much more reliable signal, as it is not uncommon for light-ships to be driven from their moorings, thus depriving mariners for a time at least of their friendly light. As examples of how such works have recently been built, I will give a description of the construction of the Rothcrsand (red sand) light tower in the North Sea, Holland, condensed from a paper read before the Society of Civil Engineers and Architects at Hamburg, the 2l8t of April, 188G, and also of a similar structure just completed in this country at a shoal called Fourteen Foot Bank, Delaware Bay. THE E0THEB8AND LIGHT TOWER. The construction of this tower has a history of many years. The best way to enumerate the many difBculties under which the work was carried on and finally completed is to relate how the project was originated and developed and how at first a failure and later a suc- cess was attained. By an agreement, the bordering states of Prussia, Oldenbcrg and Bremen bound themselves to mutually regulate the construction and maintenance of the aids to navigation of the Wcser, and to meet the necessary expenses by a tax levied upon all the vessels entering the mouth of the river. An inspection tour was to be made annually under Prussia's authority. In June, 1878, the first inspection drew attention to the imperfect manner in which the entrance to the Wescr was lighted, and a light vessel was recommended. But as it was found imfKissiblc to moor a vessel securely, it was concluded to attempt the erection of a light tower. The three above named allies gave Bremen the authority to build it ; the matter was referred by the Light-house Estabhshment (A Bremen to its Senate, which detailed Hcrr Hanks to execute the work. This gentleman entered into correspondence with the Ilarkoort THE ROTHERSAND LICBT-TOWER. 127 Company of Duisburg on the Rhine, in August, 1878, and inquired if tliis company would undertake the erection of the tower at its own risk, and requested it to submit a proposal. The tower was to be built on a sandy bottom twenty feet below the surface of the water, was to have a height of ninety-three feet above low water, and to be strong enough to resist heavy seas and floating ice. Herr Hanks suggested a screw pile foundation such as are used in England. The company expressed its willingness to undertake the work, but proposed a very massive foundation to be sunk by the pneumatic process as preferable to one buUt of screw piles. Considerable correspondence ensued and an inspection was made of the site. The latter is thirty-one miles from Bremerhaven, nearly in a straight line to the island of Heligoland, a little nearer the latter, distant from any harbor, and in a locality where winds from the west and northeast get up heavy seas. In addition, it was required that the tower be built close to the fifty-foot channel, which is constantly changing ; this precluded the use of any type of foundation except the one proposed by the com- pany, and even this had to be sunk to a considerable depth. Under the circumstances it seemed impossible to erect a working platform, nor would it be prudent to attempt to transport a caisson to the site suspended between two vessels. Herr Hanks proposed to float the caisson to the locality, to sink it there, and then to fill it with concrete. The company believed this to be a brilliant and practical method, and perfected it by proposing to sink the caisson on the sand by filling it with water, and into the sand by the pneumatic process, the necessary machinery ; namely, boiler, air-pump, air-lock, etc., to be placed within the caisson. Flans and specifications conforming to the above were submitted on the 7th of February, 1879. The requirements at that time were different from the present tower ; it was contemplated to sink it only tbii'ty-eight feet below low water, and to be filled with concrete 13.6 feet above the same leveL 128 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. While the drawings were being prepared, the Company's engineer who had been engaged on the work unexpectedly resigned. Shortly afterward he and two other engineers formed a company with the in- tention of competing for the construction of this tower. They were rather premature, however, in their action, as eighteen months elapsed before the fund accumulated from the light dues was large enough to begin the work. On September 15th, 1880, proposals were invited and bidders were furnished with plans and specifica- tions, which, however, were not binding in all their details. The young company mentioned above were very anxious to get the con- tract, believing that its successful execution would secure them a glo- rious future. The Harkoort Company bid 480,500 marks (about $120,125) not including the brush mattresses and rip-rap protection against scour; their competitors bid was 450,000 marks (about $112,500) including the above protection. As after experience showed, this protection cost 110,000 marks, so according to these figures the two estimates dif- fered by 140,500 marks ($35,125.) The low price at which the contract was taken was the principal cause of its failure. The contractors were compelled to save in the construction of details which should have been executed in the best manner, and were forced to neglect important preparations for which they had neglected to estimate. The construction of the floating caisson was commenced and com- pleted during the winter of 1880-81. On the morning of May 22, 1881, when there was a dead calm, two tug-boats towed the caisson from the harbor (Kaiser's haven) in Bremerhaven, down the Weser to the site. The caisson was not under good control ; rolling heavily, it parted its tow-line in the following night, and went ashore at ebb tide. Next morning at high tide it floated off again, the hawser was refastened, and on the evening of the fourth day from leaving the harbor it had reached the site, and was sunk to the bottom \y the rather primitive method of removing a large wooden plug six inches in diameter, located two and one-half feet above the bottom of the TrLLAMOOK MGHT. See page 95 Penpi 'e-i^i.Mj^ ^T"^.^") ■ v:^ 'ntie- -—"M'^ fl.miah /iuuflierlij Sea. TBE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 129 caisson. This nearly caused the caisson to upset, but flnaUy at night- fall it reached the bottom. AU this unexpected trouble worried and discouraged the men, who had hardly slept since leaving the harbor — a few of them, under charge of one of the engineers, remained on the caisson ; the rest found quarters on the steamer provided for this purpose, and moored at a safe distance from the caisson. The next morning, when all except the mate of the steamer were sound asleep, he saw through the lifting fog that the caisson was much inclined. It took considerable trouble and time to rouse the tired men and to start the fires under the boilers so as to go to the relief of the excited party on the caisson, who had been awakened at daybreak by being rolled involuntarily from their berths. " That is caused by the ebb current," said the engineer, to encourage his men. " It scours on the south-east side ; when the flood sets in and scours the north-west side, everything will be all right." But when the latter came, contrary to his prediction, the caisson inclined still further, until it reached twenty-one degrees from the vertical. The engineer, as well as the men, were greatly relieved when the steamer sent lif e-laoats to take them off ; they got on board without loss of time by sliding down a rope. For four days the caisson was left to its fate, and no work could be done on it, as during flood tide the water entered from above (see following cut). . Later,~by the counter action of the flood-current, the caisson took a more upright position, about ten degrees from the vertical. Its height was increased six and a half feet before the May storms com- menced. When they abated on June 14th, and the working-party returned, they found that the scour caused by the storms had acted favorably ; the caisson stood perfectly plumb and had sunk into the sand from seventeen to eighteen feet. The concrete filling was now commenced and the machinery put in order. A month later the water in the air-shaft and working- chamber was displaced by compressed air, and on August 4th the Binkinw of the caisson began. During the next two months the 130 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. weather -was fine, and the caisson was sunk nearly twenty-six feet farther into the sand, bringing it seventy feet below low-water mark — a considerably greater depth than the original plan contemplated. But whUe this work was going on, the height of the caisson and the amount of concrete filling was but slightly increased, and little was done to protect the caisson from the approaching October storms. During the May storms, when the upper edge of the caisson was twenty-two and one-half feet above low water, the seas ran so high as to entirely submerge it, yet the iron was carried only twenty- six feet above low water, and worse than this was the delay in the construction of the brick lining and concrete filling, difficult opera- tions, necessarily consuming much time. In the early part of Octo- ber the brick lining had not been commencpd, the concrete fiUin" was only up to a level with the bottom of the sea, and the brush mattresses and rip-rap were still over thirty feet below low water. THE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWEk. 131 In addition, the weak wrought-iron sides were only braced with timbers not strong enough to resist the combined action of the wind and sea. The contractors were warned of these defects and deficiencies, but did not remedy them, preferring to continue the sinking of the cais- son, as, according to agreement, they could draw money by partial payments, the amounts being proportioned to the distance the cutting- edge penetrated the sand. Of course it was impossible to leave men on this insecure structure, so when bad weather caught them on October 9th, the working-party was compelled to run for a harbor. About three or four miles from the site, and toward the shore, the light-ship " Bremen " was moored on the Weser. At noon, on October 13th, 1881, when the lookout accidentally sighted the structure, it seem to him to suddenly disap- pear. He could not believe his eyes. Grasping his telescope, he scanned the horizon closely, but could find nothing. The tide had risen to a height of sixteen and one-half feet, so that the ironwork projected only a little more than eight feet above the- sea. The waves rolled heavily over the structure, breaking or knocking out the iron braces, and the whole work, with the boilers and machinery collapsed. It was reported- that the caisson, after penetrating forty feet of sand, had struck a layer of semi-fluid silt, and dropped out of sight. Pictures illustrating this story were printed and circulated. When fine weather permitted an examination of the site by divers, it was found that the iron mouth of the caisson had been broken off seven feet above the bottom of the sea, and that the boiler and machinery had fallen toward the lee side (south east) of the structure. The expenditures had been f 9 7,500 to date; of this amount the contractors lost $31,250, their own capital; those who furnished the materials and loaned money lost $46,250, and finally, the Govern- ment $20,000, for the total amount ($45,000) of all installments pre- viously paid was only secured by a bond of $25,000. So ended the first attempt to erect a light-house in the breakers of the « Eed Sand " Shoal. 132 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-BOUSES. The Mowing March (1882) Herr Hanks asked the Harkoort Com- pany if they would make a trial to erect a light-house at this locality, and this company, in June, submitted a bid in accordance with Iheir original project. The contract was signed on, September 21. The total price for the complete structure, ready for occupancy, but exclu- sive of the lens and illuminating apparatus, amounted to $213,500, which was later increased by $3,250 on account of alterations made in the height and construction of the upper part of the tower. The mistakes and errors of omission made at the first trial were of great value to the Harkoort Company — the general plan remained the same and it only remained to execute the details in the proper manner to ensure success. While the contract was under discussion all the necessary draw- ings for the details of the caisson and of the special apparatus were prepared, so the work was commenced immediately after the signing of the contract. The structure consisted, generally speaking, of two parts — the foimdation and the tower. The first, of course, was the only part which offered any engineering difficulties. To build this foundation a caisson was used which, after being sunk to the required depth, was to be filled with masonry and concrete, on which the tower could be erected. The caisson, in plan, resembled a section of a bi-convex lens. It was thirty-six feet eight inches wide, forty-six feet eight inches long, and sixty-one feet eight inches high when it was towed to the site ; this height was gradually in- creased during the sinking to one hundred and seven feet six inches. The caisson was made of boiler iron four-tenths inches in thick- ness, was well braced vertically and horizontally, and none but the best material was employed in its construction. It was calculated to withstand a hydrostatic pressure produced by a column of water twenty feet high. Eight feet four inches above the cutting edge of the caisson was an iron diaphragm, forming the top of the working-chamber, carried by two longitudinal and twelve cross girders. This was also very THE BOTHERS AND LIGHT-TOWER. 133 strongly braced to the walls by a great number of iron brackets. From its centre rose the cylindrical air-shaft, three feet four inches in diameter, provided with an air-lock. This air-lock had four chambers — two for the use of the men and two for the supply and discharge of material, and was provided with a steam winch for hoisting the sand. Besides, there were six pipes to be used for blowing out the sand if it were found practical to use this more expeditious method. The upper part of the caisson was divided into four stories. The first, or lowest, was for mixing concrete ; the next was the machinery floor, and carried two boilers, one air-compressor, a surface condenser, a centrifugal pump, the coal, and fresh water, and the steam-pipes leading to the two steam hoisting-cranes, to the compressor, and to the winch of the air-lock. On the third floor were two sleeping-rooms and store-rooms ; from "• this floor access was gained to the air-lock. The top story carried two revolving steam cranes. As the work progressed the upper three floors would have to be raised from time to time, and it was important that this should be done without interfering with the other work. This was accomplished by suspending the two upper floors by four long and strong screws to the vertical ribs of the caisson, which were made higher for this purpose. The second floor was suspended from the fourth by four other screws, and there was another screw in the centre of the fourth floor for raising the air-lock. By means of these nine screws, all worked from the top floor, the raising of the floors, with everything on them, was effected by a few men without delay to the work. This was a far superior arrangement to that previously adopted, which required the cessation of all work while the platform was being raised, and in addition, the interior wooden bracing of the caisson was always much in the way. When the caisson reached the Red Sand Shoal it was to be sunk to a depth of about seventy-three feet below mean low water, and 134 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-BOUSE. then filled with concrete and masonry to six and two-thirds feet above the same level. * This foundation was to support a tower with a circular base of thirty-four and two-thirds feet, the offset round the foot of the tower being covered with strong cast-iron plates securely fastened to the foundation. To a height of twenty-six and two-thirds feet above the foundation the tower is trumpet-shaped. At this height its diameter is reduced to twenty-three and one-third feet, and this part is solid masonry except the spaces left for cisterns and for the float of the tide-guage. The portion above the cellar was to be lined with a twenty-one inch brick wall, and have a fireproof ceiling of corrugated iron and concrete. The upper stories were to have an iron shell with a double wooden lining, lathed and plastered. Above the living-i'oom is an iron gallery eighty-one and two-thirds feet above low water, and at this height the tower is reduced in diameter to seventeen feet. . Two of the three semicircular dormers, or small towers, at the gallery level contain range lights, and the third is used as a watch- room. One also contains the stairway leading to the gallery and lantern of the main light. The latter is eleven feet in diameter, and is covered by a copper roof on which is the ventilator one hundred and two and two-thirds feet above low water. The following is the method employed in transporting the caisson to the site: The depth of water in the harbor and on the shoals, over which the caisson was to pass on its way to the site permitted a draft of only twenty-three and one-third feet, and in calculating the stability of the caisson the probability of encountering a moderate storm was taken into account. It was assumed that the caisson would be safe and not capsize when subjected to a wind pressure of about two hundred pounds to the square yard — corresponding to a wind velocity of one hundred • See page 130, THE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 135 feet per second. The caisson was to carry all the machinery previ- ously mentioned, which was to be so arranged that work could be commenced as soon as the caisson was sunk on the shoal, and at the same time it was to be placed as low as possible so as to lower the centre of gravity of the floating mass. To accomplish tliis the bulkheads on which the machinery floor rested were provided with four hinged rectangular frames which, when raised vertically, supported the floor in a position ten feet higher. It was also important to build the iron shell as high as possible so R.othot-a-nn3 Ij^jht JTotta-e m t, * that after the caisson was sunk it would project sufficiently above the water to prevent the entrance of the sea. Owing, however, to its great weight, this height did not exceed sixty-two and one-half feet, four and one-sixth feet higher than at the first trial. Sufficient ballast was added to bring the draft to twenty-three and one-third feet, but a careful calculation showed that the stability, with reference to the assumed wind-pressure, was not sufficient. The elongated shape of the caisson required more support at the ' See page 142. 136 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. * sides, and to attain this two pontoons were used. They were made of boiler-iron, air-tight, twenty-six and two-tldrds feet long, six and two-thirds feet wide, and ten feet high, and had strong lugs fitting into concavities in the shell. Each was provided with a pump for admitting water and with an air-oock, which were so arranged as to be operated from the caisson. When the latter floated at twenty-three and one-third feet draft the pontoons sunk three and two-thirds feet into the water. When the caisson rolled, one pontoon sunk deeper than the other, counteracting the tendency of the structure to leave a vertical position. It will be seen from the preceding that the most important part of the execution of the work was the construction of the caisson with ,;;!i all the requisites for transportation, sinking by the pneumatic process, etc. The contract with the Government was signed in October, 1882, and on the 1st of April, 1883, the caisson was completed as de- scribed, and moored at Kaiserhaven ready for transportation. In the meantime, the necessary vessels and steamers required had been chartered ; they consisted of the " Palme," on which the men were to be quartered, and which was to be moored near the work. The " Solide," a tug which was to tow all vessels to Bremerhaven,- in ease the weather compelled them to make a harbor. Two solidly built sail-boats, the "Leopoldine " and "Maria," carried the men be- tween the " Palme " and the structure. In addition several vessels and the tug " Otto " were employed for carrying material, and kept a constant communication between Bremerhaven and the site. For the transportation of the caisson to the site, the " Samson '' and the " Nord See," the two strongest tugs of the North German Lloyd were chartered, and in addition the tugs "Solide," " Her- kules " and " Otto," were to assist if required. Three special tow lines, -l 8-10 inches in diameter, were constructed for the purpose; two were attached to the stem and one to the stern of the structure, about eleven feet below the surface of the water. The meteorological station at Hamburg had kindly promised to 7^ s s 2a g5 IS I ^ i '/Mai^ THE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 137 telegraph daily the ■weather indications during April and May, and the state of the wind at Waugeroog and Neuwerk, two stations in the neighborhood of the shoal. The weather in April was so un- favorable that the station at Hamburg advised not to start until May 14; this delay was very expensive to the contractors, as they had all the vessels and eighty men under pay during this time. On the 1 5th of May good weather was prophesied, but the flood-tide did not rise high enough to float the structure out of the harbor, and then the weather became bad again. Finally, on the 25th of May favorable news was received from Ham- burg, and everything was got ready to start at 2.30 a. m. on the 26th. At 3.30 A. M. the tide had risen high enough to open the gates of the ba,sin, and soon after the caisson, which nearly touched the sills and jambs of the gates, was towed into the Weser. Immediately afterwards the German flag was hoisted on the colossus. The tug " JVorrf See " was ready to take the hawser, and though it was difficult to overhaul the latter on account of its great weight and stiffness, this was quickly done. Then the " Samson" fastened its hawser to the " Nord See," and both headed for the site. The other steamers and sailing vessels, nine in all, accompanied the tow, making quite a fine naval pageant. The contractors' steamer headed the procession, indicating the deepest channel, and tlius all shoals -were passed in safety. Quietly and majestically the caisson floated down the Weser with the ebb-current, and so quickly that it arrived at Droorgat at 7.15 A. m. The strength of the ebb had greatly diminished, and as it was impossible to reacli the site before the tide changed, the caisson was anchored near the Eversand shbal to wait for the next high water at 4 p. m. The flood-current increased so much by 11 A. m. that the anchors of both tugs commenced to drag. Their engines were quickly started and the " Solide " was called to their assistance, but as all three could not prevent the caisson from drifting, the "Herkules" was also called upon. The combined strength of these four steamers, about 350 horse-power, held the caisson and when the flood diminished 138 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. they were enabled to proceed, bo that at 2.30 p. M. the caisson reached the Ilohewey Light-house and came to anchor again. Hardly had it arrived when a signal from the Light-house an- nounced the arrival of a telegram from Hamburg, stating that the wind would change to north, and that squalls were approaching from England. In a short time clouds commenced to rise, the sky turned the color of sulphur, the sea got rough, rain and wind followed, and at 4.50 p. M. the fleet was in the centre of a ttorm, which caused great anxiety. However, the caisson stood the storm remarkably well, rolling very little as the pontons gave it excellent support. This storm prevented the continuance of the journey, the watch on the caisson, twelve men, were relieved by others, and by 8 p. M. the whole fleet was got ready for the night. The delay was troublesome, as at every change of the tide the caisson swung round and had to be guided by the tugs; this manceuvre was difficult to execute in the darkness, but was success- fully accomplished. The following day the weather was bad, and the start was post- poned until the succeeding one at 7.30, A. m. when the anchors were weighed and the seaward journey re-commenced. When, as the report has it, " in spite of the rough sea, the colossus parted the water with ease, wind and water did not affect his majestic dignity." At 9 A. M. the Bremen Light-ship was passed, at 9.30 the danger- ous " Rothen Grund," and at 10 the tow arrived at the place where a wreck buoy located the position of the former ill-fated caisson. A little over twelve hundred yards below where this caisson was wrecked a buoy, painted black, white and red marked the spot where the tower was to be erected. The Harbor-Master and the Chief-Engineer boarded the caisson ; slowly and ca,rofully the tugs brought the structure nearer and nearer, and when about one hundred yards distant from the buoy — exactly at eleven o'clock — the raising of the flag on the caisson gave the signal for all anchors to be dropped overboard. Both valves for admitting water to the caisson were opened, and the THE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 139 latter slowly and steadily, and perfectly plumb, sank to the bottom of the se£i. A slight shock, at 11:15, indicated that it landed on Rothor^ttui ZdiaJit ffonjo, * the shoal. A second time the flag was I'aised and was greeted with loud cheers by all who witnessed the performance. The heavy hawsers were removed, and the large tugs left the site and returned to Bremen. The most pressing work was now to release the pontons which were invisible, being about two yards below the surface of the water. By opening the valves sufficient water was admitted V^s^^^^^ "*' *' into the pontoons to overcome their buoyancvj they then began to sink, thereby disengaging themselves from the caisson. As soon as they were free the valves were closed again and both pontoons were sunk in the neighborhood where they soon after disappeared in the sand of the shoal. The increased current which ^\ f _ was produced in the vicinity of the caisson at once scoured the shoal to a depth of three feet near by, dimin- ishing to nothing at a distance of one hundred yards. In addition, the first flood-current scoured a hole alongside of the caisson facing the current, inclining the caisson toward the north four degrees ; during the following ebb current the south side was under- mined, and the caisson inclined the same amount to the south. In 1 See page 134. 140 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. this manner, moving like a pendulum, the caiBson sunk itself in four days more than six feet in the shoal. On the first of Juno the cutting edge was thirty-five feet below low water and the ceiling of the working-chamber commenced to bear upon the surface of the shoal. This self-sinking finally ceased entirely at thirty-seven feet below low water, when the large number of brush mattresses which had been sunk on the shoal prevented further scour. The remainder of the working season was devoted to sinking the caisson by the pneumatic process, to filling it with concrete and ma- sonry, to placing additional mattresses and rip-rap around it, and to building the iron shell as high as possible. On October 15, 1888, the cutting edge was fifty-two feet below low water, the concrete level was thirty-six-and-two-thirds feet above low water, the top of the masonry was eight-and-two-thirds feet above low water, the upper edge of the highest completed section of the iron caisson, and also the height of the floor of the quarters for the temporary keepers was thirty-seven-and-one-quarter feet above low water, and finally the uppermost floor with the steam cranes, and also the upper edge of the unfinished section of the caisson was forty-seven-and-one quarter feet above low water, or ninety-nine-and-one-quarter feet above the cutting edge. On this day the workmen were comixjUed to leave the station as the strong southeast wind made it impossible to go near the caisson. The vessels anchored at the Eversand shoal to wait for better weather, but on October IGth the weather became worse, and the wind and sea increasing in violence, they returned to Bremerhaven. On the 17th and 18th of October, 1883, it was storming as it did on October 13, 1881, when the first caisson was destroyed. This time, however, but little damage was done. According to the reports of the two temporary keepers, stationed on the structure, a single wave, on the 18th of October, tore asunder one of the plates of the top section of the caisson and bent up two others which had not been bolted together, and were consequently liable to such destruc- tion. Two heavy boxes of bolts were blown from the upper floor, the caging around one of the steam cranes was greatly damaged, and THE ROTEERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 141 one of the keepers was riolently thrown by a wave to the floor of his room as he attempted to leave it. After this storm, which was followed by others of equal violenoe, but little work could be done during the winter. The air-lock and the machinery floor were raised so that the latter stood at a level twenty feet above low water. The masonry and concrete were also raised twenty and forty inches respectively, and a Pintsch gas appa- ratus witli lantern and light visible six to seven nautical miles was erected. Work was commenced in February, 1884, and continued until November, with many interruptions from wind and weather. The required depth, seventy-three feet below low water, to which the caisson was to be sunk, was attained on the 21st of May, 1884, one year after the caisson was launched at the site, and at the same time the level of the concrete and masonry had reached a height of three feet four inches above low water. Over two thousand cubic yards of sand, in addition to that which had leaked into the working-cham- ber from without, was all removed from the latter by the sand blast. The sand was very fine and mixed with small shells. A layer of stones was reached when near the required depth, but as it was not necessary to remove them ; no use was made of the steam crane in the air-lock. In June the machinery and boilers were removed, and by j!fovem- ber the solid substructure of the tower, the cellar, the storerooms jind kitchen were completed, and a part of the exterioi walls of the living-room was put up. Good progress was also made in securing the sand around the foundation. According to contract, the latter was to be covered with brush mattresses thirty inches thick and over a width of fifty feet around the tower, held down by a layer of rip-rap twenty inches thick, first filling all depressions caused by the scour during the con- struction of the foundation. This scour was much greater than had been anticipated. This work was accomplished with great diflSculty, and it was not 142 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. until the middle of the following year that it was completed : sixty-six hundred cubic yards of mattresses and eight hundred cubic yards of stone were needed. On December 2, 1884, Ilerr Krote, who represented the Govern- ment during the construction of the tower, wished to inspect it once more prior to a pleasure trip during the Christmas holidays, and left in company with the Constructing Engineer to stay but a short time. They had hardly made a landing when a storm arose wliich made it impossible to take off the inspecting party. At first they rather enjoyed their detention, but when days lengthened into weeks and there was still no possibility of release, the situation became grave, especially as thjy signalled that one of the men was seriously ill. Finally, on December 21, with the sea still running high, all were successfully taken oflE except two men who were left to act as keepers during the winter. Work was recommenced on April 12, 1885, the living-room and its three dormers, the lantern and the interior finish completed b)- August 10th and the main lens set up. The main light of the fourth order, with Otter's revolving shut- ters, guides the incoming vessel first to the tower, and from there into the narrow channel leading to the lioheweg Light-house. Each of these courses is marked by a fixed light, illuminating an arc of seven degrees toward the sea, and an arc of three-and-onc-half de- grees toward the river (see chart). i In passing the limit to either side of these courses the fixed main light changes to a flashing light. The distance from the tower, where a vessel approaching the light has to change its course, is indicated by two fifth-order lights, one in the northwest, the other in the south dormer, about seventeen feet below the main light. The intensity is so regulated that they only appear to the naked eye as separate lights at a distance of two-and- one-half nautical miles from the tower ; at a greater distance thev cannot be distinguished as they are overpowered by the main lio-ht. Finally, another light of the fifth order was placed in tlie dormer containing the stairs, to locate the range on which vessels, coming from the Island of Heligoland, enter the mouth of the Weser. ' See page 135, THE ROTHERSAND LIGHT-TOWER. 143 The base of the structure, for a height of twenty-seven feet, is painted black, and the tower above, with alternate red and white bands fourteen feet wide. This makes the tower so conspicuous that it can be seen on a clear day for g, distance of twelve nautical miles. By the end of August tlie upper part of the caisson was taken down ; in September the tower was connected to the shore by an electric cable, and on October 23, 1885, the tower was accepted by the Government. This is, I believe, the first light-house erected at a long distance from land which does not rest on a rock foundation. CHAPTER XII. FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHT -HOUSE, DELAWARE BAY. FOUKTEEN - Foot Bank Shoal is situated on the west side of the main chan- nel, about S^ miles from the Delaware shore, 10^ miles northeast of the mouth of Mis- pillion Creek, and 14J miles ==;^r north 51° 15' west from Cape '~~°' May Light. __ This shoal, which is a turn- Fourt..n.foot Sho.i Light. »°S Poi°* »'' ^^^ navigation of the bay, was marked in 1876 by a ght-ship. Owing to floating ice, the light-ship could not remain at her station during tlie winter months, when it is very important to have the location of the shoal defined. In 1882, the year after the disaster to the first caisson attempted to be placed on the Bothcrsand shoal, the Light-house Board of the United States considered the desirability of replacing the light-ship by a permanent structure, and several projects for the foundation pier were entertained. They all embraced the general features of a cast-iron pier filled with concrete. Different forms of vertical section for the pier were proposed and discussed | finally in 1888, a cylinder, 73 feet in height and 35 feet in diameter, was adopted by the Board, on the recommendation of Major D. P. Heap, Engineer Secretary of the Board. This cylinder was to be composed of IJ inch cast-iron plates, « " H OB S L FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHT-HOUSE. 145 feet in height, with 6-inch horizontal and vertical flanges, 1} inches in thickness; it was also required that these flanges be planed so that the joints could be made water-tight. A cylinder such as recommended presented the advantage of simplicity of construction; all the plates, being of the same size, would be interchangeable, a decided help in putting tbe cylinder together at the site. By Acts of Congress, approved August 7, 1882, and March 3, 1883, the Board had, at its disposal, the sum of $175,000 for the en- tire completion of this work. The contract for furnishing the metal-work of the cylinder was awarded to tlie G. W. & F. Smith Iron Company, of Boston, Mass., who delivered it on the Government Pier at Lewes, Del., on July 19, 1884. The general figure of the shoal is oval in plan ; its length, measured up and down stream between the 24-foot curves, is 5,720 feet, while its width is 1,300 feet. The least water at low tide was 20 feet. Borings were made to the depth of 26 feet. The material penetrated was very fine, dark sand, mixed with shells, and was so compacted that a strong water-jet was necessary to force down the 4-inch wrought-iron tube used in making the borings. It will be noticed that the depth of water and the nature of the bed of the sea were nearly the same here as at Rothersand. The average rise and fall of the tide were found to be 6 feet, and the maximum velocity of the current about 2 miles per hour. On the 20th of December, 1884, bids were invited to build and sink the cylinder so that its bottom would be 23 feet below the surface of the shoal : this would place it on the same level as the bottom of the adjacent main channel in its deepest part; bidders were not re- stricted to any one plan for sinking the cylinder, but were allowed to use any process they pleased subject to the approval of the Boai-d, and were required to give security that in case the metal-work was lost or injured from any cause while in their hands, they would maka good the loss to the Government. 14:6 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. The bid of Messrs. Anderson & Barr, of New York City, in the sum of $38,900, was accepted, and as security they deposited $20,000 with the Treasurer of the United States ; they proposed to use the pneumatic process, the Government furnishing the cylinder and the cement required for 2,000 cubic yards of concrete. For a worlcing-chamber they built a square wooden caisson on wliich the cylinder was to rest, its details are shown in the drawing, [see illustrations] as this caisson was 10 feet high its lower edge had to penetrate the sand to a depth of 33 feet, in order to bring the bottom of the cylinder to the stipulated depth. It was built of 12 x 12 inch yellow pine, and lined with 1^ inch tongued-and-grooved stuff, laid in white-lead. The joints of all ad- joining timbers were caulked and filled with mineral pitch; a, sheathing of 2-inch yellow-pine planks was placed on the outside. Work on the caisson was commenced on the beach at Lewes, Del., in the latter part of May, 1885 ; to facilitate launching the caisson in shoal water a temporary water-tight bottom was built ; in launching, this bottom leaked, and compressed-air was used to keep out the water. When launched, the caisson was moored alongside the Gov- ernment pier, and three sections of cylinder plates put on by means of a boom-derrick, which was secured to the air-shaft and the roof of the caisson. The lowest section was securely bolted to the woodwork below, and the joint caulked with oakum. The joints between the plates, which had been accurately planed, were coated with red lead before being bolted together. About 9 inches of concrete were then placed on top of the caisson to depress the centre of gravity. The displacement was tlien about 400 tons, and the draught was 15 J feet; the caisson was then towed by two tugs, in six hours, to tlie site, dis- tant nearly 20 miles. The contractors had chartered the hulk of the old steamer " Moro Castle," and had moored it at the site by 6 anchors ; this vessel was 200 feet long, 30 feet beam, and ilrcw 14 feet of water ; 80 tons of coal, COO barrels of cement, 3 sections of cylinder plates, and the sections of the air-shaft were stowed below deck. The deck carried FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHT-HOUSE. 147 all the machinery, sand, broken-stone, timber, and kitchen and quar- ters for the officers and men. A boom-derrick, with a reach of 80 feet and lifting 2 tons, was secured amidships. The following is a list of the machinery on board : 1. A locomotive boiler, with 18 square feet of grate and 400 square feet of heating-surface, and carrying 60 pounds pressure : this proved too small. 2. A feed-pump, connecting with the hot-well of the surface-con- denser, with the fresh-water tanks and with the sea. 3. A surface-condeiisor, connected with all the engines and pumps. 4. A 2-eylinder hoisting-engine, with cylinders 6^ inches in diameter and 9 inches stroke : the diameter of the rope-drum was 16 inches, and was geared to the engine in the ratio of 1 to 5. 5. A Delamater air-compressor, having 2 steam-cylinders of 8 inches diameter, and air-cylinders, 10 inches diameter and 16 inches stroke. A maximum velocity of 120 revolutions per minute was re- quired to blow the sand out of the caisson. 6. A Clayton aii^compressor of the same capacity as the one above named ; this was used to relieve the other while under repair. Both compressors were provided with water-jackets around their cylinders. The air was forced through water in a cylindrical cooler 2 feet 9 inches in diameter and 5 feet 4 inches high, and through a 2J-inch rubber-hose, to the upper end of the air-shaft. Gauges on the cooler indicated the water-level in it and the air-pressure. There was a check-valve also where the air entered the shaft. The air in the air- lock and in the upper part of the shaft became intensely hot, because no provision had been made for circulating water through the cooler ; the workmen suffered considerably on this account. 7. A portable centrifugal pump, with 4-inch suction and discharge, and connected to the boiler and surface-condenser with hose. This pump was used as a bilge pump. 8. 4 duplicate of the above was used to furnish water for mixing concrete. 9. An air-lock large enough to admit 4 men at one time; it was 148 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. made of boiler-iron, and had a cast-iron cylinder supply-lock of one cubic yard's capacity. After the caisson was moored at the site it was quickly sunk by letting water into the cylinder through 6-inch valves. This water was partly replaced by broken stones as the latter were supplied by the scheoner, and when the weight became sufficient the water was pumped out by the centrifugal pump, and the broken stone in the cylinder was made into concrete. On July 1 7 the regular mixing of concrete was commenced ; this work was done either on the hulk or on the schooners that brought the broken stones : on July 23, when the weight of the structure was about 500 tons greater than that of the displacement, the air-lock was bolted to the air-shaft, connections were made with the compressor, and the water was forced from the shaft and working-chamber. The current produced a considerable scour as soon as the caisson was grounded ; this continued until the caisson had sunk about 8 feet, and until its roof rested upon a mound of sand. The cutting edge of the caisson did not rest upon the shoal for a considerable part of its length, and at times the cylinder was 12° out of plumb; the scour was 10 feet deep near the caisson, and extended over an area of 70 feet in diameter. It will be noticed that the action of this cylinder was almost identical with the one sunk in the " Rothersand." The working party in the caisson consisted of three gangs of eight men each, each gang working for eight hours, with a rest for meals after four hours work ; they carried paraffine candles in their hats to light them at their work. The sand was collected at the bottom and blown by the air-pres- sure through a 4-inch wrought-iron pipe which connected the work- ing-chamber with the outside air, and which was provided with two cocks, one in the chamber, the other on the outside of the shaft. The sudden diminution of the air-pressure when blowing out the sand caused such a condensation of the moisture in the air in the working chamber as to make it so foggy that the men could see but 2 or 3 feet, and the blowing had to be limited to a half or a quarter of a FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHT-HOUSE. H9 minute's duration at a time, The blow-pipe was at first made with a bend to thi-ow the sand into the sea. This caused the pipe to choke and occasioned much delay. Afterward the sand was blown out vertically and either fell into the sea, the cylinder, or the hulk, where it did much damage to the machinery. This was remedied later by stretching a stout canvas over the pipe. Sinking was continued at the rate of from 1 to 2 feet a day until July 81, when the cutting edge of the caisson had penetrated 18 feet and when the door of the air-lock was nearly at the level of high tide. The air was then allowed to escape, the shaft extended, the air-lock replaced, and the concrete increased to a depth of 37^ feet. The water was then forced out of the working-chamber, and on August 18 the work of sinking was resumed, and by the 28th, the cutting edge had reached the required depth, viz., S3 feet 4 inches below the original surface of the shoal. The kind of material pene- trated changed at the level of 29 feet, the remaining 4 feet being clean, coarse, sharp, yellow sand . mixed with considerable coarse gravel. The resistance to sinking was so great during the latter part of the time that it was found necessary to diminish the air-pressure suddenly in order to facilitate the descent. The men remained in the working- chamber at these times. The cutting edges were then tightly under-rammed, the working- chamber and air-shaft packed with sand, and the latter sealed with concrete at a level of 30 feet 4 inches above the caisson roof. The air-shaft was then taken off at a height of 38 feet 7 inches above the caisson, and the remainder of the 2,000 cubic yards of concrete were put in place, raising the concrete to a level of 13 feet 11 inches below the upper edge of the cylinder. The contractors, after erect- ing a mast from which the crew of the Fourteen-Foot Bank Light- ship were to show a lantern at night, left the site on September 16. Three foremen, two engineers, two firemen, thirty laborers and one cook were employed on the work. At one time a rather curious accident occurred. During a heaw 150 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. blow from the southward, the old hulk parted her moorings and com- menced drifting directly toward the cylinder, which was then 8 or 10 feet above the water, but only filled with concrete, to the water-level- Several of the men immediately jumped on the cylinder, and, sitting on the upper flange, which was about G inches wide, dropped fenders between the cylinder and the sides of the hulk to soften the blow. The hulk came against the cylinder so as to give it a glancing blow or push and then sheered off. The men essayed to jump on board, but to their astonishment several were unable to do so. When the hulk struck, she forced open the joints between the plates of the cylinder, which, immediately closing when relieved from the pressure, caught and securely anchored the men by the seats of their breeches. The involuntary prisoners had to decide promptly, for their home was drifting from them, so they, with one accord, gave one arrUre pensde, tore their trowsers and jumped on board. The bids received for finishing the cellar story in accordance with the approved plan not being reasonable in amount, the Boird decided to build a temporary frame house of two rooms and a platform, from which to show a fourth-order light, until the work on the superstruc- ture should begin during the following season. This light was first shown on October 24, and during the winter was maintained by two men employed as temporary keepers. It proved of much value to navigation, as its range and visibility were greater than those of the adjacent light-ship, which besides in winter was necessarily off her station. One thousand tons of rip-rap were placed around the cylinder to prevent any additional scour. Soundings made the following March showed no change in the shoal around the pier ; an unequal settle- ment of one inch had taken place during the winter. Brush mattresses were not used here ; they would not only have been costly, but they would also have prevented the stone from sinking through the sand, and thus holding the pier securely in place. During the winter plans were prepared for the superstructure under the direction of Major Heap. This superstructure consists of FOURTEEN-FOOT BANK LIGHT-HOUSE. lol a two-story cast-iron dwelliag, surmounted by a fourth-order lantern, secured to a cast-iron gallery floor, supported by iron columns and girders and brick arches and walls, resting upon tlie concrete filling of the pier. The cellar story is arranged for a DaboU trumpet and duplicate hot-air Ericsson engines, cast-iron water-tanks, brick compartments f(5r fuel, provisions and oil, the latter having iron doors and ventila- tors so arranged as to close automatically in case of a fire and thus smother the conflagration. It was found that the structure trembled somewhat from the shock of the waves, so 2,000 additional tons of rip-rap were placed around it to increase its stability. This Light Station was entirely completed in the spring of 1887. Its entire cost, including examination of site, experimental work, rip-rap, lens, fog-signal, superintendence and contingencies of every nature, amounted to $123,811.45, more than $50,000 loss than the sum appropriated. A red sector indicates the location of the Joe Flogger shoal ; this sector, combined with red sectors of Cross Ledge Light, clearly defines the main channel as far as the Ship John shoal light. An- other red sector marks the Brown shoal ; it is to the south of the Brandywine shoal light, and materially assists the navigation of the lower bay. Cast-iron cyUnders filled with concrete have also been successfully used on rocks nearly awash and on sub-marine sites in shallow water where the foundation was stable; they are less costly and in some respects superior to masonry piers, as they are easily and quickly placed in position, and they have no joints into which water can penetrate and freeze, thus forcing out the mortar, as is the case with piers built of stone. Their circular form also simplifies their construction and adapts itself perfectly to a circular tower. The sketches show several light-houses of this type ; the towers are also of cast-iron lined with brick ; they are three stories high 152 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. exclusive of the cellar, and contain all the necessary room for the accommodation of two keepers. The Stamford light rests on the south-west extremity of Harbor Ledge in Stamford Harbor, Conn. ; the pile pier shown in the sketch is a temporary structure used in the construction of the light. The Whale Rock light is on a rock at the entrance to Narragan- sett Bay, Rhode Island ; the sea is frequently so violent here as to throw solid water as high as the top of the pier, while the apray flies entirely over the tower. The one at Sharp's Island, Md., is in the much quieter waters of Chesapeake Bay and rests on sand, the scour being prevented by rip-rap. One great advantage of this type of foundation over screw-pile structures is that the former can successfully resist the impact of ice. CAPE HATTERAS. Fob many years the subject has been agitated of establishing a light-house on the Outer Diamond Shoal, off Cape Hatteras. This shoal is about eight miles from land, and in such stormy waters that it is next to impossible to maintain a light-vessel on or near it. All the sea-going commerce between the Northern and Southern States has to round this point, and it is proverbially the most dangerous place on the Atlantic coast. There is, of course, a light on Cape Hatteras, but the shoal is so distant that it is very difficult to estimate its locality, south-bound vessels to avoid the current of the gulf-stream have to pass close to it, and it has the gloomy reputation of causing more wrecks and dis- asters than any other place in America. The success with the Rothersand and Fourteen-foot Bank Light- houses, in my opinion, point the way to obtaining a secure foundation in these shifting sands, and I believe that the solution of the problem consists in building a steel or cast-iron cylinder forty-five feet in diameter, sinking it on the shoal so that its base will be below any possibility of wave-action, filling it with concrete, and protecting it on the exterior by the liberal use of rip-rap in large blocks. CAPE HATTERAS. 153 154 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIOMT-EOUSEB. The cylinder nhould be double, the inner cylinder being fifteen feet in diameter and very strongly braced to the exterior one, the connection between the interior and exterior cylinder at the bottom should be conical in shape, and would answer for the working- chamber if the cylinder were to be sunk by the pneumatic process, though I believe it possible to sink it rapidly by dredging from the interior. The cylinder could be so built as to admit of either plan being used.'^ At a suitable locality on the Outer Diamond, there is a depth of about twenty feet; the cylinder should be put together at some safe ' See Bketohes, paRoe 103 and 1155. CAPE HATTERAS. 155 harbor, floated to this point and sunk as quickly as possible. I estimate that when the bottom of the cylinder reaches fifty feet below the surface of the shoal and the rip-rap is placed around it, it will be safe from the scour of the waves. One of the many difficulties attending this work is that the nearest J 156 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. available harbor is Cape Hatteras Inlet, only fifteen feet deep and fifteen miles away. Should a storm overtake the cylinder ■while being towed to the site, it would, in all probability, be lost, and the same catastrophe might occur if there were a heavy blow during the first part of the sinking of the cylinder ; after it had gone down ton or fifteen feet the danger would be much less, and if the attending vessels were driven away by stress of weather, they might have a reasonable assurance of finding the cylinder in place on their return. The power of the cylinder to resist the waves, before it was filled with concrete, would depend entirely on the strength of the interior bracing, and too much pains could not be expended in making this of the best design, material and workmanship. With the foundation once secured, it would be of no gieat difficulty to erect a suitable superstructure. Should this light-house be successfully established, it will be a re- markable feat of light-house engineering, and be of benefit to more commerce than any one light-house in the world. Barring accidents, the cost should not exceed $300,000 for the foundation, but it would not be safe to commence work without having at least $500,000 available. The accompanying sketches give a general idea of the plan and elevation of the kind of cylinder pro- Congress will be asked this session to appropriate the necessary funds for this important work.^ Should the appropriation be made, the foundation could be built and placed, barring accidents, in less than two years. > Congress has not voted the neceaaary tunds for this work up to the present time (Dec. 1, 1888). CHAPTER XIII. SKELETON IRON LIGHT-HOUSES. Another typo is the skeleton iron light-Iiouse : this is especially adapted to sites where it is desired to erect a lofty structure without too much weight ; it may rest on iron-piles, screw-piles, grillage or other foundation, depending on whether the light-house stands in the water or on land, and whether the site is rock, stiff clay, sand, earth or mud. The two finest Ughfrhouses of this kind, which rest on iron-piles driven in coral rock, are those erected on Powey Rocks and Ameri- can Shoals, Florida. They are duplicates of each other, the first one huilt being the one at Fowey Rocks on the east coast of Florida, at the northern extremity of Florida Reefs. Examinations to test the character of this reef were made in 1875 ; the -engineer reported : '• It was with the greatest difficulty and delay that a sailing vessel could reach the spot in weather sufficiently calm to do any work. The rock composing the reef is harder than that farther south and west, and it is believed will furnish a secure foundation for the kind of structure decided upon." During the same year the designs for the light-house were well advanced, and pre- liminary works connected with the erection of the light-house were begun. These consisted in building at Soldier Key, four-and-one- half miles distant from the reef, a substantial wharf with track, store- 158 ANCIENT AND MODERN LWIIT-IIOUSKS. house and quarters ; all these buildings had to bo raised six foet above the surface and strongly secured, as during hurricanes the sea sweejJB entirely over the surfece of the Key. At the site the working plat- form was completed, and contract was made for the delivery of the ironwork for the foundation and first stories of the light-house, which was delivered at Soldier Key in the spring of 18G7, and during the same year all the foundation-piles were driven as follows : The disc for the central foundation-pile was first lowered to its place, and through this disc the first iron-pile was driven. One of the perimeter discs was then placed in position and located by a gauge consisting of a heavy iron I-beam, lying on the bottom between and in immediate contact with the edges of both discs, and then the first perimeter-pile was driven through the centre of this disc. The greatest precaution had to be taken to drive these piles vertically ; hence, after each blow of the hammer the pile was tested with a plummet, and the slightest deviation from the vertical was rectified by tackles, used as guides, fastened to the top of the pile. Each iron-pile was driven about ton feet into the rook. In locating the disc for the next perimeter-pile, two gauges were necessary, one to obtain the proper distance from the central pile, the other to main- tain the proper distance from the perimeter-pile just driven; and these two gauges were alike except in' length. The discs were dragged along the bottom until their outer edges just touched the free edges of the gauges. Each pile was then driven through the centre of its disc. After all of them were driven, their tops were levelled by cutting off each to the line of the lowest. The piles were then capped with their respective sockets; the horizontal girders were inserted, the diagonal tension-rods were placed and screwed up, and the foundation series was completed. This work, including the building of the temporary platform occupied just two months, during which time the sea was quite smooth. Owing to various delays in the manufacture of the superstructure it did not arrive at Soldier Key until November 12, 1877, The weather preceding its arrival and for throe months after was unfavor- SKELETON LIGHT-HOUSES. 159 able for its erection. Gale followed gale, and though a large force of workmen was at Soldier Key ready to work when weather per- mitted, nothing could be done. For six weeks there was but one day on which a landing could be effected at the light-house site. This day was utilized by laying a decking of four-inch plank on the wooden platform. Finding the weather still unfavorable, with no immediate prospect of getting to the site, and all the shore-work completed, it was decided on December 13, 1877, to temporarily suspend operation. On February 24, 1878, the weather appearing more favorable for reef-operation, work was resumed ; the party arrived at the site on tlie 25th February, and encountered a tornado which considerably damaged the vessels. One of the lighters, a small schooner, capable of carrying twenty- five to thirty tons of freight on four feet draught of water, was loaded with the portable hoisting-engine, derrick, taoldes, shear-polos and a small quantity of iron. The sea continued so rough that this load could not be landed until March 12, when a landing was effected through the breakers by means of small boats, and the derrick and shears erected on the platform. During the next- sixteen days five more cargoes of iron were landed, and the first series of columns, girders, sockets and tension-rods placed in position. It became evident from the slow progress thus far made, owing to stormy weather and the danger attending frequent landings through the breakers, that, unless a lodgement could be effected on the plat- form and the men be made to live thereon, the structure could not be completed within a year. Therefore, on March 29, the lighter was loaded with one month's supply of provisions, water, etc., towed to the platform and its freight landed ; two large tents were set up on the platform, a temporary kitchen built, and twenty men left to con- tinue the erection of the light-house. The advantages of this arrangement were very great. No matter how high the sea might be running, the men were there out of water, on a safe and steady foundation, and they could continue the work so long as they could be kept supplied with material. 160 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. The remainder of the force was employed in loading the lighter and steamer, and when the weather was favorable, in unloading the lighter at the platform On days that were too rough to unload the lighter, all hands would land at the site in small boats, if a landing was practicable, and assist in erection. By keeping the lighter loaded and steam on the tender day and night, no available time was lost. On June 15, 1878, the tower was completed and the light was ex- hibited. The cost of this light-house was about $1 75,000 l(pM?S» '^iAt^:(..0'^ilL:- " it might be, especially if he were uncertain as to his reckoning. This difficulty was overcome by having different numbers of lights at neighboring light-stations. For example, on Little Brewster Island, Boston Harbor, there is one light, at Plymouth there are two, lights, at the Gurnets, at Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, there are three lights, at Chatham two and at Monoiroy Point one light. This device is both expensive and clumsy, and as the needs of commerce require CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT-HOUSES. 171 intermediate lights to be established from time to time these groups of lights lose in a measure their distinctive character. More modern science has devised other and better means for making the lights distinctive. This is done by changing the colors of the lights and by making them fixed or flashing or a combination of the two. But two colors are used, white and red ; the latter color is obtained by using a chimney of ruby glass on the lamp or a pane of red glass outside the lens. Red light penetrates fog better than any other color, and it is for this reason that it is used to the exclu- sion of the rest. Formerly the intensity of the light was increased by placing a slivered parabolic reflector behind the flame of the lamp, and in some light-houses reflectors are still used, but in inost cases the lenses designed by Fresnel have been substituted. His original idea was to use a large central flame three and one-half inches in diameter 172 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. and to arrange around it eight large plano-convex lenses three feet three inches high by two feet six inches wide, so as to refiact the light. This form of lens was improved by Condorcet for burning-glasses in 1788. If a lens three feet three inches in diameter were ground to a continuously spherical figure it would attain a great thickness at the axis and the loss of light by absorption in its passage through the thick glass, as well as by spherical aberration, would be consider- able. But light-house lenses are so formed as to avoid these disad- vantages. The figure shows a section and elevation of one panel of a lens. If a lens has eight of these panels it will send out radially eight beams of light, and if the lens is made to revolve the observer would see flashes alternated by dark intervals. This is known as a, flashing white light. If alternate panels are covered with panes of red glass it would be flashing red and white. It will readily be seen that quite a number of characteristics can be made by altering the number of panels and by covering up more or less of them with red glass. The above is only snited to flashing lights. It was not until Fresnel extended his researches to the improvement of fixed lights that he completed the system of light-house illumination. He con- ceived the idea of forming a barrel of glass having the same profile as a vertical section through the axis of the lens just described. Such a lens allows the rays from a lamp in its centre to spread freely in a horizontal plane, while it only refracts them vertically, thug producing a powerful band of light equally all round the horizon. If flash panels, consisting of a set of vertical prisms, be made to revolve around the above lens, it becomes fixed white varied by white flashes ; if half of the flash panels are alternately covered with red glass, the characteristic would be fixed white, varied by red and white flashes. The flashing lights are further distinguiehod by the interval of time between the flashies. For example, Boston Light is flashing white every thirty seconds; Gay Head, on the western point of CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT-HOUSES. 173 Martha's Vineyard, is flashing white and red, interval between flashes, ten seconds, every fourth flash red ; Sakonet, on little Cor- morant Rock, R. I., fixed white for thirty seconds, followed during the next thirty seconds by three red flashes at intervals of ten seconds. Dangerous shoals or rocks in the vicinity of light-houses are fre- quently indicated by chang- ing the color of that portion of the light covering the dan- ger. This is done by setting a piece of red glass of the proper width against the lan- tern glass. Fourteen -Foot Bank Light is a case in point. It shows a white flash every fifteen seconds between the bearings N. N. W. through E. to S. S. E. ^ E. (from seaward) and a red flash ever}' fifteen seconds throughout the remaining arc, covering Brown's Shoal to the southward and Joe Flogger's Shoal to the northward. It has been proposed that all important lights should be flashing and that they should spell out the initials of their name by the Morse alphabet, by using long and short or red and white flashes, and that the fog signals should do the same by long and short blasts. I fear, however, that such a system would tend more to confuse than to aid the ordinary mariner. The various characteristics in use on our coasts are : *fccfiim afj X/cnr/iont/'wt3^v/arJ.etts^ Fixed White Fixed Red Flishing White Flashing Red Fixed White varied by White Flashes Fixed White varied by Red Flashes Fixed White varied by Red and White Flashes Flashing; Bed and White F. W. F. R. Fig. W. Fig. R. F. W. V. W. Fl. F. W. V. R. Fl. F. w. V. RaudW. Fl. Fig. R. and W. 174 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGET-HOUSES. It is also desirable that the light-bouses should be conspicuous during the daytime, as they make excellent day-marks ; this is done X. CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT-HOUSES. 175 either by their sliape or by some peculiarity in the way tliey are are painted. When the background is dark they axe usually painted white, and when the background is light, the towers are either left the natural color, if built of brick or stone, or are painted some dark color. Sometimes both white and some dark color are used in horizon- tal bands, spirals or checkers. West Quoddy Head, Maine, has alternate red and wliite horizontal stripes. At Sankaty Head, Mass., the tower is white near the top and the bottom, with a i"ed band in the middle. Four- teen-Foot Bank is brown. At Cape Henry, Va.. the base, service-room and lantern of the octagonal tower are black; the shaft is colored on each face half white and half black, alter- nating so that the upper and lower halves of the faces show alternately black and white. At Cape Hatteras the tower is colored in alternate zones or belts of black and white, each zone twenty-two feet wide. Cape Look- Light-npuse at St. Pierre do Royan, France. *. 176 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. out, N. C, is in black and white checkers. At Hunting Island, 8. C, the tower is white from the base to the height of foliage of the back- ground, the portion above this being black. At St. Augustine, the foundation of the tower is white, with a black cornice ; the shaft is colored with black and white spiral bands. At St. Pierre de Royans, France, the plan of the light-house is a square. As it is intended as a day-mark, the upper part has been enlarged to obviate the possibility of confounding it with the steeples of the town of Eoyan, and it is also painted in wide bands of red and white. The sketches show the appearance of some of these lightrhouses. O a •a H re w " o h3 CHAPTER XV. ISLE OF MAY LIGHT-SOUSE. The light-house situated oa the Isle of May, Scotland, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, was originally lighted in 1636 by an open coal-fire; it was altered in 1816 to argand lamps, with Light-house on the Isle of May. silvered parabolic reflectors ; in 1836 it was converted to the di- optric system, and on the 1st December, 1886, the electric-light was substituted: as this light is now one of the most powerful in the world, a general description may be of interest in this connection. The Board of Trade suggested its introduction at the Isle of 178 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. May, on the ground that " there was no more important station on the Scottioh shores, whether considered as a land-fall, as a light for the guidance of the extensive and important trade of the neigh- boring coast, or as a light to lead into the refuge harbor of the Forth." Notwithstanding its isolated position and the difficulty of access, it was decided to accept the view of the Board of Trade, The NORTH SEA P U A N QPTHB ISLE QF MAY, necessary plans were prepared by the Messrs. Stevenson, and the works commenced in June, 1885, were completed and the light established by the first of December, 1886, The existing estab- lishment consisted of a light-house tower, with accommodation for three keepers — it was necessary to provide dwellings for three more keepers with their families, and buildings for the steam and electric plant, coal-houses, etc. All these were placed near the base of the island, in order to be near the small fresh-water loch, and to save the cost of transporting the coal and of pumping the water to the top of the island, while the saving of the cost of carriage of the materials and machinery to the top of the island, and of piping and pumping machinery would more than counterbalance the original cost of the conductors. ISLE OF MAY LIGET-HOUSE. 179 It was originally intended to use the Brush compound wound Victoria dynamo, giving a continuous current and supplying a single automatically-fed arc-lamp of 80,000 candle-power. The Brush Company at once set to work to make such a lamp, but after numer- ous trials thpy were unable to do so, consequently recourse was had to the more expensive alternate current magneto-electric machines of HORIZONTAL SECTION TBSOVSa FOCAL FLANSL De Meritens, which, though not so powerful, had given excellent re- sults in several light-houses and at the experiments at South Fore- land ; they were of the L type and of the largest size hitherto con- structed, weighing four-and-one-half tons each. They are so arranged that one-fifth, two-fifths, three-fifths, four- 180 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. fifths or the whole of the current of a machine can, at pleasure, be sent to the distributor for transmission to the lantern, the two machines can also be coupled and the full current from both be em- ployed. The engines and boilers are in duplicate. The conductors are copper-rods one inch in diameter, well in- sulated, the length is 880 feet, the loss of the total energy is twenty per cent. The lamps are of the Serrin-Berjot type, and the carbons are of Siemens make, and have a soft central core of pure graphite which improves their steadiness in burning ; they are 1.6 inches in diameter, but two-inch carbons can be used when both machines are running. With one machine the power of the arc is estimated at 12,000 to 16,000 candles. The dioptric apparatus (see figure showing horizontal section through focal plane) is of a novel description, the condensing prin- ciple being carried farther than in any other apparatus previously constructed. Certain sectors are darkened by diverting the light from them, and the light is thrown into adjoining sectors so as to re- inforce their light. Thus the power of the light is increased in pro- portion as the dark arc is increased. The light gives four flashes in quick succession every half minute ; and during the bright periods the effect of this concentration of the rays is that the light radiating naturally from the focus is increased in power fifteen times in azimuth in addition to the vertical condensation, excepting, of course, the loss due to reflection and absorption. The apparatus consists of a second-order fixed lens fifty-five inches in diameter, which operates on the rays so as to make them issue from the lens in horizontal planes. Outside this lens there is a revolving cage of straight vertical prisms, extending the full height of the lens, or five-one-half feet, and composed of two panels on opposite sides of the centre, each operating in the horizontal plane on 180° of the light coming from the lens, in such a way as to condense the whole 180° into four flashes of 3° each — that is, 45° into 8°, with the proper intervals of ISLE OF MAY LIGHT-HOUSE. 181 darkness between them. This cage of glasswork makes one com- plete revolution every minute round the lens, thereby producing the characteristic of four flashes every half minute. The resulting beam of light from this apparatus is about 3,000,000 candles when one magneto-electric machine is in use, ?,nd with both machines about 6,000,000 candles. The light has been picked-up and recognized by sailors at forty and fifty miles off, by the flashes illuminating the clouds overhead, though the geographical range, i. e., the distance which the curvature of the earth would permit the light to be seen, is only twenty-two miles. Surprise has frequently been expressed by masters of vessels and by residents on the neighboring shores who live in view of the Tsle of May light, that this light, which is so exceedingly brilliant in clear weather as to cast shadows at a distance of ten or fifteen miles, is so cut down by the fog that some go the length of believing the old oil-light (D446 candles) was better in a fog. All who have had experience with the electric-light are quite prepared for the first part of this statement, while the last, it need hardly be said, is a mis- take, inasmuch as the electric-light has been proved, by experiments in both natural and artificial fog and also by observation on existing light-houses lighted by electricity, to be in all circumstances of weather the most penetrating. Every night at 12 o'clock the lightkeepers at St. Abb's Head, twenty-two miles distant, where there is a first-order flashing light, and one of the most powerful oil-lights in the English service, observe the Isle of May light, while the keepers at the latter also observe the St. Abb's Head light. The result of five months' observa- tion is that the Isle of May light is seen one-third oftener from St. Abb's Head than the St. Abb's Head light is seen from the Isle of May. It is perfectly true, however, that the superiority which is so apparent in clear and in rainy weather is very much reduced in hazy weather, and practically disappears in very dense fog. Look- ing to this fact and to the large first cost and annual maintenance, there is no doubt, that the conclusion arrived at by the Trinity 182 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. House! is sound, that electricity should be used only for important landfall lio;hts. iThe Trinity House of England and the Scotch Board of Northern Lights In- stituted an exhaustive series of experiments at South Foreland, England, In 1884-85 to determine the relative values of oil, gas and electricity as light-house iUumlnants; the following is a summary of their report so far as oil and electri- city are concerned: " The electric-light, as exhibited in the A experimental tower at South Fore- land, has proved to be the most powerful light under all conditions of weather, and to have the greatest penetrative power in fog, " For the ordinary necessities of light-house illumination mineral-oil is the most suitable and economical illuminant; for salient headlands, important land- falls and places where a very powerful light is required, electricity oilers the greatest advantages." A single oil-burner, placed on a focus of a proportionally sized lens, is sufficient for the generality of cases. This is specially the case since the Introduction, on Messrs. Stevenson's sugges- tion, of hvper-radiaut apparatus suited for use with burners of large diameter. An experimental lens of 62| inches focal distance was constructed by Messrs. Barbier & Fenestre, and was fully experimented upon at the South Foreland, It proved entirely satisfactory, and since then the Light-House Board of the United States has ordered and received one of these lenses which is now in store at trhe United States General Light-House Depot, TompkinsvlUe, Staten Island, Kew York. This lens is composed entirely of brass and cut-glass, and when the sun shines on it, it sparkles with all the colors of the prism, reminding one of an immense soap-bubble. Its cost was nearly $16,000. CHAPTER XVI. MISCELLANEOUS LIGHTS. PIKR-HEAD LIGHTS. On the great lakes most bf the harbors are improved by build ing tiro parallel piers of cribwork filled with stone out into the lake -J£^i.s^SffiJ ■■Bug" Light, Boffon Harbor. 'M. until these piers reach a certain depth of water; the relief afforded by them is but temporary and they have to be extended from time to time. 184 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. The end of one pier is marked by a small light of the fourth or fifth order, supported on a frame structure either square or polygo- nal. In the tower there is room for the spare lamps, supply of oil, etc., and a place for the keeper to sleep. When the pier is ex- tended these towers can be readily moved out to the end. The story that they are so light that a schooner ran her bowsprit through one and carried it from Grand Ilavun to Chicago is current but not trustworthy. When the pier is entirely completed, the practice is to build a separate foundation and to place on it a conical cast-iron tower similar to the one at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor, N. H. Quite a pretty light of the kind, but modelled after a small Koman temple, is on the end of the Portland, Maine, Breakwater. ^ RIVEB-LIGHTS. The total number of lighted aids to navigation in the United States on the 1st of July, 1887, including light-ships and lighted buoys was 2084, of these 1232 are what is known as river-lights. Congress has specially authorized the following rivers to be lighted : Hudson and East Rivers, N. Y. ; Delaware River between Philadel- phia, Pa., and Bordentown, N. J. ; Elk River, Md. ; Cape Pear River, N. C. ; Savannah River, Ga. ; St. John's River , Fla. ; Mouth of Red River, La. ; Chicot Pass and navigable channel along Grand Lake, La. ; Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Great Kana- wha Rivers ; Columbia and Willamette Rivers, Oregon ; and Puget Sound, Washington Territory. A river-light is an exceedingly simple affair, consisting of a pole or mast with an arm or a shelf at its top by which to support a lantern. These are generally placed on the shore, but sometimes the light is needed in mid-ftrcam in which ease a small crib filled with stone forms a base for the pole.' Or, sometimes, an iron spindle is inserted in the rock as is the case in several places on the East River, N. Y. The lanterns in general use are known as tubula? lens lanterns, they are not liable to be blown out and will burn all night. < See Bketch, page 190. « See sketch, page 186. 32 03 OC •n td 1 Oi" W M h M » H RIVEEr-LIGHTS. 185 There are many places difficult and dangerous of access in stormy- weather where small lights would be of great value could they be constantly maintained ; this has been accomplished by a simple ad- dition to the lens lantern of a reservoir containing a gallon of oil, which is automatically fed to the lamp on the principle of the German -Tv,. |/»c student-lamn. By this device the lamp will burn and give a good liffht for at least eight days and nights without attention and during this time there is almost sure to be weather calm enough for the keeper to attend to the light. This improvement was made at the Light-House Depot at Staten Island ; it is of recent date and already promises to extend the usefof the stake-lights to places where form- erly it was thought necessary to establish regular light-hoases. 186 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. One of the simplest towers in the Light-House service existed for many years at Eden ton, N. C. As the sketch shows it was a tree, whose branches supported a box for the lantern and a platform reached by a ladder. I regret to say that this picturesque structure perished through «^im^i;^f^^£^^isgmsiiiim f.1 Mmk-V" old age and was replaced by a prosaic pole to the top of which the lantern was nightly hauled by a rope. As soon as the energetic citizens of the neighborhood discovered that the light-keeper was no longer condemned to the exertion of climbing a ladder night and morning, the Light-House Board received a number of applications for his position. FLOATING-LIGHTS. Floating-lights are of two kinds, light-ships and lighted-buoys. The former are very strongly built schooners, which, show during the day a colored disk from each mast to distinguish them from ordi- nary vessels, while at night powerful lights are hoisted to their tops ; these lights consist of eight or nine lamps with reflectors hung on gimbals so that their rays will be projected horizontally. They are arranged in a circle and enclosed in a lantern ; during the day the whole apparatus is lowered to the deck into a small house at the foot of each mast. Light-vessels are also provided with a fog-bell and FLO A TING-LIGHTS. 187 sometimes with a fog-whistle operated by steam or hot air ; they are stationed on outlying shoals where it is difficult if not impossible to erect Un-ht-houses. There are twenty-three of these light-vessels in Captain Moody's Floating Light-house. position on the Atlantic Coast and one on Lake St. Clair : there are none on the Pacific Coast. As light-ships are occasionally driven from their moorings by se- vere storms or may in some way be disabled, relief light-ships are kept in readiness to replace them until they can be returned to their stations. 188 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. Capt. Harris's Floating Light-hause. Lighted buoys are comparatively of recent invention ; tljey consist of a buoy filled with compressed illuminating gas ; on the top of the buoy is a gas-jet in a lens; the latter is so arranged that neither wind nor wave can extinguish the light, while an ingenious governor determines a constant flow of gas to the burner irre- spective of the pres- . sure in the buoy. When lighted they will burn for a long time without atten- tion, generally about three months, ^though this length of time may be altered by changing the size of the buoy and the pressure to which the gas is subjected. This system of light- ing by compressed gas is, of course, also ap- plicable to stationary lights and is used in the beacons in Curri- tuck Sound, N. C, and also on the Komer Shoal, New York Har- bor. Another kind of lighted buoy has just passed successfully its experimental stage and is now being actively pushed to completion Foster s Gas-lighted Buoy, FLO A TING-LIGHTS. 189 '-fMtd «wr as a pnictical aid to mariners. It is the joint invention of Lieut. Comdr. M. K. S. Mackenzie, U. S. N"., and Lieut. Jolin Millis, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., and in general terms consists of a spar-buoy support- ing an incandescent electric-light con- nected to a dynamo machine on shore by an armored cable. The incandescent lamp is enclosed in a cylinder of stout glass to protect it from the waves, and this cylinder is fttrt'her protected against the shocks of ice or other floating bodies by a kind of cage of steel bars. Six of these buoys, three on each side, will be set to mark Gedney's Channel, New York Bay : the house containing the engine, boiler and dy- namos will be located at Sandy Hook ; tie whole work is now under contract and will probably be in operation by the fall, of 1888. It has been frequently sug- gested that that portion of the Atlantic Ocean most fre- quented by vessels should be lighted by a series of floating light-houses. At our Cen- tennial Exhibition at Phila- delphia several drawings and paintings were shown exhib- iting the methods by means of which it was proposed to accomplish this object. The following are some of the advantages claimed \y,M, A.\orIin3v»«r- i'» 190 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. by the inventors : the light-houses could be anchored anywhere on the high seas and both guide and light vessels to their destina- tion (one inventor showed his light-houses strung across the ocean like street lamps in a city) ; they could be used as postoffices, tele- graph, signal and life-saving stations. Pilots would await on them the arrivals of vessels; in stormy weather ships, could moor to them and outride the gale. Captain Harris's painting, quite a 'large one, showed three floating light-houses and several vessels in a violent storm, the latter are much tossed but the light-houses are steady and are assisting the vessels by firing rockets and throwing life-lines from mortars. The supports of the light-houses are appar- ently can-buoys of large size. Captain John Moody's float is also of- wrought-iron and shows considerable originality. Jt has four im- mense rays or arms, these being intended primarily to steady it and could also be used for storage purposes ; the Captain claims that its peculiar form allows it to be boarded at any time and in any weq.ther and that in time of war it could be used as a fort. It is needless to say jects have been put into may be found in a re- ventors : " The under- and to carry it out in a the Atlantic would cost that none of these pro- effect, perhaps the reason mark by one of the in- taking is certainly great, series of vessels across a great sum of money." CHAPTER XVn. LIGHT-MOUSE ADMINISTRATION. To select the proper sites for light-houses, to plan and erect them on difficult sites, to devise suitable optical apparatus, iUu- minants alnd lamps, to appoint proper keepers, to furnish the . supplies, and to attend to all the minutiae consequent upon a service whose stations are scattered along a coast and are frequently diffi- cult and dangerous of access, requires a combination of qualities seldom found in one individual. Therefore, in the more important maritime nations the control of the light-house system is vested in Boards whose members are as a rule selected with a view to their 192 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. ability in the- various lines indicated above, and whose orders are carried into effect by district oiHcers. FRANCE. The Light-House Board of France, known as the Commission des Phares, has its office in Paris, on the hill Trocad^ro, overlooHng the Seine and Champ de Mars. This board consists of four engineers, two naval officers, one Member of the Institute, one inspector-general of marine engineers, and one hydrographic engineer. Lengttono Light-ht>u80, Farna Islafid^. The executive officers are the Inspector General of the Corps of Engineers des Fonts et Chaussees, who is Director of the French light-house administration, and another engineer of the same Corps, who is Engineer-in-'Chief and Secretary to the Commission. The entire administration on the seaboard is entrusted to the engineers who in addition are charged with the work of river and harbor improvements. The buildings of th°. Commission are placed around a rectangular court-yard in which are models of light-houses, buoys and other SHARP'S ISLAKD I4IGHT. See page 152 LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 193 apparatus pertaining to tlie establishment. The principal building, containing tlie offipes is a handsome structure two-stories high, built of brick and limestone in alternate courses. It is surmounted by a tower and first-order lantern, for experimental purposes. The grand eatrance-hall also contains many models, the most striking being those of the rock light-houses of France. The council-chamber is richly decorated and upon its walls are painted two large charts, each occupying an entire side : one shows all the light-houses of the world, the other the light-houses of Fraace, showing the illuminated areas. A bust of Fresnel, the inventer of the dioptric system occupies a prominent position, not only here but at aU French light-stations where it is placed over the entrance- door. The museum is well-stocked with every kind of illuminating apparatus, both dioptric and cata-dioptric, though the latter is no longer used in French light-houses. It includes many objects of his- torical interest, among them the first lens apparatus made from Fresnel's designs, and placed in the Tour de Cordouan, and also the various apparatus showing the successive steps by wliich he arrived at the lens now used in all parts of the world. At this depot the lenses and lamps undergo a thorough trial, the oil, however, is sent directly to the various districts and is there tested by the district engineers. The light-keepers are known as "masters" and " keepers," and are appointed by the prefect or chief civil officer of the department on the nomination of the district engineer ; men who have served in the army or navy are given the preference. The following requisites are necessary : They must be Frenchmen, between twenty-one and forty years of age, free from all infirmities which would prevent an active daily life, they must present a certificate of good moral charac ter, know how to read and write, and have an elementary knowledge of arithmetic. In return for their services the following annual salaries are paid: master $200, principal or keeper^ of the first class $170, second class $155, third class $140, fourth class $125, fifth class $110, sixth 194 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. class $95. There is also allowed to each master and keeper a cer- tain amount of fuel, and those at isolated stations receive rations. These salaries are paid in monthly instalments subject to a deduction of five per cent, which is used for a fund for retiring pensions. There are never less than three keepers at a first-order light, and two at lights of the second and third orders. Masters are charged with the supervision of the service of several lights, the title imattre Bressay Light-house, Shetland lalandd depJmre) can also be granted to those of the principal keepers (chefs gardiens) who have merited it by exceptional service. The masters and principal keepers have general charge and attend to the corre- spondence, the other keepers owe obedience to them, but have the right of appeal to the engineer. Every year on the recommendation of the Engineer-in-Chief, a bonus not exceeding a month's salary may be allowed by the prefect to the most meritorious keepers, the number receiving such bonus not to exceed one-fifth of the total number of keepers in the depart- ment. Masters and keepers may be punished or dismissed by the prefect on the report of the Engineer-in-Chief. LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 195 Each keeper is allowed one kitchen and two bedrooms for himself and family ; the kitchen and one bedroom is supplied with furniture by the Government ; there is no regulation prohibiting the acceptance of gratuities from visitors, on the contrary it is rather expected. EITGLAND. The Corporation of Trinity-House, or, according to the original charter, " The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Guild, Fra- ternity, or Brotherhood of the Most Glorious and Undivided Trinity, and of St. Clement, in the Parish of Deptford, Stroud, in the county of Kent," existed as early as the reign of Henry VII (1485 to 1509), and was incorporated by royal charter during the reign of Henry VIII (1509 to 1547). In 1565 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the corporation was empowered by act of Parliament " to preserve ancient searmarks, and to erect beacons, marks, and signs of the sea," but it was more than a century, i. e., not until 1680, before the corporation constructed or owned any light-houses. After that date it from time to time purchased the lights which were owned by pri- vate individuals, or by the Crown, and erected new ones. In 1836, an act of Parliament vested in the Trinity-House the entire 'control of the light-houses of England and Wales, and gave it certain power over the Irish and Scotch lights. ^ Prior to the act of 1836 the charge was from one-sixth of a penny to one penny per ton on all ships at each time of passing a light- house, but by this act uniform light-dues of a half-penny per ton were established. The charge of one pennjr per ton at Bell Rock light-house is the only exception to this uniform rate. National ships, fishinof-vessels and vessels in ballast are exempt from dues. The English lights are placed under the corporation of the Trinii-y- House ; the Scottish lights are under the management of the Com- missioners of Northern Lights, and the Irish Ughts are under the care of the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin, commonly called the Ballast Board. 196 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. The principal provisions of the act of 1853 afieeting light-houses are as follows : (1.) The light-dues of the United Kingdom are to form one imperial fund, under control of the Board of Trade. (2.) From this fund all expenses of erecting and maintaining the lights of the United King- dom are to be defrayed. (3.) The three Boards which manage the light-houses of England, Scotland and Ireland are to render account of their expenditure to the Board of Trade. (4.) The Trinity- Hswtli BaMy Light-house, House, or English Board, is to exercise a certain control over the Boards in Scotland and Ireland, and is to judge of all their pro- posals to erect new lights, or to change existing ones ; but in every case the sanction of the Board of Trade must precede the acts of each of the three Boards. This subordination to the Board of Trade causes much trouble and embarrassment. The Elder Brethren of the Trinity-House, twenty-nine in number, comprise sixteen active members, including two officers of the Navy, LIGHT-BOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 197 and thirteen honorary members, all of whom are elected by the ■body as vacancies occur. The honorary members include H. R. H., the Prince of Wales, some of the ministers to the Crown, several members of the nobility and of Parliament. The Duke of Edinburgh is the present Master, but the Deputy- Master, who is elected by the Elder Brethren from their active list, is the executive officer. The Corporation of the Trinity-House also includes the Junior Brethren, who are elected by the Elder Brethren, and have no duties, simply forming a reserve from which the Elder Brethren add to their number when vacancies occur. Out of the annual revenues SI, 725 are paid to each of the active members ; these members are organized into committees which meet twice a week except when absent on duty. The entire Board holds weekly sessions, at which the matters previously considered in com- mittee arc disposed of. Trinity-House is an ancient structure on Tower Hill, opposite the old Tower of London, in the " City " ; it has a handsome freestone front in Classic style. The main entrance is on the ground-floor through a capacious hall, where are exhibited models of many of the most famous light-houses in England, and also of beacons and buoys. There arc ample accommodations for the officers, for the Board and Committees, for the Engineers' Department, and for photometric ex- periments, and in addition there is a grand banqueting-hall and salon. The principal depot of the Trinity-House is at Blackwall, on the lower Thames ; here are repaired the numerous light-ships employed on the coast above and below the motith of the Thames. There is also a completely appointed lamp-shop. The grounds are limited in extent and some of the buildings are old and inconvenient. Here is also stored a supply of buoys of all kinds. There are two experimental towers fitted with second-order lenses tor testing lamps, oils, effects of fog, etc. 198 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGBT-HOUSES. There are other depots at Yarmouth, Coquet Island and other places, but the one at Blackwall is the principal depot for manu- facture, supply and repair. The immediate agents through whom the authority of the Trinity- House is exercised are called Superintendents, and each has some special duties assigned him, either the sole care of the service in some specified part of the coast or the charge of some special branch, such as the supply and storehouses at Blackwall. The tenders are under their orders.; they wear a uniform on all occasions when on duty. Light-keepers are appointed by the Corporation. The require- ments are that they should be between nineteen and twenty-eight years of age, be of good moral character, be physically sound, and be able to read, write and perform the simpler operations of arithmetic. As vacancies occur successful applicants are taken on probation, t. e., are appointed supernumerary light-keepers. They are then sent to the depot at Blackwall and placed under the orders of the Superinten- dent there. They are carefully trained in the use and care of lamps and all light-house apparatus, including meteorological instruments, the keeping of the lighthouse journal and accounts, and the general LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 199 management of affairs at a light-house. A certificate of the lowest grade is given for competency in their duties. A second course of instruction includes the use of tools and plumbilig, that he may be able to make minor repairs, and also the management and general knowledge of the steam-engine. A third course teaches the manage- ment of the magneto-electric machine and lamp, and the fourth course the use and management of fog-horn apparatus. Separate certificates are given for each course. There are always eight of these candidates for light-keepers posi- tions at Blackwall and two at South Foreland, the latter for instruc- tion in the management of electric-lights, and to the great care taken in their selection and to the thoroughness of their instruction is to be attributed the excellent condition and efficiency of English light- houses. The keepers and supernumeraries are supplied with neat uni- forms ; the supernumeraries are paid $225 per annum, and on receiving four certificates and giving satisfactory proofs of steadiness and sobriety they become entitled to an assistant-keeper's pay. The rates of pay differ, depending upon whether the keepers are insured or not, as will be seen from the following table : KATES OF PAY. Grade of Keeper. Principals who have served as such above 10 years, if insured Same if uninsured Principals, above 6 and under 10 years, if insured. . Same if uninsured Principals under S years, if Insured ., Same if uninsured Assistantr-keepers who have served as such above 10 years, if Insured Same if uninsured Assistant-keepers, above 6 and under 10 years, if insured Same if uninsured - ' Assistant-keepers under 6 years, if insured Same if uninsured Gross rate per annum. $360.00 3E0.00 340.00 332.00 330.00 322.0(1 290.00 282.00 280.00 272.00 270.00 262.00 Deduct insurance. $16.00 IS.OO 15.00 16.00 15.00 15.00 5500 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. When no longer able to do service, keepers are pensioned, the pension being computed on an estimated allowance of $90 in addi- tion to the above scale. Flag-staffs are provided at each station, placed either on the tower or in the grounds surrounding it ; from which is displayed the Trinity- House flag on Sundays, holidays and whenever the light-house tenders are seen approaching the station. At stations where there are detached dwellings, each keeper is furnished with a living-room, three bedrooms, a scullery, wash-room, a place for coal, and if the site permits, with a garden. A certain amount of standing furniture is provided. Small libraries are provided at each station for the use of the keepers and their families ; these libraries are in- terchanged between the stations on the annual visits of the supply- vessels, medicine-chests are also supplied. BPAIlf. Ir Spain the system of administration is the same as that of France. They form a part of the especial branch of public works and depend on a general board of direction established at the De- partment of Public Works. To this board is attached a permanent commission, composed of engineers of high rank, of the Corps of Roads, Canals and Ports, and of officers of the Royal Navy of like rank, who are always consulted when it is intended to modify or vary the general plan of lighting, or to establish some new light in which the site of the light-house, its height above the sea and its distinctive characteristic is to be determined. In all else the construction, establishment and repair of light-houses appertain to the engineers who are distributed in the provinces ; they and their works are usu- ally visited at stated periods by their immediate superiors who are also engineers with the title of Inspectors, and who form a superior class of the corps. Their duties, powers and respondbility to each other and to the Government are entirely analogous to those which are established in France. With regard to the lights and beacons, the captains of ports are LIGHT-HOUSE ADMIWISTRATION. 201 required to watch their effects and to report to the engineer, and also, if they think necessary, to the chiefs of tlie Marine Department, so as to secure the adoption of such improvements as may prove desirable. A special tax is collected, the product of which is applied to lighting the coasts ; but the revenue thus derived enters at once into the public treasury, and the liabilities for each year, whether for new works or for the maintenance, lighting'and service in general, are met by drafts on the credits opened by the budget of the State. DKNMARK. The light and buoy service of Denmark is placed under the super- intendence of the Ministry of Marine, who decides directly upon everything concerning the personnel, the establishment of new lights, the alteration of old ones, and upon all matters relating to the development of the light and buoy system. The necessary funds are obtained by appropriation of the Legisla- ture, " The Council of the Realm." There are two kinds of ex- penditares, the first for ordinary expenses for the maintenance of ex- isting lights, the second for the erection of new lights and for worts of considerable magnitude. There are two kinds of lights. Governmental and Communal : all " sea-lights " are in the first class, and are maintained by the Govern- ment. In the second class are small lights placed at the entrance to roadsteads or harbors, and maintained by the respective communities. The hght-house inspectors are naval officers, and receive pay and allowances as such. A first-order light has three keepers, second, third, fourth and fifth order lights two keepers each, and sixth-order lights one keeper. The number of keepers is sometimes augmented when the light is situated on isolated points or uninhabited islands. At sixth-order lio-hts, where the nature of the service does not prevent, the keeper is allowed to have other occupation in addition. 202 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. HOLLAND. The management of the coast lights, buoys and beacons of Hol- land is solely in the hands of the Government, and rests with the Ministry for the Marine, under whom there is an inspector-general and seven inspectors for as many districts, who are cliarged with the direction and superintendence of their branch of the service. The cost of construction and maintenance is placed yearly on the list of Government expenses. The harbor-lights being generally of only local importance are ex- cluded from the care of the Government, being under the direction of the communities where they are situated. Flans and specifications for the construction of light-houses are furnished by the Govern- ment, and the work is let by contract to the highest bidder. There are no general instructions for the district inspectors. The regulations conform to the local circumstances of each district. In addition to the inspections by district inspectors, a general in- spection is made by the inspector-general at times not stated. Buoys and beacons are maintained by contract. BELGIUM. The construction of Belgian lightrhouses and harbor-lights is part of the general administration of roads and bridges (Fonts et Chau$- sees) under the superintendence of the Minister of Public Works. An annual sum is appropriated for repairs and maintenance. The care of the light-houses is intrnated to the navy after they have been built by the engineers of the Fonts et Chaussees. The navy is under the control of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the " bud- get " includes each year the sum necessary for supplies and salaries. The light-houses on the coast of the North Sea are under the authority of the Inspector of Pilotage at Ostend. The inspectors of pilotage see that the lights are lit at the proper hours, and are kept in an efficient condition. The keepers, watch- LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 203 men, etc., are under the orders of these inspectors who have the right to suspend them for five days; heavier punishments are in- flicted by tlie General Director of the Navy, which can only be re- mitted by the Minister. Light-house apparatus is purchased by the Department of Public Works from those makers who seem to offer the best guaranty. The Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Public Works consult together concerning any proposed changes in the lighting of the coasts. AUSTRIA. The superintendence of all the Austrian light-houses, buoys and teacons belongs to the Imperial Royal Admiralty. The deputies of the Exchange at Trieste attend to the manage- ment of light-houses and instruct tlieir inferiors. The duties of these deputies include the erection of light-houses, repairs, salaries of keepers and their discipline; they also collect light-house taxes and appoint the keepers. All taxes levied on commercial vessels belong to the Treasury of the Deputation of the Imperial Exchange Commission,, in order to pay for the lights and all necessary expenses, repairs and renovations. Every renovation or alteration of a light is first submitted for approval to the Admiralty by the Commission of Exchange, and the necessity for a new light is investigated by a commission. THE UNITED STATES. Prior to 1852 the Light-House Service of the United States was in the most inefficient condition; its shortcomings became So glar- ing that in 1851 Congress passed an act authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint a Board consisting of two officers of the navy of high rank, two officers of the engineers of the army, an oflScer of high scientific attainments, and a junior ofliicer of the navy to act as secretary, whose duty should be to inquire into the condition of the light-house establishment of the United States 204 ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. and to make a detailed report to guide future legislation on the subject. With cfiaracteristic economy a further proviso was added to the act, providinor that none of the above officers should receive any additional compensation for their services. In obedience to the above act, the Hon. Thomas Corwin, then Secretary of the Treasury, appointed the following officers to form the above Board : Commodore William B. Shubrick, U. S. N.; Commander S. F. Dupont, U. S. N. ; Brevet Brig.-Gen'l Jos. G. Totten, U. S. Corps of Engineers ; Lient.-Col. James Kearney, U. S. Top. Engineers ; Prof. A. D. Bache, LL.D., Supt. Coast Sur- vey ; Lieut. Thornton A. Jenkins, U. S. N., Secretary. It would have been difficult to have selected a Board of more ability or pro- bity. They entered on their duties with a patience and zeal which the importance of the subject required, and found that the existing system demanded a thorough purification and reorganization ; that it was inefficient and wasteful; that the light-houses were neither properly built, located, nor distributed in accordance with the needs of commerce ; that there was no efficient system of inspection and superintendence ; that changes were constantly taking place in the aids to navigation without any official notice being given to the pub- lic : that the light-keepers in many cases were not competent, and they were never instructed in reference to their duties nor examined LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 205 as to their ability to perrorm them, and, in short, that there was no proper system in the management of the Light-House Establishment of the United States. This Board made a detailed report and recommendations to Con- gress and in consequence the following act was passed and is still m force : " The President shall appoint two officers of the navy of high rank, two officers of the Corps of Engineers of the army, and two civilians of high scientific attainment, whose services may be at the disposal of the President, together with an officer of the navy and an officer of the engiaeers of the army, as secretaries, who shall constitute the Light-House Board. The Secretary of the Treasury shall be ex-officio president of the Light-House Board." Act approved 31 August, 1852. Further acts provided that the Board should elect one of its mem- bers as chairman, who should preside at its meetings in the absence of the president ; that the Board should meet on the first Mondays in March, June, September and December, and at such other times as the Secretary of the Treasury should require; that it should be attached to the office of the Secretary of the Treasury, and under his superintendence should discharge all administrative duties relat- ing to the construction, illumination, inspection and superintondence of light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys and sea-marks and their appendages, embracing the security of existing works, procuring illuminating and other apparatus, supplies and materials for building and for rebuilding when necessary and keeping in repair the light- houses, light-vessels, beacons and buoys of the United States ; should furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury estimates of the expense which the several branches of the light-house service may require, and such other information as may be required to be laid before Congress at the commencement of each session ; should make such re «05 g •sisAia •;SBOO 931B7 •}BB09 OpiOB J •S}SBOO ■i^aii^sip Ti^n93}zis •(oijjaip tnii99jj!£ ■JSip tI}n99)J110i[ •(Sip inaaajijtii; S " «§g"'-'g 1^ ■jopwtp mn^s^z ^njt- • Jr r^ a I 3 ^gi'-ife I •lOIJjsip qinaAOia caco ^•^■'*to lO • ^ COr-( ; »H iS s •joajsip innoi CO T-tCQOOO- rHt- ■!)ap)S!p mtnjvi rHOO eoeoeot-cq •i^oijjeip qiqSia N cewcqina ■jotJjsip II}a9A9S •ijoujsip q?xig I 3 fe M ■JOWSJp Tpjia SS' g & •(ou^sip tnjno^ ' C] 0> CO (H 00 • 00 CO • CO OOOflTtf-^O •}0U}S!P pjinx fe3!""S •(oujeip pao99g b« ooeooo S" ft rHtH IP I •^oujaip ijsji^i I 43 a l-i (3JU d • -. tuti so ■ d) . jm rrt n^ S ;= :i : : : : ; ;-2 : i ^■ ■9,Sn i-ass ::■:«• 1 S-AS : : = : : .S-A.S .s'H'a. . . . • o. • — p,a &■£ • fei : • S. ° K " O : S ! ! ■B o s "> 2 : M .52 ^. eS m ® t- (- S > December, 1888. LIGHT-HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 213 Chairman ; Brigadier-General Thomas Lincoln Casey, Chief of En- gineers, U. S. A. ; Mr. Walter S. Franklin ; Commodore David B. Harmony, U. S. N. ; Colonel John M. Wilson, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. ; Commander Kobley D. Evans, U. S. N., Naval Secretary ; Major James F. Gregory, Corps of Engineers, U. 8. A., Engineer Secretary. There is a vacancy on the Board not yet filled. D. P. HEAP. APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. From Longfellow's Journal I make the following extracts, men- tioning his visit with Sumner to Minot's Ledge Light-house : — " Aug. 22, '71. The steam-tng comes for ns, and Samner, Mr. James Emset, and myself go to meet the revenne-cutter in the harbor, find on board the Collector, with Agasaiz and a young Japanese prince, and we steam away for Minot's Ledge. Dinner (on board) ended, we find onraelTes at the base of the light-house, rising sheer out of the sea like a huge stone cannon, month upward. We are hoisted up forty feet in a chair, some of us ; others go up by an iron ladder, — all but the young Japanese, who refuses to go up at. all. Whether he was afraid, or thought it only a trick to imprison him, will remain a mystery till his travels are published." In a letter to G. W. Creene, dated Nahant, Aug. 25, 1871, Long- fellow says ; — " On Tuesday we made our expedition to Minot's Ledge, — it was every way pleasant and successful. We wished you could hare been with us ; but it was impossible to notify yon in season. The light-house rises out of the sea like a beautiful stone cannon, mouth upward, belching forth only friendly fires. We went up into it, — even into the lantern itself, the glass of which (beautiful plate glass) cost ten thousand dollars. I can beliere this, having seen il, and knowing what telescopic lenses cost. The lantern will hold six people easily." By " lantern " Longfellow meant the lenticular apparatus. 216 APPENDIX APPEITDIX B. As another evidence of the great fury of the storms at this station, I append an official report of the light-keeper. When it is remem- bered that the light is one hundred and thirty-six feet above the sea level, or about as high as the Statue of Liberty to top of torch, ex- cluding the pedestal, some idea may be formed of the tremendous force to wliich this station is subjected, when even at this height the waves have sufficient power to crash in heavy plate-glass panes. *• Tillamook Eock Light Station, Ob., Deo. 7, 1887. n, S. L. B, Intpector, Portland, Oregon. Sir, — I have to report, that ahout 9 p. M. of the 3d, a gale from the S. £. set in, and continued with varying force nntil the 7th. Aboat 9 A. u. of the 4th the seas commenced breaking over the building, some of them going twenty or thirty feet orer the tower. About 11 A. u. the sea broke in the window of the oil-room, flooding it and the hall. At 2 P. M. the lumber for the landing platform, which was piled against the fence on the eastern end of the house, got adrift, but was removed and piled against the house, with the loss of one plank. The seas in going over caused the water to come in the south and west windows of the tower, also caused the roof to leak very much, and the ceiling and walls of all the rooms to leak, — in some of them we had to place buckets to catch the drip ; in the siren room it leaked so much, especially around the smoke-stack, that the boilers and machinery were covered with salt, and causing them to rust very much ; it also came through the ventilator into the lantern. We covered the clock-work and revolving wheels as much as possible, but it did not do much good, and it will take some time to get them in concUtion again. Shortly after 4 P. u. the sea broke in the upper pane in the W. by S. tier in the tower. As soon as possible we set a storm-pane, with a backing of sheet-iron, but the sea soon broke them out, leaving the clamps fast.to the frame. It being impossible to light the lamp, started the siren and made a wooden shutter, in place of storm-pane. At 6 P. H. the northern tank at the west end of the siien soon broke adrift: we plugged the feed-tank and saved the water in it. About 7 o'clock the lower pane of the same tier was broken in ; tried a storm-pane, but it was soon stove in, and we made a wooden shutter, and calked both with cotton APPENDIX. 217 \raste so that Tory little water or wind came in, The three upper and three middle panes next south of the broken ones are started and leak. The lens cover is badly cut, and about thirty of the lenses chipped by glass thrown against them. At midnight the three tanks at the west end were wedged *!>gether against the N. W. corner of the fence. The fence is bent, and broken in four places. Sev- eral large pieces of the rook on the south side were washed away, and one piece is lodged under the fence at the S. E. corner. Th.e wind varied from S. E. to S. W ; the seas were mostly from the S. W. At 12.30 on the morning of the 4th, I shut down the siren, and hung a large lantern in the tower on the W. side. The waterin the feed-tank was low, and the moon up, and the Cape light in sight. It was unsafe to attempt to All the tank from the cistern, on account of the sea breaking over so often and heavy. There are two upper and three middle panes on hand, but none for the lower, and no way of cutting one of the others to fit. As soon as th,e weather permits, the upper pane will be set. On the night of the 5th a lantern was swung in the tower, as it was impossible to have the lamp in order. The siren was in operation from 2.15 to 8 A. M. of 6th; at U A. X. had the lamp in order, and lighted it to dry the lens; started the revolving machinery at sunset time. There should be two more sets of clamps for storm-panes furnished, — there is but one set here. All is being done that is possible to put the station in order. There is a groat deal of work. I have made requisitiou on the engineer for material to repair damages. 27th. The following damage was caused by the gale of yesterday (26th). The ash shoot and rail of derrick platform were carried away, the guy boom of the derrick was broken off at the outer edge of the platform, two steps of the iron stairway broken, upper pane in the tier next south of those broken on the 4th, and the middle pane in the tier next to it were broken out by the sea, and re- placed with wooden covers. It was impossible to light the lamp last night. Two lanterns were hung in the tower, one on the S. side and one on the N. side, and to-night the lamp will be lighted. The upper pane of glass broken on the 4th has been replaced, and there are now three broken panes. The frames on the S. and W. sides of the lantern are strained, and all joints in tower and lantern are full of salt and rust. The smoke-stack is started, also the north siren hood. We need the clamps for storm-panes very much. Very respectfully, (Signed) J. M. Fj/mrs, Acting 1st Assistant Keeper. 218 APPENDIX. APPENDIX C. Researches as to the origin of words and names have great inter- est for the philolo^st, so I append a ballad giving an ingenious explanation how Bamegat Light-house came to be so named. Si non e vera hen trovato. THE LIGHT-KEEPEE'S DAUGHTEB. A KATrOHTTOAL BAIiLAD. Am—" The Pretty Little Bat-Catcher's Daughter." In the Bay of Bamegat sailed a J0II7, jolly tar. And he watched like a cat o'er the water, Till he spied from the main-top-gallant-forward-mizzen spar The pretty little light-keeper's daughter. Then he landed on the land, did this ]oUy, jolly tar. And he chased her o'er the sand tiU he canght her. Says he, "My pretty miss, I've got to have a kiss From the pretty little light-keeper's daughter." But she sqnealed a little squeal at the joUy, jolly tar, And said she didn't feel as if she'd ongbt to ; Tlwn she scooted np the bar and hollered for her ma, — Oh, the pretty little light-keeper's daughter I " Sore my name is Barney Flynn," said the Jolly, jolly tar, " And at drinking Holland gin I'm a snorter." Then a tub of washing-hlne— soap suddenly she threw— Did the mother of the light-keeper's daughter. " Now, Barney, git 1 " she spat, at the jolly, jolly tar ; And yon bet that Barney gat for the water. Thus the place from near and far was named by the ma Of the pretty little light-keeper's daughter. — Adam Clark, INDEX. Alexandria, light at, 3. Ancient light-liouseB, 1. Ar-men, light-house of, Si- Atlantic Coast of United States, light- houses on, 112. Austria, light-house administration of, 203. Belgium, light-house administration of, 202. Bell Bocli:, 31. Bell Bock Light-House, 34. Boon Island Light, 117. Boston Light, 118. Cape Hatteras Shoal, proposed light at, 152. Characteristics of light-houses, 170. Colossus of Bhodes, 9. Cordouan, Tower of, 11. Corunna, Tower at, 14. Day Maries, 174. Denmark, light-house administration of, 201. Detroit Kiver Light-House, 166. Dover Tower, 6. E Edenton Bange, 186. Eddystone Bocks, 16. Eddystone, Eudyerd's Tower, ID. Eddystone, Smeaton's Tower, 24. Eddystone Tower, new, 26. Eddystone, Winstanley's Tower, 17, England, light-house administration of, 195. Floating Lights, 186., Foster's gas-lighted buoy, 188. Fouiteen-Foot Bank Light-House, 144. Fowey Bocks Light-House, 157. France, light-house administration of, 192. Genoa, Torre del Capo, 15. Great Lakes, light-houses on the, 166. H Halfway Bock Light, 116. Harris's Floating Light, 190, Haut Banc du Nord, light at, 66, Heaux de Br^hat, light-house of, 48. Hell Gate Light, 163. Holland, light-house administration of, Inchcape Bell, ballad of the, 32. Isle of May Light-House, 177. John of Uust's House, 86. Lens apparatus, 172. Lighted Buoys, 188. Light-House Administration, 191. Light-Keeper's Daughter, ballad. Light-ships, 186. Longships and Wolf Bock, C7. M Maplin Sand Light-House, 62. Matinicus Bock Light, 113. Meloria, Pharos of, 15. 220 INDEX. Minot's Ledge, Longfellow's visit to, 205. Minot's Ledge Light-House, 6S, Miscellaneous lights, 1S3. Mobile Bay Light-House, 164. Moody's Floating Light, 190. Mt. Desert Bock Light, 113. N Northwest Seal £ock Light-House, 97. Petit Manan Light, 112. R Bavenna, Tower at. 15. Bed Sectors, 173. Birer lights, 184. Bothersand Light Tower, 125. Screw-pile light-houses, 163. Sea Bock Light-Hoases, list of, 85. Skeleton iron light-houses, 157. Skerryvore Light-House, 41. Smalls Light-House, 108. Southwest Pass Light-House, 161. Spain, light-house administration of, 200. Spar buoy with electric light, 18S. Spectacle Beef Light-House, 78. Tillamook Bock, keeper's report ot storm at, 206. Tillamook Light- House, 88. Tour d'Ordre, 6. Triagoz, light-house of, 105. U United States, light-house administra- tion of, 204. W Wolf Bock Light-House, 59. INDEX TO FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. NO. 18. Ar-men Light, Section see page 5i 12. Bell Roek Light in a Storm .31 14. • 40 13. in Process of Constraction 38 2. Cordouan, Ancient Tower of 12 3. , Modern Tower of 14 10. Eddystone Light, New, Plans and Construction ... 27 11. -, Sectional View 29 5. , Rudyerd's 20 7. , Smeaton's, showing construction 24 6. . " hints and slsetches 24 8. . " 25 9. , " in a Storm 26 4. , Winstanley's 18 1. , View of Old and New Tower 30 29. Fourteen-Foot Banls Light-House, Section 140 30. , Elevation 150 18. Heaux de Br^hat Light-House, Constraction 49 22. Mioot's Ledge Light-House, Section, Elevation and Flans . 74 27. flothersand Light, Towing Caisson to Site 137 28. , View of 142 33. Sharp's Island Light-House 152 15. Skerryvore Bock, Plan of 42 17. Light, Elevation and Plans 47 16. , Temporary Barrack on 45 23. Spectacle Reef Light-House, Section, Elevation, and Plans . . 94 31. Stamford Harbor Light 151 26. St. George's Reef Light, Construction of and Plan of Rock . . 101 24. Tillamook Rock Light, Construction 84 25. , View of 95 32. Wh.ile's Rock Light 152 19. Wolf Rock Light, Plan of Foundation 69 20. , Section and Chart 61 21. , Section and Plans , 62 ARCHITECTURAL BOOKS. SAFE BUILDING. By Louis De CoppET Berg. Vol.1. Square 8vo. Illustrated. $5.00. ** The author proposes to furnish to any earnest student the opportunity to acquire, so far as books will teach, the knowledge necessary to erect safely any building. First comes an introductory chapter on the Strength of Materials. This chapter gives the value of, and explains briefly, the different terms used, such as stress, strain, foctor of safety, centre of gravity,- neutral axis, moment of inertia, etc. There follow a series of chapters, each dealing with some part of a building, giving practical advice and numerous calculations of strength; for instance, chap- ters on foundations, walls and piers, columns, beams, roof and other trusses, spires, masonry, girders, inverted and floor-arches, sidewalks, stairs, chimneys, etc." These papers are the work of a practising architect, and not of a mere book- maker or theorist. Mr. Berg, aiming to make his work of the greatest value to the largest number, has confined himself in his mathematical demonstrations to the use of arithmetic, algebra, and plane geometry. In short these papers are in the highest sense practical and valuable. ANCIENT AND MODERN LIGHT-HOUSES. By Major D. P. Heap, i vol. Square 8vo. Fully illustrated. Jis.oo. An interesting scientific and historical treatise, exclusively considering this im* portant theme. ' Ancient Light-Houses — Eddystone — Bell Rock — Skerryvore — Other' Lighthouses with Submarine Foundations — Minofs Ledge — Spectacle Reef — Tillamook Rock — Northwest Seal Rock — Light- houses of the Atlantic Coast of the United States ^ Rothersand Light Tower — Fourteen-Foot Bank Light-House, Delaware Bay — Skeleton Iron Light-Houses — Characteristics of Light-Houses — Isle of May Light-House — Miscellaneous Lights — Light-House Administration. Complete Catalogue of Illustrated and Fine-Art Books, Juvenile and Educational Works sent free to any address on application. Send for it. TICKNOR AND COMPANY, Boston. TXCKJSrOJt & CO.'S AnCHITECTTTRAIj BOOKS. M0N06BAPHS OF AMEEICAN AEOHITEOTUEE. This series was designed with a view to illustrating the most notable, imposing, and interesting of our American public and semi-public buildings, with adequate groups of large and attractive pictures, carefully printed on plate paper, and with their absolute accuracy ensured by the use of the photographic process. The edifices thus illustrated are among the most conspicuous on the continent, by reason of their great size, or architectural value ; and a careful study of their pro- portions will be of interest to all architects and students of the tine arts. The copious array oi details given adds to the practical working and studying availa- bility of the Monographs ; while the beauty of the pictures as works of art should ensure them a place in all libraries where art works are sought and cherished. NO. I. HARVARD LAW SCHOOL H. H. T5.ICHARDSON, Architect. i8 plates, 13 x 16 (Gelatine, from na- ture). In portfolio. 15.00. List of Plates. Austin Hall, Harvard Law School. General View — General View of Porch — Capital and Architect's Monogram — Three plates of Cap- itals — Entrance Doorway — Porch, looking toward Memorial Hall — Section of Principal Facade— West End — View from Northwest — East End — Staircase Tourelle — Tourelle and . Entrance — Main Staircase — Reading-Room — Fire-Place in Reading- Room — Plans. NO. II. THE STATE CAPITOL, HARTFORD. Richard M. Upjohn, Architect. 22 plates, 13x16 (Gelatine, from nature). In portfolio. ^6.00. List of Illustrations. North Front from the Terrace — North Porch — Detail of North Porch — View from North Porch, showing Soldiers' Monument and Park — East Front — Details of East Porch, with Bas-relief of the Charter Oak — View from Southeast Carriage Porch — Detail of Car- riage Porch — South or Carriage Porch — General View from the Southeast — West Front — Sou.h Main Corridor, showing Dome Piers and East Stairway — Dome — Interior of Dome', at Gallery Zevel — North Main Corridor, showing Model of " The Genius of Connecticut," the terminal figure on the X>J>me — Southwest Gable and Dormers — Hall of Representatives — East or Senate Stairway — Senate Cham- bers — Detail of Southwest Pavilion — West Main Corridor, Bronze Statue of Gov. Buckingham and the State Battle-Flags — Plans. TICKSron 5.oo; in half-calf, $^.00. '* Professor Morse*s book is well worthy of study by every architect and decorator, because of its fresh ideas in design of detail and construction, and because of hs graphic presentation of an artistic spirit manifested in the work and manners of a whole nation," — Henry Van Brunt. ' ' For cultivated people having tastes which lead them to take pleasure in beauti- fying their homes and surroundings, we know of no other publication so brimful of suggestion and valuable information as this handsome and profusely-illustrated volume. " — Scientific A merican. TICKSOn & CO.'S ARCSITECTXTRAI, SOOKS. A Valttable Text-book: BUILDING SUPERINTENDENCE. A MANUAL: For young Architects, Students, and others interested in Building Operations as carried on at the present time. By T. M. Clark, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. I vol. 8vo. 336 pages. Illustrated with 194 Plans, Diagrams, etc. Price, $3.00, ■* Introduction — Tke Construction of u Stone Church — Wooden Dxvelling-Houses — A Model Specification — Contracts — The Construc- tion of a Town Hall — Index. ** This is not a treatise on the architectural art, or the science of construction, but a simple exposition of the ordinary practice of building in this country, with suggestions for supervising such work efficiently. Architects of experience prob- ably know already nearly everything that the book contains, but their younger brethren as well as those persons not of the profession who are occasionally called upon to direct building operations, will perhaps be glad of its help." This volume is based on a series of thirty or more carefully prepared papers, originally contributed to The A merican A rchiieci^ and now revised and augmented, and published in handsome and permanent form. There is hardly any practical problem in construction, from the building of a stone town-hall or church to that of a wooden cottage, that is not carefully consid- ered and discussed here ; and a very full index helps to make this treasury of facts accessible. Every person interested in building should possess this work, which is approved as authoritative by the best American architects. This volume has been used for years as a text- book in the chief Architectural' Schools of the United States, HOMES AND ALL ABOUT THEM. By E.. C. Gardner. 716 pages. Illustrated. ^2.50. Invaluable instructions and suggestions as to interior decoration, exterior finish, and varied forms of architecture. TICKSrOn & CO.'S AnCMITECTUJtAX JtOOMB. ARTISTIC homes: IN CITY AND COUNTRY. By A, W. Fuller, Architect Ob- long folio. Fourth Edition, enlarged and improved. 76 full-page illustrations of rural and urban homes, many of which are from gelatine. Also one colored plate. j^4-50. "It has in many cases proved a very valuable assistant, a faithful friend and reliable adviser, to persons of refined taste and artful feeling who conteqiplated - building a home. . . . We heartily commend it to all who intend building a home. To the architectural student and draughtsman the book should prove a valuable aid in teaching him how to effectively draw perspectives or ititerior views." — Building. DECENNIAL INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDING NEWS, 1876-85. 8vo. Price, Sz.oo. A carefully-made topical index to the thousands of illustrations printed in " The American Architects " for the past ten years, with the architects and costs of the buildings illustrated. These include Sketches — Etchings- — General Views — Towers and Spires — Mon- uments — Statues and Tombs — Interiors and Furniture — Entrances and Gateways — Educational, Mercantile, and Public Buildings — Churches and Parish Buildings — Dwellings- — ■ Club-Houses — Thea- tres — Stables and Farm Buildings — Hotels — Museuins — Libraries and Town Halls. DISCOURSES ON ARCHITECTURE. By E. E. Viollet-Le- Duc. With many Steel Plates and Chromos, and hundreds of Wood-cuts. 2 vols. 8vo. § 1 5.00. ART FOLIAGE. By J. K. Colling. Entirely new plates from the latest enlarged London edition. Folio. #10.00. MURAL PAINTING. By Frederic Crowningshield. i vol. Square 8vo. With numerous full-page illustrations. ^13.00. HOME SANITATION. A Manual for Housekeepers. t vol. l6mo. 50 cents. HOUSEHOLD SANITATION. By William E. Hoyt. i6mo. 30 cents. Paper covers, 1 5 cents. LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF HOUSE-DRAIN- AGE. By J. Pickering Putnam. With Plates and Diagrams. l6mo. 75 cents. TTCKJfOIt * CO.'S A^BCXtlTECTTTJtAZ BOOKS. SKETCHES ABROAD. By J. A. ScHWEiNFURTH, Architect. This contains 30 plates, repro- duced in /ac sifnile from the author's sketches in pen, pencil, and ■water colors, by the most approved processes, and printed on 15 x 20 heavy plate paper, in specially designed portfolio. The edition is limited to 250 copies for sale, each of which is numbered. Price, $15.00 per set. A portfolio of sketches of interesting and useful examples of architecture, details, etc., never before published, and for the most part never photographed, of work of peculiar interest to architects at the present time. These sketches were made during a nine months* tour of study abroad in It^ly, France, Spain, and in the South Kensington Museum, during the year 1SS6. I'he work is as interesting to the non-professional as it is useful to the architect in his daily work in design, not only in reference to detail, but as to mass and grouping ; avoiding details which are tiresome, fragmentary, and useless, but giving those of peculiar interest and charm. The author has fpund, away from beaten paths, interesting examples of the old mattoirst or French manor houses, and chntfaux. Among the plates are presented several of these wanoirs half-timbered houses, with details, from Normandy and Brittanny ; work of the period of Francis I. ; towers, chateaux details from the Italian and French Rennaissance ; Romanesque and Byzantine work of Venice and Ravenna, and the Romanesque of the Auvergnes ; wrought iron from Venice and firom Spain, and from the Sovith Kensington Museum. THE OPEN FIRE-PLACE IN ALL AGES. By J. Pickering Pitna^i, Architect. It has been carefully revised and greatly enlarged, with handsome and large type, pages and binding, fine and heavy paper, and with over three hundred illustrations, including numerous chefs tV atwres of designs of Fire-Places and interior decoration, contributed for this edition by the ablest Archi- tects of the country, i vol. 8vo. ;^.oo. The First Section treats of the Fire-Place as it now is, explaining how incorrectly it is constructed, and gives many startling facts, based on careful experiment, to show how great a loss of heat (from 80 to 90 per cent. ) it occasions. The Second Section reviews in an attractive manner, the historical development of the subject from its remotest origin in the dim ages of the past to the present day. This chapter contains over 179 charming illustrations. The Third and last chapter treats of the improvement of the Open Fire-Place, and teaches us how it is possible to combine, in one construction, the health fulness, beauty, and charm of the Open Fire-Place, with the efficiency and economy of the closed stove or hot-air furnace. The designs, even of the most unimportant accessories, are made with the same careful study and refined taste as of the more important features. The American Architect AND BUILDINQ ^IB^A<^S, An Illustrated Weekly journal of Architecture and the Building Arts. With six or more fine quarto illustrations in each number. It is now entering on its fourteenth year of successful publication, and will hereafter be published in two editions only — the Reg- ular and the Imperial, In all the essentials it will be in the coming year similar to what it has been during 1888. The series of papers on "Builders' Hardware," "Equestrian Monuments," and " Safe Building," will be continued. The publication of Mr. T. H. Bartlett's life of Rodin, the celebrated French sculptor, will begin at once. Other papers are in preparation on Architectural Shades and Shadows, The Colonial Work of Virginia and Maryland, Visits to Spanish Cities, Travels in Mexico, etc. Careful investigation has proved that it costs the subscriber less per page than any American journal of its class, while it contains vastly more illustrations. SUBSCRIPTION PRICES. Regular edition, per year, in advance . . . $6.00 Imperial edition, " " ... 10.00