The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-02-01 00:00:00

THE BEACON OF LAVEZZI. '

This beacon, which stands near the middle of the
Straits of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia,
has a curious history (says The Times). There is here.
a very dangerous submarine rock reaching from about
two metres below the surface, down to six metres: its
form is roughly that of a truncated cylinder. There
being no tides in the Mediterranean,. this rock of
Lavezzi is never uncovered. (The island of Lavezzi
is a little to the north.) In 1855, a frigate, La
Semillante, carrying troops from Toulon to the
Crimea, was wrecked here in a violent storm, and
not one of the 743 souls on board was saved. An
obelisk on the island commemorates the event. Pre-
viously, a lighthouse had been erected by the Sardinian
Government on the island of Razzoli, which ilia few kilo-
metres E.S.E. of the rock. After the catastrophe a
huge iron buoy was stationed at the rock, carrying a
strong bronze bell, and a pyramid with six mirrors to
reflect the rays of the sun and neighbouring light-
houses. Sometimes the roar of the waves even drowned
the bell; and in one storm the buoy was wrecked on
the rock which it was placed to warn against. It was
resolved to raise a beacon on the rock, and this was
done in 1869, a foundation of beton having been fixed
in position with the aid of a caisson, and reaching a
little above the surface. A. system of lighting the
locality, soon
.after adopted by the Italian and French
Governments, was of the following character :—The
Razzoli lighthouse was arranged to throw a beam of
red light (having an angle of 7 deg.) towards the Lavezzi
beacon—i.e., westwards; while another lighthouse on
the south of the island of Lavezzi threw southwards
towards the beacon a sector of red light of 80 deg.
(it threw at the same time a green sector northwards
on rocks near Corsica). Thus, after March, 1874,
mariners knew that so long as they saw both light-
houses giving whitelight, they were sufficiently clear
of the rock; but whenever both gave red they were in
ts immediate neighbourhood. Victory seemed com-
plete, till in 1875, Latter a severe storm, it was seen 'with
dismay that the beacon was gone. A buoy was teMpo-
rarily put in position, and reconstruction was soon pro-
ceeded with, but in a new way. It was decided to have
a beton base strengthened with iron bars penetrating
the rock. The beton was built up by divers round 12
iron pipes placed vertically on the rock, and through,
thee pipes the boring tools were passed into the rock,
penetrating to a depth of one metre. The 'mason
divers generally remained down about two hours,
and they were armed with a bronze poniard (steel
being corroded by sea water) against sharks and
gigantic cephalopods which haunt that region. The
holes having been bored, thick iron bars were intro-
duced and cemented, penetrating the rock on the one
hand, and the beton on the other. The tower built
on the foundation thus acquired was finished the 14th
of September, 1877. It rises seven metres above the
water, and is painted with horizontal bands of black
and red alternately, which is understood to indicate
that ships may-pass on either side. It has a balustrade
on the top to afford refuge in case of shipwreck, which
will now, it is hoped, be rare.