Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1872-07-10
THE CHILDREN.
Buoys that Ride on the Sea.
BY OLIVE THoRNE.

You wish you could do that? Well,
you could if you were a buoy instead of
boy. (Ihope you didn't think 1 had
forgotten my spelling book.) But don't
believe, you'd like that sort of riding, af-
ter all, ,rfor they are chained to one spot,
held by IN anchor; and all they do is to
bob up and down on the water.
Ofcourse you know what buoys are for
to warn sailors off from dangerous pla-
ces, that can be marked in no other way
But perhaps you don't know how i'm
portant they are, and how much pains
is taken to have them do their duty in
perfect way. It don't seem rs if there
was much trouble about it, just to anchor
wood or iron buoy at the bad place;
but you must know that these uneasy
fellowsTlike some boys-have trick of
pulling away from their proper places,
and sol misleading the sailors. Some
fines they have even broken entirely
away from their home, and started off on
private voyage of discovery.
That does great deal of harm, be-
cause this naughty buoy isn't mere bit
of wood OF iron, but n sign of danger,
and whenever a sailor sees it, he steers
clear Of it. So the runaway has rs clear
track through the sea as mad dog
has through the streets.
To prevent such accidents MS these,
countries that have many buoys on their
coast, as England has, send out vessels
every few months to look after the un-
easy fellows, see if every one is in his
place, and when his paint gets worn
much, as it soon does with its incessant
washing, he is taken off and a new one
put down. ii
They are not all the same color, either.
Some are red, some black, others are
striped or even checkcred, and, worst of
all, some are green. These mark the
place where wreck lies, and are called
nun-buoys. 1t is of the greatest impor-
tance--of course-to have them show
well, and many different shapes have
been tried. In fact the wise heads who
have charge of the matter can't yet agree
which is the best shape. There are al
most as many forms as there are buoys,
and beside their regular body, they carry
n figure Of some sort. Some have a
globe, others q triangle, and so on. The
shape most in use looks like huge
round kettle, with tight cover.
The greatest trouble about these i'm
portant individuals is to make them Wis
ble at night. Slips can't tic up to post
and rest over night, as river boats can,
80 they need the help of the buoys Just
as much iii the dark rs in the daylight.
"A great deal of thought has been given
to the subject. Men have made it a
study, and several ways have been tried,
or suggested, Of making the buoys useful
iii :he dark. One way that has been
tried is to fastcn Il bell to the rolling and
tossing buoy. OF course it rings all the
time and can be heard in the dark-a
doleful sound it must be, too! These
fellows are called hell buoys. But they
arc dreadful mischievous if they get loose
for they may drive the ship on to the
very rock they were set to guard.
Another way is to light them. That
seems harder to do, but it has been done
by making the buoy carry on his head n
large glass prism, and throwing light on
it from a neighboring lighthouse. The
prism reflects the light so strongly that
the sailors think there is Il light on the
buoy itself.
On the French coast they have bucys
carrying mirrors TO reflect the light.