The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-09-08

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THE DANGERS OF THE DEEP.
Ever since men began to go to sea.
lights hase'been placed onshore to guide
them to Alanflingplace; but in early
times these We're nothing more thar,
fires on headlan Is. Three hundred years
before Christ, however. there was built.
on an island at Alexandria, n pyramid
over four hundred feet in height, on ton
of whsehs a great fire was kept burning,
which, we are; told, was visible to the
corn-ships going to Egypt when forty
one miles stlsay-in the Mediterranean
This pyran9:sl pxgts cailed the Pharos. land
to-day The eE,Fn nch na,naf.9 aliehth6nse
is phare, ana the Spanish faro. The
rockyreAsts N h3tksidssef fthe Bfitisli
fires on vegy sias5s niEhts, These We're
generally ,tr-barrels, which would burn
brightly in a high wind when a FIRE
of sticks would be blown away And
they were generally lighted for the benz
eft of the fishermen, by their wives. with
out any authority from the Government
1t was am eask plfltter teSimitate such
beacons, apd bal men would often erect
false lights stsering byi which a ship
would come crashing TO sure destruction
at thsafoot az the erags swhieht thrust their
cruel edges through thefsqrf.s When the
ship went to pieces, her goods coming
ashore would be seized and sold by the
wreckers, Is these Wicked people were
called Many a fearful Tradition has
come down Of the. dpings Of wreckers,
not only. IN England and Spain, but in
America and in the East. One of the
tricks of the, West Indian pirates, when
they sawlasship approaching then. sland
in the evening, was to hang lantern
upon ahqrseis neck, and vlet him grazesi
well hpbbled, alopg the beach, This
would appear like the rocking of a
deceived I. by. the hope OF safe an
chorage, the stranger would only.
discover how he had been cheated when
his keel struck the sand Bars and the pf-
rates had begun their viliainous attack
Though scafoldings and towers of
wood. IRON and stone were built here
and there at especially dangerous points
by governments long before the begin
ming of the last century, they were
lighted by fires of wood or coal up to
1850. when Smeaton introduced wax
candles at Eddystone. The Eddystone,
shoals-were a group of reefs exceedingly
dangerous, because they were almost
invisible, and lay precisely in the track
of ships bound up or down the English
Channel. Two ihuntlred Years ago a
lighthouse of wood and iron trestle- work
was built there by Sir Henry Winstanley
and stood SO weil that he boasted, like
King Canute, that the sea had not
strength enough to throw.it down. Soon
after, he went out with a company of
men to make REPAIRS when one of the
worst gales in history arose, and the
morning. afterward not a trace of the
structure remained Another wooden
frame took its place for several years,
but was burned, Then the engineer
Smeator proposed to build a tower of
stone, which should take the shape of
massive tree-trunk, with swelling base. =
like roots, founded upon level floor
cut in the rock OF the 'feef.H This stands
to-day, rivaling its magnificent neighbor
on the Biscay shore opposite. the light
houses OF Garduan, whiehwas built to
support bonfire of oak, but has re-
manned to be lighted successively by oil
lamps, by gas-bniners and finally bv cleo
tricify. Thus, everywhere, andin all lati7,
tudes the beacons and wooden towers and
huge pyramids of long ago have given.
pinco 70 >icnucr spires Oi soitu HiasOnfys
holding powerful signals, perhaps hun-
dreds Of feet above the waves, and visi-s
bic as far as the curve of the earth's surs
face will permit. Yet in place of the
sturdy bonfire Of oak, or the huge iron
cage fult OF Goals, there IS only single
lamp, whose rays ate gathcredsby deep
reflectors into compact bundle of un-
wasted rays.i and doubled and redoubled
by rows OF magnifyines lenses until they
can dart to the. furthest horizon in !
stropg beam Of steady light. e 49,, (.
The United States expends -, coo, 900
annuailE lEinlooking after her lighthouses
hgnHnsfs and puoys- indeed, these
peaco1s are SO thickiy planted tnat IL mas
Deen iounq necessafyto distinguish be
t"eR B% avoiu mis'aking
one 1 >5,9 ,.' ns.5 some OF tneIn are
SIN q. ~ ,.'s< some are 1,s
anu s*lc---.'s WHO'S - oe'tn 'i 81 q. TUG
sum k<lt & ue soNef sDe,n9 turned on
~ I'm " y 2 ~ t,le ~. tlzlspV VS.
9 t3nkI1 " .safotssst t4re'
Wnkas 0k. 8ke. y " ,l1asna kltgnts'
giahcing Only LOT an lnstanc, uHu then
iosfffk @EFsef9nqS " giv4Ha long.
xskInA Asnnn &shorS-ene WIN spAa
Oh oa'hness oeewS9n. 3. some lighthouses
snow . steady rev. iighs' otners aiternate
red 49, xA'te 2 y fnese. .eolorS and vary Y,
ing Pl@% q rap $50 usasappe ar
ance lpuDl,sneu uy tne- -10vernmehsin .
pook ealtett the oast flot naylga-
tors know Whlfhsl ilgnt tney are LOOKING
a. a. ~nsn ,sl lal are ~ slsn'' as Is oi'en