Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-01
DeeP-Sea Lighthouses.
From the London Morning Post

The proposal made by MT. Chris Ander- son, of Leeds, of establishing ''deep-sea lighthouses" will be viewed with great inter est. The scheme is ingenious but 1t ap- pears perfectly practicable It is proposed to construct such lighthouses of hollow
 riveted iron work in the form of large cyl
 finder, about 36 feet in diameter, and 29O feet in length, consisting of three essential parts The upper portion rising 40 feet out of the water, is to be similar, so far as shape, ar engagement and internal fittings are con. cerned, to the tower of an ordinary light house. The central portion, about water line, is to be packed with 8 material much lighter than water, such as corkwood, and
 capable of forming durable and unsuitable
 floating power. The lower portion, extend
 ing to 150 feet below water-line, is intended to resist the force of wind and weather act
 ing upon the tower and as ballast to lower
 the center of gravity of the whole structure
 to any desired extent. But to render the ight-toWer still safer it is proposed to admit
 water and If necessary to employ a quantity of iron as ballast. The lighthouse would be erected complete in the shipy yard, launched and lowed out to it's intended site. where it would readily be made to assume it's erect position by admitting water to the lower compart- nent. Having been properly foated and ballasted it is next to be securely attached by steel wire ropes two inches in diameter to
 anchor blocks, weighing about two hundred tons each, sunk in suitable positions, so that in water one mile deep each rope would be from two to three miles long. The proposed displacement would be about two thousand tons, fer which, it is thought, there would be no difficulty in providing adequate moorings. As the structure would be entirely depend ent for it's floating power upon the light ma terial contained in the central division it would be unsinkable even if struck by a ship or an iceberg. Its peculiar form and arrangement would give it great stability, so that if forced from the perpendicular it would instantly right itself with great power But it has been calculated that even a hurri- cane moving with velocity of one hundred miles per hour, equivalent to 8 pressure of 4 fifty pounds per square foot. will only cause l a deviation of ten degrees from the perpen- dicul lar. Against this 1t is to be noticed thar the sag, or sinking towards the middle, of ! the moering ropes will form 8 most effective spring to control any tendency to oscillation. As the whole mass of the structure is con- paratively great, and the area exposed to the lifting force of waves very small, it is thought that the rising and falling motion caused by passing waves will be almost inap- ! preciable. It is proposed at the same time to connect those floating lighthouses by cable with the mainland, and thus the extreme de- durability and increasing necessity for light houses and telegraphic stations in mid ocean would be fully met, and various important objects might be attained by their construc- tion. A storm warning from the Atlantic, for instance, could be sent thirty-six hours in advance, and yearly saving of many mil lion pounds worth. of maritime property and, what is of far more importance, of hun dreds of valuable human lives thereby effect ed. On the other hand, shipowners could be appraised of the passage and condition of their vessels and could forward assistance or instructions to the same en route. More
 over, those deep sea lighthouses would form
 good rendezvous for vessels in distress or
 shipwrecked crews. As it is also proposed to employ similar lighthouses on a smaller
 scale for coast service the great saving of
 life and property which would result around
 the shores of the United Kingdom alone
 would be sufficient to speedily cover the first
 cost of the light towers.