The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-05-14
SAFEGUARDSAT SEA.
STRANGE DEVICES 70 MARK DANGER-
Gus SPOTS ON THE COAST.


Fog Whistles and sirens-storm Horns
Ilown by Naturalization Of
sound Wavss.
Philadelphia Timesl
The American coast il becoming better
lighted every year. Those dangers TO navi-
cation that can be removed, such as sunken
rocks, are being rapidly taken away and
buoys are placed wherever they will aid
navigation in tho event Of vessels entering
or leaving port The government has paid
. great deal Of attention to the establishing
of fog signals, tho principal Of which are
sirens, trumpets, steam whistles, hell boats,
[t'eii-buoys, whistling- -buoys, bslls struck by
machinery, cannons fired BY powder Or gum
cotton and gongs. Gongs arc used on light
Q long range - unnecessary.
FIRING MINUTE GUNS,
Tho minute gun at sea u known through
ont the world as the signal Of distress. Gun.
cotton rockets are used in rock light houses
whore it Is impracticable to mount large
piecee Of apparatus. A charge Of tho ex-
plosive Is enclosed in the head Of rocket,
which, when shot into the air, explodes the
cotton and shsds tho sound In I'll directions.
At every United States light station bells
are in use. m my of them operated by ma
chinery. Tho use Of bells b required BY tho
international code On ships Of al nations,
rung at regular intervals during fog. Turk
ish ships arc allowed to substitute the gun,
- the use Of bells = forbidden to tho Moham-
medans
Ono Of the most important inventions to
mariners has been the whistling buoy,
which b now placed in shoal waters In which
light ship would not live, - On the shoals
Of Cape Hattsra& Il q we'll suited for such
angry waters, as the rougher the sea tho
louder it, sound. Ths whistling buoy con-
sists Of n iron psar-shaped bulb, twelve
feet across ct il widest part and floating
twelve feet out Of water. Inside the bulb
is tube thirty-throe inches across, extend
ing from the top, whore the locomotive
whistle is placed, down 70 depth Of thirty.
two feet into the lower depths fro from
wave motion. There are thirty -four Of
these buoys now in uss On our coast, the
smallest weighing 1000 pounds and the
largest Il. 00O pounds; they cost from 81, 200
to 1000 each. Although they are Of great
use to mariners, hundreds Of petitions have
been received by the government from
dwellers along the coast, asking for their
removal on account Of the extremely
mournful shrek they emit. Some of them
can be heard at distance Of fifteen miles.
BELL BUoYs AND BELL. BoATR.
The hall hnov snrarsadea "a l,ell to.t
which was Z cinmsv contr;vsn,e l;.hls y,
u,aet in heavy wa.thar coetlv - i,,ild ..,d
d,fficnIt - Keen n rareir Tho i.aIl NO.
usad 4 monntei on tha bo4t,,o s.ct;a,, 81 - -
iron hnov vhich /. dacL.d o,,or "a &C.,
with m inon fremawork which snn,.o-ss :
400 Mound hall Im : rrooved i-a, ,,l.t..
made fast Is the frame clsss nnder ~ hs,I
Is laid ! cannon balI. which roll. from side
side. striking the sides of the hall as the
buoy is tossed by the waves. Thebell buoy is
used In harbors rivers and sound. uhsra Tia
watsr Is not very rough. Thay CT about
81, 900 each.
The steam fog whistle, which i used at
many light stations, Is tho ordinary instyS-
mont used on locomotives and steamboapA
The machinery Is very simple. An auto.
matic arrangement turns on and shuts OF
the steanl which Is Obtained from an orgiiu-
ary station engine. They have been hard
ut distances varying from three 70 twentv.
five miles.
Tho siren Is 4 haapa tcnmr>& 18th : i'd
mouth and Z marrow throat. ana ia sounda,i
by driving steam or compressed air Through
disk. A revolving plate back az the disir.
containing twelve radial slirs il rnt~tad
2, 400 times q minute. and in this manner
% 800 vibrations ara producei. which
taken up by the truumpet produoa IN h.
fense beam or sound. which can hs hear,i
from twenty to tAirty milas its density
and penetration makes il dominant ahove
Au other soulha In 1853 thers were thirty.
six steam f0g sienala in United Statee
waters, the establishing Of which cost $500.
QUO and their maintenanca 500 COO = wear
HORNS Br0wN nv nATrrnr
In various PARTS of tha world sound 10.
mails have been INIT into OPERATION nv ATTN.
ADVANTAGE of natur.l ar;ncsS (, ~.
through which tia waves dr:,. .ai.S !. 0nns -
a;r With great fc.c. o. " su,.,s' n.:eu. u. !.
covered an one OF tha rsrsllon crnnn ~ :.
! lands, Off tho harhor Of San Francisco. In
lS5A was built . chimney surmounted BY .
locomotive whistle The first plan was
however, q failure, as the great violence Of
wind current blew tho masonry into the air.
A modified plan having safety valves was
afterward found successful, and blasts from
this natural horn can be heard from ten to
fifteen miles away.
In approaching channel from seaward .
shipmaster cap always rely upon 6nding red
huoys with aven numbers, which indicate
bis course. These buoys must be left on the
starboard side on passing. On the
port side OF the channel black buoys
with odd numbers are found, which indicate
that they must bo left on the mort aide.
Over rocks or other ohstructions In q chan-
mel buoys painted with red aid black hori-
zontal stripes ara placed. These can be
passed uA either side Ruoys painted with
white and black perpendicular stripes must
be passed close to avoid danger. Perchea
with balls aud cagss when placed ON buoys.
Indicate turnlng point the color and num-
raised. Different channels in the same bav
river or harbOr aro marked by different da.
scriptions Of buoyA
ACTION OF SOUND WAVES.
! It has been found by careful experimsnt
.that owing to the conformation Of tha coast
certain fog signals, aach as steam whistles Or