The morning call., 1890-12-21

head of another department. The officers
OF both army and navy serve thus har-
m0nl0usly and without difficulty under the
treasury Department, and the system works
SO well that 1t is probable no change will
ever be made.
Few citizens of the United States under
stand the real magnitude of the operations
Oh Inc Government Lighthouse Board. 1t
Is great system, managed with a skill and
with an attention to detail second to no
6ranch OF the Government service. The
BOARD 8 headquarters at Washington is re-
markable for its completeness. 1t has its
own dratting-r0om, where it prepares the
plans and specifications of many of its more
difficult lighthouses and Nght-ships, and
where il examines and revises plans Of its
corps OF engineers.
The board is authorized to receive off,
claily delegates from foreign nations, and to
furnish foreign governments with such of its
plans and specifications as those countries
may desire. Mexico, Brazil, Chill, France
and England have awaited themselves of
this opportunity. and many Of the light
ships, fog-signalS, and other aids to naviga-
ton used by these countries were designed
by the United States board.
There are 1859 nautical miles of lighted
coast on the ocean. gulf, bay. and river
shores Of the United States This does not
Rivers, which are lighted ON different and
cheaper plan. The sums actually ex-
pended in lighting and buoying these 1853
miles Of coast were in recent year 81, $685.
200. and the $97. 900 expended in maintaining
the Governments fifty-four fog signals is
not included in this amount. This shows
that the cost Of lighting and buoying the
coasts amount to $171 81 per mile.
1t Is interesting to know, in this connec-
ton: that the cost of lighting the coasts of
the United States is the same as thai of
France, NJ. Allard, the managing head of
the French lighthouse establishment, gives
in the "AnBales DIES Points TT ChausSeeS"
some statements from which it appears that
there are 1850 nautical miles of coast lighted
and buoyed by the French Bureau DIES
Phares at cost for maintenance Of /, 10000
francs, or 1850 francs per nautical mile,
which is equal to Sill 81 in American
money.
In the Office of the Lighthouse Board are
preserved the letters it has received and
copies of the letters it has written. These
1000 pages each. All the results obtained in
the boards experience are carefully re-
corded and filed away On 100000 cards, care
fully indexed. The board thus has access
to the wealth of material contained in its
own library, covering all the technical fea-
lures of its art.
New Workers who are interested in this
matter can have no better illustration of the
PRACTICAL workings of the bureau than is af-
forded by the lighthouse depot at Staple
ton, 5. /. This is the central depot for all
the lighthouse districts in the United
States. 1t supplies every detail of the light
house establishment from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, and from the Gulf to the Cana
dian line. The Stapleton depot is a
great store-house of materials, ranging
from the carefully selected libraries which
are provided for the lonesome light-ship
keepers down to the soap with which he
washes his hands. A large corps of work
men and number of officers, clerks and
bOok-keepers are required to manage the
workings of this largest of the country's
lighthouse depots.-N. Y. Times.