Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1892-11-25
NAVIGATION'S DAY MARK"
PLACING. DISTINGUISHING AND
CARING FOR BUOYe.
Each Buoy is Placed and Marked
Under a Careful System-Whts-
Ting Buoys and Bell Buoys.


Under Careful system-Whts-
Ting Buoys and Bell Buoys.
n LII who have visited the ap-
~ proaches to seaport town have
~ noticed the numerous buoys
and marks which are placed
there as aids to navigation.
Tugglng and jerking at their chains
as the tide sucks in around them, or ly-
ing quietly upon the placid waters of
some sheltered bay, are black buoys and
red buoys, buoys with horizontal black
and red stripes, buoys with black and
white vertical stripes, and ding -donging
bell buoys. Well out to sea lie much
larger buoys, called mammoth buoys,
gripping the sand with their iron claws.
Though these marks and buoys may
seem to have been put haphazard here
and there, each has meaning. The
place that each shall occupy is carefully
chosen for it, and its arrangement is
governed by careful system.
These aids to navigation, which are
called "day marks" in contradistinction
to the lights and beacons, fall under the
jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Board.
The coast of the United States, in
cluding the lakes aud navigable, rivers,
is divided into sixteen districts. A naval
officer is in charge of each.i Under his
direction all the buoys in his district are
placed.
In all the districts similar buoys mean
the same thing, and buoy that has
particular distinguishing color on the
coast of Maine has the same significance
if In the Bay of Mobile or off the coast
of Oregon. SO the mariner who sails
into Boston Harbor is guided and di-
rected exactly in the same way as he who
enters the Golden Gate.
Not only are the colors and positions
of the buoys given on the Coast Survey
Charts, but the Lighthouse Board pub.
fishes yearly list, which is distributed
gratuitously for the benefit of COM
merce, in which each of its about five
thousand buoys is located and described.
Coming into port from sea, the first
buoy that we pass may be mammoth
buoy. say "may be-" because these
buoys are only used in special cases, such
as to mark the approaches to channels
over bars or shoals that lie at con-
siderable distance from the coast. The
entrances to most harbors do not require
any such special marks.
The buoys that designate the channel,
and which lie on either side Of it, are
red and black. The red buoys, which
all have even numbers, must be left on
the starboard or right hand in passing in
from sea, while tha b2-aek buoys, always
with odd numbers, must be left on the
port hand.
In case there arc two or more chan-
nels, they are distinguished by differ
ence either in size or shape OF the buoys.
There are, in addition to the buoys
already mentioned, two other kinds
which are also fog signals, namely, the
whistling buoy and the bell buoy.
The whistling buoy is used off the
coast to mark dangerous outlying shoals
or other distractions to navigation. 1t
which is made to sound by the rushing
through it CT air admitted and COM
pressed by the rising and sinking motion
of the buoy. These buoys are we'll
adapted to turbulent waters, as the more
violent the sea the louder the sound
caused. Like some restless spirit chained
to the oceans bed, they can but sadly
moan their fate under smiling skies and
unbroken seas; but when buffeted by
the waves and tempest tossed, they
shrek their lamentations fiercely, and
warn the mariner to beware the spot they
mark. They are not pleasant neighbors.
Their SOUND is frequently heard at dis
tance of ten miles, and under very favor
able circumstances i. has been heard fif-
teen miles.
The bell buoy consists Of the bottom
section OF buoy floating in the water,
on which is mounted framework bear
ing bell which. instead of the ordinary
tongue and clapper, has small cannon
ball supported on platform just under
meath the bell's mouth. This ball rolls
to and fro with every motion of the sea.
These buoys are used in harbors and
rivers where the water is smoother than
in the roadsteads, and where it is not
necessary that their sound shall be heard
great distance.
Ordinary buoys, not of the whistllng
or bell variety, are made of either iron
or wood. Those of iron are hollow,
with air-tigbt compartments, and arc of
three shapes, called respectively nun,
can and ice buoys. The nun buoy
is almost conical in shape; the
eau buoy approaches the cylindrical
form, and the ice buoy is very long and
narrow, and resembles the spar buoy in
form.
The wooden or spar buoys are sticks
ranging in length from twelve to sixty
feet, and painted according to the uses
to which they are to be put. The lower
end is fitted for mooring chain.
A buoy has many vicissitudes, and is
exposed to many dangers. Passing
steamers run down the iron buoys and
rip them open, or cut off big pieces of
spar buoys with their sharp propeller
blades.
As the iron buoys are made in com-
partments, they are seldom sunk by such
collisions, but their line of fioatation is
often so lowered that they have to be re-
placed.
Again, despite the fact that the United
States laws punish by fiue of one thou
\ 4 IL = II