The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-11-07
LIGHTHOUSE AND ulGHTsHiP.

lie WOriO, looking OUT on nothing Save
sea and sky OR passing vessel; hear
ing nothing but shrieking winds and
! laundering waves, and knowing that
the slightest neglect of duty may cause
the loss of many lives, is there any
wonder that men in this position be-
come morbid and mo-ose, and that they
sometimes pine away through utter
loneliness?
For a number of years the United
States government has been trying to
devise some means OF conlnunica ton
between lighthouses and the land A
plan, which is now under considera-
ton, involves the laying o. an ordinary
telegraph cable ont from the shore into
the ocean for any desired number of
miles. A buoy is anchored to mark
the sea-end of the cable and the pre-
else location of the buoy is set down on
the nautical charts.
If "a vessel should desire to send a
message to the land she will anchor
close to the buoy and drop wire over
| board, with grouna-plate attached to
it. The wire is not expected to come
in contact with the cable, but as salt
water is an excellent conductor, the
electric current, from a battery on
board the ship, viii jump from the
wire to the ca bic and be transmitted to
the shore station.
Eighty-one steam sirens and other
fog-signals have been placed by the
| government on lighthouses and light
! ships, at cost of six hundred thousand
dollars. and maintained at yearly eX
| pense of one hundred thousand dollars
| The siren, which was invented by
| Prof. Henry, is a huge trumpet with
be!l-shaped mouth, pointed out to sea.
Nothing has ever been made that is
capable of emitting such a loud and
| far-reaching noise. A powerful jet of
steam is projected through tube,
| which is partly INSTRUCTED by revolv-
ing wheel perforated with Sits. The
faster the wheel goes round, the higher
and louder is the shrek which comes
from the machine.
There are number of lighthouses
which it would be desirable to connect
by telegraph with the mainland. Take
for example the lighthouse situated on
enc of the Farallone islands, in the Pa
cific ocean, twenty-five miles from San
Francisco. No more .desolate situation
could well be imagined. The9light-
house has a powerful light, which
stands three hundred and sixty feet
above the sea. This light. is supple
nented by a oga.whistle of peculiar
character. The surf beating on the
shore. formed many caves in the rocks.
One of them had a .holel!in its top, aud
through that hole the incoming break
ers expelled the air carried before
them. The mouthpiece of huge
trumpet was fixed in thishole, and now
the waves blow loud and powerful
blasts through it. 1t is only silent for
an hour and half each day.
Tillamook Rock is an islet one acre
in extent. one mile from shore. and
twenty miles south of the entrance of
the Columbia river, Oregon. There is
a lighthouse on it. the building of
which was a difficult task.
The rock rises one hundred feet
above sea level, with deep water all
around. Thousands of sea-lions made
it their home. and It was hard mat
ter to drive them away. The first man
who tried to land and make a survey
of the rock was drowned Then eight
men reached the islet by the brooches
buoy, and sought to find a shelter by
cutting away some of the rock A
hurricane came up which threw waves
over the summit, and they were nearly
swept away. But they toiled on with
drills and dynamite; the top of the
rock was leveled, and tower was put
up, witha light one hundred and thirty
six feet abOve the sea.
The lighthouse is provided with a
siren, which has two trumpets. The
two steel boilers which generate the
steam are as large as locomotive boil
ers. The trumpets sound blasts of five
seconds duration at intervals of one
and half minutes, when there is a fog.
Under favora BILE conditions, the shrielss
can be heard at distance of thirty
miles. It sometimes happens, how
ever, that they will be audible at seven
miles, wholly inaudible at twelve
miles, and audible again at a greater
distance from the rock. This is due to
the refraction of sound waves by wind. F,
Minot's ledge lighthouse, near Bos- |
ton, stands on a rock that is under |
water at low tide. In winter its keep |
ers are shut off for months together |
from the outside world. Several light |
houses on the Florida reefs are equally |
solitary. How an occasional message
from the shore would bring ray of |
sunshine into lives of dreary exile.
The banks south of Nantucket, on
the New England cost, have record |
OF five hundred wrecks. and they are |
guarded by the New South shoal light |
ship, which lies anchored twenty-six |
miles from the nearest land. As the !
ship lies in the track of transatlantic !
sending news from it to the mainland, |
vessels bound for New York could be /
in advance to the owners |
Sailing craft with perishable cargoes
could also telegraph for tugs, and the |
advantage would be great
Sometimes this lightsnip is blown
away by storm, and is off her station
for weeks Her failure to report would /
indicate that an accident had happened.
and a supplementary lightship could
be sent TO take her place and warn YES
sells off the shoals Golden Days
:. Theory.
What do you understand by the
phrase Profane history asked one