The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-07-29
NAVY YARD CAISSON.
James Bigler, the Inventor,
Here to Put 1t Together.
SIX HUNDRED TONS or METAL.
The Keel Laid ~ Port orehsrd-sKeteh
efa Busy Life-lnventor Of the
Whistiinx Buoy.

James Bigler. the inventor OF the
xhistiing buoy in use all over the world.
the builder Of the mammoth steel eaissons
IN every government dry dock in
the United States, and the contractor
Tor sae caisson in the dock az
Port Orchard. Is in the city, guest at the
| Griffith house. Mr.. Bigier. though IS
yeaas old, Is still very active in mind and
has remarkably accurate memory.
This Is his first visit to Puget
sound, but he is no stranger here,
for every whistIing buoy on the Pacific
coast was made BY him and the govern
ment has paid him more than $1,000. coo
Ter materials needed at the Mare island
nayy yard. San Francisco.
Mr.. Bigler, accompanied By his wife,
arrived in the city last Tuesday from their
nome at Sewberg, \. Y. on the Hud-
son. where he has lived and been
IN business for the past ffty-two
years. He Is a sRowy-bearded man of
distinguished bearing. and W hen seen by
PosT-lxTELLIGEScER reporter last evening
talked readily concerning his connection
with the Port Orchard dry dock. Said he:
II came out here to see how the work
was getting along and also brought ten ex-
perienced iron workers from Newberg
with me to attend 10 the more important
work. | was afraid that couldn't find
good iron workers here OF course we
VIII need good many more men
TO complete the work. but those we will
employ here My two sons are directly in
chaTge OF the work. The carlson is now
here, having arrived from around the
Horn. and men are putting il together at
Port Orchard and will have it finished in
m - In
what caisson looks likef Well, I'll tell
you. The one at Port Orchard was built at
Newberg entire, aud finished, except being
riyefed. Then each piece was marked and
the whole taken to pieces. loaded in
ship and sent to the. Sound around
the Horn. lie looks like ship-a
big tkree-decker-and Is 100 feet long. "A
feet beam and IS feet deep. 1t is provided
wath rubber facing, and sets in an immense
groove Its purposes are as a gate,
and il holds the water ont of the
dock like q bulkhead. 1t can be
reversed and taken out entirely
The whole weighs coo tons. and of steel
alone there are 500 600 pounds. 1t is pro-
vided with an engine. boiler and pump.
which viii threw $500 gallons of water a
minute. 1t is provided with sixteen
tsenty-inch valves, through which the
dock can gradually be filed with water
II he keel of the caisson was laid today,
and a week hence the frame will be up.
II viii be an immense thing. there being
in timber 100, 600 feet of oak for biIge
blocks. keel blocks, etc. "
Mr. Bigler has built the caissons for the
government docks at Brooklyn, Phiadel-
phia. Portsmouth, Va, Port Royal, S. c.,
and also furnished the casson for c. z.
Huntmgton's dock at Newport News, near
old Point Comfort. He built the dock at the
Brooklyn navy yard forty-fve years ago,
and he used in that piece OF work the
FIRST stone blocks ever put in a dry dock
In 1864 he furnished material for the
Mare island dry dock, shipping four or
five cargoes of live oak and as many
more ship loads of white oak During the
civil war he built 700 gun carriages for
the government, and many of them
were used by Com nodore Foote when he
took Fort Donelson. The gun carriages
used by Gen. Gilmore who shelled Charles
ton, were also turned out by Mr. Bigier.
Before the war and before iron ships
came into vogue Mr.. Bigler furnished ma
teriai for the construction of vessels, at
one time having several hundred men in
the woods of Louisiana aud Texas cutting
oak timber.
Probably the most single successful
achievement of his life was the Invention
of the whistling buoy, which is in use in
every harbor aud of every coast In the
world where any attempt has been made
to aid navigation. Concerning this mat
ter Mr. Bigler said:
81 brought out and secured the patent
for the buoy in 1876, aud the first whist
ling buoys on the Pacific coast, eight in
Rumher, were sent out from my shops in
1878 to San Francisco. They were sent in
sections. and | had them finished in San
Francisco. Since that time. however a
good many more have been put in use out
here. The patent on II has now expired
and | have Invented new whistling buoy
which IS great improvement ON the
old one. | have one OF the new
ones on trial off Sandy Hook and
another in the English channel between
Jersey and the French coast At this
place one of my old buoys did service
Tor many years, but the new buoy
is much more satisfactory. The
new buoy was placed in the
channel two months ago The new buoy
whistles about twice often as the old
one and can be heard two and three miles.
when the ola one could only be heard one
fourth of mile. The new buoys only
wergh one ton, whereas the old ones
weighed about three tons.
'sIa very deep water the amount Of chain
necessary 20 anchor the buoy adds so
much 10 the weight that the buoy was
slow of action and not as buoyant as il
should Be. With my later Invention
this difficulty is obviaied bv means
OF an auxiliary attachment for bearing the
weight OF the chain aud anchor. so that
the bnoy proper sustains nothing but its
own weight. thereby making IL as light
as IL il we're cork. Ii can thus answer TO
the sweiis more rapidly and Will whistle
twice or three times oftener than the old
buoys."
Mr. Bigler will leave for the East some
time during the week. but intends to come
10 Seattle again next fall. az which time
the caisson a. the dry dock will be COM
pleted.