The evening times., 1896-04-06
lights ON THE OPEN SEA
Novel Plan for the Diamond
ShaaI Structure.
INGENIOUS CAPTAINS IDEA
1t Will Ride the Waves Like Huge
Inverted Funnel and Sta nd he Heav-
lest Pounding Without Possibility
OF Damage-Remarkab BILE Features
That Are Approved by Officials.

An invention which may lead to n change
OF piaiis ior the proposed new lighthouse
on Diamond Shoal, off Cape Hatteras,
and which promises TO revOutiOniZe tie
present method OF constructing lights at
all dangerous points where shifting sands
aud high waves make such EIoIocts diff
fcult, has Eeen submitted to the Light
house Board.
II was mace by an ingenious Ne W En- gland
sea captain, ami is now ItCtiyng serious
attention from the engineer officers, who
are inclined 10 regard II as the lest design
ever presented FOR building lighthouses
i'll The open ocean.
The simplicity OF the plan and its ap-
parcnt c,rlIlnty OF wjJhstanaing the most
terrific onslauehts OF the waves, have par
iicuiarly impressed the loard. The eDgi-
nccr officer who represent the navy is
understood TO be enthusiastic in his ap-
proval of the invention, and Il number of
The most prOIniacBt- naval officers who
have looked into il L,leye that il is far
preferable 10 anything yet proposed by
the Lest engineering skill OF the country.
For three Years engineers and scientists
have been working on a marmoth design
for Il lighthouse on the outer shCal OFF
Cape Hatteras, and at last they believe
they have perfected plan. IL is esti-
mated that il Will cost at least 81 ,uUO, 900
To carry 1T out.
LIGHT OF FIRST ORDER.
The gn Of the New England man pro-
yides for Il light structure as high and as
capable of displaying a light of the first
order as any in the world ut cost prob
ably not cec.iinS 100000. The ad-
vantage IL has over the methods OF Or
dinary lighthouse bGilding in the open sea
is that the greater part of the structure
can be built on shore fioatcd to The pr, posed
location of the light and there put in pO-
sltiOn. Unlike the caisson type of light
house. there seems not the slightest prob
abiiity of its being knocked TO pieces before
it Il in place by the action OF the heaviest
seas and gales. This, at least, is the opinion
OF some or the best engineers who have eX-
amlned the scheme closely.
one great obstacle encountered by the
engineers in designing a lighthouse off
Diamond Shoal on the calSSon pattern has
been the trouble heretofore experienced
of constructing this part of the structure
sufficiently strong to resist the great seas
that pile up off Hatteras at the least gn
of n blow.
According to the design Of the inventor
of the new plan. his structure is TO be so
cunst ructed on shore that it viii ride the
waves like 4 huge inverted funnel. and
stand the heaviest pounding without pos
sibllity of damage.
He claims for his invention that it viii en-
able the lighthouse board to place lights on
such places as Pollock Rip, where sands
shift. and the character Of the bottom
changes yearly. In general appearance his
lighthouse looks like an inverted funnel.
aud. when in place, the big erd will be on
the bottom several feet In the sand. and the
splgot end is 10 rise 100 feet il necessary.
to support the light.
REMARKABLE FEATURE.
The drawing of the design submitted to
the Treasury Department represents
lighthouse Al least $50 feet high from the
top of the lens to the bottom, or the water.
the height above the water line to be about
100 feet. The most remarkable feature OF
the scheme is the great diameter OF the
cylinder at the bottom, and Its comparative
,lenderness ut the waIer-line.
The base represents circle whose di-
amcter IS at least seventy feet. while Il few
feet above the water the structure is scarce
" more than thirty feet through the center,
and from that to the top of the light it
continues to diminish. until at the ex-
trcne tip il is rot more than twelve feet
through. From the beginning of the water
line to a Point well up the great tower are
the apartments for the Ecrpers and the
storerooms for the oil and other supplies
essential TO lighthouses. and immediately
above these is q mastlike t1perins tower
constructed could be plac"d. throwing rays
visible twenty-five miles under normal con-
di;ions. The striking decrease in the di-
mcusluns OF tie tower is explained by the
inventor TO be for the purpose Of reducing
the target for the waves ara seas and the
violence of the gales.
The lens viii be placed in a room at
least ten feet high, where nearly all the
intricate mechanism Tor working the light
and feeding the immense burners will
great checse-hox affair will he a high
railing and promenade, where the keepers
and their families may take outings and
observe the waves 100 feet below.
QUICK FLASH LIGHT.
Either steady light or ore of the flash
order can be placed in the structure under
the design; but, as all new first-order
lighthouses hereafter will be provided
with the quick flash-light, it Is probable.
should the design he accepted, that this
character Of light would lie placed in it.
Space has been provided for powerful
steam siren and there would lie no troclbie>
also in connecting the tower with the shore
by a telephone or telegraph wire through a
cable leading up the side of the structure
to the keepers apartments. Within a
very short time, il is believed, that all the
important lightships and lighthouses To-
Gated out at sea wiIlhave such a connection
with the shore for the purpose of conveying
maritime information, reporting vessels,
and. in fact, making each lighthouse mar
itime exchange station. Besides these
modern appliances, it is proposed TO fit