The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-05-06
UNCLE SANS nuoYs
Use, Meaning and Cost Of tho varlouHly
Shaped and Painted uuoya rhat Line
Tho liarbors OF our Coasts.


Tho llarbors Of our Coasts
'rhe buoy in 10 tho seaman by day
what tho light In al night and the fog
signal In thick weather II tells him.
/ by It's pirc, form. color and number. how
TO avoid tho rocks and shoals. and shows
( tho way In AMI ou, NJ narbor
The growth ~ tho buoy service may
/ ~ measured by lie cost. which wins. FOR
tho ryo yuhrr preceding The organization
Of the board IN iSl about iii.ro per
| year, and FOR the ilvc years after pbout
I tsiooo per year.
I In ist2 The lighthouse board had nearly
| LOO buoyH In position. In 1853 II had
/ i.uJl In is1 Il had Las. during the War
I of tho Rebellion II lost those on the
| Southern coasts. but In issI II had 10 far
I replaced and added 10 them that II had
/ go,l IN 1876 II had 500. hnd on June a0
| itSo tthr date OF tho boards last rrporO
I Il had ESQ buoyu IN tho waters of tho
several dintrcts An appropriation OF
/ tI.s. 90 was made for maintaining tho
| buoyaEe Of the unitod States coasts dur
| ihs tho year ending June -. lss1
/ Tho buoy service has tn oNn code OF
I laws. state and national feet OF
/ small steamers for lts maintenance. be-
/ rldou corps Of rontrartors TO attend
I 90 tho huoYaEr ~ covrs an lniots i'm.
. practicable to tho tenders. I, has itH
drputn for tho storage Of iron huuyH
where they arr painted and numbered.
! or rvpairri and also whore wooden
buoyA arr made ready for service. II
has ~ own directory printed yearly In
| thirteen coiumra. distributed gratui,ously
-. \.
each one OF tho moro than four thous.
and buoyn II mentioned by name. located
BY station and In described by rlE~. color,
number and vicinity.
uuoys arr OF wood or iron Tho
wooden huoys now In une are sticks from
twelve to sixty feet long. OF pine or
sprtco, or preferably Of -cdaT The
hoard frequently contracts for delivery
NJ onp OF It's drtots OF "A cargo OF logs.
In tls~ rough. al from SO 60 SIS each,
where they are freed of their bark.
Hmoothed OF their protruding knots.
painted 20 the pattern required to tell
their allotted story, and flted at tho
larger end with An Iron HlccVr. to which
the atone or lron anchor can be- attached
by a moorlng chain. Then thcy Are
packed In classes or sizes on skids 60
season. Finally. they replace those
which must b, freed from larnneIcr,
hnV, "A fresh coat OF paint and recover
their buoyanry. Spar buoys arc tinHsi.
ned nrat by length and thickness and
then by acquired color; but they are In
Interchangeable within these conditions,
Iron buoyu are hollow, with alright
eompartm.nt.. and nrp mnde OF three
,hapos-cniled nun. can and leo huoys.
The nun buoy In almost conlcai In form,
the can buoy is In shape the fruatum
OF "A cone. nearly npproaehinE a cylinder,
and tho leo buoy On,onded for use IN
winter) ia formed much like n spar buoy.
of great length, slight thickness and OF
largest diameter near its middle Each
ahnp, IA classified by aise and diversified
nv color and number The cost OF these
b,inyA ynrien. with the prIce OF iron and
IN, cost Of labor. from $40 TO $50 each
Conrr,sn prcscrih,d by act OF septem-
her - 1850 that rcd buoys, with even
numheru he placed on the right hand
aide. and black buoyr. with odd num-
hers. ON tho left hnnd side OF channels
nnnroachIng from scawnrd; that huoys
plnccd ON wrecks and other ohstru,tiona,
having "A channel on each side, he paint
ed with red and black horizontal stripes;
that those buoys placed In mIdchanneI,
ana which indicate that they must be
passed close TO TO avoid danger, be paint.
cd with white and black perpendlculnr
stripes. and, finally, that pcrchea, with
balls. cages, etc, when placed on buoyH,
will Indicate u turning point, the color
and number NJ tho buoy showing the
side on which they are to be passed
RuoyA are exposed to many dangers
not tho least OF which ia that OF being
run down and rlppod opcn by passing
steamers. Az the iron huoys ere made
with compartments they are rarely sunk,
but their line OF flotation In often lower
cd and their usefulness accordingly de-
creased. Spar buoyA frequently lose n
portion OF their length, which is cut OF
hy strokes OF collldng propeller blades
Despite state and national statutes for
bidding II, vessels will sometimes make
fast 10 buoya, thus gradully dragging
them on their bearings. A buoy has
sometimes been set ndrIft that n reward
might be obtained for Its recovery, but
this Ia not very profitable opcrntlon.
Tho buoy's worst enemy, however, is
leo whom moving I'm mass. and with n
tide or current. woll-made we'll
moored buoy nj tho mouth OF a narrow
river can creato nm Ice gorge. hut usual
Is, whom the Ice moves in force, the
huoys met have their moorlng loops torn
out their moorIng chains broken. or
thcir moorlng nnchors weighed. and in
ench cnso tho .buoys ara carried out TO
sen when the buoy tenders give chase.
h"o,,s n.e sne,,,, a.. ri. ,,oI,nt,er ,.o,.
mos ono Is now orchoro1 an tho coost