New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-13
MIDDLE SWIN STREET.
TIL, prsT LIGHTED THOROUGHFARE IN
THE WORLD-A CHANNEL NJ HE
MOUTH OF THE THAMES.

From The LONDON Mail.
Most people who have not much experience
Of the sea At night imagine that 1t u.s. for the
most mart a gloomy waste Of waters. with here
and there a lighthouse on reef or a lghtshlp
moored A few miles from the coast
No idea could be- more m staken. and II VIII
probably surprise them TO learn mat thrr" ~
A great highway for ships few miles rom the
mouth Of the Thames which *. II anything.
even more brilliantly lighted than kegrnt-st
Mariners about our English coasts haN" tn"
SET marked out for them into roads and streets
as definite aud obvious as Piccadlly or the
Strand. II is only 10y extreme ncglig"nc" or by
an absolutely Unforeseen combination ~ at
verse circumstances that a ship can lose its
way nowadays when 1t ~ within twenty or
thirty miles OF The English coast
The greatest s.a ip9d IN the whole world -
the Swim Deep. a. IN" mouth u tn" Thames
II il not too much go say that every foot Of II
~ surveyed and marked down IN the chart II
.s lighted more completely than many city
thoroughfar,s ard To- IN" sailor d Is NOR" home
Tx" and familiar than tn" Commercial Road Dr
the Whitcchap"i Iligh.st
Down this great high road ~ The sea much
Of the trade of m" world H. carried ships from
the iurthcst parts OF the world patrol % day aud
night iu an endless procession. bringing goods
10 London or taking English pr"dur" 10 distant
lands.
As the traveller s'"aus down m" Thames Boo
tween th" lows mud reaches beyond Graves nd.
ms nrst glups. OF DO" wonderful system -
lights which guides the ships IS obtained At
South"ad
\
is warning that "a" river Journey ~ nearly
finished and that swim Street is near AT hand.
Tom Hood immprtaliz"d m" Nor" IN poem
called the Little Buoy at IN" Nnr".' bat ne
had nothing 90 say about one ~ tho most n
nous Of our English nEhiships. Tn" Nor"
Light As Ia" sailors call u. ~ At the very
entrance 20 M" great highway II shows 4
white light. which r"Volvcs every hair minute.
Every lghth"us" ard hghtship has ifs o"u
particular and DISTINGUISHING system OF sig
Mailing is name. For example the next light
Ia, Gyft be- mi ~ NIL
is called the Nous" Light
In order that there may br no '"nfusion be-
tween the two ships. ia" Mouse ship shows a
green light. which r"yolN's every twenty sec
Ouds and ssh. h is visible for exactly ten miles
II is also provided with a fpsh"rn. which IS
blown by compressed air. and il said 20 hdy"
the most unpleasant voic" In the whole Chan
Th,s" lirhtships provide the principal num-
nations Of Swim Street In daytime each on"
carries cone Of iron bars Of different shapes I'm
the place whcr" the lamp % hoist"d at night
ana. moreover the name Of the ship is painted
upon its side in colossal whit" letters.
one Of the most powerful ana curious lights
ia Swim street is known a. the Mapn Light It
stands at The edge Of the dangerous fat known
the Mapliu ana Foulu"ss sands These sands
dry at low water. and extend for seventeen
miles along the coast. II was found impossible
10 build solid masonry upon the shifting sur
face. and 50 the famous Maplin Light has been
built upon an enormous erection Of piles.
II is one Of the most conspicuous sights I'm
Swim street. for IL appears to b" rising straight
up out Of the middle Of the sea. The light is
what IS known AZ a red "Occuiting" light. Every
half minute il il hidden by revolution Of the
lantern behind a steel shutter
There many of these OCculting lights in
Swim street. and il Is often welcome sight to
see Of them flash out of the dark. explaining
with absolute certainty the exact position Of the
ship in the channel The smallest lights Of all
the many cOlored illuminatiorS are those at the
heads Of the buoys which mark out the various
safe passages for ships. These burn night and
day and the light is produced from ordinary
gas The great buOys many Of them from fiji
teen to twenty feet high. are hollow and filled
with gas, which burns continually IN lamp At
the top
OFTEN the traveller in Swim street may see
curious slowly moving vessel with a great tank
ON the deck moving from buoy to buoy. This is
the gas boat which supplies the lights with
fresh gas at stated intervals. 1t may be called
the lamplighter Of the sea road