Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1899-05-19
LIGHTHOUSES IN WAR
CAN BE USEDTO LURE ENEMY'S
SHIPS TO DESTRUCTION.
Special Duties Of the Keeper in Time Of
Troubls-fiow the Lights Might Be Manip.
ulated to Advantage.

Special Duties Of the Keeper in Time oI
Troubls-How the Lights Might Be Manip.
uIated to Advantage.
The lighthouse keeper has his spec
ial duties in times of war, and it is in
his power to render valuable service
to his country's cause. The extin-
gushing of the lights in the bay was
the beginning of a policy which was
outlined early in March by the light
house board.
At that time general instructions
were issued to the keepers of the
lighthouses ordering them to IA
miliarize themselves and their as
sistants with all the requirements
incident to the exigencies of war.
The extinguishing of the shore lights
will he last resort, AS the extern
sive commerce of foreign merchant
vessels would be seriously interfered
with by it. The order to put out these
lights will only come in case OF actual
danger of invasion by foreign men-of-
war.
In considering the various means
by which the lighthouse keeper can
render service in wartime, it is neces-
sary to know something of the lights
themselves. In every lighthouse sta
ton the beacon has some characteris-
tic with which the mariner is familiar,
or which he may revdily recognize by
an examination of his chart. In some
cases the beacon is a fixed, white light,
which never changes, but sends its
rays far out TO sea, where the watch
full pilot recognizes it at a glance.
Other lights change from red to
white, or the reverse, or show a disk,
one side of which is white and the
other red. The approaching mariner
knows at once in what direction he
should steer. If the red light is on
the right and the white on the left
side of disk, he knows that by keep
ing to the left he will find safe chan
mel, while dangerous shoals await him
in the opposite direction. OF course,
it is obvious that the lighthouse keeper
by reversing the colors on the disk
could do inestimable damage to un-
friendly vessels. In all such cases it
is obvious that our own mariners must
be warned in time of the changes
contem plated.
Other lighthouses have a beacon
flashing white at regular intervals.
Thus the characteristic of the light at
Fire island is" one fash every minute"
If this were changed, so that the light
would flash only once in two minutes
the mariner would be as badly off as if
there were no light at all. With the
idea in his head that he had reached
point near Fire island, the unusual
signal would signify to him that his
calculations were wrong, and that he
WAS in an entirely different locality.
Another means by which the pilot
gauges his location is the distance OF
visibility OF the light. Shihnecock
light for example, is fixed white
light situated on Panquogue point, on
the north side of Shinnecock. bay,
Long island, one mile from the line of
sea beach and about midway between
Montauk point and Fire island light
stations. 1t is visible at n distance
of lS3 nautical miles. Now, if it were
known that an enemy's ship were ap-
preaching, the light could be screened
so as to not be visible at all or to be
visible at half or quarter of the
usual distance. The vessel might
thus be led into trap before its pilot
realizes his proximity to the danger
Gus coast.
The changing of fog signals has
also been contemplated as an effective
means of deceiving the enemy. 1t is
the opinion of those most familiar
with the subject, however, that in
cases of actual invasion of our waters
by the enemy's ships the signals would
be discontinued altogether.
The characteristics of fog signals are
indicated by the length of blasts and
the intervals at which they are given,
and it is thought that changes might
be misleading even to our own pilots.