The times., 1900-12-23

| NlOiln OF InelOQeOn. 1T is strange, thOugn,
to visit one where there is such diver
sity OF talent as that 10 be found in the
| lighthouse known as Bug Ligh.' on
Long Beach bar, in Gardners bay. Charley
Fenton there is an expert on the violin,
| flute, and melodeon. and it has often been
| suggested by his friends that he take up
| the study of other musical instruments in
| the winter, when there is nothing to do
| except keep the lantern clean and bright,
| the fires going and to eat and sleep. Being
inland there is little call for the light
in winter, few vessels going in and out,
but in The summer it is a lively place be-
| cause of the many yachts going to and
from Newport, New London, and Shelter
| Island.
The spectacle presented by an outlying
lighthouse resisting the utmost force of
| the winter storm waves hurled against ii
! compeis tribute from the Elost impas-
siye to the daring and skill OF the build
| ers. Magnificent monuments as light
| houses are, the most wonderful parts of
their anatomy are hidden in the seabed
| The graceful light tower, surmounted by
its crowning lanrernroom, has its founda-
| tions in the solid rock or the shifting
sand. and the story of how lighthouse
builders have taught themselves by pain
ful experiments is one of the most roman
/ tic in the contest of mans brains against
| natures strength
lighthouse which took a long time to
build and proved a great trial TO the
builders is the structure on Minot's Ledge
| in Boston Bay. 1t was built on the plan
| OF Alexander Mitchell, who invented the
| screw pile for lighthouse supports on
| sandy bed. 1t was first put in opera ton
| on Maplin shoals. The first screw pile
lighthouse rested on nine piles, which
| were shafts of hammered iron, i've or six
/ inches in diameter, having the single turn
! of fiange of a screw four inches In d.
ameter. These shafts were screwed into
the sand TO a depth OF twenty-five feet
and upon these supports the lighthouse
was erected. The one In Boston Harbor
| was built in 1851, and in the same year Il
was swept away, the keepers losing their
lives. This showed that pile lighthouses
| had their limitations. In 1855 II was re-
| placed by stone tower 106 feet high.
During the first season the work was falf
accomplished through the cutting OF half
a dozen holes in the rock The following
year an iron platform was built. In the
winter while work was not going on a
sailing vessel carried the platform away
and the work had to be begun afresh.
After five years struggle with the sea the
! lantern was lighted. After that Minot
Ledge lost much of its terror to navigq-
tors.
| which took the firmly rooted oak for its
model, is the pattern now followed in
building lighthouses on rock sites. The
foundation blocks were dovetailed into the
rocks and into each other in such a way
that the base became practically a part
of the rock on which 1t was built. 1t took
something like three and a half years to
build It.
Wolf Rock lighthouse, of Lands End,
Cornwall. is a substantial piece of work
The preliminary survey was made in 1861,
and the foundation was begun the follow
ing year. During the first year it was
possible for the workmen to do eighty
three hours work, and, although every
possible effort was made TO expedite the
construction. only 1000 hours work was
done until 1869, when the building was
completed. In January. 1850 a storm tore
away the bell of the Bishop Rock light.
which is one of the most exposed in Great
Britain. The bell weighed 1886 pounds and
was fitted up at a height of 100 feet from
! the sea. It was found afterward that the
storm pressure upon the lighthouse was
about 6,0S3 pounds to the square foot
Along the American seacoast the cylin-
der lighthouse is much in use because
of the success of the first one, built in
1881 at Rothersand, at the entrance to the
River Wester. 1t was constructed be-
cause Of the sandy shoal. and also be-
cause II was DellSNCu at lDe time IUdl II
was superior to the screw pile. One OF
the first built here was at Smiths Point
Light, in Chesapeake Bay. A huge air
tight caisson of the bottomless type was
first constructed of wood, and upon it was
placed the bottom length of the cylinder
lighthouse, thirty feet in diameter and
twelve feet in height Inside the cylinder
was another, an air-tight shaft, five feet
| in diameter. The caisson. which was
more than thirty feet square and twelve
feet deep was then towed out to the spot
where the lighthouse was to be erected.
Unfortunately the sea was so rough that
water entered the cylinder through the
open orifice at the top, and had TO be
pumped and baled out to save the whole
structure from laundering. 1t was ac-
complished in safety.
Then the work Of erecting the light
house began, first by admitting water to
some OF the compartments of the outer
cylinder. when the caisson and its freight
sank to the bottom. The next step was to
secure the caisson in the place in which
it had sunk. To do this immense quantt-
ties of stone were dropped into the sea,
while to ballast the cylinder concrete was
injected into sections and worked into
place by gangs of laborers. These men
practically took their lives into their
hands in doing the work. A severe storm
interfered with the work. and when the
engineers went back to see what condition
the caisson and cylinder were in they
found the cylinder tipped from the per-
pendicular. More rubble was cast into
the sea. That had the desired effect, and
then the important task was begun of
driving the cylinder fifteen feet into the
bed of the sea. This was accomplished by
means of compressed air
Sand and small stones were taken out
by means of a four inch pipe and dumped
into the sea. In this way a great hole
was made into which the cylinder fell
fifteen feet after which it was filled
with concrete.
Where the rock masses of the seabed
are unsuitable for foundation, as is some
times the case, the plan followed is 10
dump into the sea large quantities OF
stones. which are arranged by divers, and
the heap, when of desired formation. is
made fast with the aid of concrete. Then
the foundation is almost as stable as the
rock itself
At times lighthouses have forces to re-
sist other than those of wind or wave.
Erected On perilous and submerged reef
In Lake Huron is Spectacle Reef Light.
This lighthouse has TO front the enormous
quantities Of ice which accumulates there.
To prevent the fee from carrying away or