The Savannah morning news., 1904-08-14
GREAT NOISE MAKERS.
The Government Has Installed Meg
aphOnes Tint Send a Cry Out
Twenty Miles.
From the Philadelphia Record.


does not believe that the plan of build
ing light tower off Cape Hatteras.
for which Congress has just made a
conditional appropriation of s590.OOO,
can ever be carried out successfully.
Diamond Shoal, which has been called
the Graveyard of the Atlantic" ex-
tends thirteen miles into the ocean,
and experimental borings have shows
that there is no solid bottom 100 feet
below the surface of the sand. On the
contrary, the material seems to become
looser and more fluid the deeper one
goes.
lighthouse securely established in
the midst of this vast quicksand would
be of enormous value, but it is alto
gether likely that no other means of
warning mariners will ever be placed
there than such as will float. In this
connection it is interesting to consider
some of the novel-contriVances recent
ly adopted by the government for such
purposes. Requirements necessarily
vary with the locality, and many diff
ferent devices are used for floating or
permanent signals in places where
lighthouses are not required or cannot
be built.
One of the most curious of these is a
machine with a gigantic voice, which,
under favorable conditions of wind, can
shout so as to be heard at a distance
of twenty miles. 1t was set up a
short time ago at Falkner's Island, off
the Connecticut shore, and is provided
with eight huge megaphones, each of
them seventeen feet long and seven feet
in diameter at the mouth. The appa-
ratus stands on a circular platform, on
which it reVolveS, and the great horns
cry out to all points of the compass,
their voice being furnished by a steam
whistle. One can easily imagine the
tremendous vociferation they emit at
intervals of fifteen seconds. Each meg
aphone calls in turn, and there is
distinct combination of long and short
blasts for each point of the compass,
thus giving to the mariner an accur-
ate notion of the direction from which
the sounds proceeds. This of course,
is a matter of great importance in a
fog.
Another new method of sending
mighty voice across the sea involves
the use of a diaphragm which is made
to vibrate by electricity. To this are
attached two huge megaphones, which
emit a deafening roar that can be
heard for many miles. The machine
goes by clockwork, and when wound
up attends to business for weeks with
out requiring further attention. A dy
namo furnishes the requisite current.
The terrific blast that bursts from the
gaping mouths of the twin horns, each
of which is fifteen feet long, can be
heard above the noise of the fiercest
gale. 1t literally skaters the air.
Once started, this vociferous guardian
does duty night and day, and never
goes to sleep. 1t is designed special
ly for use on points of rocks where
bell buoys AMI Whistling buoys are inc
adequate by reason of the fact that
the noises they make are drowned.
1t is thought that there is no good
reason why such a contrivance should
not be set af1oat, held by strong mush-
room anchors, on Diamond Shoal, off
Cape Hatteras. The fogs which pre-
vail in that vicinity are often so dense
that the lamps of the lightship cannot
be seen. and an ordinary bellbuoy or
whistling buoy does not serve to send
a warning for a great distance. There
is. however a new kind of bell buoy,
with which the lighthouse board has
been experimenting recently, that is a
wonderful noisemaker. An essential
part of it is a drum. which. as it rises
and falls on the waves, turns several
wheels. To each wheel a tongue is at
ldNuCds CllSdSlnS Win d 1dlCIlCI III
such a way as to strike a bell every
time the drum goes down or up. A
mere ripple produces a continuous
changing, which is described as a din
so internal that the machine could
| not possibly be used in any situation
| close to human habitation. One of
| them was tried on Robbins Reef, near
New York, but was removed because
the people of the vicinity threatened
riot.
1t is probable that on the great shoal
| off Cape Hatteras the main reliance
| for warning mariners will always be
| lightships. Two vessels, known re-
spectively as Nos. II and 70, now divide
| this duty between them. each taking its
| turn for three months at time Each
| of them is lis feet long, built of thick
| steel plates. with three decks and di-
| vided into compartments, so as to be
as nearly possible leak-proof. Two
! hollow steel masts carry wires for six
| 100-candle-power electric lights, 100
| feet above the water, which are the
most powerful used on any Iightship
in the world. They are visible at a
| distance of eighteen miles. Oil lamps
are on hand. in case of a breakdown
| of the electrical apparatus. For fog
| signals there is a steam siren.
Held by huge steel cables and mon
ster mushroom anchors. the lightship
| on Diamond Shoal pursues a voyage
without a port. Not even the Flying
| Dutchman endures more stormy and
| trying experiences than the skipper
| of this gallant craft, who, with his
brave crew, guards the most danger
| Gus point on the Atlantic coast. There
| where the northeast and northwest
winds meet and combine their forces
is the very home of the Storm King.
| while frequent fogs, cross currents
and shifting sands add to the dangers
! While perpetually tossing on the
waves. the vessel is in constant peril
| of being run into by other ships in
the fog or of being blown ashore in
gale.
The first lightship was stationed on
Diamond Shoal in the early twenties.
! 1t was blown ashore and all hands
were lost. Other lightships have met
the same fate there since A few
years ago a caisson 100 feet square
was sunk on the shoal the idea be-
ing to fill It with concrete and sur
| round 1t with rip-rap. so as to form
an artificial foundation for a light
| house. But the caisson was lost I'm
a storm, and after spending 500, 900
without accomplishing any result, the
| contractor gave It up as a bad lob
In 1898 an attempt was made to set
up day beacon" on the shoal. 1t
was built in Baltimore at a cost of
S25,000 but, while being towed to
the spot, it was caught i'm a gale and
| wrecked. The beacon was forty feet
high, and rested on pontoons--the idea
| being to cut away the pOntoons aud