The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-01-31
MONSTER nseAPHoNEs.
How Uncle Sam Sends Cry Twenty
Miles.

mUN5s
4 The government lighthouse board
! dces not believe that the plan Of build.
ing a light tower of Cape Hattaras,
for which congress has just made
I conditional appropriation Of S59O,0OO
can ever he carried out successfully.
Diamond shoal, which has been called
;he Graveyard of the Atlantic" ex.
tends thirteen miles into the ocean,
and experimental borings have shown
that there is no solid bottom 100 feet
below the surface Of the sand. On
the contrary, the material seems TO be
come looser and and more fluid the
deeper one goes.
A 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 marines will ever be placed
there than such as will loat. In this
connection II Is interesting 10 consider
some OF the novel contrivances recent
ly accepted 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 can
20; be built.
One Of the most curious of these is
machine with gigantic voice.
which, under favorable conditions of
wind can shout so as to be heard at
distance Of twenty miles. II was set
up a short time ago at Falkner's Is
land. on the Connecticut shore and is
provided with eight huge megaphones,
each Of them seventeen feet long and
seven feet in diameter at the mouth.
Tie apparatus stands on a circular
T'~..--' on which it revolves, and
sfeat L...ns cry out to eu points Of the
compass, their voices being furnished
h. steam whistle. You can easily
imagine the tremendous vociferation
they emit at intervals Of fifteen sec
onds Each megapheae calls IN turn,
enl there is a distinct combination of
long and short blasts for each point
0. the compass, thus giving the marine
al accurate notion of the direction
from which the sound proceeds. This
Of course is a matter Of great import.
ence in fog.
Another 80, v.o.hoa - .naalse =
mighty voice across the sea involves
the use Of a diaphram which is made
to vibrate by electricity. To this are
attached two huge megaphones, which
emit deafening roar that can be
heard for many miles. The machine
goes by clockwork. and when wound
up attends TO business for weeks
without requiNng further attention.
a dynamo furnishes the requisite cur.
rent. The terrific blast from the gap
ing mouths Of the twin hCyns can be
heard above the noise OF the hercest
gale. Il literally skaters the air.
Once started, this vociferous guardian
does duty night and day, and never
goes TO sleep. II is designed specially
fer use on points Of rocks where bell
buoys and whistllng buoys are made
Quate by reason of the fact that the
noise they make are drowned
II is thought that there is no good
reason why such contrivance should
rot be set afloat held by strong mush-
room anchor. on Diamond shoal. on
Cape Hattaras. The fogs which pre-
vail in that vicinity are often so dense
that the lamps OF the light ship can
not be seen and an ordinary bell buoy
o. whistling buoy does not serve 10
send a warning for a great distance.
There Is however, a new kind OF bell
buoy, which the lighthouse board has
been experimenting with recently, that
IS wonderful noise maker. An essen
tial part OF II Is drum, which, as II
rises and falls on the waves. turns
several wheels. To each wheel a
tongue is attached, engaging with a
rachel ID such way as to strike a
lciI every time the drum goes down
or up. A mere rippling produces a con.
tlnuous changing which is described
as 4 din 50 internal that the machine
could not I,ossibly be used In any sit
uation close 10 human habitation- One
of them was tried an Robbins Reef.
rear New York, but was remoN I'd be-
cause the people OF that vicinity
si.iuitv threafeued riot