The morning journal-courier., 1908-02-18
STATION AT FAULT Cottagers Not Responsible for Quenching Fog Sirens
 Noises. MACHINERY SHOOK TOWER New Sirens Designed to Shake the Light Tower as Little as
 Possible.
MACHINERY SHOOK TOWER

The wrecking of a tow of barges on Middle (Luddington Rock) Breakwa- ter early Saturday morning through the alleged uselessness of Outer Breakwater (Sperry) light fog signal, brings the attention of the general public to matter that has been alive in maritime circles for long period.
 The lighthouse establishment does its work with as little publicity as possible. There is good reason for this as changes in aids to navigation are too important matters to be re- ported in a careless way. All light house men, from the humblest post light tender to the district inspector, refuse to dvnlge anything about con ditions or plans. This fact is causing the people of Woodmont to be given too much credit, for some critics are blaming them influencing the light house board to maintain the present useless siren Such is not the case. It is the condition of the light tower that is at fault and 1t is one of the
  authorities.
 When the station was established a first class siren was installed for fog signal, 1t could easily be picked up after passing Stratford shoal and gave the sea faring men excellent satisfac- ton. It could always be heard and made a direct lead" for New Haven entrance. Residents along the shore protested against the racket, and have been congratulating themselves on their Influence" ever since the light house engineer found the heavy ma chinery of the siren was shaking the tower to pieces and ordered 1t re- moved.
 The new sirens have never given satisfaction to anyone. They were de- signed to make as little strain as pos sihle on the building but even In this they seem to have been failures They are driven by miniature engines devel- oping only about two horse power and speed was intended to take the place of force. Last summer the com plaints of the tug boat men about the signals were given attention and new engines were installed They have fail- cd to make the siren sound any bet ter than the old ones did It has hap pened more than once that boats have approached the light so near that they could hear the rattle of the machinery without getting any sound of the horn.
 During all this time the condition of the tower has been getting worse. The plates of the cassion are drawn wide apart The machinist and blacksmith have strapped the plates with iron bands until the foundation of the tow CT. between high and low water marks has the appearance of being covered with hoops, What the conditions un- der water are the ordinary observer can only guess. There are cisterns located in the foundation and tide ebhs and flows into them in a man ner that indicates breaks of good di- mensions in the walls. This began last July.
 Up in the engine room great cracks in the brick lining wall show how the building has settled and swayed.
 Early in September the tender Mis- tletoe steamed in to the harbor with a force of workmen to make irepairs. They took off one plate from the cas- sion and found the concrete wall to be in bad condition The district-en- gineer and inspector came and ex- amined if. The plate was replaced and the Mistleto steamed away.
 Since that time various rumors have fioated around among the lighthouse men. Some said it was planned to | sink a coffer dam and rebuild the l foundation and others thought rip- rap would be piled around the tower l Be that as it may it is very certain 1 that repairs must be made before inc strain of heavy fog sgnal can be ventured