The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1912-07-26
COLORS or BUOYS
Spell the Same Words Of Warn
ing In All Our Waters.
DAY GUIDES FOR MARINERS.
The Simple Code That Governs These
Valuable Aids to Navigation-How
the Whistlins Buoy and Bell Buoy
Fog Signals Arc Operated.

b"S S""P'o SVu0 suat 1oNe'uo iHos
i Valuable Aids to Navisation-to,
the WhistIins Buoy and Bell Buo
Fog Signals Are Operated.
As everybody knows, there are blac
buoys and red buoys, buoys with hor
zontal black and red stripes. buoy
with black and white vertical stripes
not to speak of bell buoys and th
much larger buoys that lie well out II
sea and are called mammoth huoys :"
Each Of these aids to navigation has
Of course, it's own particular meanin-
The place that each occupies Is care
fully chosen for 1t, and Its arrangement
is governed by careful system.
Buoys are called day marks" ii
contradstinction to the might marks
the lights and beacons
For the purposes of the lighthouse
board the coasts of the United States
Including the lakes and navigabIt
rivers. are divided into various dis
tricts. each district being under the
| charge of an officer who sees that nj
buoys in his district are properly cared
| for.
For obvious reasons similar buoys In
all districts mean the same thing. In
other words. n buoy of particular dis
tinguishing color off the coast of Maine
carries the same significance that Il
buoy OF that same color has Off the
coast of Florida. So the mariner who
enters the New England port is guided
and directed in precisely the same way
as the mariner who enters southern
port, and the same is true of all other
parts of the country.
The government publishes coast
charts showing the colors and posi-
tions of the buoys. The lighthouse
board publishes. in addition, a yearly
list, distributed gratis for the benefit
Of navigation. in which each one of the
thousands of buoys is located and
described.
The passenger standing at the rail of
the liner coming in from sea will prob.
ably first notice mammoth buoy"
These buoys are used only in special
cases-as, for example, to mark the ap-
proaches to channels over bars or
shoals that lie some distfnce from the
coast.
Red and black buoys designate the
channel They lie on either side. The
red buoys, which have even numbers,
must be left on the starboard or right
hand In passing in from sea. The black
buoys, always with odd numbers. must
be left on the port hand.
When there are two or more chan
nels these are distinguished by differ.
ence either in the size or in the shape
of the buoys.
An isolated rock, wreck or any OBJ
struction that has channel on either
side of it is shown by buoy with red
and black horizontal stripes
Buoys showing white and black per-
pendicular stripes and lying in mid
channel indicate that they must be
passed close to avoid danger.
AS an indication that there IS turn
ing point in the channel we see buoys
surmounted by triangles, cages. etc.
There are buoys which are also fog
signals, such as the bell buoy and the
whistling buoy. The latter Is used off
the coast to show dangerous outlying
shoals or other distractions. 1t is sur
mounted by locomotive whistle made
to sound by the rushing through II
of air admitted and compressed by the
rising and falling motion of the buoy
itself 1t has been found that these
buoys are particularly adapted to tur
bulent waters, inasmuch as the more
violent the sea is the louder the sound
given out by the buoy. The whistlng
buoy, most unpleasant neighbor, may
be heard a at distance of about ten
miles. Under very favorable conditions
It has been heard fifteen miles.
The bell buoy consists of the bottom
section of buoy floating in the water
On which is mounted framework
bearing a bell which, instead of the
ordinary tongue and clapper, shows
small cannon ball supported on a plat
form just beneath the BELLS mouth.
This ball rolls to and fro with every |
notion Of the sea.
Bell buoys are employed In harbors
ind rivers where the water is smooth
n than in the roadsteads and where
t is not necessary that their sound
hall be heard great distance.
The ordinary buoy. not Of the whis
ling or the bell variety. is made either
Il wood or of iron. Those of iron are
hollow with air tight compartments
md are of three shapes, called re-
pectively nun. can and ice buoys.
rhe nun buoy Is almost conical In
hape, the can buoy approaches the
cylindrical form, and the ice buoy is
Tery long and narrow. somewhat re
embling the spar buoy In form.
The wooden or spar buoys are sticks
angling In length from twelve to sixty
eet and painted according to the uses
o which they are to be put The
over end Is fitted for mooring chain.
Buoys have many vicissitudes and
re exposed to many dangers. Passing
teamers run down the iron buoys and
ip them open or cut of big pieces Of
par buoys with their sharp propeller
'lades. As the iron buoys are made
D compartments, they are seldom
unk by such collisions. but their line
{ fiotation is often 30 lowered that i
hey have to be replaced.-Harper's