The Adair County news., 1912-08-07
C0LORS OF 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 Naviga tion-How
the WhistIing Buoy and Bell Buoy
Fog Signals Are Operated.


the WhistIing Buoy and Bell Buoy
Fog Signals Are Operated.
AS everybody knows, there are black
buoys and red buoys. buoys with hori-
zontal black and red stripes, buoys
with black and white vertical stripes,
not to speak of bell buoys and the
much larger buoys that lie well out at
sea and are called mammoth buoys."
Each of these aids to navigation has,
of course. its own particular meaning.
The place that each occupies is care
fully chosen for it. and its arrangement
is governed by careful system.
Buoys are called day marks" III
contradiStinction 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 navigabe
rivers. are divided into various dis
tricts, each district being under the
charge of an officer who sees that ali
buoys in his district are properly cared
for.
For obvious reasons similar buOys in
all districts mean the same thing In
other words. buoy of particular dis
tinguishing color off the coast of Maine
carries the same significance that a
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 a southern
port, and the same is true of all other
parts of the country.
The government publishes coast
charts showing the colors and posi-
tons 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 distance 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 a 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 a 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
>haals or other Instructions, 1t is sur
mounted by a locomotive whistle made
to sound by the rushing through il
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 whistling
buoy. a most unpleasant neiGhbor, may
he heard 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
IN which is mounted frdmework
hearing a bell which. instead of the
ordinary tongue and clapper. shows
small cannon hail supported on a plat
!orm just beneath the bells mouth
This ball rolls To aud fro with every
notion of the sea
Bell bnoYS are employed in harborS
and rivers where the water is smooth
- ;han in the roadSteadS and where
II IL not necessary that their sound
shan he heard great distance
rhe ordinary buoy not of the WINS
'In" nrsthe bell variety. is made either
Il wood or of iron Those of iron are
i0llOw with air right compartments
md are of three shapes. called re
SpPctively nun can and ice buOys.
rhe nun buoy is almost c0nicaI in
shape the can buoy approaches the
ylindrical form. and the ice buoy is
very long and narrow, somewhat re-
sembling the spar buoy in form
The wooden or spar buoyS are STICKS
Angling in length from twelve 10 sixty
rpet and painted according to the uses
70 which they are To he put The
over end is fitted for a mOoring chain
Rnoys have many vicissitudes and
ire exposed 10 many dangers PaSSin.
steamers run down the iron huoys and !
zip them open or cut off big pieces OF |
spar hnOys with their sharp propeller |
blades As the iron buoyS are made |
~ compartments they are seldom |
sunk by such collisions. but their tine |
at Rotation is often so covered that |