The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1912-08-09
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 WhistIins Buoy and Bell Buoy
Fog Signals Are Operated.

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 1t, and It's arrangement
is governed by careful system.
Buoys are called day Marks" In
contradlstinctlpn 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 naviSable
rivers, are divided into various dis
tricts, each district being under the
charge Of nm officer who sees that all
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
buoy Of that same color has off the
coast Of Florida. So the mariner who
enters the New England port Is guided
and directed I'm 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-
tons of the buoys. The lighthouse
board publishes, In addition, a yearly
list, distributed gratis for the benefit
of navigation, I'm which each one Of the
thousands Of buoys is located and
described.
The passenger standing Mt 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.
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 II is shown by buoy with red
and black horizontal stripes.
Buoys showing white and black per
lNsi
channel indicate that they must be
passed close to avoid danger
AS an indication thar there is a turn
ing point I'm the channel we see buoys
surmounted by triunges cages. etc.
There are buoys which are also fog
signals, such as the bell buoy and the
whistling buoy. The latter Is used of
the coast to show dangerous outlying
shoals or other distractions. 1t Is sur
mounted by a locomotive whistle made
to sound by the rushing through 1t
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, most unpleasant neighbor, may
be heard at distance OF about ten
miles. Under very favorable conditions
Il 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 bell which, instead Of the
ordinary tongue and clapper, shows q
small cannon ball supported on plat
form Just beneath the bells mouth
This ball rolls TO and fro with every
motion of the sea.
Bell buoys are employed In harhors
and rivers where the water Is smooth
er than in the roadStcads and where
II ia not necessary that their sonnd
shall be heard great distance.
The ordinary buoy. not OF the whis
fling or the bell variety. Is made either
of wood or Of iron. Those OF iron are
hollow with air tight compartments
and are of three shapes, called re
spectively nun. can and ice buoys.
The nun buoy is almost conical In
shape. the can buoy approaches the
cylindrical form, and the ice buoy Is
very long and narrow, somewhat re
sembllng the spar buoy In form.
The wooden or spar buoys are sticks
ranging In length from twelve to sixty
feet and painted according to the uses
to which they are TO he put The
lower end Is fitted for a mooring chain
Buoys have many vlcissitudes and
are exposed to many dangers. Passing
steamers run down the iron buoys and
rip them open or cut Off big pieces OF
spar buoys with their sharp propeller
blades. As the iron buoys are made
In compartments, they are seldom
sunk by such collisions. but their line
Of fotation Is often so lowered that
they have TO be replaced.
Weekly.