Arizona republican., 1913-12-28
T0 INVESTIGATE
 LIGHT HOUSES
For First Time Since the Establishment of Service United States is to Con- duet Inquiry of Efficiency and Management
Special to The Republican,

T the first time since the establishment of the United States light t-house ser vice the efficiency and mana cement of the service are about to be made the subject of an exhaustive official investigation. Secretary Redfield has fixed January as the date for be- ginning an exhaustive inquiry into the entire workings of the service. The investigation is the result of general charges against the lighthouse service as d whole and specific charge that the government has been paying too much for certain type of acetylene has buOYs it. has been using at many points.
 In respect to territory covered and aid maintained the lighthouse service of the United States is much the most extensive service of it's kind in the world. The sea-coast line under the jurisdiction of the United States is 4SSSl statute miles, measured in three mile steps. The general gov ernment provides lighthouses and oth- ] CT aids ito navigation along all this coast. with the exception of the Phil : ippine Islands, 11,5ll miles and Pan anna, where the marking of the coasts is maintained by the local govern ments.
 In addition. the United States pro vides lights along the American shores , of the Great Lakes. 4029 miles, and on interior and coastal rivers. 547S miles. The United States thus maintains lights and other aids to navigation along 46.S2S. miles of coast line and river channels. length equal to near . lr twice the circumference of the earth In this distance it has 12,S24 aids to navigation of all classes, suf- !. ficient ito place one every two miles :. around the equator
 The lighthouse service is carried on : through an organization of nineteen : districts. under a central office in this city. Each district is in charge : of a lighthouse inspector and has a local office and one or more supply 2 depots and lighthouse tenders. Tn al : there. are forty six of these small yes . sels which carry the supplies to the 70 SidllbIS anu pldCe ana maintain lile . buoys and light vessels
 , About $50 men are required for the ; light-hou work, of whom about 200 's7ITe in the executive. engineering and clerical force about 800 are in the construction and repair force
 The entire personnel is under the civil rules, and appointments and ,1rt ,+,e;a a,.;t system. This is of great importance for the maintenance of good organi- zatiOn and rigid discipline in a purely technical service, on the efficient con duct of which is dependent the safe ty of all the lives and all of the property carried on the seas and the navigable waters of this country.
 The annual maintenance cost of the entire service is close to $5,O00,- there has been expended about $1,000,- 900 a year on new lighthouse works and vessels.
 At all important light stations there are from two to five keepers, who maintain a continuous watch of the light at night and of the approach of fog at all times. At less important stations there is but one keeper and sometimes a single keeper cares for several lights.
 For New York harbor and immed- fate approaches alone 26S aids to na- vigation are required, including forty six shore lights. two little vessels and thirty lighted buoys; there are 192 buoys of all classes and thir- ty-seven for signals, including sound ing buoys.
 The electric lights at Navesink. on the Highlands just south of New York harbor is the most powerful coast light in the United States. This light shows each five seconds flash of one-tenth second duration, esti- mated at 60,000,000 candle power. Al though on account of the curvature of the earth the light itself cannot be seen more than 22 miles. it's beam has been reported to have been ob- served in the sky at distance of 70 nautical miles.
 IL is most important that lights to he distinguished from each other as to avoid the possibility of the mariner mistaking one for another. To this end lights are distinguished by their number color. intensity or time of visibility With the system now available of flashing and occulting lights it is possible to obtain q. great variety Of clearly distinguishable characteristics.