Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-24

miles inland. Both of these beacons
are very powerful and are so placed
that they, can be seen by mariners.
one above the other, as the harbor is
approached. The Richmond Hill light
on Staten Island throws beam of
100000 candle power twenty-five miles
out To sea.
These two powerful lights and the
other smaller lights that mark the
boundaries of the Ambrose Channel
have caused sailors to call it the
Great White Way of the sea-" 1t is
marked by many buoys as well as
lights. Some of them have automatic
whistles and others are equipped with
bells. The pilots know each one as
Wen as a city dweller knows the prin-
cipal landmarks along a frequently
travelled street.
The Ambrose Channel is one of the
worlds greatest waterways. 1t is
1000 feet wide, 40 feet deep and 71a
miles long. More ships traverse it
than any other water road in the
world They are of every variety and
fly every flag.
The lighthouse Board, which has
charge of placing the buoys and lights
and other aids to navigate thorough
out the United States and its colonial
possessions, is one of the most import
ant and best known branches of the
Government. The whole country is di-
vided into nineteen different districts,
of which the Third. which includes
New York, is the most important. At
Tompkinsville. Staten Island, is main
tanned the largest depot for supplies,
as we'll as the headquarters for the
Third district. The Tompkinsville sta
ton of the Lighthouse Board covers
several acres on the shore n short
walk, from the ferry at st. George.
There are many office buildings and
workshops there. and strange looking
steel buoys lie on the ground or along
the docks. Until one walks about the
grounds one does not realize that
there are so many different kinds of
buoys
Each buoy has its own particular
meaning. Buoys strictly speaking, are
called day marks. to distinguish them
from night marks, which comprise
everything that carries a light The
first buoy that Ships approaching New
York encountcr is called a mammoth
buoy. 1t MARKS The approach to the
channel and Is placed some distance
from the coast Along the channel
itself are ranged red and black buoys
The red buoys have even numbers and
are placed on the starboard or right
hand side as one passes in from the
sea- The black buoys always have
odd numbers and are on the left or
port side. Where there are two or
more channels each is marked by
buoysS of different size and shape.
An obstruction that has a channel on
either side of it is indicated by a buoy
with red and black horizontal stripes
A buoy with white and black perpen-
dicular stripes, placed in midchannel,
is sign that ships should pass close
to it 10 avoid danger. Where the
channel turns the buoys are surmoun-
ted by triangles, cages or other indi-
cations to show the direction taken
by the waterway.
Other buoys carry fog signals. These
are of two types-the bell buoy and
the whistling buoy. The bell buoy has
framework on which is mounted
bell There is no clapper inside the
bell. In one type there are three or
four clappers that swing and strike
outside as the buoy losses with the
| motion of the water. Another type
has what looks like a small cannon
ball that rolls about on the platform
! just beneath the mouth of the bell and
strikes it. Bell buoys are placed in
harbors and rivers where the waters
arc comparatively smooth and where
1t is not necessary that their warning
should be audible at any great dis
lance.
WhIstling buoys are usually placed
off coasts where there are shoals or
reefs. The air that is admitted and
compressed by the rising and falling
of the waves is forced through a loco
| motive whistle which surmounts the
buoys. and keeps up an intermittent
| shrieking. The rougher the seas the
louder the noise, and for this reason
a whistling buoy is nearly always
placed in very turbulent waters. 1t
can he heard at distance of ten miles
under ordinary conditions.
The floating part of all buoys is now
made of iron. There are three stand
ard shapes of buoys, the nun buoy,
which is sharply eonical; the can
buoy, which approaches the cyclin-
drical form and the ice buoy, which is
very long and narrow and resembles
the spar buoy. Spar buoys are heavy
poles from twelve to sixty feet in
length. The usual weight of anchors
for the large buoys around New York
harbor is 5000 pounds. The anchors
are solid hemispherical pieces of iron.
The buoys around New York espec-
tally are being continually run down
by steamers, but as they are built
with watertight compartments, they
are seldom sunk. They have to be
watched and kept in repair continually
and this furnishes employment to
large number of men in such a busy
district as New York.
The Lighthouse Board used to be a
branch Of the Treasury Department,
but was reorganized and became a bu-
reau of the Department of Commerce
and Labor July /, 1910. The object of
its reorganization was to save money
and provide a more direct administra-
ton. Formerly the direction of the
Lighthouse Board was in the hands
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