Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-03-16
WRESTLING bU0YS
2 ~. Ak g4A n /.
They Are Simple In Principle and
Certain In Operation. III
PLAYTHINes OF THE WAVES

Tho Rise and Fall Of the Water civs
Birth to Their Penetrating shrisks'
Placing and Removing Thorn Are
Tasks .Frausht With Deadly Peril.
Sea travellers up and down our coast
lines often hear a strange, weird SOUND
to port or starboard. a sort OF COM
pound of moan and shrek, at once sott
and insistent. subdued and penetrating.
It is the cali of the whistllng buoy to
the man at the helm, warning him OF
shoal or dangerous place.
These whistling buoys, which are
enormous masses Of iron, often weigh
ing several tons. are as simple In prin'
ciple as they are certain in operation.
The buoy proper consists OF a huge
pear shaped bulb, little end up. on top
Of which Is q powerful whistle, pro
tected from accidental blow or collision
by q framework Of iron bars, II an
air intake. Below and projecting Tar
down into the water is an open tube OF
metal. The whole thing Is secured N
position with an anchor and a chaln.
which last is long enough for the depth
OF the water in which the buoy 10
placed to permit the free movement OF
the mass up and down.
When a wave lifts the buoy up IN the
air the water in the tube, acting as Z
piston, sucks in air through the intake
It is confined in the bulb Of the buoy
by a simple valve which prevents Its
egress through the intake. When the
waves drop the buoy in the trough OF
the waves the water In the tubs
presses up on the confined air and CON-
presses it. 1t finds exit through the
whistle, which thus sounds its warning
note. 49,.
1t might be supposed that, having no
mechanism but a valve, such buoys'
once put in position, could be left there
for an indefinite period OF time. But
the sea has strange ways with her
playthings. and yer If the necessity OF
constant painting Of the buoy to pro-
tect it from the action Of sea water was
not existent it would still be necessary
to keep a watch on these signals and
to take them up and replace them
rather often, for the big tube project
Ing down into the water Is q great at
traction to barnacles and 'seaweed, and
not inftequently these marine CROWNS
SO interfere with the action Of the buoy
Us to keep it silent in ordinary weather
and to dim its voice in bad weather.
1t then becomes necessary to work"
a new whistler in position, which is \
regular part of the duty of a lighthouse
tender or buoy tender, Of which yes
sells there are many in the service.
When a buoy is to be worked" the
tender repairs to a yard or station and
by means OF her crane lifts on deck the
freshly painted and thoroughly repair
ed new buoy which is to replace that
one which Is either silent or which has
served its allotted time and Is now due
for replacement. -f..r.
There is nothing difficult about this.
1t Is getting the enormously large inc
unwieldy mass of iron overheard and
taking on board the one which II IN
the water which causes the difficulty.
The very waves which are necessary
to the successful operation OF the buoy
make it hard to manage at the end OF 4
crane on board a comparatively small
vessel.
When a buoy tender goes to work"
4 whistler she clears her deck Of every
thing else but the buoy. which Is Sc
cured with checks aud chains against
the roll Of the vessel. The old buoy 10
approached cautiously, within a couple
of hundred feet, and the new buoy 10
allowed to slide overheard rather than
picked up and placed IN the water, the
crew guiding it by guy ropes, while the
powerful crane lifts just enough to per-
nit the buoy to move. With the vessel
slowly rolling from side to side on the
slow seas Of even a quiet day-the good
days are purposely picked for this
work-the mass Of freshly painted iron
with its long tube presents %potentiaIi'
lies for evil which must be closely
watched. Let the buoy but get clear
OF the deck and the fall tackle set
Tanned and there would come into be-
Ing q three ton pendulum with an iron
fail thirty-six feet long capable OF
smashing the boat to bits and certainly
of sweeping broken boned men about
the deck with no more effort than II
they were so; many flies. a....
But, If getting the new buoy over
board is dangerous work, hauling the
old one in is more 50. The buoy Is first
secured by good %seamanship. managing
the steam vessel, with q rope through
the iron cage at its top. Working
from this, ropes, chains and Springs"
or heavy cables are brought into play
and the whole very cautiously lifted
and secured as 1t comes over the side.
It is allowed to swing free not at all.
save perhaps for an instant, just as It
is laid fat on the deck, and then, ap-
parently in the very face Of death. a
dozen men spring at the mass, ready
to swing with the waves and to de-
molish them and thrust huge billets
of wood underneath its sides to hold
it long enough for lashings to make 1t
secure. The boat being Delayed to the
anchor chain then cautiously backs
away to raise the anchor, and there is