The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-11-05
our (oa3T LIGHTS
These fefccns Age Invaluable as
kiGs 10 Navigation.
THE SERVICE NEVER SLEEPS
Night and Day at All Seasons Of the
Yea the Flash OF the Lamp or the
SOM Of the Fog Siren Welcomes or
Warns tire Watchful Mariner.

The work OF safeguarding navigation
Oh she coasts of the United States Is a
| far greater and more complex problem
than most people appreciate, for there
Is a mu tltu le Of complex conditions 10
be met, each one varying with the pc
| culinr ties Of its location. The terri.
tory 10 be covered Is also unusually
| great, o. 1t Includes not only the entire
ocean fronts of the country, both on
the Atlantic Dnd Pacific oceans, but OF
Ala ska, the Hawaiian Islands, portions
Of the West Indies and the great lakes
as well and the service never ends
either by night or day, summer or win
ter.
| The lighthouse service comprises d
| force Of 5000 men, on whom devolves
the duty OF maintaining over 14,0O0
aids to navige ton Of various kinds, In.
| cluding lighthouses, lightships, light
| beacOns and buoys OF various descrip
tions, together with many fog signals,
and an important incidental duty Is
| that of protecting the shores I'm the
| neilhborhood of stations from damage
| by erosion that might endanger the
structures.
The desirable distribution Of lights
and other aids along a coast depends
on It's maritime development and Its
| physical characteristics and Is infu-
enced by the prevailing meteorological
conditions. Thus the north Atlantic
coast has a large foreign and coastng
trade, aud the shores are intricate and
In part rugged, and along this coast
the main lights are, with few excep-
lions, placed at such intervals that
their arcs Of visibility overlap. On
portions of the coast Of simple con-
tour, and with smaller traffic, there
are unlighted stretches between the
lights which stand on the projecting
of lighthouses vary with their loca
ton and the surrounding conditions,
no two being exactly alike.
Next to the lighthouse, the lightship
is one OF the most picturesque objects
seen along our coasts. This vessel Is
ninety-two feet on the water line,
twenty-five feet beam and has a
draft Of eleven feet four inches. 1t Is
built Of steel and incombustible ma
terials throughout and has five water
tight bulkhcads. 1t is self propelled,
being provided with an internal com
bustiol oil burning engine of 200
horf eI over, and has an oil vapor or
gas light fifty feet above the water,
located on tubular mast, through
which access 10 the light can be safely
had IN any weather. The fog signal
Is siren using compressed air, and
a subj larinc bell is also fitted. Fifty
two Ii yht vessels are maintained, and
that tlcre may be no interruption Of
the service there are fourteen relief
ships, SD that If anything happens to
ship or station another can be quick
ly sent to take It's place. All Of these
vessels are very strongly built to en-
able them to withstand the severe
service they are required to perform
and have flush decks for increased
safety.
Only one light, that at Navesink,
n. j., is equipped with electric light for
which current is generated at the sta.
ton, bat there are thirty minor stations
where electric lights, either incandes
cent o. arc, are used which obtain cur.
rent from outside sources. In most OF
the coast lights OIL vapor lamps are
used having mantles of either thirty.
Ave or fifty-fve millimeters diameter
and arranged either singly or In groups
giving light intensities OF from 600 to
$500 candles. These lamps are not
only very powerful and reliable, but
are much more economical than the old
oil wick lamps, as they require but
from &C TO 0SS gallon per candle pow
| er per year as against As to 7.6 gallons
for the old oil lights. The increased
Illuminating efficiency Is about eight
| times.
Beacons, both fixed and floating, are
numerous and depend on either gas or
electricity for their lights, and these
| are especially valuable In inaccessible
places where attendance Is difficult
These, however, are only put In sta.
lions of subordinate Importance. The
majority Of such beacons use gas and
| are provided with tanks OF sufficient
| capacity for storing supply OF acety.
lene gas for about five months.
Fog signals are OF particular value ir
many places. and these are distributed
along the coast, according to conditions
prevailing. Thus on the coast OF Maine
there IS an average OF 1857 hours OF
fog du ing the year, while on the south
Atlantic and gulf coasts the average Il
only 1S0 hours. There are 32S fog sig
nails from Cape Lookout northward out
of total a SCI maintained by the
service. There are 127 fog signals on
the American shores OF the great lakes
and eighty-three on the northern Pa
cific and Alaska shores. while In Porto
Rico and Hawaii, where fog Is rare. no
signals Of this kind are required.
The principal fog signals used are ali
sirens. steam whistles. reed horns, bells
controlled by clockwork and submarine
bells operated by compressed air. all OF
which are valued by sailors.-Engineer
lnG News.
| Ir;tiaI Naloritv