The Coolidge examiner., 1937-05-13

PREPARED by National Geographic Society.
Washington, d. C-WNU Service.
DHE most magnificent of all
lighthouses was built before
the dawn of New Testament
history, but the most remark
able of navigational safeguards has
come only in the past few years.
Day and night 3 monotonous
drone of dots and dashes goes out
over the sea, penetrating the thick
est rain and fog, to help bring the
voyager safely home.
Today radiobeacon are essential
equipment on our most important
lightships and lighthouses, and ap-
paratus for receiving radiobeacon
signals is carried on all modern pas
senger liners and many other ves-
sells.
Thus, after more than 1900 years,
we approach the solution of one of
mankind's oldest problems. The
lofty Pharos of Alexandria, erected
by the Ptolemies near the mouth OF
the Nile, has never been surpassed
by any other lighthouse in height or
in fame. Its name became the
word for lighthouse in the Romance
languages; the French use it in
radiophare Cradiobeacon).
But the signal which this magnif-
cent tower gave to mariners was
the light and the smoke from an
open fire. No progress was made
in marine signal lights for many
centuries. Only a hundred and
twenty-five years ago tallow candles
burned in the famous Eddystone
lighthouse near the English coast,
and until 1916 the May Island light,
off Scotland, still used blazing
coal fire to guide ships.
Nearly all the major advances in
lights and fog signals-the electric
lamp, the incandescent oil-vapor
light, the Fresnel lens focusing the
beam in the horizon of the mariner,
the fast revolving light making it
possible still further to gather the
rays into powerful beams, and the
fog bells, followed by the whistle,
siren, and diaphone-have been de-
veloped within a little more than
century.
Only in the last 80 years has so
necessary an aid been employed as
the lighted buoy, boon to the navi-
gator who must bring his vessel into
port at night through treacherous
shoals and narrow channels.
Only the Radio Signal Is Certain.
The most notable advance was
made Is years ago, when radio
beacons were placed by the United
States lighthouse service on Am
brose Channel lightship and two 9TH
er stations in the approaches to New
York. Thus was solved an age-old
problem. Only the radio signal pen
etrates fog and rain that blot out
the most brilliant light. It can carry
it's message of safety through
storms that drown the most power
full whistle.
Above the pilothouse of a modern
liner you will see small rotating
coil antenna mounted on a metal
frame. This coil receives radio
beacon signals now sent out from
important lighthouses and Ightships
more than 120 of them on the
coasts of this country.
In approaching the coast, the nav
igator of a ship with this coil picks
up a radiobeacon signal-perhaps
the four dashes from Nantucket
Shoals ightShip, or the single dots
from Ambrose. By rotating his ra-
diocompass coil until the signal
fades away ('taking the minimum"
it is called, he determines the di-
rection from which the signal
comes, even from distances of
more than a hundred miles.
Anyone who has stood on the deck
OIL q 1lIlS1 III d tripping 1OSS dilu
has wondered at the courage of the
navigators going ahead toward the
unseeable, must realize what
blessing this is to tense nerves.
how valuable is this gift of science
to better navigation and to safety
at sea.
Radiobeacon systems now are be-
ing extended throughout the world,
and radio direction-fnders are be-
ing placed on more and more YES
sells, recently even on fishing craft.
There also are direction-fnding sta
tlons on shore which give radio
bearings to ships asking for them.
Distance Finding on Great Lakes.
A simple arrangement for dis
tance finding is now in use at a
number of stations, especially on
the Great Lakes. The radio signal
and the sound signal are synchro-
nized to be sent at the same in