Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-28
Lighthouse Service
Gives Valuable Aid
BIZ Frederic J. Hdsktn.

otherwise aiding vessels day and night
along all bodies of water in or touching
the Country's shores where vessels ply,
the men who sit for years in towers are
so keen of vision and so well informed
about their task that they might we'll be
called the Nations only vigilantes.
This is especially true of the light
house service on the Great Lakes, for no
body of water has heavier traffic. One
thinks of the Seven Seas and their bur-
den Of sail and steam. and one thinks OF
the Suez and Panama Canals. but
through none does such tonnage pass as
through the Great Lakes seaways.
More than 10000 passages year are
made up and down these seas and the
tonnage the ships carry makes those
which the face of Helen OF Troy
launched appear as a high school re-
gatta. Eighty-fve ships a day, on an
average, pass through the Detroit River.
that body Of water which connects the
upper lakes with the lower ones; There
are some small sailing vessels and some
motorboats to make up the total, but
most of them are from 400 to 900 feet in
length. There are the great whalebacks
which come down from Duluth and Su-
perlor with cargoes of iron ore, and there
are the wheat ships which bring the
grain from the broad fields of the Da-
kotas.
1t must be obvious that these ships
need aids to navigation. From Duluth
to Cleveland, for instance, the voyage is
1888 miles And of this trip, 1875 miles. or
% per cent, of the entire voyage lies
along dredged channels and through the
thronglng traffic of great seaports-for
these lake cities are seaports in that,
through the Welland Canal and the st.
Lawrence River, the boats may and do
go out to the broad Atlantic.
The 18th lighthouse district Is in
charge Of these teeming waterways. It
is true that on the northern brink the
Dominion of Canada bears her share OF
responsibility for the lights. but most OF
the job is done by the lighthouse service
of the United States.
Lights began to be built back in the
early days OF the settlement Of the
Northwest Territory. as it then was
called. In the days when Comdr. Robert
Rogers had charge of the fortress at
Michilimackinac there were lights of
fashion, although not very effective ones.
For the most part they were beacons
lighted by wood fires. But with the
passage of time and especially with the
development of the great lumber indus
try of Wisconsin and the Mesabi Range
iron mines. whence the iron ore comes
down to Ashtabula and Conneaut and
Erie, aids to navigation became impera-
tive.
The long, dean Whaleback vessels could
not trust to dead reckoning; they needed
lights and buoys to bring them safely
through the narrow seas and to port
where their cargoes were awaited Thou
sands of men depend for their en-
ployment upon the delivery Of this heavy
freight
One of the chief impediments to navi-
CATION of the upper lakes consisted of the
Falls of the st. Marys River The State
of Michigan had the enterprise to build
a canal around the falls as early as 1855,
but the Federal Government soon took
the whole thing over 1t took time to
complete the work, but by 1881 the
Sault Ste. Marie Canal. better known
as the 500, had been constructed and
put into operation This opened Lake
Superior to navigation, ending the long
portage around the falls. 1t was then
that the Stannard Rock and the Passage
Island Lighthouses were erected.
There was trade, of course, but it was
not until 1890 that the great riches Of
the Mesabi Range iron mines were dis
covered and the waters of Lake Superior
burdened with tonnage they never had
dreamed of before 1t is curious thing,
but no great steel industry was develop@
in the neighborhood of the mines. That
was, doubtless because of the lack of
coal. So the iron ore was freighted down
the lakes to the southern ports of those
waters. Almost, it seemed. with every
cargo more lights were established; not.
of course, full-toWered lighthouses, but
ugnteQ DuOyS ana DeaCOnS.
The Detroit River. the ST. Marys River
and the shallow Lake Of St. Clair require
aids to a richer navigation than ever
Venice or Genoa knew. Where their
argosies with portly sail or with proud
steam came down the narrow seas, there
was urgent need for the beacons which
would show the way to safe passage, and
those were supplied by the Federal Gov
eminent through the United States
lighthouse service. 1t is interesting to
ton in these waters.
In 1911 there were Sal such aids. while
today there are some 500. There were So
fog signals in 1911 and there now are
approximately l00 There have been
many wrecks, some with heavy loss of
life and some with only loss Of property.
but whenever it is demonstrated that
particular point is dangerous and needs
further protection, that protection Is
supplied.
A good deal of work has been carried
on in connection with the deepening and
widening of shipping channels and, as
that is done, it is necessary to mark the
channels with appropriate lights The
radio beacon has been used to advantage
in these waters.
1t gets very cold on the upper Great
Lakes; ice forms on bunt and gasket
and, If a ship is behind its schedule, its
path may be blocked by fields of ice. 1t