Lighthouses And Lightships Of The United States

Excerpt from Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States The lighthouse and the lightship appeal to the interest and better instinct of man because they are symbolic of never-ceasing watchfulness, of steadfast endurance in every exposure, of widespread helpfulness. The building and the keeping of the lights is a picturesque and humanitarian work of the nation. But this work is not all romance, as, unseen by the passing mariner, and back of the lighthouse and ship and buoy, there must be a great engineering and business machine with its endless contracts, plans, specifications, appointments, the routine of office and depot and ship and light-station. Scarcely a day passes, however, that there does not gleam in the mass of dry routine a fact of interest, an act of bravery, a risk cheerfully taken to aid another, a record of long and faithful service, an improvement of light or of fog signal, of vessel or of lighthouse, an historic record of the past, or a photograph of the present. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ... LIGHTHOUSES OF OTHER COUNTRIES AND OF ANTIQUITY The most famous lighthouse is the Eddystone, a sea-swept lighthouse off the south coast of England, fourteen miles from Plymouth.' Four successive towers have been built on this ledge, the first three by private enterprise. Each has been a work of great difficulty, as the rock is submerged at high tide and lies in an exposed position. The first tower, built of timber and of rather fantastic design, was completed in 1699, after four years of work; during the first year all that was accomplished was drilling twelve holes in the rock and fastening irons in them. In 1697, during the progress of this work, Winstanley, the designer, and his men were taken off the rock by a French privateer, but the story is that their release was ordered by Louis XIV, who remarked that he was at war with England, but not with humanity. Winstanley was so confident of the lighthouse that he had wished to be in it "in the greatest storm that ever blew under the face of heaven." In November, 1703, he went to the tower with workmen to make some repairs; a great storm on November 26 completely demolished the lighthouse and Winstanley and the keepers and workmen perished. The need of a lighthouse on the Eddystone was soon proved by the wreck of a manof-war on the rock, and the loss of most of her crew. Another lighthouse of timber and of simple outline was finished in 1709, designed by Rudyerd, and stood until destroyed by fire in 1755. A lightship was placed off the rock the following year, and a tower built entirely of stone was commenced in 1756 and completed in 1759. Smeaton, the engineer, used, for the first time in a lighthouse, dovetailed joints for the stones, which averaged over one ton in weight. Owing to...

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Romances innumerable have been woven around the flaming guardians of the coast, but it is doubtful whether any purely imaginative work is so fascinating and absorbing as the plain unvarnished narrative of how some famous lightship or lighthouse has been brought into existence. And the story of construction is equalled in every way by that relating to the operation and maintenance of the light, against all odds, for the guidance of those who have business upon the ocean. This volume is not a history of lightships and lighthouses; neither is it a technical treatise. Rather my object has been to relate how the difficulties, peculiar and prodigious, have been overcome by the builders in their efforts to mark some terrible danger-spots, both on the mainland and isolated sea-rocks. While the lines of the lightship and lighthouse are familiar to all, popular knowledge concerning the internal apparatus of the building or ship is somewhat hazy. Therefore I have explained, with technicalities simplified as much as possible, the equipment of the tower and vessel, and the methods whereby both visual and audible warnings are given. The very latest developments in this field of engineering and science are incorporated, so as to render the subject as comprehensive as possible within the limits of a single volume. In the compilation of this book I have received the heartiest assistance from those who are prominently associated with the work of providing adequate aids to navigation, and am particularly indebted to the engineers to the Commissioners of Northern Lights, Messrs. D. and C. Stevenson;vi Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Anderson, the Engineer-in-Chief to the Lighthouse Department of the Canadian Government; the various officials of the Lighthouse Board of the United States of America; the Engineer-in-Chief to the French Service des Phares; the lighthouse authorities of New South Wales and New Zealand; Mr. Gustaf Dalén and his assistants; Messrs.