THE LIGHT-KEEPER AND HIS LIFE
The life of the guardian of a blazing signpost of the coast is much
the same the whole world over. It is unavoidably monotonous under
the best conditions. Each succeeding day and night brings a similar
round of toil, with very little variation. There are the same duties
to be performed in strict accordance with routine, and under normal
circumstances there are many idle hours which have to be whiled away
as best one can. On the mainland, especially in the South of England,
France, Germany, and the United States, the loneliness and monotony are
not felt so keenly by the wardens of the light, as in many instances
they are in close proximity to ports and towns, where a little welcome
relaxation may be obtained during the rest spells; while in the
summer evenings, if the lights should be only a few miles away from
civilization, visitors are frequent. Again, the keepers as a rule live
with their families in cosy solid buildings, and, having a stretch
of garden flanking their homes, can expend their hours of leisure to
advantage.
On the isolated, lonely rock, however, the conditions are vastly
different. The average person, when regarding on a calm day the tall
slim outlines of a tower rising from the water, is apt to regard
the life of those responsible for keeping the light going as one
enveloped in romance and peace, far removed from the trials and worries
of the maelstrom of civilization. But twenty-four hours on one of
these beacons completely dispel all romantic impression. The gilt of
fascination wears away quickly, and the visitor recognizes only too
forcibly the terrible desolation of it all, and admires the little band
of men who watch vigilantly over the deep for the guidance of those who
go down to the sea in ships.
The keepers of such stations are marooned as completely as any castaway
on a barren island. In many instances they cannot even signal to the
shore. If anything should go wrong, they must wait until a ship comes
in sight, to communicate their tidings by flag signals. If the call is
urgent, say for illness, and the passing boat carries a doctor, she
will heave to, and, if conditions permit, will launch a boat to carry
the medical man to the rock to administer aid. If it is a matter of
life or death, the ship will take the man off.
As may be imagined, upon a sea-rock, owing to the slender proportions
of the tower, the quarters are inevitably very cramped, with no
facilities for the men to stretch their limbs. The manner in which
space is economized in the small circular apartments is astonishing.
The essential furniture is built to the wall, and liberal cupboard
space is provided, the governing consideration being to provide the men
with as much open space as the restricted circumstances will permit.
The only exercise that the men can obtain in the open air is upon the
narrow shelf forming the landing platform, or the narrow gallery around
the lantern. In the majority of circumstances it is less than that
provided for the benefit of a prisoner in an exercise yard.
The lamp is lighted at dusk, and, unless it is a fixed white light, the
clockwork driving the occulting and revolving mechanism has to be wound
up. Seeing that this entails the lifting of a ton or so up the vertical
cylinder in which the weight travels, this is no mean task in itself.
Unremitting vigilance has to be maintained while the lamp is burning.
It demands attention from time to time, while, should anything serious
go wrong, the attendant must bring the reserve lamp into service
without a moment’s loss of time and without interruption of the ray.
“The light must not go out!” That is the inflexible rule of all
attended lights between the two Poles. Even if it failed only for a
minute, the circumstance would not escape observation. Some vessel
would detect the breakdown; it would be recorded in the captain’s
log-book. When he touched the first port, intimation would be sent to
the organization responsible for the beacon, setting forth the fact
that on such and such a night, at a certain hour, this light was not
showing in accordance with the official light list, or was giving a
warning different from that laid down for the guidance of the seafarer.
An inquiry would be instituted immediately to ascertain the reason, and
the light-keeper probably would find himself in an awkward position,
although months might have elapsed since the incident.
There is nothing haphazard about the control of lights. The
circumstances are too serious to permit the slightest deviation from
hard-and-fast regulations. The passing mariner is entirely dependent
upon these blazing guardians, maybe from a distance of fifteen miles or
more. He has his chart wherewith he is able to steer his way, but he
must have certain marks to guide him at night, so that he may be sure
of his course and position. Accordingly, every lighthouse possesses
some individual characteristic in regard to its light. As explained
elsewhere, it may be a group flash, an occulting flash of a distinctive
nature, a revolving light which completes a revolution once in a
certain period of time, or a fixed blaze.
Fortunately, the men watching over the lights appreciate the gravity
of their responsibility, and are reliable to an heroic degree. Each
is a man picked for the duty, who is not appalled by loneliness, and
is of unimpeachable precision. Of course, accidents will happen, but
dereliction of duty is criminal, because it may bring about loss of
life. Carelessness on the part of a light-keeper precipitated the
loss of the steamer _Victoria_ when crossing the English Channel from
Newhaven to Dieppe on April 12, 1887. The French coast, as it was being
approached, became shrouded by the inexorable fog-fiend. The captain
lost his way, although he knew, from the time he had been steaming,
that he must be perilously near the French shore. He listened for
the droning of the fog-siren mounted on Pointe d’Ailly, but in vain.
He sent to the engine-room to ascertain the number of revolutions
the engines had made, and this convinced him that he must be close
inshore, despite the silence of the fog-signal. Thinking that he might
have strayed some distance east of Dieppe, he brought his vessel
round, and then crawled slowly ahead. But he had scarcely settled into
his forward stride when there was a crash--a terrible splitting and
crunching. The vessel had kept a true course, and now had hit the very
rocks which the captain had sought to avoid. The passengers, being
ready to land, were got into the boats and pushed through the dense
curtain for land, but some thirty passengers and crew were never seen
again.
The subsequent inquiry revealed an amazing breach of duty on the part
of those in charge of the light-station. The head lighthouse-keeper,
off duty at the time, was asleep in bed, but his wife awoke him as she
observed the fog settling upon the water. He dressed hurriedly, and
rushed to see what his companion was doing. This official had failed
lamentably in his duties. Instead of starting the boiler fires to raise
the steam to work the siren upon the first signs of the approaching
enemy, as he should have done, he had delayed the duty. The result
was that an hour was wasted, and during this interval the unfortunate
captain took his ship upon the rocks. To make matters worse, the
keepers did not perceive the wreck until some two hours after the
disaster, although they admitted that they heard the cries of people
an hour and a half previously, but never suspected the cause of the
turmoil.
The man on watch during the night maintains a keen lookout. The
faintest signs of a gathering mist are sufficient to cause him to wake
his assistant to manipulate the fog-signal, even if the precaution
proves to be unnecessary. “It is better to be safe than sorry,” is the
lighthouse-keeper’s motto; so he runs no risks.
When the gathering brightness of the dawn enables the form of the
tower to be identified from a distance of several miles, the light is
extinguished. Heavy curtains are drawn across the windows, not only
to protect the lenses from the sun, but also to give a characteristic
colour to the lantern. Thus, by daylight a lantern may appear to be a
dull red or an intense black. To give a brilliant light by night and be
a prominent landmark by day forms the dual duty of the guardian of the
coast.
When the lantern has cooled, the keepers coming on the day shift have
to clean the lamps and put them in order for service the following
evening. Everything has to be overhauled and got ready for use at a
moment’s notice. The oil reservoirs have to be examined and charged,
and the panes of glass, with which the lantern is glazed, cleaned and
brightened. The reflectors have to be polished, for they must be kept
in a constant state of mirror-like brilliancy. All brasswork has to be
cleaned and polished until it gleams like burnished gold, while the
rooms must be washed and kept in the pink of condition, free from the
smallest specks of dust.
The necessity for extreme cleanliness and spotlessness is emphasized
in every lighthouse. The inspector has a highly-trained, quick
eye for detecting carelessness, and he has one instinct developed
peculiarly--the discovery of dust. He draws his fingers over
everything, and squints quizzically at an object from all angles. Woe
betide the keeper if the slightest trace of dirt is detected. Then the
inspector closes the other eye, and the keeper receives a squint which
does not augur well for his future. A few sharp, pointed remarks are
rasped out, and it is not long before the relief-boat comes out with
another man.
The engineers and other representatives of authority are remorseless.
A man is judged from apparently trifling details. If he permits a
door-knob to become sullied, he is just as likely to overlook the
polishing of the lenses, or to perform some other vital task in a
perfunctory manner.
One of the Stevensons achieved a peculiar notoriety among the Scottish
keepers for his unbending attitude in this connection. He had a scent
for dust and untidiness developed as keenly as that of a mouse for
cheese. When his boat came alongside a light, and the keeper stepped
forward to extend a helping hand, the eyes of the engineer scanned
him searchingly. If the man’s appearance were not immaculate,
trouble loomed ahead. This engineer maintained that if a man were
indifferent to his own appearance, and permitted dust to collect upon
his own clothes, he could not be trusted to maintain the delicate
apparatus of a lighthouse in apple-pie order! What was more to the
point, the engineer generally was correct in his deductions. He spared
no effort to place the most responsible lights in the hands of men
above suspicion in regard to cleanliness. Although, as this martinet
confessed, nothing pained him more than to have words with any of his
keepers, cleanliness had to be maintained.
[Illustration:
_By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
THE PUMPS WHEREBY THE OIL IS LIFTED FROM THE LOWEST FLOOR TO THE
LANTERN-ROOM.]
When the keeper has completed his routine duties, he is at liberty to
spend his leisure according to his inclinations. As a rule the men turn
these periods to advantage. Reading is a popular recreation, and the
authorities maintain a circulating library, the books being changed
with every relief. But the men could accept twice as much literature
as is available at present. Here a word should be said concerning the
Lighthouse Literature Mission and its work, which is international.
The idea was conceived by Mr. Samuel H. Strain, and the work is
conducted from Belfast, Ireland. The most conspicuous feature of this
organization is that every penny received is turned to good and useful
purpose in connection with the object. The founder conducts it without
monetary reward, so that the item of “operating” charges does not
swamp the greater proportion of receipts, as is the case with so many
so-called missions in other fields. There are few organizations which
are so deserving of financial support, because this mission brings
welcome relaxation to a hard-worked community whose vigil secures the
safety of those who travel on the sea. The labours of Mr. Strain are
highly appreciated by those who keep watch and ward in seagirt prisons,
and the mission deserves far stauncher support from the philanthropic
than it receives at present. Sympathizers with the loneliness of the
lighthouse-keeper are prone to think that these men are in dire need
of spiritual pabulum, and are apt to send literature of an emphatic
goody-goody nature. But the keeper of the light is as human as the
clerk in the city. He is so accustomed to the company of Nature, and
has cultivated such a deep respect for the Master of the Universe
during his spells of duty, that he welcomes a diversion therefrom in
his hours of leisure. A humorous paper is more welcome than a tract on
the evils of drink.
When the weather is favourable the men seek a little relaxation in
fishing, but here again they have to suffer considerable denial, as
the tackle invariably becomes inextricably entangled with the rocks,
so that the losses exceed the prizes. In the United States the greater
number of the keepers maintain a garden well stocked with vegetables
and flowers. The tending of these charges carries the minds of the
men from their work completely, and for the opportunity to practise
this hobby they are indebted to the kindness of the Government, which
supplies seeds free of charge.
It is when the gale is raging tumultuously that the men in the tower
are compelled to realize their position. The waves pound the rock and
building so ceaselessly and relentlessly that the latter trembles
and shakes like a leaf. At times the din is so deafening that the
men cannot converse; they are compelled to communicate with each
other by signs. The waves pick up stones and hurl them with terrific
force against the lantern. Occasionally the elements triumph in their
assault, and the missiles shatter the glass. To step out on the gallery
in the teeth of a blizzard to clear the snow away demands no little
courage. As the man emerges upon the narrow platform, he is engulfed in
the swirling flakes, and often is pinned against the masonry so tightly
by the wind that he cannot move a limb; at other times he is swept
almost off his feet. While engaged in his freezing task, he also runs
the risk of being drenched by a rising comber.
[Illustration:
_By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
COMBINED KITCHEN AND LIVING-ROOM IN THE LIGHTHOUSE.]
The men on the lonely, exposed Tillamook Rock, off the Oregon coast,
have had more than one occasion to respect the storm-fiend. One night,
while a fearful gale was raging, a huge mass of rock was torn away from
the islet, snatched by the waves, and thrown high into the air. It
fell with terrific force upon the dome of the lantern, splintering the
roof and smashing the light, so that no welcome rays could be thrown
from the tower again that night. The keepers at once set to work with
the fog-signal, and during the hours of darkness worked like slaves,
blaring out a warning by sound which they were unable to give visually.
Fortunately, such an experience as befell the keepers of the American
Thimble Shoal light is very rare. This beacon marks the shoal of that
name, and is, or rather was, a screw-pile iron lighthouse, marking 11
feet of water at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, U.S.A. On
December 27, 1909, the keepers were immersed in their tasks, when there
was a terrible crash followed by a dismal rending and splitting. The
building shivered from top to bottom. The keepers were thrown off their
feet, and when they regained their wits they found that the schooner
_Malcolm Baxter Junior_, while being towed by a tug, had blundered into
them, and had carried a considerable portion of the building away. The
impact upset the light; the scattered oil burst into flame, and within
a few minutes the lighthouse was blazing like a gigantic bonfire. The
keepers stuck to their posts, and endeavoured frantically to extinguish
the outbreak, but their efforts were too puny to make any impression.
At last, when a foothold was no longer possible with safety, and under
extreme pressure, they abandoned their charge. When the flames had
completed their destructive work the lighthouse presented a sorry
sight, being a mass of broken and twisted ironwork. A wooden tower was
erected with all despatch, and a fog-signal was installed, so that the
men could carry on their duties while the reconstruction of the station
was hurried forward.
The keepers turn their hands to strange occupations. Fretwork,
wood-carving, poker-work, and similar hobbies, are practised freely.
A few devote their leisure to intellectual improvement to fit them
for other walks in life. The keeper of Windward Point, Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, devoted his energies to studying, and obtaining diplomas
in, mechano-therapy and suggestive therapeutics, as well as becoming
proficient in Esperanto. The keepers of two other American lights set
themselves to the mastery of jurisprudence, and in due course resigned
their positions and rented offices in the city, where in the course of
a few years they built up very remunerative legal practices. As a rule
the lighthouse-keeper is an expert handy-man, as he is compelled to
complete a whole list of duties in addition to maintaining the lights.
In the summer the metal and wooden lights have to be given a coat of
paint, while plumbing and other displays of skill in metal have to be
carried out, even if only temporarily.
The calling is exceedingly healthy, which accounts for the immunity
from illness which these men enjoy. Also, as a rule, the land-lights
are set amidst wild romantic surroundings. Some years ago a number of
American families, in the search for a quiet, health-restoring rest,
were in the habit of spending their vacations at lighthouses, to the
financial profit of the keepers. Eventually, however, the authorities,
fearing that the keeper might be distracted from his duties, issued a
summary order forbidding this practice, much to the disgust of the men,
and “attractive lighthouse apartments” became a thing of the past. In
Great Britain an order was issued that “no ale or other intoxicating
liquor be allowed to be sold in any lighthouse.” The precise reason for
this strange ordinance is not quite clear, but it is significant to
note that it came into force immediately after the disastrous fire at
the Leasowe lighthouse, on the Wirral shore.
The lighthouse invariably is an object of attraction among the general
public, but this interest seldom goes to the length narrated by a
keeper of one of the West Indian lights. One night two of the men at
this particular station decided to hunt for red crabs on the beach
below. They started off with a hurricane lamp, but were astonished,
when they gained the foreshore, to see a large sloop hard and fast
on the reef, although the night was beautifully clear and the light
was burning brilliantly. With much effort the keepers got out their
dory, put off to the wreck, and endeavoured to get the sloop out of
her uncomfortable position, but, finding her too well fixed, took off
the passengers. The survivors were housed in the keepers’ quarters
until next morning, when they were succoured. The head-keeper asked the
captain how he managed to get into such a position, and to his surprise
learned that, as the passengers were anxious to obtain a clear close
view of the light, the master had stood inshore, not knowing that the
reef over which vigil was mounted ran out far into the water. That
navigator paid dearly for his attempt to satisfy curiosity. His sloop
broke up, since she was impaled too firmly to be salvaged.
It is not often that the utter loneliness and monotony of the daily
round unhinges a keeper’s mind, but this awful fate overtook the warden
of a somewhat isolated American light. The man had served with Admiral
Dewey off Manila, and upon his return home the Government placed him in
charge of a station as an occupation for the evening of his life, and
as a recompense for faithful service. He settled down with his wife and
family, but the isolation soon began to affect his brain. For days he
would absent himself from the light, which would soon have failed had
it not been for the unswerving devotion of his wife and the assistance
of one of two friends living in the locality. They spared no effort
to keep the beacon burning, lest the authorities might hear about
the keeper’s strange behaviour, and deprive him of his charge, and,
incidentally, of his livelihood. In due course the incident did reach
the authorities, and, not knowing what was the matter with the man,
they took action accordingly. As the keeper entered the station after
one of his inexplicable expeditions of a fortnight’s duration, he was
arrested for desertion. He was examined promptly by two doctors, who
found him hopelessly insane, and was incarcerated in an asylum, where
in the course of a few days he became a raving lunatic.
Often the keepers, although only condemned to imprisonment for a
certain period at a time, have to tolerate a longer stay, owing to
the relief-boat being unable to approach them. In some instances the
delay may run into five weeks or more. During the winter the relief of
the Eddystone, Longships, Wolf, Fastnet, Skerryvore, and Dhu-Heartach
lights is always a matter of extreme uncertainty. Although the men
have to provide themselves with supplies, a reserve is maintained at
the station by the authorities for such emergencies. Even some of the
land stations are not approachable readily. There is the Punta Gorda
light-station on the Californian coast, the situation of which is wild
and forbidding. There is a landing about eight miles above the station,
but it is extremely precarious. Still, unless a certain element of risk
is accepted in coming ashore here, it is necessary to face a tramp or
stage journey of nearly fifty miles across country in order to gain the
lighthouse.
The lighthouses in the Red Sea are, perhaps, among the most unenviable
and trying in the world. This stretch of water, lying between two
blistered coasts of sand, is no more or less than an oven, where even
the strongest constitution finds it difficult to hold out for long.
Moreover, the absence of civilization, owing to the extreme aridity of
the country, renders the life exceptionally depressing. In the summer
the heat is wellnigh intolerable. The thermometer hovers between 95°
and 110° F. in the shade throughout the twenty-four hours, so that
night brings no relief to the oppressiveness.
At some of the stations the men seek a little diversion, and
incidentally add occasionally to their pocket-money, by shark-catching,
which is a tolerably profitable pursuit, since these waters are thickly
infested with this fish. The jawbone and backbone invariably find ready
purchasers, the former being mounted as a curiosity, while the backbone
forms a novel and serviceable walking-stick.
One method of trapping these monsters which affords keen delight was
related to me. The requirements are an electric battery, some rope, a
few feet of electric wire, a cartridge, and an empty box, with a chunk
or two of bad meat. The cartridge is fitted with an electric primer,
the wire of which stretches to the battery. This cartridge is buried
in a hunk of meat, the whole being dangled from a box--an empty cask is
better--which serves as a float, while a rope is stretched from the box
to the shore, with the electric wire spirally wound round it. A short
length of chain is preferable, if available, to attach the bait to the
float, but a short piece of rope will do. This novel line is thrown
into the water, and the man keeps his eye on the float, with one finger
on the battery. The hungry shark, espying the tempting morsel, makes a
grab and swallows it, but the chain prevents him tearing away with it.
The pull causes the float to disappear, the man’s finger presses the
button, and the trick is done. There is an explosion, and pieces of
shark and showers of water fly into the air. The incident is all over
too quickly for the fish to marvel about the strange indigestibility
of the tainted meat he grabbed so greedily. The men enjoy this sport
hugely when it can be followed, as they regard the shark with intense
detestation.
[Illustration:
_By permission of the “Syren and Shipping.”_
KEEPER CLEANING THE LAMP AFTER IT HAS COOLED DOWN.]
Despite the vigilance of the various Powers, slave-running is still a
lucrative business on these forbidding coasts. Now and again a forced
labourer gets away from his taskmaster, and comes panting into the
lighthouse territory. This is sanctuary to the hapless wretch, and
although the keepers invariably receive a call from the runaway’s
master, he meets with scant courtesy, while his demand for the
surrender of the fugitive is answered by a point-blank refusal. The
slave-driver may storm, threaten, and abuse, to his heart’s content,
and, as he is generally a past-master in Arabian invective, the
keepers have to listen to a pretty tune. But the slave is kept in the
lighthouse until the relief-tender makes its periodical call, when he
is taken back to Suez and liberated.
Fortunately, owing to the extreme care that is manifested by the
authorities, mishaps at a lighthouse are few and far between. The
men are supplied with rules and regulations which are drawn up with
an eye for every possible emergency. Yet accidents will happen, due
in the majority of instances to familiarity bred of contempt. The
majority of these calamities occur in connection with the explosive
fog-signalling apparatus, although every device is adopted to safeguard
the men. At one of the Scottish stations a keeper was manipulating
the fog-signal, but, flying in the face of instructions, he caused
the charge to explode prematurely. The man escaped injury, but the
detonation shattered several panes of glass in the lantern.
One of the keepers of the Rathlin light, on Altacarry Head, was not so
fortunate. The White Star Canadian liner _Megantic_ was rounding the
corner of Ireland to enter the last lap of the homeward journey one
Saturday evening, when the captain’s attention was arrested by a signal
of distress flying from the lighthouse. The interpretation of the
signal revealed the fact that a doctor was wanted, so, easing up the
ship, he lowered a boat, and the doctor was sent away to the island.
Upon landing he found one of the men in dire straits. He had been
cleaning the fog-gun, when a charge, which had been left in the weapon
inadvertently upon the last occasion it was used, exploded. The man’s
arm had been wrenched off, and he was burned terribly. It was a stroke
of luck that the liner hove in sight at the moment she did. There was
no chance of extending succour to the injured man on the spot, and he
would have died before a doctor could have been summoned by boat from
Ballycastle, nine miles away. The surgeon bound up the man’s injuries,
lowered him into his boat, and, on regaining the liner, placed him
in the hospital, where he was tended until the vessel’s arrival in
Liverpool, where he was landed and placed in hospital.
[Illustration:
_By permission of “Syren and Shipping.”_
A LIGHTHOUSE BEDROOM.
Owing to the limited space the furniture is reduced to the minimum, the
bunks being built against the wall.]
More remarkable was the accident which happened at the Flannen Islands
light-station in 1900; it remains an unsolved mystery to this day. This
is one of Scotland’s lonely lights, mounting guard over a group of
islets fifteen miles off the Hebrides. On December 26 the relief-tender
approached the station on her usual fortnightly visit, but, to the
amazement of those on board, no signs of the keepers or the usual
signals were to be seen, while the lantern was not dressed in its
daylight garb. The crew landed hurriedly, wondering what was amiss.
They found the lighthouse absolutely deserted; not a sign of any of the
three keepers was to be seen or heard. They examined the log, and found
that the light had not been burning for some days, the last entry being
made about 4 a.m. nearly a week previously. The rock was searched, but
yielded no clue to the mystery of the complete disappearance of the
men. The light had not been abandoned; it had simply burned itself out.
It was a fortunate circumstance that very little shipping frequents
these seas during the winter, or there would have been one or two
marine disasters, as the islands are often wrapped in fog.
It is surmised that one of the men ventured outside on to a rocky ledge
in the early hours of the morning. According to the log, a vicious
storm was raging at the time, and probably in the darkness the man was
swept off his feet and carried into the sea. The second keeper on duty,
marvelling at the non-return of his assistant, evidently had roused his
other companion, and the two had instituted a search in the storm, only
in turn to be caught by a wave and carried away.
In Great Britain, since 1860, men only have been employed by the
Trinity House Brethren for the maintenance of the lights, but in
the United States women still are engaged in this duty. Some of the
British lights have been controlled by one family through two or
three generations. It was only a few years ago that a Darling retired
from the vigil on the Longstones of Farne Islands, the scene of Grace
Darling’s heroism, while for a century and a half one family kept the
South Foreland light faithfully. The Casquets light off Alderney, in
the Channel Islands, was maintained by one family, some of the children
spending the whole of their lives on the rock, son succeeding father at
the post of duty.
On the American coast, however, women are more extensively employed.
Seeing that many of the lights are burned in a low tower projecting
from the dwelling-house, this circumstance may be readily understood,
as the duties beyond the maintenance of the light are not exacting.
One of the most notable instances, however, is the Point Pino light
at the entrance to Monterey Bay, on the Californian coast, the
guardianship of which has been in feminine hands for the past thirty
years. For something approaching half a century a woman maintained the
Michigan City harbour light on the Great Lake of that name. Indeed,
the associations were so deep-rooted and long that the beacon became
popularly known as “Miss Colfax’s light,” after the name of its keeper.
Even when she attained the age of eighty years she was as active and
attentive to her charge as on the day, in 1861, when she first assumed
responsibility for its safe-keeping.
In those times there was a beacon established on the end of the wooden
pier, which railed off an area of the restless lake for the purposes of
the inland port. Those were strenuous days. Her home was on shore, and
every night and morning she tramped the long arm of woodwork to light
and extinguish the lamp. Lard-oil was used, and during the winter the
food for the lamp had to be heated to bring it into a fluid condition
before she set out from home. It was no easy matter struggling along on
a blusterous, gusty evening, with a pail of hot oil in one hand and a
lamp in the other, over a narrow plank. Often, when a gale was raging,
progress was so slow that by the time the beacon was reached the oil
had cooled and congealed, rendering it a difficult matter to induce
the lamp to burn. Once set going, however, it was safe for the night,
as the heat radiated from the burner kept the lard melted. In addition
to this lamp, there was another light in the tower projecting from the
roof of her house, which had to be maintained, and this, being the main
light, was the more important of the two.
In 1886 the pier tower was taken out of her hands for ever. A furious
gale, such as is peculiar to these inland seas, and which cannot be
rivalled on the ocean for fury, was raging. At dusk she started on her
usual journey. Time after time she was wellnigh swept off her feet, so
that she staggered rather than walked, for the spray and sand flecking
her face nearly blinded her. When she gained the tower she paused, and
observed that it was trembling violently. Undismayed, she ascended, lit
the light, and tramped back to the shore. Scarcely had she gained the
mainland, when, glancing seawards, she saw the light sway from side
to side for a second or two, and then make a dive into the water. A
few moments later a crash reverberated above the noise of the storm:
the decrepit pier had succumbed at last. Hers was a lucky escape, but
she hurried home, and sat by the main light gleaming from her roof all
that night, apprehensive that some vessel might endeavour to make the
harbour and come to grief. When the pier was rebuilt, a new beacon
was placed on its extremity, but its upkeep was taken over by the
harbour authorities, leaving only the shore light in the trusty woman’s
keeping, the wicks of which for over forty years were trimmed and lit
at dusk, and extinguished with the dawn, with her own hands.
During the migratory season of the birds extraordinary sights are
witnessed around the light at night. The brilliant glare attracts
enormous flocks, which flit to and fro. As the monster flaming spoke
swings round, the birds, evidently blinded by the glare, dash with such
fury against the glass panes of the lantern as to flutter to the floor
of the gallery with broken necks and wings, while large numbers, dazed
or killed, fall into the water. The birds are of all species, and at
times may be picked up by the basketful. Then the light-keepers are
able to secure a welcome change in their dietary. Moths, too, often
hover in clouds round the light, and are of such variety that an hour
on the gallery would bring infinite delight and rich harvests to the
youthful entomologist who has to be content to hunt around electric
lamps in quiet streets at night.
While the lamp is burning, time cannot drag, owing to the multitude
of details which compel the keeper’s constant attention. The official
log has to be kept posted with a host of facts, such as temperature,
barometric readings, weather conditions as they vary from hour to
hour, behaviour of the lamps, etc.; while, when the lighthouse is
a marine signal-station as well, passing ships have to be signalled
and reported. The spell of labour varies from four to five hours or
more. Obviously, the task is more exacting and arduous in the winter
than in summer. During the former season the lamps have to be lighted
as early as 3.15 p.m., and are not extinguished until eight o’clock
the next morning. In the summer, on the other hand, the lamps may be
required for less than six hours or so. In northern latitudes where the
daylight is continuous owing to the midnight sun, the light scarcely
seems necessary. Yet it is kept burning during the scheduled hours of
darkness.
Thus, night in and night out the whole year round, a comparatively
small band of faithful toilers keeps alert vigil over the dangers of
the deep, for the benefit of those who “go down to the sea in ships,
and do their business in great waters.” The safety of thousands of
human lives and of millions sterling of merchandise is vested in
their keeping. The resources of the shipbuilder, the staunchness of
the ship, the skill and knowledge of the captain--all would count for
nothing were it not for the persistent, steady glare of the fixed,
the twinkling of the occulting, or the rhythmic, monotonous turning
spokes of the revolving light, thrown over the waste of waters from the
lighthouse and the lightship.
INDEX
Aberbrothock, Abbot of, 96
Acetylene: as illuminant, Daléngas, 49, 274;
systems for floating lighthouses, 238, 278, 285-95;
cost of lighting by, 282;
dissolved, French system of using, 291;
use in Sweden, 291-94
Acetylene gun, the, 68-71
Admiralty, the: adoption of the siren, 60-61;
use of the Wigham light, 296
Adriatic shoreline, 203
“Aga” principle of lighting, 274, 277, 291, 293;
adopted by the United States, 294-95
Ailly, Pointe d’, 303
Ailsa Crag, system of fog-signalling, 63-65, 66
Alaska: trade of, 173;
controlled by the Lighthouse Board, 206;
unattended lighthouses, 277;
coastline 284
Alderney coastline, 12-13
Alexander, Lieutenant B. S., the Minot’s ledge-light, 8, 179
Alexandria, Pharos of, 2-3
Allerton Point lighthouse, 6
Altacarry Head, 313
Ambrose Channel, 251
American Thimble Shoal lighthouse, 308
Amour Point light, 169
Anderson, Lieutenant-Colonel William P., 172, 174, 217
_Anglo-Saxon_, Allan liner, wreck, 163-64
Anticosti, 171
Antifer, Cap d’, lighthouse, 39
Antipodes, the, 239
Arbroath, 97
Arena Point, 204
Argand burner, the, 47, 55, 79, 219
Argyll, Duke of, 115;
lays foundation-stone of Skerryvore, 105
Ar-men light, Finisterre, 20-24
Arthur, Port, 214, 217
_Assyrian_, the, wreck, 164
Astoria, 13, 185, 188, 193
Auckland coastline, 236, 237, 238
harbour, 238
Islands, 239
Auer, Dr. von, the incandescent mantle, 47-48
Australia: lighthouses of, 229-39;
unattended lighthouses, 283
Austria, lighthouses, 48
Bache, General Hartmann, 63;
Brandywine Shoal light, 200-201
“Back lights,” 20
Ballantyne, A., the Tillamook Rock lighthouse, 185-95
Ballycastle, 313
Baltic Sea, unattended lighthouses of the, 274, 278, 291
Bar lightship, Mersey, 240
Barnard, General, the Minot’s Ledge light, 178-82
Barra Head, 113
Barra Island, 113
Barsier rock, 269
Bauld Cape light, 169
“Bay of the Dead,” Finisterre, 21, 22
Beachy Head lighthouse, 24-27, 94
Belfast, 306
Bell Rock lighthouse, 9;
lighting, 53;
fog-signals, 59;
the reef, 96-97
Bell-buoys, 68
Belle Ile, 51;
the beacons, 169;
the Northern light, 170-71;
the Southern light, 169;
the auxiliary light, 169-70;
isolation of, 171
Belle Ile, Straits of, 162, 163, 169
Bells: on lighthouses, 58;
submarine, 249-50
Biscay, Bay of, gales, 3-4
Bishop Rock lighthouse, 38, 51, 81-87
Black Prince, the, in Gascony, 4
Black Sea, lighthouses on the, 18-19
Blau liquid gas, 48-49
“Blowing-holes,” 62-63
Bluff, the, 236
Bois Blanc Island, 211
Bordeaux, trade of, 3-4
Boston Harbour: lighting, 6, 33-4, 196;
Minot’s Ledge light, 176-82
Bothnia, Gulf of, unattended lighthouses, 268, 274
Bounty Islands, 239
Bourdelles, M., investigations, 56, 219
Brandywine Shoal light, 200-201
Brebner, Alexander, 117
“Breeches-buoy,” used at Tillamook Rock, 187-89
Bréhat, Heaux de, Reynaud’s tower, 149-53
Bréhat, Isle of, 149
Bremerhaven, 132, 138, 139, 141
Brett, Cape, lighthouse, 238
Brewster, Sir David, lighting methods, 29
Bridges and Roads, Department of, 148
Bristol Channel: the Flat Holme light, 7;
unattended lighthouses, 278-79
British Columbia coastline, 284
Brittany coastline, 148
Brothers light, the, 234-35
Bull Rock lighthouse, 39
Bullivant cableways, 25-26
Bungaree Norah. _See_ Norah Head
Buoys: bell and whistle, 68;
gas-buoys, 244;
the Willson, 286-89;
combined light and whistling, 290
Büsun, 226
Byron Bay, 232
Byron Cape, 232
Cabrillo Point light, 205
Calf Rock light, 123
California coastline, 204
Campbell, General, 270
Campbell Island, 239
Canadian Marine Department, 8;
systems of building, 18-19;
fog-signalling apparatus, 66-68;
lighting of the coastline, 161-75;
lighting of the Great Lakes, 208-17;
floating lighthouses, 286
Caribou Island lighthouse, 216-17
Carmel Head, 94
Carolina, North, 240
Carrington, W. H. T., 25
Casquets lighthouse: the approach to, 12-13;
keepers of the, 314
Castle Point lighthouse, 238
Casuarina Island, 55
Catoptric system of lighting, 28
Centre Island lighthouse, 237
Chance Bros. and Co.: systems of lighting, 33, 36, 42, 55, 256;
the hyperradiant method, 38-39;
lenses, 40;
clockwork mechanism, 43-44;
the incandescent mantle, 48;
works carried out by, 53, 222
Channel Islands coastline, 269
Charles, Cape, 200
Chatham Island, 239
_Chauffer_, the, 4-6
Chesapeake Bay lights, 199, 200, 308
Chicken Rock light, 9, 94, 238
China, coast-lighting, 258-59
Clear, Cape, 121
Coffin Island, 171
Cohasset Rocks, 177
Colchester Reef lighthouse, 210, 216
Colfax: “Miss Colfax’s light,” 315-16
Collinson, Sir Richard, rocket system invented by, 58-59
“Colossus,” the Rothersand caisson, 138-9
Colton family, the, 170
Columbia River, 183, 184, 185
Colza oil as illuminant, 46, 47
Concrete, reinforced, use of, 18, 174
Cook’s Strait, 233, 234, 237
Cordouan, rocks of, 4
Cordouan, Tour de, 4-5, 30
Cornish plunderers of the Wolf Rock, 88
Corunna lighthouse, 3
Couedie, Cap de, lighthouse, 55
Courtenay, whistling device, 290
Creach, electric light at, 156
Daboll, C. L., invention of the trumpet fog-signal, 59, 60
Dalén, Gustaf: the sun-valve, 49;
system of lighting, 274, 275, 291;
unattended lights, 269;
honour for, 291 note;
experiments, 292-93
Danger Point, 230
Darling, Grace, 95, 314
Daudet, Alphonse, “Phares de Sanguinaires,” 93
Delaware Bay, 143, 199, 200
Denmark, coastline, lighting, 48
Detroit River, Lower, 208
“Deviline” toy whistle, 61
Dewey, Admiral, 310
Dhu-Heartach lighthouse, 9, 107, 113-20, 311
Diamond Shoal, dangers of, 205-6;
the lightship, 251-53
“Diaphone,” the, 67, 68, 165
Dieppe, 303-304
Differential arc, use of, 227-28
Dioptric system of lighting, 37, 220
Disappointment Cape lighthouse, 186
Distances, table of, 52
“Divergence,” 39
Dog Island lighthouse, 237
Doty burner, the, 238
“Double-shell” principle of construction, 200
Douglass, Sir James: design for the new Eddystone, 78-80;
preservation of the Bishop Rock, 86-87;
system of lighting, 223
Douglass, William, and the Fastnet, 123
Dover Harbour lightship, 245
Dover, the pharos at, 3
Doyle Fort, 271-74
_Drummond Castle_, wreck, 148
Dues, lighthouse, 4, 7, 239
Duluth, 214
Duncansby Head, 108
Dunedin, N.Z., 236
Dungeness light, 94
Dunkirk, 249
Earraid, 115, 116
East Cape, N.Z., 236
East Indies Archipelago, 257
Eddystone lighthouse: lighting of, 38, 41, 55;
fog-signals, 59;
description, 72, 82;
the Winstanley construction, 73-4;
John Rudyerd’s lighthouse, 74, 75, 94;
Smeaton’s work, 75, 78, 80;
the Douglass tower, 78-80;
keepers of, 311
“Eddystones,” 72
Edinburgh, Duke of, 79
Egmont, Cape, 233
Electricity: as luminant, 50-51, 148, 218, 295-96;
used in operation of derrick, 159
_Eider_ lightship, 249
Erie, Lake, 208, 216
Estevan Point light, 174
Fair Isle lighthouse, 39
“Family of Engineers (A),” 8-9
Faraday, Professor, 218
Farallon Beacon, 205
Farallon Isles, fog-signalling on, 63
Farne Islands, 95, 314
Faro, the, 3
Fastnet lighthouse, 121-31;
lighting, 41;
keepers, 311
Ferro-concrete, use in construction, 18-19
_Feu-éclair_, the, 56
Finisterre, Cape, 3;
the Ar-men light, 20-24
Fire Island lighthouse, 250
Fire Island lightship, 240, 242, 250
Fisher’s Island Sound, 203
Flamborough Head light, 95
Flannen Islands lighthouse, 9, 113;
disappearance of keepers, 313-14
Flat Holme light, the, 7
Florida coastline, 201
“Focal point,” 39
Fog-signals: discharge of guns, 57-58;
rockets, 58-59;
explosion of gun-cotton, 59;
the Daboll trumpet, 59-60;
the siren, 60-62;
blowing-holes, 62-63;
installation on Ailsa Crag, 63-66;
diaphone on Ailsa Crag, 66-68;
the acetylene gun, 68-71;
diaphone at Cape Race, 165;
Belle Ile diaphone, 170
Foix, Louis de, 4-5, 8
_Forfarshire_, the, 95, 314
Forteau Bay, 169
Forth, Firth of, lighthouses in, 7, 218-19
Fourteen Foot Bank, 132, 143-47
Foveaux Strait, 237
Fowey Rocks lights, 201-3
French coast: lighting of, 148;
lightships, 243, 249
French Lighthouse Commission (1811), 29
Fresnel, Augustin: system of lighting, 28, 33, 286;
adopted by the United States, 36
Gap Rock lighthouse and signal-station, 264
Gas Accumulator Company, of Stockholm, 49, 274, 291
Gas as illuminant, the incandescent mantle, 47-48
Gasfeten tower, 274
Gedney’s Channel, lighting of, 295-96
General Superintendent of Lights, office of, 197-98
Georgian Bay, 216
Gerholmen light-boat, 294
Germany: coastline of, lighting, 48, 50-51;
the lightship service, 249-50
Gironde lighthouse, 19
Gironde, the, rocks of the estuary, 3-4
Goodwin Sands, 205, 240, 244-45, 248
Grand Banks, the, 163
Grande Braye Rock, 296
Grand Trunk Pacific, 173
Granite, use of, 18
Great Lakes of North America: lighting of the, 27, 173, 208-17;
Lighthouse Board, control of, 206;
floating lighthouses, 286
Green Cape lighthouse, 232-33
“Grouting,” 27
Guantanamo Bay, 308
Guernsey coast lighthouse, 9, 16;
unattended lights, 269
Gun-cotton, explosion of, 58, 59
Halifax Harbour: lights, 192;
the “Outer Automatic,” 290
Halpin, George, the Fastnet lighthouse, 121-23, 129
Hand Deeps, 79
Hanois lighthouse, 16
Hargreaves, Riley and Co., 260
Harkort, Society of, Duisburg, 133-34:
the Rothersand contract, 136-43
Hatteras, Cape: coastline, 147, 251-53;
sandbanks, 205-6, 240
Hauraki Gulf, 238
Hawaiian Islands, 206
Hebrides, lighthouses of the, 112, 313
Heligoland lighthouse, 133, 218;
use of the rocket system, 59;
the electric installation, 224-26
Hellespont, Sigeum lighthouse, 2
Henlopen Cape, light, 199
Hennebique system, 260
Henry, Cape, lighthouse, 20, 199-200
Héve, Cape, lighthouse, 218, 219
_Hinemoa_, New Zealand Government steamer, 235, 236, 238
Hoheweg lighthouse, 138
Hole-in-the-Wall, Vancouver, 174
Holland coastline, 48
Holmes, Professor, fog-horns, 60-62, 64, 66, 218
Holophotal revolving apparatus, 33
Hong-Kong, 264
“Hoo-doo,” 91
Horaine, plateau of, 153-56
Horn, Cape, 268
Hornum light, the electric installation, 226-28
Howe, Cape, 230, 232
_Huddart Parker_, liner, wreck, 236
Hudson Bay coastline, 268
Hugo, Victor, “The Toilers of the Sea,” 269
Hunting Island tower, South Carolina, 19-20
Huron, Lake, 211
Hynish harbour, 107
“Hyperradiant,” the, 37, 41;
the quicksilver trough, 42-43
“Ice-breakers,” 201
“Ice-stoves,” 200-201, 210
Inchcape. _See_ Bell Rock
Ingrey, Charles, scheme for Ailsa Crag, 64, 66
Invercargill, 237
Iona, 100
Ireland, Congested Districts Board beacons, 282-83
Irish lights, Commissioners of, 7;
the Fastnet, 123, 127
Iron, use in construction, 19-20
Islay, 298
Jamaica coastline, lighting, 283
Japan, coastline, lighthouses, 9-10, 257-58
Java, 257
Jersey coastline, 243
Jument of Ushant, 156, 160
Karachi, unattended light, 281
Kavanagh, James, the Fastnet, 125, 128
“Kingdom of Heaven,” 92
Labrador coastline, 169, 268
Lagerholmen lighthouse, 278
Lampaul, Bay of, 157
Land’s End coastline, 247
Lard-oil as fuel, 46, 47
Leasowe lighthouse, 16;
fire at, 309
Lenses, preparation, 39, 40
Lewes, Delaware, 144
Lewis, Isle of, 113
Lewis, Winslow, invention of, 34, 35
“Light-boats,” 294
Lighthouse Board, U.S.A., 178-79
Lighthouse dues, origin, 4, 7;
levy of, 7, 239
Lighthouse Literature Mission, 306
Lighthouses, construction of, 174;
wooden towers, 198;
electric, of the world, 218-28;
unattended, 267-83;
floating, 284-300
Lighting: candles, 33;
Fresnel system, 28-33;
holophotal revolving apparatus, 33;
hyperradiants, 33-41;
sperm-oil, 46;
colza-oil, 46-47;
lard-oil, 46, 47;
petroleum, 47-48, 296-98;
paraffin, 47-48;
oil-gas, 48-49, 296;
various gases, 49-50;
electric lighting, 50-51, 148, 295-96;
acetylene system, 69-71, 238, 291
Light-keepers, life of the, 301-17
Lights: wood or coal in open braziers, 28;
tallow candles, 28;
indentification of, 32;
classification of, 37, 44-45;
“divergence,” 39;
focal point, 39;
white and coloured, 45-46;
candle-power, 51, 53;
subsidiary, 53-55;
duration of flash in revolving, 55-56
Lightships: the Stevenson unattended, 70;
maintenance of, 240-41;
description, 241-42;
the Minquiers light, 243-44;
average crew for, 244-45;
incidents, 244-55;
illuminating apparatus, 255-57
“Light valve,” the Dalén, 275-78
Lipson’s Reef, 55
Little Brewster Island lighthouse, 196-197
Lizard Head, 72, 82, 94
Lizard lighthouse, 94, 218
Lloyd’s, signalling-station at the Fastnet, 131
Longfellow, lines to Minot’s Ledge light, 176
Longships light, 82, 92, 311
Longstones lighthouse, 95, 314
Louis XIV. and the Eddystone, 75
Lundy Island, 92
_Lupata_, sailing-ship, wreck, 183
_Lusitania_, French emigrant steamer, wreck, 164
_Ly-ce-moon_, steamer, wreck, 233
Mackinac, Strait of, 211
Macquarie, tower, 231
Magellan, Straits of, 268;
unattended lighthouses, 274-75
Malacca Straits lighthouse, 257;
One Fathom Bank, 259-64
Malay Peninsula, 257
_Malcolm Baxter Junior_, schooner, collision with the lighthouse, 308
Man, Isle of, Chicken Rock light, 94
Manacles, wrecks on the, 7
Manilla, 310
Manora breakwater, the Wigham light, 281
Manora Point light, Karachi, 39-41
Maria Van Diemen, Cape, lighthouse, 237, 238
Marine and Fisheries, Department of, Canada, 171
Marine Department, New Zealand, 233
Matthews, Sir Thomas, 26;
light designed by, 278-79, 299
May, Isle of, lighthouse, 7, 218-23
_Megantic_, White Star liner, 313
Meldrum, Sir John, the North Foreland lighthouse, 81
Mendocino, Cape, lighthouse, 204-5
Ménier, Henri, 171
Mercury float, the, 42, 43, 56
Meriten (De), dynamos, 221, 223
Mersey lightship, 240
Mew Island lighthouse, 38, 41
Mexico, Gulf of, coastline, 201
Michigan City Harbour light, 315-16
Michigan Lake, lighting of, 208, 211, 214, 215, 217
Minches, the, 112, 113
_Minnehaha_, wreck of the, 82, 83
Minot’s Ledge light, 11, 74, 204;
Captain Swift’s tower, 176-78;
General Barnard’s structure, 178-82
Minquiers lightship, 243-44
_Mohegan_ wreck, 7
Moko Hinou, 238
Monach Island light, 113
“Monolithic” method of construction, 16-19
Montagu Island lighthouse, 30-31
Monterey Bay, 315
Morocco, Cape Spartel light, 207
Moye system of lighting, 69
Muckle Flugga, 109-112
Mull, Isle of, 102, 115
Mull of Kintyre, 108
Murray, Hon. A., 260
Nantucket Shoals lightship, 250
Navesink lighthouse, 51, 218
Needles light, the, 94
New Jersey coastline, 218
New London, Connecticut, Race Rock lighthouse, 203-4
New South Wales, lighthouses of, 230, 231, 232-33
New York Harbour: lighting, 218, 295;
lightships, 251
New Zealand: system of lighting, 33;
lighthouses of, 229-30, 233-35;
the lighthouse-keepers, 235;
unattended lighthouses, 268
Newfoundland coastline, 162, 169
Newhaven, 303
“No. 87” lightship, 251
Norah Head lighthouse, 232
Norderney lightship, 242, 249
Nore lightship, 240, 242, 245
_Norge_ liner, wreck, 299
Norman Cape light, 169
North Cape, New Zealand, lighthouse, 237, 238
North Foreland light, 81
North German Lloyd Atlantic liners, 132, 137
North Island, New Zealand, coastline, 233
North Ronaldshay lighthouse, 33
North Unst lighthouse, 9, 109, 110-12
Northern lighthouses, Commissioners of, 8-10, 37, 63, 64, 94, 96,
100-02, 105, 109, 114, 219
North-West lightship (Mersey), 240
Nova Scotia: Sable Island lighthouse, 166;
floating lighthouses, 285, 290
Nuremberg, tests carried out at, 225-26
Oil-gas, compressed, use of, 48, 296
One Fathom Bank lighthouse, 259-64
“One-tenth flash,” 294
Ontario Lake, 217
Oregon coastline, 13, 195
Orkneys coastline, 108, 109
Otter Rock lightship, 9, 297-99
Ouessant, Ile d’. _See_ Ushant
“Outer Automatic,” Halifax Harbour, 290
Outer Diamond Shoal lightship, 147
Outer Minot light, 177, 178
Panama Canal, unattended lighthouses, 277
“Panels,” system of dividing the light by, 31-32
Paraffin, use of, 47
Paris Exhibition of 1867, 61
_Paris_, wreck of the, 7
Parry sound, 216
Patents granted for upkeep of beacons, 5-6
Pei Yu-Shan lighthouse, 39
Pencarrow Head lighthouse, 234
Pentland Firth, 108
Pentland Skerries light, 109
Petroleum gas, use of, 47, 48, 279, 296-98
_Phare_, the term, 3
_Phares, Service des_, 19, 148, 219
_Pharos_, constructional vessel, 110
Pharos, the, Dover, 3;
of Alexandria, 2-3
Philippines coastline, 206
Phœnicians, beacons erected by the, 3
Pilgrim Fathers, the, and lighthouses, 6
Pilotage, Board of, Sweden, experiments with acetylene, 292, 293-94
Pino Point lighthouse, 315
Pladda, Island of, 64
Planier lighthouse, 219
Platte Fougère, land-controlled station of, 269-74, 283
Pleasanton, Stephen, 197-98
Plenty, Bay of, 236
Plymouth Harbour, 72
Plymouth Hoe, 80
Poe, General O. M., Spectacle Reef lighthouse, 211-14
Portland Canal, 173
Portland, Duke of, lighthouse on the Isle of Man, 7
Portland stone, used for building Eddystone, 76
Port of Dublin Corporation, 121
Potomac, ice-shores of the, 200-201
Potron, Charles Eugène, generosity of, 157, 159-60
Prince Rupert, port of, 173, 284
Pulsometer Engineering Company, Reading, 66
Punta Gorda light-station, 311
Puysegur Point, 237
Queenstown harbour floating light, 297
Race, Cape, lighthouse, 39, 43;
the lens, 40-41;
clockwork mechanism, 43;
fog-signalling apparatus, 67;
dangers of, 162-64;
the first beacon, 164-65;
the new beacon, 165
Race Rock lighthouse, 203-4
Ralph the Rover, 96
Rame Head, 72
Rathlin light, 313
Rattray Briggs lighthouse, 9
Ray, Cape, 164
Red Rock lighthouse, 210, 216
Red Sea lighthouses, 311
Rennie, John, the Bell Rock light, 97
Reyes Point, 205
Reynaud, Léonce, tower on the Heaux de Bréhat, 149-53
Rhins of Islay, 113
Ribière, 8
Rock Island, 124
Rock of Ages lighthouse, 210, 214-15, 216
Rockall, the, 299-300
Rockets, use of, 58-59
Rose of Mull, the, 113
Rothersand lighthouse, 11, 218;
the first attempt, 132-36;
work of the Society Harkort, 136-43
Round Island lighthouse, 39
Royale, Isle, 214
Rudyerd, John, the Eddystone lighthouse, 74, 75, 92-93
Russell Channel, the, 269-70
Russian lighthouse authorities, 18
Rutingen lightship, 242, 249
Sable Island, 162;
description, 165-66;
lighthouses and chief station, 166-67;
the west end light, 167-68;
the east end light, 168
St. Agnes light, 81
St. Catherine’s Downs, 223
St. Catherine’s lighthouse, 55, 94, 218;
the electric installation, 223-24
St. Clair, Lake, 208
St. David’s Head, 92
St. John’s, Newfoundland, 164
St. Kilda, 300
St. Lawrence, Gulf of, 163;
dangers, 171
St. Lawrence River:
fog-signalling apparatus, 66-68;
entrance, 162;
the ice, 172;
lighting of the, 172-73
St. Malo Harbour, 243
St. Mary’s, 85
St. Peter Port lighthouse, 269-70
Sambro Island lighthouse, 162
Samoan Islands, American, controlled by the Lighthouse Board, 206
San Francisco: bay, 63;
coastline, 205
Sand, lighthouses built on, 132-47
Sandbanks, signposts of the, 240-56
Sandy Hook lighthouse, 199, 295
Sarnia, 216
_Salara_, the, wreck, 232-33
Sault Ste. Marie, 216
Scammon’s Harbour, 212
_Schiller_, German packet, wreck of, 86
Schukert, 225
Scilly Island, 81, 82, 247
Scotland: lighting, 50;
sea-rock lights of, 96;
the coastline, 108
_Scotsman_, Dominion liner, 171
Scott, C. W., and the Fastnet, 123-24, 129
Scott, Sir Walter, _quoted_, 100, 101
“Screw-pile lighthouses,” 19, 83, 200-203, 261-62
Sea-rock lighthouses, construction, 20 _et seq._
Serrin-Berjot lamps, 221-23
Seven Hunters. _See_ Flannen Islands
Seven Stones lightship, 242, 248-49
Seven Wonders of the world, 2
Shark-catching, 311-12
Sherman, General, 211
Shetlands coastline, 108-109
Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, 82
Sigeum lighthouse, on the Hellespont, 2
Singapore, 257
Siren, the, developments, 59-60, 159
Skerries light, 94
Skerryvore lighthouse, 11, 59, 100-107, 113, 311
Slave-running, 312
Slight, Mr., the modern siren, 62
Smalls, The, 92-93
Smeaton, John, the Eddystone lighthouse, 8, 75-78, 80
_Smeaton_, the, 97-99
Smith, Thomas, 9, 219
Solent, the, 94
Sound, aberration of, 68
South Carolina, lighthouses of, 19-20
South Foreland lighthouse: lighting, 38, 95;
electricity adopted, 218-19;
keepers of the, 314
South Island, N.Z., coastline, 237
South Solitary Island lighthouse, 230, 231
South Stock light, 94
Southey, ballad of the Bell Rock, 96
Spain, early beacons, 3
Spartel Cape lighthouse, 207, 300
Spectacle Reef lighthouse, 74, 210-14, 215-16
Sperm-oil, as luminant, 46
“Spider-web braces,” 201
Spurn Point lighthouse, 38-39
Standard Oil Co., 282
Stannard’s Rock lighthouse, 214, 216
Start Point, 94
Stephens Island, 233
Stevenson, Alan: “Skerryvore,” 9, 100-107;
improvements in lighting, 32-33;
table of distances by, 51-52
Stevenson, Charles, 9
Stevenson, David, “North Unst,” 9
Stevenson, David and Charles: the acetylene gun, 68-71;
the unattended light, 269;
the Platte Fougère fog-signal, 270-71;
the Otter Rock light, 297;
scheme for Rockall, 300
Stevenson, David and Thomas: works carried out by, 15, 53;
the Chicken Rock light, 94;
building of the Dhu-Heartach, 114-20
Stevenson, family of engineers: preeminence of, 8-10;
systems of lighting, 36-38;
adoption of electricity, 219-22;
work in Japan, 258;
characteristics, 305
Stevenson, George, and the Fastnet, 122
Stevenson, Robert, and the Bell Rock lighthouse, 9, 97-100;
Skerryvore, 101
Stevenson, Robert Louis, “A Family of Engineers,” 8-9
Stevenson, Thomas, 9, 222
Stewart Island, 237
Stornoway lighthouse, lighting, 53-54
Strain, Samuel H., 306
Subsidiary lights, 53-55
Suez, 312
Sugar-Loaf Point lighthouse, 232
Sule Skerry lighthouse, 9, 39
Sumatra, 257
“Sun-valve,” the Dalén, 275-78
Superior, Lake, lighting of, 214, 216, 217
Sweden: floating lighthouses, 291;
unattended lighthouses, 277-82
Swift, Captain W. H., the Minot’s Ledge light, 176-78, 182
Sydney lighthouse. _See_ Macquarie Tower
_Tararua_, steamship, wreck of the, 236, 237
Tay, Firth of, 96
Terawhiti, Cape, 238
Thames lightships, 240-41
Thomas, O. P., 260
Three Kings Rock, 236
Tierra del Fuego, 268
Tillamook Head, 183
Tillamook Rock lighthouse, 13-15, 183-95, 204;
the keepers, 307-8
Tiri-Tiri Island lighthouse, 236-38
Torrain Rocks, 113
Tory Island lighthouse, 39
Trade, Board of:
collection of light dues, 7-8;
and the siren, 61;
Mr. Ingrey’s scheme, 64;
adoption of electricity, 219
Trewavas, John R., death of, 14-15
Triangle Island, British Columbia, light, 174
Trinity House Brethren: purchase of patents, 6;
maintenance of English lights, 7, 26;
adoption of the Daboll trumpet, 60;
and the Eddystone, 77;
and the Wolf Rock, 88-89;
and the Whiteside light, 93;
and the Fastnet, 122;
adoption of electricity, 218, 223;
the light on the Seven Stones, 248
Trinity House Museum: Smeaton’s clock, 76-77;
Bishop Rock fog-bell, 85-86
_Triumph_, steamship, wreck, 236
Tyndall, Professor, 59
Tyree, island of, 100, 102, 105, 107
United States Corps of Engineers, 63, 198
United States Lighthouse Board, 13 36, 195;
coastline lighting, 20, 196-207;
methods of lighting, 46-47;
inauguration, 198;
extent of control 206-7;
lighting of the Great Lakes, 208-17;
lightship service, 255;
adoption of the Aga light, 294-95
United States Typographical Engineers, 176
Unst, island of, 112
Ushant, 148, 156, 157
Ushant Island, 158
Vancouver, 173;
coastline, 284
Vancouver Island, 174
Victoria, 173
_Victoria_, steamer, wreck, 303-4
Waipapapa Point lighthouse, 236, 237
Walker, James, 8;
Bishop Rock light, 84-5
Wanganui, N.Z., 233
Water-gas, 48
Wellington, N.Z., 233-4
Weser River estuary, 132
West Indies lighthouses, 309
White ant, ravages of the, 264-66
White Shoal lighthouse, 215, 216
Whiteside light, 92, 93
Whistles on lighthouses, 58
Wigham light, 279-280, 282, 296-97
Willson, Mr. Thomas: the acetylene automatic light, 285-89, 291, 294
_Winchelsea_, wreck of the, 72, 74
Windward Point, Cuba, 308
Winstanley, Henry: the Eddystone lighthouse, 73
Wireless installation: on the Fastnet, 131;
station, Sable Island, 167;
Belle Ile, Southern Point, 170;
the Eider lightship, 249
Wirral, 16, 309
Wolf Rock lighthouse, 14;
blowing holes, 63, 87-92;
relief, 311
Women as lighthouse-keepers, 314-15
Wrath, Cape, 112
Wreckers of the Wolf Rock, 88;
Chinese, 258-59
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
Ditto marks in the Index have been replaced by the actual text.
Empty, featureless areas along the side(s) of some illustrations have
been removed by Transcriber. This allowed those illustrations to be
shown larger and with greater detail.
Page 233: “Ly-ce-moon” likely is a misprint for “Ly-ee-moon”.
End of Project Gutenberg's Lightships and Lighthouses, by Frederick A. Talbot