LIGHTHOUSE ESTABLISHMENT, THE UNITED STATES. 



435 



ties ; of the ability and fidelity of the inspect- 

 ors ; of the mode of supplying the establish- 

 ment with oil and other stores, and of the 

 method of making contracts and testing sup- 

 plies. It contrasted our methods with the 

 lighthouse administration of Great Britain and 

 France. Every source of reliable information 

 seems to have been explored to reach a true 

 estimate of the merits and defects of our sys- 

 tem. The board recommended that the lights 

 be classified, after the French method, into 

 orders, to be followed by a system of designa- 

 tion. The orders running from one to six 

 would indicate the magnitude or intensity of 

 the light the first order being the largest. 

 The designation would define its character- 

 istic, as fixed, flashing, revolving, red, white, 

 or a combination of these qualities. Then it 

 recommended the general adoption of the Fres- 

 nel lenticular system of illuminating apparatus, 

 in place of the old system of illumination by 

 the Argand lamp and parabolic reflector. And 

 it also recommended a more vigorous admin- 

 istration of the establishment, and to that end 

 the erection of a board much after the French 

 plan, which should combine in it all the scien- 

 tific experience necessary to the highest suc- 

 cess in illumination, construction, hydrography, 

 engineering, knowledge of the needs of com- 

 merce, and especially of administration. It 

 recognized the services of Mr. Pleasanton, who 

 had administered the lighthouse service for 

 over thirty years, bringing it up from twenty- 

 five lights to three hundred, saying that "great 

 credit is due to the zeal and faithfulness of the 

 General Superintendent and to the spirit of 

 economy which he has shown," which spirit, 

 perhaps, accounted for the " lack of zeal ex- 

 hibited for the adoption of modern improve- 

 ments"; but they asserted the impossibility 

 that any one man should be able then to handle 

 the system, and the necessity of organization 

 and subdivision, and for a system comprehend- 

 ing the great and varied requirements necessary 

 to a successful administration of the many sepa- 

 rate and distinct interests constituting the es- 

 tablishment, and bringing all under the consid- 

 eration and final direction of a central head, 

 which they proposed should be, instead of one 

 man, a board of experts, having, or capable of 

 obtaining, the knowledge necessary to every 

 detail of each branch of the great and still 

 growing establishment. This report was re- 

 ferred by the Senate to its Committee on Com- 

 merce on February 5, 1852, but was taken 

 up for action in the House of Representatives, 

 which embodied the plans it suggested in an 

 appropriation bill, which passed both houses, 

 and was approved August 31, 1852, by the 

 President. This organic act, constituting the 

 Lighthouse Board as it now exists, is contained 

 in the last nine sections of the act providing 

 for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the 

 Government for the year ending June 30, 

 1853. This act required the President, imme- 

 diately after its passage, to appoint two officers 



of the navy of high rank, two engineer offi- 

 cers of the army, and two civilians of high sci- 

 entific attainments, whose services might be at 

 the disposal of the President, an officer of the 

 navy and an officer of the engineers of the 

 army as secretaries who should constitute the 

 United States Lighthouse Board ; the board 

 to be attached to the office of the Secretary of 

 the Treasury, and under his superintendence 

 to discharge all the administrative duties relat- 

 ing to the construction, illumination, inspec- 

 tion, and superintendence of lighthouses, light- 

 vessels, beacons, buoys, sea-marks, and their 

 appendages, and embracing the security of 

 foundations of existing works, procuring il- 

 luminating and other apparatus, supplies, and 

 materials of all kinds for building and rebuild- 

 ing, and keeping in good repair buildings, ves- 

 sels, and buoys of the United States. The Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury was to be president, but 

 the board was to elect from its own number a 

 member to act as chairman in the president's 

 absence. The board was to meet quarterly, 

 and as much oftener as might be found neces- 

 sary ; and to it was to be transferred all the 

 archives, books, documents, models, drawings, 

 apparatus, returns, etc., belonging to the light- 

 house establishment of the United States, to- 

 gether with the clerical force employed on light- 

 house work. 



The board was required to arrange the At- 

 lantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts of the United 

 States into twelve lighthouse districts, and an 

 officer of the army or navy was to be assigned 

 to each as lighthouse inspector under its or- 

 ders. 



The board was to make and promulgate, 

 with the approbation of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, rules and regulations necessary for 

 securing an efficient, uniform, and economical 

 system of administration. It was to have pre- 

 pared, by its engineer-secretary, or other en- 

 gineer officers of the army under its orders, the 

 plans, drawings, specifications, and estimates 

 of cost of all illuminating and other apparatus, 

 of construction and repair of towers and build- 

 ings. It was to procure by public contract all 

 material for the construction and repair of 

 lighthouses, light- vessels, beacons, buoys, etc., 

 and all construction and repairs were to be 

 made under the superintendence of its engi- 

 neer-secretary. It was to furnish estimates of 

 all the expenses which the several branches 

 of the lighthouse establishment might require, 

 and to make a full annual report. Its members 

 were to receive no pay for their services other 

 than that they received in the army, navy, or 

 civil service, and they were prohibited from 

 having any interest in any lighthouse con- 

 tracts, as were all others in the lighthouse ser- 

 vice. Each of those who had served on the 

 provisional board was appointed on the per- 

 manent board, and its organization was com- 

 pleted by adding to it Professor Joseph Henry, 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and 

 Captain E. L. F. Hardcastle, U. S. Engineers, 



