456 



LIGHTHOUSE ESTABLISHMENT, THE UNITED STATES. 



to the mile. Keepers for the river lights are 

 selected from among the people living on and 

 owning property along the river, and they 

 have generally been found trustworthy, and 

 awake to the demands of the service. 



The fixed lights used, as shown in the cut, 

 are substantially made lens lanterns, which are 



A LIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



suspended from an arm projecting from a post, 

 at an elevation of from eight to ten feet from 

 the ground. They are of most service during 

 low water, though they afford important aid at 

 other times. At points where the channel is 

 made very narrow by permanent obstructions, 

 and the passage dangerous, buoys have been 

 placed as day marks, to which floating lights 

 are attached at night. From the testimonials 

 received from officers and managers of differ- 

 ent steamboat lines, boards of trade, and oth- 

 ers interested in the navigation of those wa- 

 ters, these lights and buoys appear to be a 

 great benefit to river commerce. 



In 1875, $100,000 were appropriated to main- 

 tain the lights on the Western rivers; $150,000 

 in 1876 ; $140,000 in 1877, the same in 1878, 

 but $130,000 in 1879, $140,000 again in 1880, 

 and $150,000 were appropriated in 1881. There 

 were on June 30, 1880, on the Ohio, Missis- 

 sipppi, and Missouri Rivers, eight hundred and 

 nineteen of these lights, each having an average 

 cost for its maintenance of $156.28 per year, 

 and all of them costing in the aggregate $128,- 

 000 for that year, the board by the act of 



March 3, 1881, was also required to light the 

 mouth of the Red River. 



The lighthouse inspector is an officer of the 

 army or navy, the detail being changed at 

 proper times. It is now considered that the 

 time an officer spends on lighthouse duty aids 

 to make up his education and to contribute 

 to his efficiency. Hence this duty is sought in 

 times of peace by ambitious young officers of 

 judgment, tact, and habits of study, who can 

 do the lighthouse establishment good service. 

 The fourteen inspectors now on duty are all 

 officers of the navy; one is a rear-admiral, one 

 a captain, ten are commanders, and two are 

 lieutenant-commanders. They serve without 

 other than their shore-duty pay. It is the duty 

 of each inspector to attend, under the direc- 

 tions of the board, to supplying the lights of his 

 respective district; to maintain its buoyage; 

 to keep up the discipline of the light-keepers ; 

 to inspect the light-stations, light-ships, and 

 light-tenders, and all the lighthouse people and 

 property in his district each quarter ; to attend 

 to the examination, promotion, and transfer of 

 the keepers, to answer the calls made on him 

 by the board, for special information as to the 

 needs of commerce at specified points; to make 

 the numerous reports to the board, on blanks 

 provided for that purpose ; to act as purchasing 

 and disbursing officer; and he has recently been 

 ordered to pay each keeper his salary each 

 quarter. Commander C. J. McDougal, U. S. 

 N., the Inspector of the Twelfth Lighthouse 

 District, was drowned on March 28, 1881, 

 when attempting to reach Cape Mendocino, 

 light-station, California, from the lighthouse 

 steam-tender. The surf-boat was upset, and 

 the inspector, though an expert swimmer, to- 

 gether with three other persons, was lost. 

 He is supposed to have been carried down by 

 the weight of the coin on his person that he 

 was taking on shore, to use in paying to the 

 light-keepers their quarterly salary. 



There is no specified time for which an 

 officer of the corps of engineers shall serve as 

 a lighthouse engineer, as he often has at the 

 same time charge of fortification or harbor en- 

 gineering works. His lighthouse duties are to 

 prepare plans and specifications for lighthouse 

 structures, and submit them to the board ; to 

 purchase the material, arrange for the labor, 

 and take charge of their erection or repair ; tp 

 set up and keep in repair the illuminating 

 apparatus of each light-station in his district, 

 and to purchase and care for the real estate, 

 lighthouse sites, etc., of the establishment in 

 his district. He reports to the board, when 

 requested, as to the necessity and cost of estab- 

 lishing new aids to navigation. The coasts of 

 the country show with what success the engi- 

 neers have grappled with the problems of light- 

 house engineering, not only on land but on 

 subaqueous foundations. 



Enough has been said of the routine duties 

 of the board. But two points should be here 

 mentioned. It is not only its duty to build 



