1849.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



141 



before me, satisfies ire that you will never Ho justice to my Father, and that 

 it i8 needless for me to waste time in farther correspondence with you on 

 thissuhject. I am, &c. 



Alan Stevenson. 



IV. Sir John Rennib to Mr. Alan Stevenson. 



{Bell Sod Lightlwme.) 



London, ;llst January, 1849. 



S,a I beg to acknowledge yours of the 29th inst., received this morning, 



and beg to observe, that it is no answer to mine of the 20th inst. In my 

 Address (of which you complain) there was no room to enter into details, 

 but in the work which I am about to publish on the Bell Rock, and which I 

 have had some time in contemplation, I shall take care to do justice to your 

 Father and all concerned. 



With regard to your observations about the late Mr. David Logan, I have 

 only to say, at present, that, after leaving the Bell Rock, he was appointed, 

 by the late Mr. Telford, to superintend the works at Dundee, afterwards to 

 the works at Donaehadee by the late Mr. Eennie, and by myself to those at 

 Port-Patrick and Whitehaven, and be closed his valuable career as engineer 

 to the Clyde Trustees, by whom he was selected from a numerous list of 

 able competitors ; and he enjoyed the entire confidence of the late Mr. Tel- 

 ford, Mr. Rennie, myself, and wherever he was employed. I must say, 

 therefore, that after such testimonials to his ability, integrity, and general 

 good conduct, your remarks are by no means appropriate, and cannot, in any 

 degree, invalidate Mr. Logan's testimony. Since your style of writing is so 

 irritable, I should be extremely sorry to prolong this correspondence, and 

 quite agree with you that it can he of no service. 1 he real merits of any 

 case can only he decided by calmly and dispassionately considering the evi- 

 dence upon which it rests ; and I am satisfied in resting the claims of the 

 late Mr. Rennie upon their merits. — I am, &c. 



John Rennie. 



To Alan Stevenson, Esq. 



V. Sir John Rennie to Mr. Alan Stevenson. 



[Bell Rock Lighthouse.) 



London, Ist February, 1849. 

 Sir — In order to prevent you from committing yourself farther upon this 

 subject, and upon which, I am sure that your proper sense of candour will 

 induce you to admit at once that you have unconsciously been in error, I 

 herewith send you copies of some minutes of tFie Commissioners of North- 

 ern Lighthouses. I cannot, for a moment, suppose that you were cognisant 

 of them when you wrote your letters of the 14th of December last and the 

 29th ultimo ; at the same time, I feel justified in saying, that I think it was 

 your duty (considering your intimate connection with the Board of Northern 

 Lighthouses) to have examined diligently these minutes before giving your 

 statements to the world, as I think it would have prevented this unpleasant 

 correspondence. As regards myself I willingly forget what has passed; and 

 I trust that henceforward nothing will occur to prevent that harmony which 

 ought ti» exist amongst members of the same profession. — I am, &c. 



John Rennie. 



P.S. Of course it is my intention to publish all the documents as I told 

 you. 

 To Alan Stevenson, Esq. 



Excerpt from a Minute of a Meeting of the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, 

 held at Edinburgh, the 3d December lM.Hi. 

 " PreBCnt— The Lord Provost ot Eoinburgh. 



Thomas Henderson, Esq., first Bailie of Edinburgh. 

 William Rae, Esq , Sheritf-Dt-pnte of Orliney. 

 R. Hamilton, Esq., Sheriff Depute of Lanark. 

 D. Woneypenny, Esq., Sheriff- Depute ot File. 

 James Clerk, Esq., Sheriff-Depute of hdinburgl?. 

 John Rennie, Esq., Civil Engineer. 

 ** This meeting having been called for the special purpose of taking preliminary steps 

 for carrying into effect the powers vested in the Commissioners by Act of Parliament, for 

 erecting a Lighthouse on the Cape or Bell Rock, and the ditferent reports on the subject, 

 particularly on the kind of building to be adopted, hcving been duly considered, and Mr. 

 Rennie having verbally delivered his opinion on the subject — 

 " Resolved unanimously, — 



"That the building to be erected for the purpose of a Lighthouse on the Bell or Cape 

 Rock shall be of stone, and that the same sh 'II be erected under the direction of John 

 Rennie, Esq., Civil Engineer, whom they hereby appoint chief engineer for conducting 

 the work. 



" Mr. Rennie having stated to the meeting, in general terms, his opinion as to the form 

 of the building, and ihe particular sort of materials to be used, &c., he was requested to 

 furnish the Commissioners with plans ; and as to the kind of stone, as he was about to 

 proceed to Perth, he was requested to visit the Dundee Quarry, and also to inspect the 

 Aberdeen granite, and report upon this subject. 



'■Mr. Stevenson was authorised to proceed along with Mr. Rennie, and to endeavour to 

 procure a yard and the necessary accommodation at Arbroath. 



" Extracted by C. CUNNINGHAM, Sec." 



Excerpt from a Minute of a Meeting of the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, 

 held at Edinburgh, the 26th day of December 18U6. 

 •* Present— The Lord Provost of Edinburgh. 



Thomas Henderson, Esq., first Bailie of Edinburgh. 

 Robert Hamilton, Esq.. Sheritf- Depute ot Lanark. 

 Edward M'Cormick, Esq., Sheriif-Depute of Ayr. 

 James Clerk, Esq., Sheriff. Depute of Edinburgh. 

 John Rennie, Esq.. Civil Engineer. 

 *' Messrs. Rennie and Stevenson having, in terms of last minute, proceeded to Dundee 

 and Aberdeen, and examined the diiferent quarries, they presented a joint report in the 

 folloning terms : [Here the report lollows, and the various orders made thereon.] 



" Mr. Rennie proposed to the meeting that Mr. Stevenson should be appointed assist- 

 ant-engineer to execute the work under his superintencience, and mentioned lo the Com- 

 missioners that the mode of re-imbursing him for his trouble, and the risk attending the 

 business which was customary in similar undertakings, and what he knew would be most 

 agreeable to the Board of Treasury, would be to allow him a certain per.centage upon a 

 limited sum of expenditure, with such a sum at the conclusion of the work as they may 

 may choose to fix. And the Commissioners agree as to the appointment of Mr. Steven- 

 son to be assistant-engineer under Mr. Rennie ; but they delay taking into consideration 

 the recompense to he made to him, both as to the amount, and the manner of doing it, 

 until next meeting. " Extracted by C. CUNNINGHAM, See." 



VI. Mr. Alan Stevenson to Sir John Rennie. 



Edinburgh, February 9, 1849. 

 Sir — Ynur letter of the 1st inst., with copy of some Minutes of the 

 Lighthouse Board, I received in course of post; but have not found time to 

 reply till to-day. These Minutes only affirm what was long ago slated by 

 Mr. Stevenson in his Account of the IJell Rock Lighthouse, and what 1 have 

 repeated in my letters to you, that the late Mr. Rennie was employed as 

 Chief or Consulting Engineer. You must be perfectly aware that I am not 

 disputing about names but about yac^i; it is, therefore, indifferent whether 

 this circumstance be stated as above, or whether the co-relative statement 

 (which is so clearly implied in it) be added, viz., that Mr. Stevenson, who, 

 be it observed, was Engineer to the Board, was nominated Assistant, or, as 

 we should now say, Acting Engineer under the late Mr. Rennie. This is 

 quite true, and has been amply admitted; but what of that? In no respect 

 does it touch my averment, that Mr. Stevenson, and not Mr. Rennie, designed 

 and built the Bell Rock Lighthouse. 



Let me recapitulate, as briefly as possible, the grounds of ray statement, 

 as given in my letters to you; or as drawn from my Father's Account of the 

 Bell Rock Lighthouse, and from the Minutes of the Lighthouse Board. 

 They are as follows : — 



\st, Mr. Stevenson, in the year 1800, made a design of the Bell Rock 

 Lighthouse, with a report to the Commissioners, embracing the chief pecu- 

 liarities which distinguish that structure from the Eddystone, such as the 

 mode of diminishing gradually the thickness of the walls, — the introduction 

 of ring or band-jngales, — and the tying of the walls by means of the lioors, 

 so as to avoid the outward thrust, which last improvement is erroneously 

 claimed by you, in your work on the Plymouth Breakwater, for the late .\Ir. 

 Rennie. Mr. Stevenson also, at that early period, made drawings and models 

 of the work, and estimated tlie cost at 42,635/. 8*. It is also worthy of 

 notice, that the Report alluded to distinctly shows that Mr. Stevenson was 

 the prime mover in bringing about the building of the Lighthouse, and to 

 his early exertions in a great measure are mariners indebted for its ultimate 

 establishment. — (See Accoimt, p. 442.) 



2d, In 1804, Mr. Rennie was called in by the Lighthouse Board (and I 

 believe on my Father's suggestion) as the oldest and most eminent engineer 

 of the day, for his opinion as to the practicability of Mr. Stevenson's pro- 

 posal to build a tower of masonry on a rock covered to the depth of 16 feet 

 at high water of spring-tides, a work the successful issue of which was then 

 much doubted, the first entire course of the Eddystone being on a level with 

 high water. 



id, In the Evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons in 

 favour of the Bill for authority to erect the Lighthouse and for power to 

 borrow 20,000/., Mr. Stevenson, the Engineer of the Board, was first called 

 to explain his proposed plans and estimates, and to state his opinion as to 

 the practicability of the work, while Mr. Rennie merely corroborated them. 

 And, in particular, be it observed, that Mr. Stevenson's estimate, which, as 

 above stated, was 42,635/. 8s., diflTered from Mr. Rennie's, which was 

 41,843/. 16«., by a mere fraction, thus showing that their views of the matter 

 were identical ; while Mr. Stevenson, the original proposer and prime mover 

 of this great work, had the precedence of his future colleague by a period 

 of at least six years. 



ith. The only plan furnished to the Commissioners by Mr. Rennie is that 

 shown in Plate Vll. of the Account of the Lighthouse, the original of which 

 still exists. It is a mere pictorial view of a tower without sections; and the 

 Lighthouse, as actually executed, is not in accordance with it, but is a modi- 

 fication adopted by Mr. Stevenson, during the progress of the works, and 

 embraces the best points of his own original design made in 1800, and of 

 this sketch which was furnished by Mr. Rennie in February 1807. Even 

 the height of the finished tower considerably differs from the sketch of .Vlr. 

 Rennie. 



oth, But such a tower as the Bell Rock, is, after all, merely a likeness of 

 Smeaton's Eddystone suited to the situation ; and the general conception of 

 it implies nothing original. The great merit, therefore, lies in the execution 

 of the work. Now, throughout the whole four years' operations, Mr. Rennie 

 was only twice on the Rock for an hour or two during a tide ; while Mr. Sta- 

 venson, for four seasons, personally conducted the operations on the Rock 

 with the greatest fortitude and perseverance, and also superintended all tiie 

 details in the workyard at Arbroath. 



dth. All that can really be said to be original in the design of the Bell 

 Rock Lighthouse, or in the management of the works, is due to Mr. Steven- 

 son alone, who first proposed the measure at all, and designed a Lighthouse 

 of stone; planning the tying. floors, — the ring or band. joggles (fig. 6, 

 Plate VII. of his Account), and laid out the gradually-diminishing thickness 

 of the walls, which, in particular, distinguish that Tower from Smeaton's 

 {Account, p. 445). He also conceived the moveable jib-crane {Account, 

 p. 191) and the balance-crane used in building the upper part of ths Tower 



