BEACOXS OF THE SEA 



51 



deflected or retarded; the subject is one 

 of importance, requiring further investi- 

 gation. 



There is sometimes an unfortunate 

 conflict of interest between the neetl of 

 a loud and distinctive sound to aid the 

 mariner in a fog and the quiet and com- 

 fort of seashore residents in whose midst 

 the fog-signal station may be located. 

 Even the mournful note of the whistling 

 buoy may bring complaints from the 

 near-by shore residents. 



Keepers at fog-signal stations must 

 maintain a continuous watch day and 

 night, as the signal must be started 

 promptly on the approach of fog. Some 

 portions of the coast have little or no 

 fog, as on the south Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts, where there are but few fog sig- 

 nals ; there are no fog signals in Porto 

 Rico or in the Hawaiian Islands. Fogs 

 and thick weather are very prevalent on 

 the X^ew England and the Pacific coasts. 

 At the station at Seguin Island, Maine, 

 there were, in 1907, 2.734 hours of fog. 

 more than 30 per cent of the entire year. 



SUBM.VRIXE BELLS 



Submarine bells were first regularly 

 employed as fog signals in the United 

 States in 1906. The bell is suspended 

 in the water from a light vessel to a 

 depth of 25 to 30 feet and is operated 

 by compressed air, or the bell is mounted 

 on a tripod on the bottom and worked 

 by electric power transmitted from the 

 shore through a cable, or it is suspended 

 from a buoy and actuated by the motion 

 of the sea, which moves a vane and winds 

 a spring (see page 52). 



Sound from sul)marine bells is trans- 

 mitted through the water more uni- 

 formly and cfl'ectively than it is through 

 the air from an aerial signal, but the effi- 

 cient use of submarine bells requires that 

 vessels be equipped with suitable receiv- 

 ing apparatus attached to the hull on 

 each bow and telephonically connected 

 with the wheel-house ; by comparing the 

 loudness on the two sides the direction 

 of the signal may be obtained. Subma- 

 rine bells have frequently been heard 

 through the water at distances of 15 

 miles and more. 



LIGHTHOUSES MAINTAINED BY ALL 

 COUNTRIES 



As of the surface of the earth 51,886.- 

 000 square miles is land, as compared 

 with 145.054.000 square miles of water, 

 it is evident that a large part of the com- 

 merce of the world wfll always be carried 

 on this great water area. Lights and 

 buoys and fog signals are essential to 

 safeguard the ships as they approach the 

 continents and follow the coasts, and 

 these or other suitable guides will be 

 needed for aerial traffic, should it ever 

 develop. 



The proper lighting and marking of 

 the coasts is an obligation assumed by all 

 modern maritime nations. The lights 

 protect not only the ships of the countrv 

 maintaining them, but the vessels of other 

 nations as well. The lighthouse, for in- 

 stance, at Cape Maysi. on the east end 

 of Cuba, is of great value to many ships 

 which never call at a Cuban port. A 

 lighthouse on Cape Spartel. Africa, at 

 the entrance to the Mediterranean, is 

 maintained jointly by the contributions 

 of II nations, including the United States. 



But there is a great difference today 

 in the manner in which the shores of 

 different seas are lighted. The official 

 British lists give a total of about 11.600 

 lighthouses and light-ships for the entire 

 world, but of these 8.900 are on the 

 coasts of Europe, the United States, and 

 Canada, while Asia. Africa. Australia, 

 the remainder of America, and the islands 

 of the sea have together about 2,700. 

 South America has but 300 lights, and 

 Africa 500. 



A region of interest to our shi])ping. 

 much of which is badly lighted and 

 marked, is the area including the Carib- 

 bean Sea. the West Indies, and Central 

 America. For example, the large island 

 of Haiti has not a lighthouse at any one 

 of its three prominent extremities. The 

 only lights on Haiti are four harbor 

 lights, which are marked in the list "not 

 to be depended upon." .\ number of the 

 lighthouses on the Central American 

 coast are maintained by an enterprising 

 steamship company. 



Around the entire shore line of Bering 

 Sea there is but one lighthouse — that at 



