Excerpt from Lightships and Lighthouses Romances innumerable have been woven around the flaming guardians of the coast, but it is doubtful whether any purely imaginative work is so fascinating and absorbing as the plain unvarnished narrative of how some famous lightship or lighthouse has been brought into existence. And the story of construction is equalled in even, way by that relating to the operation and maintenance of the light, against all odds, for the guidance of those who have business upon the ocean. This volume is not a history of lightships and lighthouses; neither is it a technical treatise. Rather my object has been to relate how the difficulties, peculiar and prodigious, have been overcome by the builders in their efforts to mark some terrible danger-spots, both on the mainland and isolated sea-rocks. While the lines of the lightship and lighthouse are familiar to all, popular knowledge concerning the internal apparatus of the building or ship is somewhat hazy. Therefore I have explained, with technicalities simplified as much as possible, the equipment of the tower and vessel, and the methods whereby both visual and audible warnings are given. The very latest developments in this field of engineering and science are incorporated, so as to render the subject as comprehensive as possible within the limits of a single volume. In the compilation of this book I have received the heartiest assistance from those who are prominently associated with the work of providing adequate aids to navigation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States The lighthouse and the lightship appeal to the interest and better instinct of man because they are symbolic of never-ceasing watchfulness, of steadfast endurance in every exposure, of widespread helpfulness. The building and the keeping of the lights is a picturesque and humanitarian work of the nation. But this work is not all romance, as, unseen by the passing mariner, and back of the lighthouse and ship and buoy, there must be a great engineering and business machine with its endless contracts, plans, specifications, appointments, the routine of office and depot and ship and light-station. Scarcely a day passes, however, that there does not gleam in the mass of dry routine a fact of interest, an act of bravery, a risk cheerfully taken to aid another, a record of long and faithful service, an improvement of light or of fog signal, of vessel or of lighthouse, an historic record of the past, or a photograph of the present. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Lighthouses and Lightships: A Descriptive and Historical Account of Their Mode of Construction and Organization HE importance of the Lighthouse system which protects our seamen against the numerous dangers and difficulties of the British shores is fully appreciated by every Englishman. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Story of Our Lighthouses and Lightships: Descriptive and Historical Popularly, the lighthouse seems to be looked upon as a modern invention, - and if we consider it in its present form, completeness, and efficiency, we shall be justified in limiting its history to the last two centuries; but as soon as men began to go down to the sea in ships, they must also have begun to experience the need of beacons to guide them into secure channels, and warn them from hidden dangers, and the pressure of this need would be stronger in the night even than in the day. So soon as a want is strongly felt, man's invention hastens to supply it; and we may be sure, therefore, that in the very earliest ages of civilization lights of some kind or other were introduced for the benefit of the mariner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.