Certificates given. Number of su pernumeraries at South Foreland. A certificate of the lowest grade is given for competency in their duties. A second course of instruction includes the use of tools in carpentry and plumbing, that he may be able to effect ordinary repairs; also the management and general knowl edge of the steam-engine. A third course includes instruction in the management of the magneto-electric machine and lamp. A fourth course includes the use and management of foghorn apparatus. Separate certificates are given for each course. There are always eight of these candidates for light-keepers Blackwall and at Blackwall, and two at South Foreland, the latter for instruction in the management of electric lights, and to the great care exercised in their selection, and the thoroughness with which they are instructed before they enter upon their duties as keepers, is to be attributed the excellent condition of the lights, towers, dwellings, and grounds that I observed at every station which I afterward visited. Supernumeraries' are supplied with uniforms, and are and paid. paid at the rate of £45 ($225) per annum; but on obtaining the four certificates and giving satisfactory proofs of steadiness and sobriety, they become entitled to an assistant keeper's pay. Supernumera. uniformed ries The rates of pay are as follows: Principals under 5 years, if uninsured. 66 0 30 Assistant keepers who have served as such above 10 years, if insured. 64 10 Keepers sioned. pen Assistant keepers under 5 years, if uninsured When no longer able to do service, keepers are pensioned. the pension computed on an estimated allowance of £18, in addition to the above scale. Keepers and assistants at rock and screw-pile stations sta- remain on shore, in rotation, one month each. Term of service at rock and screw-pile tions. The regulations in regard to the care of lamps and premises and keeping watch are much the same as our own, but where mineral-oil is used, the following instructions are added: oil. "The oil is to be placed in the metallic cisterns provided Care of mineralfor the purpose; and these are to be kept perfectly closed by means of the cover and tops with which they are provided. In drawing oil from the cisterns it is to be drawn into a proper can, provided with an oil-tight screwed cover and an air-tight screwed cap to the spout. After charging the lamps the can is to be returned to the store with the covers, spout, and top screwed tight. All oil required for the service of the establishment is to be taken from the store during day-light, and keepers are not, under any circumstances, to enter the oil-room with a lighted lamp or candle." IRON LIGHT-HOUSES OFF THE MOUTH OF THE THAMES. Vestal. After leaving Blackwall we proceeded down the Thames Cruise in the in the Trinity House steam-yacht Vestal on a cruise of inspection of the lights on the east coast of England, during which we visited nearly all of them between the Thames and the Scottish border. On this journey it was my good fortune to accompany Admiral Collinson, C. B., and Captain Weller, of the Elder Brethren, and I shall long remember the great kindness and attention of which I was the recipient from both of these gentlemen. house. Sand the Maplin light house second screw-pile light-house built. Number of screw-pile lighthouses in the United States. We passed the Mucking light-house, situated in the Mucking lightThames, below Gravesend, and the Maplin Saud light-house, Maplin Sand off the mouth of that river. Both of these are screw-pile light-house. structures; the latter was, I believe, the second of that kind in the world, having been lighted in 1841, and was one of the earliest applications of that useful invention of Mitchell, of which we have many examples, there being more than fifty light-houses built on that plan in the United States. It may be mentioned here that the first screw-pile light- First screw-pile house was built at the mouth of the river Wyre, on the light-house built. northwest coast of England, two or three years before the light-house on the Maplin Sand. The screws were three feet in diameter, the piles five inches; and above the ground, instead of iron, as at Maplin, wooden columns were used. This light-house was destroyed in 1870. When stroyed. light-house. de Maplin Sand The Maplin Sand light-house, a view of which is shown Description of in Plate V, is a hexagonal structure, with one central and eight exterior piles. The piles were driven vertically, but above the water-line they bend toward the center and incline in a pyramidal form to the lantern-floor. The screws are four feet in diameter, the piles five inches, and they support cast-iron columns 12 inches in diameter. The col- Columns. Screws. Gnufleet light house. Piles. Sockets. Form of the structure. ing. space furnished. umns are very strongly braced, and the structure had an appearance of great strength. We stopped at the Gunfleet light-house, situated on a sand of that name, north of the mouth of the Thames, aud thirty-one miles from the Nore light-ship. It is exposed to the full force of the North Sea. There are one central and six exterior piles supporting columns of about 12 inches in diameter, strongly braced. The sockets for the columns are not cast in one with the sockets for the braces, but the latter are bolted against the face of the piles by tap-bolts. Unlike Maplin Sand light-house, the piles were not driven vertically, and are inclined from the bottom to the top in the form of a pyramid. The piles, braces, and sockets are of a very massive character, and give an appearance of great durability and of the strength which the site demands. Keepers' dwell. The dwelling for the keepers (below the lantern-floor) is but one story in height, and is smaller and less convenient than in similar structures in the United States. The sides and roof are made of corrugated iron with wrought-iron Additional angle-plates. Below the floor of the dwelling additional space is furnished by placing a store-room in an inverted pyramid, to which access is had by a ladder from the gallery. The dwelling is divided into a living room, (also used as a Reason for the kitchen,) a bed-room, and an oil-room. It was stated that the sea rarely rises to the bottom of the house, and the object of the peculiar form given was to allow the wind and spray to be warded off without imparting shocks to the structure. I should judge the device to be one of questionable utility, and that but little more expense would have been incurred by raising the building a few feet higher and placing another full story for the accommodation of the keepers. pyramidal form of the structure. Keepers. Catoptric apparatus and lantern. There are two keepers, one less than we would have in the United States, and it will be observed throughout this report that the British lights are maintained by a less number of keepers for each than for the same order of light in our service. The lantern, which is large and commodious, contains a revolving catoptric apparatus composed of fifteen reflectors and Argand burners in sets of five, placed on a frame of Red light, how three sides, and this being a red light, panes of red glass, in frames hung on hinges, were placed in front of each reflector. This structure seems admirably adapted to the locality, and replacing light. I should think the question of replacing by similar strucpile light-houses. tures some of the great number of light ships which mark managed. Advisability of ships by screw |