Monthly Archives: April 2012

Lighthouse History – 47 (1920-05-30 – 1922-09-20)

Construction, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Newspapers, , , , , , ,

The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: ”Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.

 

photograph: Carmanah Point lighthouse, to be rebuilt this year by Marine Dept. The wooden tower shown is the old original one, which has undergone repairs from time to time, and which was 1st put in place over 40 years ago. [Colonist, 1920-05-30, p. 30]

 

Carmanah lighthouse tower will not be rebuilt this year. Calling for tenders was so delayed that the season has become too far advanced for the work to be one. [Colonist, 1920-10-02, p. 8] Continue reading Lighthouse History – 47 (1920-05-30 – 1922-09-20) →

Books – Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses

Books, England, History, Information, Light, Lighthouses, Old Website, Reprint, United Kingdom, , , , ,

Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses 

The graphic to the left appeared on The Lighthouse Society of Great Britain (LSGB) website.

After much Googling for it I finally found “With regret, this website has been closed.” The information below is printed with permission of Dr. Ken Tretheway. 

Dr. Trethewy’s site had all the data from this book on line in PDF files which I am going to host here as they are priceless documents showing the inner workings of older British and Canadian lighthouses. 

The available PDF file, A Few Notes on Modern Lighthouse Practice, can be read, saved, and downloaded from this link (2.45 MB).

The drawings in the gallery below are all referred to in the PDF book but are not reproduced therein.  Continue reading Books – Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses →

Reprint – NO, NOT Scarborough Fair but Scarborough Shoals.

Lighthouses, , , , ,

 On April 19, 2012 I wrote an article about using The Lighthouse as a Sovereignty Symbol to mark a nations claims to disputed lands. One of the disputed lands was the Scarborough Shoals of my new homeland of the Philippines, just off the central west coast  of the largest island Luzon where I am living.

The story below is from the military analysis blog by albert e. and gives a better perspective on the matter, plus a bit of historical information to clarify the whos and whys. A nice reference to a Tom Clancy novel as well.

Updates to this conflict are posted when available in the 

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sunday, july 15, 2012

Scarborough Fair?
This is coolbert:

NO, NOT Scarborough Fair but Scarborough Shoals.

Spratly Islands, South China Sea, and now Scarborough.

That latest incident involving “land” and territorial claims in the South China Sea, on this particular occasion just recently, Filipino and Chinese warships [patrol craft] facing off – – the punador [point of honor] being the Scarborough Shoals.

NOT even islands or a land mass but reefs and chunks and bits of rock only visible at low tide off the coast of Luzon, within the limits of what the Filipino claims as an Economic Exclusion Zone [EEZ] but is also claimed by China.

“on April 11, 2012, the Philippine navy stopped and boarded eight Chinese fishing vessels in the shoals. In order to demonstrate that the Chinese fishermen had not been innocently deep-sea fishing in the area, the navy took pictures of one of the crews standing on a pile of giant clams presumably taken from the shoal.”

Chinese fishing vessels confronted by the Philippine Navy, further confrontation occurring with the intervention of Chinese naval forces!!

“Scarborough Shoal or Scarborough Reef [more correctly described as a group of rocks or very small islands plus reefs in an atoll shape], rather than as a shoal, is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon Island of the Philippines in the South China Sea” Continue reading Reprint – NO, NOT Scarborough Fair but Scarborough Shoals. →

The Lighthouse as a Sovereignty Symbol

Anti-Automation, Canada, Fishing, Foreign, Government, History, Information, Japan, Lighthouses, Military, Philippines, Ships & Shipping, , , , , , , , , , ,
Philippine flag over Pantag Shoal

In the early days of exploration a flag of ownership was placed upon new-found-lands to claim ownership, even though on the other side of the island, or bay there may have been another flag from a different country.

One problem with a flag – it doesn’t last very long.

But build a lighthouse and claim ownership and that light is visible to all peoples for years into the future. Build it high enough and it is visible for 360 degrees. Put some men on it and it becomes your property. Hmmm!

A country's exclusive economic zone - Wiki

Right now in the news there are two island disputes in the South China Sea area that involve China and the Philippines – a stand-off over the Panatag Shoal (Huangyan Island; aka Scarborough Shoal) where China is contesting the Philippines’ internationally recognised exclusive economic zone, and China and Japan – an age-old dispute  surrounding the group of islands called Senkaku by the Japanese and Diaoyu by the Chinese.

Continue reading The Lighthouse as a Sovereignty Symbol →

Derrick Operation at Boat Bluff c. 2004

British Columbia, Coast Guard, Construction, Equipment, Fishing, Groceries & Mail, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Photos, Recreation, Search & Rescue, Workboats, , , , , , , ,
Derrick at Boat Bluff - photo Mike Mitchell

The derrick is another lifting device used on stations that do not have a rock in the sea for a highline and where seas were also relatively calm. It was used like the highline to lift and lower items to and from the work boats or lower the keeper’s boat or station boat in and out of the water. 

Definition – “a derrick is a lifting device composed of one mast or pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by (usually 4) lines powered by some such means as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all 4 directions. a line runs up it and over its top with a hook on the end, like with a crane. It was commonly used in docks.”Derrick (Lifting Device), 28 april 2006 12:06 UTC, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia  Continue reading Derrick Operation at Boat Bluff c. 2004 →

Highline Operation at McInnes Island c. 2004

Adult Memories, British Columbia, Coast Guard, Equipment, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, , , , , , , , , , ,
Aerial highline - photo Glenn Borgens

The highline (aka aerial line, or aerial) was literally the lifeline of the lighthouse in the days before helicopters. It was used and still is used to raise and lower heavy supplies to and from the lighthouse. They were not installed at all lighthouse locations – only the ones with no other access to the ocean within a reasonable distance of the station. For example Cape Scott  has a highline but also has beach access but no one would want to move supplies that distance by hand or by road so a highline was built. Some other stations with highlines are Carmanah, Pachena, Cape Beale, Quatsino, Green, Pine, and Bonilla.   Continue reading Highline Operation at McInnes Island c. 2004 →

The Diaphone Fog Signal

Equipment, Foghorns, History, Lighthouses, On The Job, Reprint, USA, , , , , ,

The Diaphone Fog Signal by Jeff Laser

reprinted with permission from Terry Pepper and his website

Diaphones were a once familiar sound heard throughout the Great Lakes from the early 1920s until the late 1960s / early 1970s when most lighthouses were automated. 120 such installations existed on both U.S. and Canadian waterways in the 1950s. The two most commonly heard Diaphones were the “Standard” Diaphone, which gave a full steady upper tone that terminated in a heavy “grunt” tone, and the classic two-tone Diaphone that produced an upper tone followed by a full steady low tone of equal or greater duration than the upper tone.

 

Robert Hope-Jones

In 1895, Robert Hope-Jones, an English pipe organ designer and builder, developed a special tone generator for his famous WURLITZER organ; the WURLITZER was a popular musical instrument in the days of silent movies and live stage performances. The new tone generator consisted of a casing that contained a slotted cylinder with a similarly slotted piston. Air was channeled through the casing in such a way that it caused the piston to reciprocate within the cylinder. The major portion of the air was discharged through the slots in both the piston and cylinder as the piston stroked back and forth in the cylinder. As the air passed through slots in the piston, it was “chopped” which caused a vibration that was amplified though a long cone shaped trumpet. Hope-Jones labeled this new tone “diaphonic” (meaning two or more tones”). The new tone had a full, powerful harmonic structure that could be heard over some of the other tones on the pipe organ. He called his new tone generator a Diaphone. Continue reading The Diaphone Fog Signal →

‘F’ Type Diaphone Foghorn c. 1969

Adult Memories, Audio, Automation, British Columbia, Coast Guard, Equipment, Foghorns, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, , , , , , ,

– John Coldwell (assistant Keeper to Walt Tansky on Pulteney Point 1969 – 1972)

Lennard Island diaphone - photo Chris Mills

The diaphone is a unique organ pipe. The theory was based on a design for the Wurlitzer pipe organ invented by Robert Hope-Jones dating from 1895.

A special tone generator in the organ involved a piston vibrating inside a cylinder, which had slots through which air was discharged. The air passing through the slots caused a vibration which when amplified through a long cone (like a megaphone) created a powerful harmonic sound.

Robert Hope-Jones also applied this principle successfully to foghorns, and this then became the most common type of navigational aid in the world. Continue reading ‘F’ Type Diaphone Foghorn c. 1969 →

Lighthouse History – 46 (1919-01-05 to 1920-03-18)

Construction, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Newspapers, , , , , , ,

The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: ”Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.

 

Locked from World on North Island (Kains Island)… Thomas Sadler, lighthousekeeper describes horrors of isolation that left him a broken man – wife is driven to insanity by worry over plight of children…; Jan 7, 7 – Superintendent of Lights states report incorrect… [Colonist, 1919-01-05, p. 2]

 

To Cape Beale lighthouse there was taken a new lightkeeper, and with him went a cow. It so happened that a short distance from the light there was a whistling buoy floating on the water. This aid to navigation is such that air is compressed by the action of the waves and a whistle is thus actuated. The noise of the ingoing air and then the whistle is like a huge and gruesome groan, the note of whistle being like that of a foghorn.  Continue reading Lighthouse History – 46 (1919-01-05 to 1920-03-18) →

Mise Tales Five

Canada, Lighthouses, Philippines, Photos, USA, Worldwide, , , , , , , ,

If you do not know what Mise Tales are then please see Mise Tales One.

Louisburg Lighthouse - photo Chris Mills

 

From the Cape Breton Post Canada’s First Lighthouse is a Long Way from its Glory Days. Historic Louisburg lighthouse on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia is another Canadian lighthouse declared surplus by Fisheries and Oceans and in need of repair and some tender loving care (TLC).

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Jobsolete: The lighthouse keeper of Triple Island

This week (Wednesday April 11, 2012), Daybreak is running a series called “Jobsolete,” exploring careers that are fading away. Today, George Baker speaks to Richard Rose, one of the few lighthouse keepers still keeping watch.

[audio:https://ccanadaht3.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/daybreaknorthbc1_20120411_98103_uploaded.mp3|titles=Lightkeeper Interview]

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The last Misc Tale today is from the Philippines, where I am on holidays right now. It is from the Philippines Star website and is entitled:

Cape Bolinao lighthouse in Pangasinan closed to tourists

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse

PANTAR, Pangasinan, Philippines – For decades, the Cape Bolinao lighthouse atop Punta Piedra Point here has guided vessels.

The lighthouse, built in 1905 by Filipino, British and American engineers, is one of the five lighthouses in the country and the second tallest, next to the Cape Bojeador lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

It was supposed to be a major tourist destination in the country during the holidays. But today, with the advent of the global positioning system (GPS), the 30.78-meter tower that had guided vessels en route to Hong Kong, Japan and the United States for several decades, has been closed to visitors. . . . more