Night Lights Shine On The silence and calm of the sea ends as a mild breeze blows the water. It gently laps the sides of the boat. In the distance a gull cries as it searches for food or its mate. The darkness of the night hides the colors of the day, and the sky and the water have become one. In the distance a brilliant white light appears. It beams in the dark sky, slowly moving its broad long arm of light across and above the water. The light is assuring and inviting, as if to say, "It�s all right, you can safely come this way." The lighthouse on shore shows the way into the harbor. The fisherman of ancient times sailed out of port early in the morning and often didn�t return until night. To find his way home the fisherman looked for the brilliant bonfires at shore and on top of the hills near the mouth of the port. These fires were set by the first light keepers. The lighthouse Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt was completed in 280 BC and stood for sixteen hundred years. Historians believe Pharos was over 400 feet high--that�s about 40 stories tall. A long winding staircase led all the way to the room at the top called the lantern, where the great night fire burned. The light of Pharos could be seen at least thirty miles out to sea in the day or night. A huge mirror was mounted in the lantern, reflecting the sun during the day and the fire at night. Legend says that in the day hours the mirror was pointed at enemy ships and its reflection from the sun was so hot that it set the ships on fire. Pharos is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the study of lighthouses is called pharology. The Romans built pragmatic lighthouses. They built thirty lighthouses, not as magnificent or elegant as the great Pharos, but very useful. Their lighthouses were approximately eighty feet tall and they were built on four hundred foot cliffs. At this height they were effective in guiding ships through reefs and shoals safely into harbor. These practical and well built lighthouses served the Roman Empire from the Black Sea to the Atlantic coast. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the lighthouses were not maintained and no new ones were built until the 12th century when sea trade became profitable again. Lighthouses had always been built on shores or islands but in 1584 a lighthouse was built on rocks and reefs in the Isle of Cordouan off the coast of France. Another challenge was the Eddystone rocks off the coast of Plymouth, England. This busy port saw many ships sink because of six hundred yards of reef. Nobody thought it was possible to build a lighthouse here because of the strong currents, whirlpools, and fierce winds. Henry Winstanley and his builders completed the lighthouse on Eddystone in 1698 and a storm blew it away in 1703 while Winstanley was in it making repairs. Three more lighthouses were built on Eddystone before the last replacement remained intact. The lighthouse in the Isle of Cordouan and the Eddystone lighthouse were successfully built on rocks and reefs. This accomplishment gave lighthouse engineers and architects confidence to build lighthouses anywhere and not just on shores. Different lighthouse structures were constructed to serve particular situations. On shoals or sandbars tall pilings were used to support a lighthouse. Where thick mud covered the rock foundation a lighthouse was built on a caisson, a large steel drum filled with concrete. When additional height was not needed such as on cliffs or high hills, lighthouses were built in regular style houses. Some lighthouses even have flying buttresses to support them. The lightship was built and used where lighthouses could not be built. This ship was fitted with large lanterns and horns and sailed to a designated point. It would remain there until the change of light keepers or until it needed repairs in the shipyard. The development of the brightness of the light in lighthouses was slow. It evolved from wood to coal, coal to candles, candles to oil, oil to gas, and gas to generated light. The ancient Pharos and early fire towers were probably as bright as most lighthouses through the 18th century. In 1822 Augustine Fresnel invented the Fresnel lens. The lens had a range of eighteen to twenty miles. This was a major development in the power of the lighthouse beacon. A variety of Fresnel lens are used today. However the brightest lighthouse beacon cannot pierce a dense fog so additional warning systems were needed. In early times the light keeper would fire cannon, rockets, or ring large bells from seaside temples or churches to alert ships. Today, compressed air horns are used to warn ships. � Fog was a danger to ships along with some unscrupulous people who prospered from dark nights. They were called Cussers and Wreckers. Their favorite trick was to light a lantern and hang it on a pole and slowly swing it back and forth. A ship at sea would mistake it for a ship that was safely anchored. The ship would sail toward the supposedly anchored ship and crash upon a reef, often killing everyone aboard. Then these pirates would loot the shipwreck and kill any survivors. Who were lighthouse keepers? They were spirited, proud, brave, and highly dedicated men and women. They protected and brought the mariners to safe waters. Their salary was minimal but they were highly respected. The keeper�s life was often very routine but there was great excitement during a storm. Often the keepers would have to row their boats through high waves to save shipwrecked victims and bring them back to the lighthouse. They also were kept busy cleaning the lens and windows in the lantern and the general cleaning and inventory of the lighthouse. Each day the light keepers made entries in the lighthouse log. They noted ships that were sighted, described the weather and any unusual occurrences, and of course any rescues. Light keepers� tours might be six months while other keepers were on a permanent assignment with furloughs. Supplies for the lighthouse were delivered every two months, if the weather permitted. Many light keepers were women who were just as dedicated and brave as the men. Two such women were Hannah Thomas and Ida Lewis. In 1775 Hannah Thomas became the light keeper of Gurnet Point in Plymouth Bay when her husband went off to fight for the American Colonies. She not only tended the lighthouse but was a heroine, guiding the Colonial ships to safe harbors. Ida Lewis took over Lime Rock Lighthouse when her father died. She was hailed by President Ulysses S. Grant for saving many mariners from drowning. Tales of lighthouse ghosts are well known. One light keeper tells of a ship that struck a reef near his lighthouse. The captain went down with his ship. The ghost of the captain always appears at that lighthouse when there is a storm, warning of the reef that sank his ship. Other light keepers have heard cries of those shipwrecked and sounds like a ship breaking as it hit a reef. A bitter-sweet story is often told of the light keeper and his bride at Egg Harbor, Massachusetts in 1850. The winter set in and his bride came down with pneumonia and died. He built a coffin and kept her body in a cold room of the lighthouse. When spring came he rowed to shore with the coffin and immediately asked for the town�s minister to give his wife a proper burial service. This was done and afterward he was invited to dinner by a man whose sister was a recent widow. After dinner, he and the widow talked and later that evening the minister who had buried his first wife married him and the widow. They then rowed back to the lighthouse. Automation and the computer have ended the tour of duty for the American lighthouse keepers. They are no longer needed since beacons, horns, and weather reports are now generated by programmed computers. Today every medium to large size boat and ship has radar and global-positioning systems that can detect any shoal or reef. Presently only four lighthouses have been designated as National Historic Landmarks. They are Boston Light, Massachusetts; Sandy Hook Light, New Jersey; Old Cape Henry Light, Virginia; and Block Island Southeast Light, Rhode Island. The US Coast Guard is demolishing lighthouses that are rundown and selling others. Purchased lighthouses have been converted into restaurants, gift shops, bed and breakfast lodgings, and motels. Others have been bought by writers and artists and converted into studios. Many local people purchase their lighthouse to preserve it for posterity and its unique beauty. If you and your mate would like to be light keepers for a week or a weekend, it can be arranged. The lighthouse is a part of humanity�s heritage. It symbolizes beauty and strength and is part of the mystique of the sea. If you haven�t visited a lighthouse, take a tour of one on your next vacation. You will sense a special feeling that will always be with you. It makes you feel like you want to be its keeper.
Copyright © 2000 Frank Dunsmore |