NEW ZEALAND LIGHTHOUSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 10, 13 January 1893, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND LIGHTHOUSES

There have just been completed and fitted up atthe Milton Works of Messrs Jarm s ililne and S« (limited), Edinburgh, tie optical apparatus and machinery for t> c latest addition to the scheme of lighthouses whioh some years &u° the Messrs Stevenso; , Civil engineers, matured for ligr ting tbe coast line 3 of New Zealaid. Already, in accordance with the Mestrß Stevenson* EOheme, uo fewer than 27 lighthouses have been erected on salient points of the coastline (which extends to about 3000 miles), and all of them are equipped with optical apparatus in which the latest improvements are embodied. Paraffin has also been adopted bb the source of light in the lamps, resulting net only in diminished expense, but in m--0 eased power of the lights. Tbe apparatus which has jupt beer- completed, is for a lighthottße at Stephen Island, which lug off the north ecd of the Middle Island, in Cook's Strait, and rises to a height of 950 feet. Tbe lowest site that oould be found for the light is about 570 feet above tr c level of the sea, ar.d if tbe height of the tower be added, the centre of the light will be about 600 feet »buve the sea level— an elevation which is exceeded ly only one lighthouse in Great Britiin, Barra Head— which will give a range of 32£ nautical miles for the light. Tne apparatus is i:<vel in design, aud forms a four-eided cage of glaes, fitted in gun-metal framing, about 8 J feet in height and 6 fiet in dihineter. Each of the four facts of the instrument is built af two central lenses or discs surrounded by light prismatic rings, with four reflecting prisms below, a: d a crown of thirteen holopaotal prisms above. In this focus of the apparatus is a lamp having a bun er witk five concentric wicks, the flame being i{ inohes in diameter, and possessing o power equal to 515 standard c:ndlfs. The whole apparatus is made tj revolve on a carriage workiDg on eteel rollers, which oiroolate bitwetn two rings of steel, the motion being given by clockwork actuated by a falling weight. The machine has a maintaining power which keeps the apparatus going at the required spead even while the weight is being wound up, and provision is also made for working the machine by hand if any tccident happens to the winding gear. The apparatus is co arranged that as eaoh face comts into view the observer sees two flashes of intense white light following each other in rapid succession every half minute. The lantern in wbioh the apparatus is to be placed is now on ite way to New Zealand. It is 12 feet in diameter and 9 feet in height; the astragals are of gnn-nntil, and arranged in a series of triangles, thus securing a structure of great rigidity and strength ; the dema is double, of copper plates ri vetted together, the triangular panes being of the beßt mirror plate glass, a quarter of an inch in thickness ; and what are called "storm' panes" are provided, and kopt in readiness to be applied in the event of a pane being broken either by birds driving up against the lantern or by stones thrown np from the cliff on which the lighthouse is placed. The lantern was made by Messrs Dove, Greeifsids Lane, Edinburgh, the optical apparatus by Messrs Barbier, Paris, and the revolving carriage, michine, and lamps by Messrs James Milie k Son — the whole being constructed to the designs and under the direotiou of the Messrs Stevenson.

CSP