A COSTLY LIGHTHOUSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14972, 20 April 1912, Page 5 (Supplement)

A COSTLY LIGHTHOUSE.

Some interesting particulars have been given fn the Pathfinder concerning the new lighthouse on the Fastnet Rock, four and a-half miles from Cape Clear, off the south-west corner of the coast of Ireland. The rock is familiar to persons who have crossed from America to Europe, as it is •the first spot of Erin that they see on the eastward voyage. Of course, this is not the first time that a lighthouse has been put up on a wave-washed rock, but it is the only time in the history of the world that £84,000 has been expended in erecting a beacon, to warn and to guide the mariners. This' modern: pharos lias been built, by the Irish Lights Board, and is one of the . most important . on Ireland's coaet, standing as it does in the direct route of Atlantic shipping which passes to the south of Ireland.

The lantern, on top of the big tower is of the latest lighthouse lantern design, of dioptric type, the light being made by a series of incandescent burners which give through the lenses a light of 750,000 candlepower The - beam is brilliantly white, - and resembles the ray given off by. an electric, searchlight. Tho duration of the flash is 3-25ths of a; second. The lantern is 17ft in diameter .and is 27ft high. * On tho_ roof above the lantern are two fogsignals, which are fired by electricity. The tower -is entered through a . door nearly 58ft . above "the j high-water mark. When storms arise the,; keepers close , the heavy ' teak door and let ■■ down - over it a heavy gun-metal casing." All the windows, too, have storm-shutters. Of course, fresh water has to be supplied , to. the" keepers' of * tho lighthouse, and down' in tho masonry there is a tank which holds' more.than 3000 gallons of water. ;•« ' :

- The new lighthouse has' foundations 20ft thick, and made of solid granite from Cornwall. '." There tho builders . dug out great: blocks," 2074 stones' in all, the total of whose > weight, is " 4300 'tons. Nor did they put in this masonry as the foundation of a stone house is laid. .' The whole lot of stones were;, dovetailed together, -so that the (entire . jstructurk is practically one great stone. No single stone can be taken out until all those above it have been displaced, and even then a portion of ; the stone must >be broken, off, for there is a joggle • dovetailed into the course of stone below. Each stone weighs from one and three-quarters to •; three tons.' There were great obstacles in the way of laying 'the lower courses of these stones, for rough weather often caused . much delay. The greatest number ever laid in a single day was 22.