kites have been shot out simply because they are easy targets and bear a remote resemblance to hawks that might eat chickens.

The labyrinth at the mouth of the Shark River is a maze of islands that could be be charted only from aerial photographs. Long, long ago Ponce de Leon saw them and tried, perhaps, to thread his way through. The water is quite deep between them, but they all look alike with giant mangroves growing over their entire surface. Our estimation of our pilot's skill went to a new height when he successfully navigated through to the Little Shark River. Dead trees began to show where the 1935 hurricane had swept. Some looked as though they had been pruned and others were dead, leaves, bark and branches having been blown away. The farther south we progressed, the worse was the hurricane damage until scarcely a tree was to be found alive. In some places one could look for a quarter of a mile through the forest and not see a living thing.

A flock of brown pelicans and some royal terns were near a boat at the mouth of the Little Shark River. The boat, appropriately enough, was that of a shark fisherman who was after shark skins for leather, shark liver for oil, and shark teeth for some other purpose. We passed the anchored boat and emerged into the milky blue waters of the Gulf.

bring them safely back after night had overtaken them. Perhaps it was to direct returning fishermen, who during most of the day and into the night had spread their nets or cast their bone-tipped spears for food, that the women of the tribes of long ago built guiding bonfires at the beach or on a nearby hill. When we dip into the past to the days when sailors had to grope their way along dangerous grope their way along dangerous dark shores with but a single bonfire or beacon to lead them the service performed by warning lights appears as one of the greatest maritime works ever undertaken. More travel by water required more lights or fires on shore. As time went on and water-borne traffic became more common, towers were built along the coasts in order that the fires at their tops might be seen farther out at sea. One of the earliest written references concerning a lighthouse is that of a Greek poet of about 600 B. C.,who mentioned a tower at Sigeum, near the site of ancient Troy. ancient Troy. That fire tower or pharos was one of the first to be regularly maintained. The towers increased in number as their need became more apparent. In developing, they grew more and more similar in external appearance and the resemblance has continued to those that we know today.

One of the most famous lighthouses of all time was that of Pharos, at Alexandria, Egypt, completed in 247 B. C. The tower was more than 400 feet high, it is recorded, and the gleam of the fire at its top Modern lighthouse engineers do

could be seen for 40 miles at sea. agree with the latter claim, but are frankly skeptical that the light could have been visible for 20 miles. As for the height of the tower, we have the word of the ancients for that. In any case, it must have been an out-of-the-ordinary structure for it is included among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Most Americans are aware in a vague sort of way that lighthouses are there at the entrance to harbors and at intervals along the coast, but the existence of these important structures now is taken for granted, like the sun, moon and stars. They are always there. Yet, patient study, long labor and much money were required to establish the hundreds of lighthouses in service today in the United them have served for a long, long time; others are year's automobile.

RECONE OF THE BEST known of these coastal

States. Some of

as new as next

guardians is a faithful sentinel of the Atlantic known in official language as Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It ranks high in interest, but not as a marker for a busy harbor or as a tower standing picturesquely on a treacherous rockbound coast. Many miles from any commercially important port, it is situated on a sandy strip of land off the North Carolina coast, within the authorized boundaries of the proposed Cape Hatteras National Seashore, where one may watch the sun rise and set in the Atlantic. It commands special attention because it is today the highest brick lighthouse in the United States and because, for 66 years, it marked Diamond Shoals, one of the most hazardous points of the seaboard. Countless shipwrecks on these shoals have gained for them the aptly phrased designation, "the Graveyard of the Atlantic."

The dangers along this section of the coast are greatly increased because Hatteras is a control point in setting courses for seaboard and West Indian shipping. The shortest route for most vessels lies near the Cape, but the presence of Diamond Shoals and the Outer Shoals requires ships to keep almost 20 miles out. Northbound shipping finds a favorable current by staying in the Gulf Stream, while southbound traffic goes between the Stream and the coast where there is a southerly current. Many ships pass as close to the Cape as they can, but during storms there is the danger of being driven onto the shoals and eventually wrecked on shore.

The first lighthouse built at Cape Hatteras had been recommended by Alexander Hamilton in 1794 and was completed in 1798. It was a brown sandstone tower, octagonal in shape and 90 feet high, which soon proved to be too low and too poorly lighted to serve satisfactorily. Consequently, between 1867 and 1870 Congress authorized appropriations totaling approximately $67,000 for the construction of a new tower of greater height which was erected about 600 feet north of the old tower and, at that time, more than a mile from high tide mark.

Although complete official information relative to the date on which work actually started and how many workers were employed is not available, it is known that a roadway one and one-half miles long had to be constructed to transport building materials to the site, and that the usual quarters for the men were provided. During 1869 the progressed rapidly and by the end of April, 1870, the structure had reached a height of 103 feet. An isolated tower more than 190 feet high on a sandy shore requires a very stable foundation, especially when 80- or 90-mile winds are possibilities to be considered. The construction drawings which are available shed no light on the subject, but it was

learned from a man, who as a boy had been employed on the construction, that the foundation was started by closely driving 50-foot pine piles over the entire area to be occupied by the tower. Then followed rubble masonry made with granite blocks starting at a point six feet below the ground. If this information is correct, all the foundation timbers are below water level at all times and therefore well protected and preserved. But whatever the foundation construction, there is now no evident signs of failure in the granite or brick masonry work that would indicate conclusively that unequal settlement has taken place.

The

The exterior of the lighthouse and a view of the lowlying coast are seen at the beginning of this article. (An idea of the great size of the structure may be gained by comparing it with the figure of a man in the left foreground). The base is octagonal and there is one entrance door on the side opposite from that shown in the photograph. upper part is a frustrum of a cone. The interior is a round shaft 11 feet 6 inches in diameter from top to bottom in which is found an ingeniously designed spiral stairway leading to the lantern at the top. (See illustration on next page). Landings are placed on alternate sides and at each one of these is a window which provides ample natural light for the flights of stairs. One must climb nine flights of this spiral to reach the lantern room, or watchtower level, and one small ladder from the lantern room to the lantern gallery.

N

It will be noticed by noticed by studying the horizontal section of the tower, which is reproduced at the bottom of this page, that the enclosing wall is hollow throughout most of its height. Radial walls of brick masonry tie the inner and outer walls together, indicating that the design was worked out carefully to balance safely the weight of the structure against the overturning power of the winds, and at the same time to provide economical construction.

are educational remembered. The is shown in the

and

The ascent of the tower and an examination of the intricate details of the lens and prism assembly, the rotating mechanism, the light mounting and related features -- all constructed by Henry Le Paute in Paris, France experiences long to be lens and prism assembly top photograph on the opposite page. A large 24-sided bronze frame houses the individually ground ground bull's-eyes prisms and revolves around the stationary light through operation of a governorcontrolled train of gears energized by weights that travel vertically in the center of the tower (See middle and bottom photographs). Each day the weights must be cranked to the top by hand. The speed of rotation is governed so that at a distance in any direction at night one can observe a flash every sixth second. That occurs every time one of the bull'seyes passes between the observer and the light. The duration of the flash is 1.4 seconds; the eclipse 4.6 seconds. It should be noted that the light burns steadily and does not flash on and off as most people suppose.

Vertical and Horizontal Sections of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. (From the original drawings)

The rotating lens frame is protected from the elements by a heavy plate glass enclosure which is sufficiently large to allow walking space between it and the frame. A conical sheet copper roof covers the entire assembly. During the day the light proper