Minot's Ledge Lighthouse

Abstract

Scientific American, established 1845. ' I THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. OF all the dangerous rocks by which the coasts of Great Britain are begirt, the Eddystone Reef, a few miles off Plymouth, is one of the most formidable. It is a long jagged ridge, stretching for hundreds of yards across the track of channel-going vessels. The fi rst beacon house built upon this rock was constructed by Henry Winstanley, an eccentric self-taught mechanician. It was a polygonal column of about 100 feet in height, adorned with carving, gilding, and painting, but it was deficient in the most necessary require ment, strength, for in the great storm of 1703 it was swept completely away, and its builder, who, having been informed that rough weather was approaching, had determined to spend the night with the keepers. like them lost his life. The next lighthouse, mainly constructed of oak, was com menced in 1.706 by John Rudyerd, a London silk mercer, NEW YORK, AUGUST 23, 1879. is employed for putting the stones ashore, and pumping out the water from the work on the rock. Her crew have worked together for a long time, and the order and smart ness with which everything is done is wonderful. An ir regular circle of brickwork has been built as a shelter, and inside this the rock is quarried out and grooved to receive the stones, all of which are dovetailed, and fi t into each other like the pieces of a puzzle. In the center of all is a core of masonry supporting the crane used for lowering the heavy stones into their places. The whole is covered with water except at low tide, and even then if the sea is at all rough it breaks over the rock with great force, 88 is shown in our sketch, which was taken on the 20th of June, when Mr. Douglas, of the Trinity House, the designer of the new lighthouse, accompanied by his son and Mr. Edmond, the engineer in charge of the works, landed to make all secure before the rising gale.