860

LIGHT-HOUSES.

the outward stones being first set, and then the inner ones.Thus the base floor was finished. The inen could work nolonger than till the 7th of October that year. The winterwas spent in preparing the iron, copper, and glass-work forthe lantern; and the spring in unsuccessful endeavours torecover the moorings for the vessel which attended the work,for the occasional retreat of the men employed. On the 5thof July, the work was resumed: the stones for building hadbeen hitherto raised from the boats, by what are calledshears, formed of two poles, with the lowermost ends ex-tended to a sufficient width, whilst the upper ends met in apoint; here was fastened tackle, pulleys, ike. to raise themto a sufficient height to be swung over the building; thiscourse was now, of necessity, altered; a block, with pulleys,being suspended from the top, projected to a sufficient dis-tance, supported by beams. After the base had beenformed as described, a different mode of operation was ne-cessary to complete the superstructure, the work being nowadvanced so high as to be out of the constant wash of theelement; instead of grooves being made to fasten the stonestogether, they were fixed by means of iron clamps and lead.The stones to complete the superstructure were landed, andfirst draw r n up by machinery, called a jack, through ihe well inthe interior of the building, being a cavity for the staircase.The work proceeded now more rapidly, so that by the 26thof August, the stairs and all the masonry were finished : theiron frame for the lantern next screwed together in its place,the lantern soon completed. It should have been noticed,that after the first entry was closed, the shears were-sup-ported by a tackle, called a guy, attached to the top of theshears, and hooked so far on the outside of the building, thestone being drawn up by a windlass, the guy was drawn into swing the stone over the building. The balcony railsand stone basement for the lantern having been completed,on the 17th of September the cupola was set up by a parti-cular kind of shears constructed purposely, the guy in dif-ferent places being fastened to booms projecting from theseveral windows of the upper rooms ; the next day the ball,double gilt, was screwed on, and on the 11th of October, anelectrical conductor w'as fixed, which finished the edifice.A light was then exhibited, which has continued ever since.An ably constructed cornice throws the spray from off thebuilding, that it is often seen at Plymouth with the appear-ance of a white sheet, throwing itself to double the heightof the building, which from low water mark to the apex ofthe ball is 100 feet.

We have been thus minute in this description, because