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^ tc eive *\ 0se I had the satisfaction, with my telescope, tojje ball t 6 Edd y stone boat, on board of which I expected, *he ve ° k, e * The wind and tide were both unfavourablei Sat th u 8 Siting soon near us ; therefore, being desirous, e ball screwed on, before the shears and tackle were°ne of the yawls was dispatched to bring ita clsi e ^ “is being done, and the ball fixed, the shears andhp an,} 6re taken down. By this time the joiners had set5,1 <1 po s jv >ln P^ eted the three cabin bedsteads, (for their plan“On between the windows, see Plate IV. Figure 8.)^Pletel^ 1 the 21st, all the copper sash-frames were got. “ On q hxed in, and ready for receiving the glass,tiki's a U ? da y Morning, the 23d, the yawl landed two* e forn. nt * a C0 Ppersmith, with their utensils and materials;^ py t er began to glaze the lantern, and the latter to fittj^on, j the funnels. This day, with my assistant, thej ea t Q began to fix twenty-four iron cramps ; that is,s e ^ a fterK ^ ro °l> and which were obliged to be
a r °Undi tae r °°^ was together ; and being fixed inside, and^Pbla 8 *he ribs, served to key home the plates of the5*® Used r ^ Sl For this purpose small wood wedgesAeg aa being more supple, elastic, and compliant, thanp u m etal, and therefore more suitable to this pai5 atl d la^? 8e ‘ This day also the Eddystone boat broughtded a plumber, with his utensils and materials,ew ' f hol e < i 0ll 1 s ’ dera hle work for the plumber was the coveringL e »ded f.. a con y floor with thick plates of lead ; and which< f° 1 ^ le top of the plinth, or first course of theq?, the lantern, quite down to the drip of thebis 8 °Mere 1 ^ Were fitted on separately, in sixteen pieces,^V t0 Previ°A e ‘ her > in place, with strong ribbed joints ;bis bating .j 11 t ' le sea f rom laying hold *f them at the drip,'lift 4 , half. t ietn U P> they were turned under about one inch’ and being near half an inch thick, I judged thembit ^Hirl) 8 U ^^ orn to prevent being unripped.
bej n a ^ 27th, the lead-work upon the balcony andbotn e ^ n ° w en tirely finished, and the cupola completelyan e j t0 t ^ ie r *h 8 ; the straps and holts were applied
L ® ® Of* til A lantern fnr ooronrln rr if (inwn tn fltA
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5 th,
"^bal,
5 fC ,day >
°f the lantern, for screwing it down to the
'“ay Q Con y-
Whipv/ e P tem ber the 30th, the joiners finished their
c.nnoio *,,j _/■ .1.. /» n__•_ rni_
^ consisted of the following articles. Three; era . hold one man each, with three drawers andh, d . lri e ach, to hold his separate property, which
Sw’ Pla te TV 16 r. Upper r00m ’ or chamber. (See plane anq • Figure 8.) In the kitchen, besides ther a\v ers 8in k, were two settles with lockers, a dresser%eL Sa , he pi^ 0 cu pboards, and one platter case. (Figure 7,\y a s ea( . te > shows how these were disposed.) In the\ „^Cepted ' Vas dxed > to encompass it all round, the door-'‘'t^flles. ’ s ® rv >ng equally to sit upon, or stand to snuffSbta tier of & i to ena hle a person to look through theto a-. & ass panes at distant objects, without having
lv ^3 it Ob' F'*' _ - - -
■M es s th e S a ^ n the outside of the lantern into the balcony.falV''hh tli °- Ve ’ the joiners had fixed the ten window-('he * n S into 611 " 8as ^ es > a H which were bedded in putty,j ^ abates cut for them in the original formation
I ■^e/as fjf C0ldd he at any time removed, and replaced
< m br,i le 7 were fastened in only with wooden pins,
1 tfi’ , 0 U'tho , buy, the glazing of the lantern was com-~ ■ ■ * .
e
' October, the copper funnel was finished,01 -v* le a S a fire in the stove.
- S(j' et 8 • an ^ as also fixed for raising and lowering the^ ^5,°Ur jj. Ihose being hung, there was now nothing° ’6ht, j a hing trial by lighting the candles, while it®ee that everything, regarding the light,4 T
operated in a proper manner. Accordingly, this afternoon,we put up twenty-four candles into their proper places, andcontinued them burning for three hours ; during which timewe had a very effectual trial; for it had blown a hard galeof wind at south-east all day, which still continued; and,keeping a fire at the same time in the kitchen, they bothoperated together withouf the least interference; not anydegree of smoke appearing in the lantern, or any of therooms: and, by opening the vent-holes at the bottom ofthe lantern, it could be kept as cool as we pleased; whereas,in the late lighthouse, this used to be complained of, as beingso hot, especially in summer, as to give much trouble by the.running of the candles.
“Wednesday, October the 3d, we began to fix the con-ductor for lightning. As the copper funnel reached throughthe ball, and from thence came down to the kitchen floor,above forty feet, (see Plate II.) I considered this as con-taining so much metal, that, if struck with lightning, it wouldthus far be a sufficient conveyance ; then joining the kitchengrate to the leaden sink, by a metal conveyance, the sinkpipe of lead would convey it to the outside. From thesink pipe downwards, which being on the north-east side,was consequently the least subject to the stroke of the sea,we continued the electrical communication by means of astrap of lead, about one inch and a half broad and three-eighths thick, fixed on the outside by being nailed to oakenplugs, driven into two jumper-holes in the solid of each course;the prominent angles of the strap being chamfered off, it wasbedded and brought to a smooth surface with putty. At thefoot of the leaden strap, an eye-bolt of iron was driven intothe rock ; and to this was fixed an iron chain, long enoughto reach at all times into the water ; its lower end being leftloose to play therein, and give way to the stroke of thewaves: by this means an electrical communication was madefrom the top of the ball to the sea.”
Everything being now completed, notice was sent to theTrinity House, and, on Tuesday evening, the 16th ofOctober, 1759, the lights were first exhibited, amidst thefury of a violent storm.
This excellent building exhibited no other light than whatwas produced by twenty-four candles, which was not alwavssufficient, till 1809, when Mr. Robinson, surveyor of light-houses to the corporation of the Trinity House, superseded thesecandles by the same number of Argand lamps, each accuratelyfixed in the focus of a large parabolic reflector of richly platedcopper, arranged on circular frames; and consequently givinglight in every direction. The improved brightness of thelight, by this exchange, exceeded the most sanguine expec-tation of all in the neighbourhood of Plymouth.
TECHNICAL HEFEBENCES TO THE PLATES.
“ Plate I—A plan and perspective elevation of theEddystone Rock, as seen from the west; showing also thetheodolite.
“ The representation is as I found the rock ; Figure 1being the plan, and Figure 2 the upright view. The sameletters refer to the same parts in both; the cross lines uponthe plan answer to the cardinal points, east, west, north, andsouth, according to the true meridian.
“ l is the landing-place, and C the summit of the rock;the general declivity being towards the south-west; the grainof the laminated moor-stone that composes it being nearlyparallel thereto. It has, however, considerable irregularities;for upon the line a b the rock makes a sudden drop of fourand a half or five feet; and, by overhanging to the westward,when there is a ground-swell at south-west, the sudden checkcauses the sea to fly in an astonishing manner, even inmoderate weather.