The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I, Part 144

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I > Part 144

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After the office was closed at Detroit, the duty of issuing these charts was transferred to the United States office of River and Harbor Improvements. The Survey was in charge of regular United States Army officers.

Their names and dates of service are as follows : 1841-1846, Captain William G. Williams; 1848 and 1849, Lieutenant-Colonel James Kearney; 1850- 1856, Captain John N. Macomb ; 1856, Lieutenant- Colonel James Kearney ; 1857-1861, Captain George G. Meade; 1861-1864, Colonel James D. Graham ; 1864-1870, Lieutenant-Colonel William F. Ray- nolds; 1870-1877, General C. B. Comstock; 1877 to June, 1878, Captain H. M. Adams; June, 1878, to July, 1882, General C. B. Comstock.

LIGHTHOUSES AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.

The construction and repair of all lighthouses is in charge of officers of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, who are assigned to duty

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LIGHTHOUSES, AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.

in the various lighthouse districts of the country. Officers of this corps are also assigned to the charge of various public works, such as the improvement of rivers and harbors, the construction of canals, or the survey of rivers and lakes, and often the same officer has charge of a lighthouse district and vari- ous river and harbor works.

Since the year 1860 and up to 1883, there has been appropriated to this district by Congress, for the erection of lighthouses, the establishment of fog-signals, and the repair and preservation of light- houses and buildings connected therewith, the sum of $3,246,387, and of this amount $3,040,840 has been expended. A large sum of money was also expended prior to 1860.

The main portion of the work of construction is done by contract, and the yearly disbursements reach an average of $750,000.

The office of lighthouse engineer was established at Detroit in 1852. The following officers have been in charge: Lieutenant Lorenzo Sitgreaves, December 21, 1852, to December 11, 1856; Lieu- tenant William F. Smith, December 1I, 1856, to November 3, 1859; Captain A. W. Whipple, November 3, 1859, to August 30, 1861 ; Captain George G. Meade, a short time in 1861; Lieu- tenant-Colonel James D. Graham, August 30, 1861, to April 20, 1864; Lieutenant-Colonel William F. Raynolds, April 20, 1864, to April 14, 1870 ; Major J. B. Wheeler, May 15, 1869, to March, 1870; Major O. M. Poe, April 14, 1870, to May 1, 1873 ; Major G. Weitzel, May 1, 1873, to May 1, 1878 ; Captain A. Mackenzie, May 1, 1878, to October 1, 1878 ; from February 18, 1874, to May 4, 1875, the work on Lake Michigan was in com- mand of Major H. M. Robert ; Major G. Weitzel, October 1, 1878, to August 1, 1882 ; Captain C. E. L. B. Davis, August 1, 1882, to

In 1880 there were fifteen lighthouse districts in the United States. Detroit was included in the eleventh district, which embraced all aids to navi- gation on the northern and northwestern lakes above Grassy Island Lighthouse, Detroit River ; including Lakes St. Clair, Huron, Michigan, and Superior. It is the largest district in the country in the extent of its shore line, and the second largest in its number of lighthouses. In 1883 there were one hundred and thirty-nine lighthouses and nineteen steam fog- signals in operation within its limits. The district was one of the first twelve established under Act of August 31, 1852, by the Lighthouse Board. In May, 1869, it was divided by including Lake Michi- gan and Green Bay in a separate district, designated as the "Eleventh Lighthouse District (Lake Michi- gan)." The remainder was known as the "Eleventh Lighthouse District (except Lake Michigan)." In March, 1870, the two parts were reunited. In 1874

it was divided in the same manner as before, and in 1875 the districts were again consolidated.

Under early laws, the lighthouses were subject to supervision by the collector of customs, with an occasional inspection by a naval officer detailed for that purpose. The office of lighthouse inspector was created by Act of August 31, 1852, and since that date officers of the United States Navy have been assigned to the duty of inspection. It is their duty to see that lighthouses are kept in order and that keepers discharge their duties properly, and to attend to the furnishing of the supplies for the vari- ous stations. The inspector has charge of the placing of the nearly two hundred buoys on the shoal or dangerous places in the district. All of the larger and second-class buoys are brought to the supply depot at Detroit, at the close of every season, and replaced as soon as the ice will permit. The inspector is provided with a vessel of from three hundred to four hundred tons, named the Dahlia, with a crew of seven officers and fifteen workmen and sailors ; and during the season goes from place to place, distributing supplies for the lighthouses and steam fog-signals. The main portion of the supplies are obtained from the depot of supplies at Staten Island, N. Y., where articles of a uniform and un- varying standard are kept. Such articles as oil, coal, soap, brooms, and other necessities for which there is no regulation standard, are bought at De- troit. A large supply and storage depot, owned by the Government, is located in the rear of the Marine Hospital. The office is located on the northeast corner of Griswold and Larned Streets, and the office force, in addition to the inspector and assistant inspector, consisted of one clerk, two copyists, and one messenger.

The first lighthouse built in the district was erected at Fort Gratiot in 1825. In 1883 there were five lighthouses and signal lights for the river, four of them provided by the United States, and one on Bois Blanc Island by the Canadian Government. The first lighthouse at the mouth of the river was provided for by Act of Congress of March 31, 1819.

The lights on the line of the river are located and described as follows: Windmill Point Lighthouse is at the foot of Lake St. Clair. It is a fixed white light, varied with red flashes, with an interval of one min- ute and thirty seconds between flashes. It is visible thirteen miles. The tower is fifty-one feet high from base to light, and was built in 1838 and rebuilt in 1875. Both it and the dwelling of the keeper are of brick, whitewashed. The light marks the entrance to the Detroit River, and is in the Eleventh Light- house District.

On October 18, 1880, the City Council voted to give a small piece of land on the southeast corner of Belle Isle to the Government, and during 1881

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LIFE SAVING SERVICE.

and 1882 a brick lighthouse was erected upon the site donated, at a cost of $16,000. It shows a light of the fourth order, with fixed red light; the lantern is forty-two feet above the level of the river, and was first lighted on May 15, 1882. It is visible twelve and three quarter miles.

The rest of the American lights on the river are in the Tenth Lighthouse District, and the next in order is the Grassy Island light. It is a steady white light, and is visible eleven and one half miles. The tower is twenty-nine feet high, and is placed on top of the frame dwelling of the keeper, which is built on piles and whitewashed. It was erected in 1849, rebuilt in 1857, and refitted in 1867.

The next lighthouse is named Mama Juda, and is on the shoals or island of the same name. The building is similar to that on Grassy Is- land, and the tower is thirty- four feet high. It was built in 1 849 and rebuilt in 1866.

The Cana- dian light on Bois Blanc Is- land is a fixed white light, on a round stone lighthouse, on the south point of the island, and is fifty-six feet above high water. It was first lighted in 1837.

GOVERNMENT STOREHOUSE, LIGHTHOUSE DEPARTMENT.

In 1883 there were six buoys marking shoals or obstructions in the river above the city. They were located between the wreck of the Nile, off the southwest end of Belle Isle, and the lighthouse on Windmill Point.

In the same year there were one hundred and thirteen principal and forty-four assistant lighthouse keepers in the Eleventh District, the principal keep- ers having from $500 to $800 per year, and the assistants from $390 to $500. Original appoint- ments are made by the Secretary of the Treasury on nomination of the collector of customs. It is the duty of the lighthouse keepers to keep their lights burning from sunset to sunrise during the season of navigation, and, indeed, so long as vessels move

in their locality, or whenever a light is needed or would be of probable service.

Up to January 1, 1881, the salaries of the keepers were paid by the collector of customs; since that date they have been paid by the lighthouse inspec- tor. They amount to about $80,000 yearly. The other expenses amount to about $40,000.

In order to give notice of dangerous places in foggy weather there are three syren fog-trumpets and eleven ten-inch locomotive steam-whistles in the district ; these are supervised by the keepers of lighthouses near by. A lighthouse with two ten- inch steam fog-signals is now in process of con- struction at the mouth of the Detroit River. It is located on the forty-second degree of latitude, is built in twenty- two feet of wa- ter, and is 35,- 600 feet distant from the Gibral- tar lighthouse. It is estimated to cost $60,000, and will be known as the Detroit River Light. The tower will be fifty - two feet high, with a light of the fourth order.

The inspec- tors have been : 1854-1861, Commander G. H. Scott ; 1861, Commander J. B. Marchand ; 1862-1866, Commodore W. H. Gardner; 1866-1869, Captain T. H. Stevens; 1869, Commodore J. P. Mckinstry ; 1870-1873, Commodore A. Murray; 1873-1876, Captain W. P. McCann ; 1876, Comman- der Fred Rodgers; 1876 to October, 1881, Com- mander I. N. Miller ; October, 1881, to October, 1883, Commander J. C. Watson; October, 1883- , Commander Francis A. Cook.

LIFE SAVING SERVICE.

The headquarters of the Ninth Life Saving Dis- trict, which embraces the coasts of Lakes Huron and Superior, was established at Detroit on January 12, 1876, and removed to Sand Beach on July I, 1882. The special object of the service is to rescue

921

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

persons in danger on the water through calamities of any kind. There are twelve stations in the dis- trict,-eight on Lake Huron and four on Lake Supe- rior.

The building and appliances of each station cost about $6,000. The apparatus consists of life-boats, ropes, rockets to use as signals, and mortars for throwing lines to endangered vessels. Explicit directions concerning the most approved methods for restoring persons apparently drowned are also supplied. Each station has a keeper, at a salary of $700, with house-rent free. In 1883 three of the stations, those of Sand Beach, Thunder Bay, and Middle Island, were manned with eight men, and the others with seven, all under pay for about eight months of each year.

The keepers are selected by the superintendent, but all connected with the service are appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The service in this district costs the United States about $40,000 yearly. Joseph Sawyer was the first superintendent of the district. He lost his life in the service, and on De- cember 3, 1880, his place was filled by J. G. Kiah.

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

The first appropriation for harbor improvements in Michigan was made by Act of July 2, 1836; the sum of $15,000 was then granted for the improve- ment of the harbor at the mouth of the River Raisin. All amounts for improvements are ex- pended under the direction of military officers de- tailed from time to time for this purpose.

In 1879 there were two officers at Detroit whose duties were connected with the expenditure of money appropriated for rivers and harbors ; one in charge of Major F. Harwood, the other of Major S. M. Mansfield. The district of Major Mansfield, estab- lished in June, 1872, embraced the east shore of Lake Michigan, the harbors of Charlevoix, Frank- fort, Manistee, Ludington, Pentwater, White River, Muskegon, Grand Haven, Black Lake, Saugatuck, South Haven, and St. Joseph, and a survey of Port- age Lake. The harbors named are cared for by local inspectors appointed by the officer in com- mand. Major Harwood's district originally em- braced the St. Clair Flats' Canal, and he was charged with the care of keeping it in order and making any regulations necessary in regard to its use. The preservation of the embankments and piles in the Saginaw River and at Cheboygan, and the care of the harbors of Au Sable, St. Clair River at the mouth of Black River, and Thunder Bay also formed part of his duties.

The average annual expenditure for the two offices was about $150,000. In the autumn of 1879 the office in charge of Major Mansfield was removed to Grand Rapids. Subsequently, on the death of

Major Harwood, Colonel F. N. Farquhar was ap- pointed as his successor, and had charge also of the remnant of the business of the Lake Survey, includ- ing the distribution of the charts. He died in 1883, and in July Colonel O. M. Poe was appointed in charge of the office.

INSPECTOR OF STEAMBOATS.

The inspection of steamboats was first provided for by Act of Congress of July 7, 1838. This Act made it the duty of the district judge, on applica- tion of the master or owners of a vessel, to appoint two inspectors, one for the hull and the other for the machinery of vessels. Under laws passed August 30, 1852, and February 1, 1871, a thorough system of inspection was provided for, and the appointment of inspectors by the President and Senate was authorized. By the provisions of these laws, the Eighth Inspection District embraced "all the waters of the lakes north and west of Lake Erie with their tributaries, and the upper portion of the Illinois River, down to and including Peoria, Illi- nois." The headquarters of the supervising in- spector are at Detroit. Two local inspectors, ap- pointed by the supervising inspector, with the approval of the judge of United States District Court and the collector of customs, are on duty at each of the following places : Detroit, Port Huron, Chicago, Marquette, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee.

The boilers of all steamboats are required to be inspected yearly ; and all steam vessels are examined as to their compliance with the law requiring a cer- tain number of life-preservers, and as to their gen- eral fitness for preserving life and property committed to them. The inspectors also examine into the habits of life and capabilities of steamboat engineers and pilots, and issue licenses, for which pilots and engineers of the first class pay $10.00, and those of the second class $5.00 per year.

Vessels are required to pay for certificates of inspection as follows : for the first one hundred tons, $25 ; for each additional hundred tons, $5.00; and in the same proportion for amounts less than one hundred tons. No certificate, however, is issued for less than $25 for any steam vessel. All the fees are paid over to the collector of customs, and remitted by him to the United States Treasury. The yearly expenses for the entire district are about $28,000 annually and the receipts nearly the same. The salary of the supervising inspector is $2,000, the local inspectors are paid from $800 to $2,000. The office is located at the Custom House and Post Office.

The supervising inspectors have been: Peter J. Ralph, from April 4, 1870; J.Cook, from September 26, 1877 ; W. M. Daly, from December 16, 1885. The local inspectors of hulls have been : Wm. Gooding,

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THE SIGNAL SERVICE.

January 1, 1853, to June 7, 1853 ; George W. Strong, June 7, 1853, to June 11, 1861 ; A. D. Perkins, June II, 1861, to March 3, 1863 ; Peter J. Ralph, March 3, 1863, to March 16, 1868; Joseph Cook, March 16, 1868, to September 26, 1877; Hugh Coyne, November 19, 1877, to . The local inspectors of boilers have been : Charles Kellogg, January I, 1853, to June 7, 1853 ; William F. Chittenden, June 7, 1853, to November 2, 1860; P. E. Saunders, December 6, 1860, to August, 1881 ; H. W. Granger, from August 22, 1881 ; Thos. Daly, from June, 1884

THE SIGNAL SERVICE.

The idea of using the telegraph to convey meteorological information was first suggested by Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institute in his report for 1847. The thought did not at once pro- duce permanent results, but gradually and surely it attracted attention and support, and finally, on February 9, 1870, Congress authorized the employ- ment and organization of a Signal Service Corps, under the direction of the Secretary of War, for the purpose of taking and recording observations and displaying signals.

Regular reports were first received at Washing- ton at 7.35 A. M., November 1, 1870, from twenty- four stations then established. The reports were tabulated and sent to. various cities at 9 A. M., and thus the work began. The object of the service is to obtain such information from all parts of the country as will enable the observers to forecast the condition of the weather several hours in advance. The rise and fall of rivers and the tides are noted, atmospheric and weather changes of every kind observed, and the character and location of clouds examined. All these observations are carefully grouped and studied, and the synopsis and prob- abilities made up therefrom.

In addition to reports from the principal cities lying along the chief rivers, lakes and sea-boards, and from posts of observation occupying every pos- sible altitude, including Mt. Washington in the east and Pike's Peak in the west, reports are also obtained at Washington from the Canadian Provinces, and from the British, Russian, and Turkish governments.

The entire corps, as a detachment of the United States Army, is under command of the chief signal officer of the army, whose headquarters are at Fort Myer, Va., at which place there is a school of instruction. The observers, to a certain extent, are under military rule, but are enlisted solely for this service, and must be fitted by education and char- acter for the important position they occupy. The central office is with the War Department at Wash- ington.

The office of observation at Detroit was located in the Bank Block, corner of Congress and Griswold

Streets, until February 8, 1881, when it was moved to the Board of Trade Building, corner of Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street. It was established by Sergeant Allen Buel, and reports commenced No- vember 1, 1871, just one year after the service was inaugurated. The official number of the observa- tory is thirty-six; it is in charge of one sergeant with two assistants. Five observations of the weather are taken daily; two for record and com- parison, at 10.36 A. M. and 6.36 P. M., and three for telegraphic transmission to the central office at Washington, at 6.36 A. M., 2.36 and 10.36 P. M. Experience has shown that the mean or average condition of the weather is best obtained at these hours.

Telegraphic observations are taken at all stations throughout the country at the same moment of actual time. The standard hours are 7.35 A. M., 3 and II P. M., Washington time, due allowance being made at each station for difference of longitude. An observation of the surface and bottom tempera- ture of the river is also taken daily at 1.36 P. M.

The taking of an observation consists in reading the barometer, the thermometer, hygrometer, ane- mometer, and anemoscope, and measuring the water in the rain-gauge after rainfall ; the direction, kind, and rate of motion of the upper and lower strata of clouds are also recorded. All barometrical observa- tions are corrected for temperature, elevation above sea-level, and instrumental error. The elevation for which the barometer is corrected at Detroit is 661.43 feet, it being located 86.15 feet above the city base or bench mark designated on the water- table of the old Water Works Engine-house at the foot of Orleans Street, which is computed as 575.28 feet above sea-level.

From the barometer is obtained the weight or pressure of the atmosphere. From the reading of the hygrometer, which, being but a wet-and-dry- bulb thermometer, may be better defined as a psy- chrometer, is deduced the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. The ratio which the amount of moisture actually present in the air bears to the amount which the air would contain if saturated, is the relative humidity of the atmosphere.

The anemometer, or wind-gauge, measures the velocity and indirectly the force of the wind. This, by means of a self-registering attachment, worked conjunctively by clock-work and a galvanic battery, gives the velocity in miles per hour for each consec- utive hour of the day.

The anemoscope, in common parlance a weather- vane, is attached to the ceiling of the room, and is controlled by apparatus on the roof of the building. The direction of the wind at any time can be told by a mere glance at the ceiling of the room.

About one hundred and fifty telegraphic reports

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MARINE HOSPITAL.

are received at this office from other stations, an equal number morning, afternoon, and midnight. They are received in cipher, translated into ordinary lan- guage, and distributed at prominent points in the city, and furnished gratuitously to local papers for publication. The "Probabilities " are received from the central office at midnight. From them the "Farmers' Bulletins" are compiled. Nearly four hundred of the bulletins are printed ; a few are re- served for local distribution, and the rest dispatched by early mail to the postmasters of the various towns lying on or adjacent to the railroad lines leading from the city. Reports were first sent from Detroit to the post-offices on July 21, 1873. It is designed to so distribute the bulletins as to insure their receipt by each postmaster before twelve o'clock at noon.

The issuing of these "Synopses and Probabilities " was commenced February 19, 1871; they give the probable weather condi- tions for the eight hours suc- ceeding their is- sue. The report of the service for the year ending June 30, 1882, shows that eighty-eight per cent of its proba- bilities for the year were veri- fied. Fourteen weather-bul- letins, giving the state of the weather, direction of wind, height of barometer, temperature, and velocity of wind in miles per hour at all stations from which reports are received, are made out daily at 9 A. M., and posted in various parts of the city with the probabilities. A large weather-map, hung in the rooms of the Board of Trade, and changed each morning, gives the same information as the smaller bulletins, with the addition of the relative humidity. A daily journal is kept in which are noted all unusual atmos- pheric appearances and disturbances, phenomena of storms, the occurrence of meteoric and auroral displays, etc.

Cautionary signals are displayed when ordered from Washington. They consist of a red flag with black square in the center by day, and a red light by night, hoisted from the roof of the building in which the office is located. Either of these signals indicate that a storm is probable, and that mariners

and others interested in out-door work should make preparations accordingly. The first storm warning given was for the lakes, and was ordered on No- vember 8, 1870. These signals have been in regular use since October 23, 1871. Each signal holds good for. about eight hours from the time it is first dis- played. What is known as the northwest (wind) signal consists of a white flag with black square in the center, hoisted over the cautionary signal; it indicates that winds may be expected from the north or west. The cold wave signal consists of a white flag with black square center, and it indicates that a cold wave is advancing from the west ; this signal was established August 6, 1884. When important storms are moving, extra telegrams are sent, and by means of the various maps, bulletins, and signals, many lives have been saved and much property preserved from destruction.

MARINE HOSPITAL.

The observers in charge have been: Allen Buel, from Oc- tober 12, 1870. to October 20, 1871 ; F. Mann, October 20, 1871, to April 8, 1873; W. Finn, April 8, 1873, to July 16, 1875; Henry Fenton, July 16, 1875, to August 22, 1875; Theodore V. Van Husen, August 22, 1875, to February 24, 1879; C. F. R. Wappenhaus, from February 24, 1879; E. Russell Brace, from March, 1883; Norman B. Conger, from January, 1884; F. W. Conrad, from October, 1886.

MARINE HOSPITAL.

It is an interesting fact that as early as October 29, 1829, the Legislative Council of Michigan Ter- ritory petitioned Congress for a township of land, the proceeds of the sale of the land to be devoted to a hospital for seamen. Nearly a quarter of a cen- tury after, by law of August 4, 1854, Congress pro- vided for the establishment of a Marine Hospital at Detroit. The grounds, consisting of eight acres on the southwest corner of Jefferson and Mt. Elliott Avenues, with a frontage of two hundred and sev- enty-four feet on Jefferson Avenue, cost $23,000; the building cost $80,000, and was opened on November 30, 1857. Nearly twenty patients were then trans- ferred from St. Mary's Hospital to this institution.

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The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a chronological cyclopedia of the past and present, Vol I, Part 144

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902 Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Farmer, Silas, 1839-1902
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Detroit, S. Farmer & co
Number of Pages: 1096