The Lighthouse

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL.

  It has been already said that the Bell Rock rises only a few feet out ofthe sea at low tide. The foundation of the tower, sunk into the solidrock, was just three feet three inches above low water of the lowestspring-tides, so that the lighthouse may be said with propriety to befounded beneath the waves.

  One great point that had to be determined at the commencement of theoperations was the best method of landing the stones of the building,this being a delicate and difficult process, in consequence of theweight of the stones and their brittle nature, especially in those partswhich were worked to a delicate edge or formed into angular points. Asthe loss of a single stone, too, would stop the progress of the workuntil another should be prepared at the workyard in Arbroath and sentoff to the rock, it may easily be imagined that this matter of thelanding was of the utmost importance, and that much consultation washeld in regard to it.

  It would seem that engineers, as well as doctors, are apt to differ.Some suggested that each particular stone should be floated to the rock,with a cork buoy attached to it; while others proposed an air-tank,instead of the cork buoy. Others, again, proposed to sail over the rockat high water in a flat-bottomed vessel, and drop the stones one afteranother when over the spot they were intended to occupy. A few, stillmore eccentric and daring in their views, suggested that a hugecofferdam or vessel should be built on shore, and as much of thelighthouse built in this as would suffice to raise the building abovethe level of the highest tides; that then it should be floated off toits station on the rock, which should be previously prepared for itsreception; that the cofferdam should be scuttled, and the ponderous massof masonry, weighing perhaps 1000 tons, allowed to sink at once into itsplace!

  All these plans, however, were rejected by Mr Stevenson, who resolvedto carry the stones to the rock in boats constructed for the purpose.These were named praam boats. The stones were therefore cut inconformity with exactly measured moulds in the workyard at Arbroath, andconveyed thence in the sloops already mentioned to the rock, where thevessels were anchored at a distance sufficient to enable them to clearit in case of drifting. The cargoes were then unloaded at the moorings,and laid on the decks of the praam boats, which conveyed them to therock, where they were laid on small trucks, run along the temporaryrails, to their positions, and built in at once.

  Each stone of this building was treated with as much care and solicitudeas if it were a living creature. After being carefully cut andcuriously formed, and conveyed to the neighbourhood of the rock, it washoisted out of the hold and laid on the vessel's deck, when it washanded over to the landing-master, whose duty it became to transfer it,by means of a combination of ropes and blocks, to the deck of the praamboat, and then deliver it at the rock.

  As the sea was seldom calm during the building operations, andfrequently in a state of great agitation, lowering the stones on thedecks of the praam boats was a difficult matter.

  In the act of working the apparatus, one man was placed at each of theguy-tackles. This man assisted also at the purchase-tackles for raisingthe stones; and one of the ablest and most active of the crew wasappointed to hold on the end of the fall-tackle, which often requiredall his strength and his utmost agility in letting go, for the purposeof lowering the stone at the instant the word "lower" was given. In arolling sea, much depended on the promptitude with which this part ofthe operation was performed. For the purpose of securing this, the manwho held the tackle placed himself before the mast in a sitting, morefrequently in a lying posture, with his feet stretched under the winchand abutting against the mast, as by this means he was enabled to exerthis greatest strength.

  The signal being given in the hold that the tackle was hooked to thestone and all ready, every man took his post, the stone was carefully,we might almost say tenderly, raised, and gradually got into positionover the praam boat; the right moment was intently watched, and the word"lower" given sternly and sharply. The order was obeyed with exactpromptitude, and the stone rested on the deck of the praam boat. Sixblocks of granite having been thus placed on the boat's deck, she wasrowed to a buoy, and moored near the rock until the proper time of thetide for taking her into one of the landing creeks.

  We are thus particular in describing the details of this part of thework, in order that the reader may be enabled to form a correct estimateof what may be termed the minor difficulties of the undertaking.

  The same care was bestowed upon the landing of every stone of thebuilding; and it is worthy of record, that notwithstanding thedifficulty of this process in such peculiar circumstances, not a singlestone was lost, or even seriously damaged, during the whole course ofthe erection of the tower, which occupied four years in building, orrather, we should say, four _seasons_, for no work was or could be doneduring winter.

  A description of the first entire course of the lower part of the tower,which was built solid, will be sufficient to give an idea of the generalnature of the whole work.

  This course or layer consisted of 123 blocks of stone, those in theinterior being sandstone, while the outer casing was of granite. Eachstone was fastened to its neighbour above, below, and around by means ofdovetails, joggles, oaken trenails, and mortar. Each course was thusbuilt from its centre to its circumference, and as all the courses fromthe foundation to a height of thirty feet were built in this way, thetower, up to that height, became a mass of solid stone, as strong andimmovable as the Bell Rock itself. Above this, or thirty feet from thefoundation, the entrance-door was placed, and the hollow part of thetower began.

  Thus much, then, as to the tower itself, the upper part of which will befound described in a future chapter. In regard to the subsidiary works,the erection of the beacon house was in itself a work of considerabledifficulty, requiring no common effort of engineering skill. Theprincipal beams of this having been towed to the rock by the _Smeaton_,all the stanchions and other material for setting them up were landed,and the workmen set about erecting them as quickly as possible, for if asingle day of bad weather should occur before the necessary fixturescould be made, the whole apparatus would be infallibly swept away.

  The operation being, perhaps, the most important of the season, and onerequiring to be done with the utmost expedition, all hands were, on theday in which its erection was begun, gathered on the rock, besides tenadditional men engaged for the purpose, and as many of the seamen fromthe _Pharos_ and other vessels as could be spared. They amountedaltogether to fifty-two in number.

  About half-past eight o'clock in the morning a derrick, or mast, thirtyfeet high, was erected, and properly supported with guy-ropes forsuspending the block for raising the first principal beam of the beacon,and a winch-machine was bolted down to the rock for working thepurchase-tackle. The necessary blocks and tackle were likewise laid tohand and properly arranged. The men were severally allotted in squadsto different stations; some were to bring the principal beams to hand,others were to work the tackles, while a third set had the charge of theiron stanchions, bolts, and wedges, so that the whole operation ofraising the beams and fixing them to the rock might go forward in such amariner that some provision might be made, in any stage of the work, forsecuring what had been accomplished, in case of an adverse change ofweather.

  The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers, forthis was a new era in the operations. Even that single spar, could itbe preserved, would have been sufficient to have saved the workmen onthat day when the _Smeaton_ broke adrift and left them in such peril.

  This was all, however, that could be accomplished that tide. Next day,the great beams, each fifty feet long, and about sixteen inches square,were towed to the rock about seven in the morning, and the workimmediately commenced, although they had gone there so much too early inthe tide that the men had to work a considerable time up to their middlein water. Each beam was raised by the tackle affixed to the derrick,until the end of it could be placed or "stepped" into the hole which hadb
een previously prepared for its reception; then two of the great ironstanchions or supports were set into their respective holes on each sideof the beam, and a rope passed round them to keep it from slipping,until it could be more permanently fixed.

  This having been accomplished, the first beam became the means ofraising the second, and when the first and second were fastened at thetop, they formed a pair of shears by which the rest were more easilyraised to their places. The heads of the beams were then fittedtogether and secured with ropes in a temporary manner, until the fallingof the tide would permit the operations to be resumed.

  Thus the work went on, each man labouring with all his might, until thisimportant erection was completed.

  The raising of the first beams took place on a Sunday. Indeed, duringthe progress of the works at the Bell Rock, the men were accustomed towork regularly on Sundays when possible; but it is right to say that itwas not done in defiance of, or disregard to, God's command to ceasefrom labour on the Sabbath day, but because of the urgent need of alighthouse on a rock which, unlighted, would be certain to wrecknumerous vessels and destroy many lives in time to come, as it had donein time past. Delay in this matter might cause death and disaster,therefore it was deemed right to carry on the work on Sundays. [Seenote 1.]

  An accident happened during the raising of the last large beam of thebeacon, which, although alarming, fortunately caused no damage.Considering the nature of the work, it is amazing, and greatly to thecredit of all engaged, that so few accidents occurred during thebuilding of the lighthouse.

  When they were in the act of hoisting the sixth and last log, and justabout to cant it into its place, the iron hook of the principalpurchase-block gave way, and the great beam, measuring fifty feet inlength, fell upon the rock with a terrible crash; but although therewere fifty-two men around the beacon at the time, not one was touched,and the beam itself received no damage worth mentioning.

  Soon after the beacon had been set up, and partially secured to therock, a severe gale sprang up, as if Ocean were impatient to test thehandiwork of human engineers. Gales set in from the eastward,compelling the attending sloops to slip from their moorings, and run forthe shelter of Arbroath and Saint Andrews, and raising a sea on the BellRock which was described as terrific, the spray rising more than thirtyfeet in the air above it.

  In the midst of all this turmoil the beacon stood securely, and afterthe weather moderated, permitting the workmen once more to land, it wasfound that no damage had been done by the tremendous breaches of the seaover the rock.

  That the power of the waves had indeed been very great, was evident fromthe effects observed on the rock itself, and on materials left there.Masses of rock upwards of a ton in weight had been cast up by the sea,and then, in their passage over the Bell Rock, had made deep andindelible ruts. An anchor of a ton weight, which had been lost on oneside of the rock, was found to have been washed up and _over_ it to theother side. Several large blocks of granite that had been landed andleft on a ledge, were found to have been swept away like pebbles, andhurled into a hole at some distance; and the heavy hearth of the smith'sforge, with the ponderous anvil, had been washed from their places ofsupposed security.

  From the time of the setting up of the beacon a new era in the workbegan. Some of the men were now enabled to remain on the rock all day,working at the lighthouse when the tide was low, and betaking themselvesto the beacon when it rose, and leaving it at night; for there was muchto do before this beacon could be made the habitable abode which itfinally became; but it required the strictest attention to the state ofthe weather, in case of their being overtaken with a gale, which mightprevent the possibility of their being taken off the rock.

  At last the beacon was so far advanced and secured that it was deemedcapable of withstanding any gale that might blow. As yet it was a greatungainly pile of logs, iron stanchions, and bracing-chains, withoutanything that could afford shelter to man from winds or waves, but witha platform laid from its cross-beams at a considerable height abovehigh-water mark.

  The works on the rock were in this state, when two memorablecircumstances occurred in the Bell Rock annals, to which we shall devotea separate chapter.

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  Note 1. It was always arranged, however, to have public worship onSundays when practicable. And this arrangement was held to during thecontinuance of the work. Indeed, the manner in which Mr Stevensonwrites in regard to the conclusion of the day's work at the beacon,which we have described, shows clearly that he felt himself to be actingin this matter in accordance with the spirit of our Saviour, who wroughtmany of His works of mercy on the Sabbath day. Mr Stevenson writesthus:--

  "All hands having returned to their respective ships, they got a shift of dry clothes, and some refreshment. Being Sunday, they were afterwards convened by signal on board of the lighthouse yacht, when prayers were read, for every heart upon this occasion felt gladness, and every mind was disposed to be thankful for the happy and successful termination of the operations of this day."

  It is right to add that the men, although requested, were notconstrained to work on Sundays. They were at liberty to decline if theychose. A few conscientiously refused at first, but were afterwardsconvinced of the necessity of working on all opportunities that offered,and agreed to do so.