it is a point of change of course for all passing traffic. Petitions dated September 21, 1907, September 3, 1909, and October 28, 1909, signed by masters and shipowners, requested that a light and fog signal be established at this point. It is proposed to establish a flashing light at an elevation of 170 feet, and a first-class compressed-air fog signal. Detailed estimate: St. Johns River, Fla., aids to navigation.-For improving the aids to navigation and establishing new aids on the St. Johns River, Fla., below Jacksonville, $66,000. NOTE. The present project of the United States Engineers calls for a 30-foot lowwater channel from the sea to Jacksonville and is expected to be completed by July 1, 1915. The increased depth in this river means that vessels of increased size will use this port. It will, moreover, be more than ever necessary to follow the dredged channels closely. The present post lights along the edges of the channels, already a source of much trouble and expense on account of damage by collision, if retained, would have to be moved even closer to the channels and into depths of water in which it would prove impracticable to maintain them. The present post-lantern lights are confusing by reason of their low intensity and fixed characteristic, and the large number of them necessarily visible at one time. The amount of commerce on this river is large and increasing and fully warrants any reasonable expenditure to establish an efficient system of lighted aids. It is proposed to establish 36 range lights, 14 post lights, and 21 buoys to mark this tortuous channel properly. Detailed estimate: Woods Hole, Mass., lighthouse depot.-For improvements at Woods Hole lighthouse depot, Mass., $50,000. NOTE.-This depot is well located and protected in all weathers, but the work is badly handicapped by there not being a sufficient depth of water for tenders and deep-draft light vessels. It is recommended that the channel and basin around the wharf be dredged to a depth of 17 feet at low water, and it is also recommended that a brick storehouse, 35 by 80 feet, two stories high, with a half-pitch roof, be built to replace the wooden one, which is not at all adapted for the business and not large enough to accommodate the stock on hand in proper manner. Under present conditions the tender Anemone requires a supply of buoys on the fish commission dock and on the wharf at New Bedford, thus having the supplies located in three different places. The Azalea is required to tend and wait on the Anemone when anything is required from the depot's dock. This operation seriously interferes with carrying on the work properly. The dock at the fish commission is in a very dilapidated condition, and it is only a matter of a short time when the Anemone will not be able to dock there or keep a working supply of buoys and appendages. The front of the wharf has already been taken away and the remainder will not last for any great length of time. Detailed estimate: Dredging channel.... Building storehouse.. Total..... $35,000 15,000 50,000 Fighting Island Channel, Mich., aids to navigation.-For improving aids to navigation and establishing new aids in the Fighting Island Channel, Detroit River, Mich., $25,000. Authority is also requested that the provisions of section 8 of the act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat., 487), relative to the administering of oaths to travel accounts or other expenses against the United States be extended to chief clerks in the offices of lighthouse inspectors, or other employees in the Lighthouse Service designated by them. It was understood at the time the act was approved that such authority was contained therein, but in an opinion dated October 29, 1912, the Comptroller of the Treasury held that the chief clerk of a department in Washington is not authorized to designate a clerk (not otherwise empowered) in a Government office outside of Washington to administer such oaths. On account of the wide scope of the Lighthouse Service and the isolation of many stations and vessels it is recommended that this authority be granted, to avoid the hardships and delays occasioned by the present requirements. The same conditions apply also to the administering of oaths of office to employees of the Lighthouse Service. Authority is also requested for the transfer of a portion of the Tawas Lighthouse reservation, Michigan, to the Treasury Department for life-saving purposes. This land is not needed for the Lighthouse Service, and in a letter dated April 3, 1914, the Treasury Department stated that this portion affords the most suitable location on Tawas Bay for the boathouse and launchways of the Tawas life-saving station. It is therefore recommended that Congress authorize the transfer of this portion of the reservation. Authority is also requested that the penalties now provided for interference with aids to navigation maintained by the Lighthouse Service be extended to private aids lawfully maintained under proper authority. The law authorizing the establishment of private aids provides penalties for failure of the owners to maintain such aids properly, and it has been found that for lack of legal protection an owner may not be justly at fault for improper maintenance. It is therefore recommended, in equity to the owners, that the authority of the present statutes be extended to include protection to lawful private aids. Regarding the proposed legislation for exchanges of rights of way, it is desirable from time to time for the best interests of the Lighthouse Service to exchange existing rights of way over land leading to lighthouse reservations for more direct or suitable rights of way; but there is no existing law authorizing such changes which it is now recommended that Congress grant in the authority requested above. The act of July 27, 1912 (37 Stat.. 970), authorized the use of the appropriation of $200,000 for a tender for the first lighthouse district and elsewhere, made by the acts of May 27, 1908 (35 Stat., 331), and March 4, 1909 (35 Stat., 970), for the construction of two tenders. It is now thought that additional small tenders may be constructed out of this appropriation, and authority is requested to extend the unexpended balance of the appropriation for the construction of additional tenders for general service. DETAILED ESTIMATES FOR SPECIAL WORKS, 1916. [See Annual Report Commissioner of Lighthouses, 1914, pp. 78 to 85, inclusive, and 87, 89, 90, and 91.] GROUP NO 1. Works urgently necessary for the safety of navigation and for the preservation of existing structures or equipment, for the full utilization of other public improvements, or for the completion of projects already commenced. Point Vincente, Cal., Light Station. For establishing a light and fog-signal station at Point Vincente, Cal., $80,000. NOTE.-Point Vincente is the most prominent point of the California shore line between Point Loma and Point Conception, a distance of 220 nautical miles. Practically all steamer traffic on the Pacific coast south of San Francisco, both domestic and foreign, passes this point. There is at present no lighthouse on this point, but there is one at Point Fermin, 6 miles southeastward. This point, however, is cut off from steamers approaching on the usual courses from the northward until within 4 miles of Point Vincente, by that point itself. This leaves an unlighted gap of 32 nautical miles on the usual courses of coasting vessels between Point Hueneme Light Station and Point Fermin Light Station. The Point Fermin light would be discontinued on the completing of this proposed light station, for the reason that with a light on Point Vincente and the new lighthouse at the entrance of San Pedro Harbor it would be no longer required. Freight and passenger traffic is very heavy along this part of the coast and will be materially increased with the opening of the Panama Canal. Point Vincente is a bold, rocky point and practically no warning can be had by the lead in approaching it in foggy weather, as the 100-fathom curve lies within one-half mile of the shore. The importance of this point is increased by the fact that it is a point of change of course for all passing traffic. Petitions dated September 21, 1907, September 3, 1909, and October 28, 1909, signed by masters and shipowners, requested that a light and fog signal be established at this point. It is proposed to establish a flashing light at an elevation of 170 feet, and a first-class compressed-air fog signal. Detailed estimate: St. Johns River, Fla., aids to navigation. For improving the aids to navigation and establishing new aids on the St. Johns River, Fla., below Jacksonville, $66,000. NOTE. The present project of the United States Engineers calls for a 30-foot lowwater channel from the sea to Jacksonville and is expected to be completed by July 1, 1915. The increased depth in this river means that vessels of increased size will use this port. It will, moreover, be more than ever necessary to follow the dredged channels closely. The present post lights along the edges of the channels, already a source of much trouble and expense on account of damage by collision, if retained, would have to be moved even closer to the channels and into depths of water in which it would prove impracticable to maintain them. The present post-lantern lights are confusing by reason of their low intensity and fixed characteristic, and the large number of them necessarily visible at one time. The amount of commerce on this river is large and increasing and fully warrants any reasonable expenditure to establish an efficient system of lighted aids. It is proposed to establish 36 range lights, 14 post lights, and 21 buoys to mark this tortuous channel properly. Detailed estimate: Woods Hole, Mass., lighthouse depot.-For improvements at Woods Hole lighthouse depot, Mass., $50,000. NOTE. This depot is well located and protected in all weathers, but the work is badly handicapped by there not being a sufficient depth of water for tenders and deep-draft light vessels. It is recommended that the channel and basin around the wharf be dredged to a depth of 17 feet at low water, and it is also recommended that a brick storehouse, 35 by 80 feet, two stories high, with a half-pitch roof, be built to replace the wooden one, which is not at all adapted for the business and not large enough to accommodate the stock on hand in proper manner. Under present conditions the tender Anemone requires a supply of buoys on the fish commission dock and on the wharf at New Bedford, thus having the supplies located in three different places. The Azalea is required to tend and wait on the Anemone when anything is required from the depot's dock. This operation seriously interferes with carrying on the work properly. The dock at the fish commission is in a very dilapidated condition, and it is only a matter of a short time when the Anemone will not be able to dock there or keep a working supply of buoys and appendages. The front of the wharf has already been taken away and the remainder will not last for any great length of time. Detailed estimate: Dredging channel..... Building storehouse. Total....... $35,000 15,000 50,000 Fighting Island Channel, Mich., aids to navigation.-For improving aids to navigation and establishing new aids in the Fighting Island Channel, Detroit River, Mich., $25,000. NOTE. The project for improvement of the lower Detroit River, contained in House Document No. 17, Sixty-second Congress, first session, for which an appro priation was made in the river and harbor act of March 4, 1913, is now in course of execution. This contemplates a straight channel after leaving the Grassy Island North Channel Range to the turn on to the Grosse Isle South Channel Range, a distance of some 5 miles. This will eliminate the necessity of both Mamajuda Range and Grassy Island South Channel Range, and necessitate the moving of both Ecorse Range, at the north end, and Grosse Isle North Channel Range, at the south, to proper sailing lines in the new channel. The preferred scheme of lighting would be the establishment of separate ranges for up and down bound vessels, and of two or more side lights at about the present locations, on the west side of Grassy Island South and Mamajuda Ranges. Detailed estimate: Florida Reefs, Fla., aids to navigation.-For establishing additional lighted aids for Florida Reefs, and repairs and improvements to existing aids, $75,000. NOTE.--On account of the unusually difficult and dangerous conditions encountered by vessels navigating near the Florida Reefs, especially by vessels bound into the Gulf of Mexico, which pass close to the reef to avoid the adverse Gulf-stream current, additional lighted aids are urgently needed. A very large commerce is carried on through the Straits of Florida and numerous strandings and wrecks involving large losses have occurred in the past, several within the last year. These reefs, owing to their nature, are a grave danger to navigation. They rise steeply from the deep channel of the Straits of Florida and the lead is, therefore, of little assistance. They lie far from shore, and at night the mariner must rely almost entirely upon artificial aids to guide him clear. It is, therefore, proposed to provide four intermediate lighted aids to be located about midway between present lights, which, it is believed, would greatly decrease the present dangers of navigation in that vicinity. estimate: Skeleton towers in place, Molasses Reef and Pacific Reef, with iron-pile foundations... Detailed Illuminating apparatus for Molasses Reef and Pacific Reef. Repairs and improvements to existing aids.. Total..... $50,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 75,000 Hudson River, N. Y., aids to navigation.-For improving the aids to navigation and establishing new aids on the Hudson River, N. Y., $100,000. NOTE. The lighting on the river is obsolete and many of the existing aids are in poor condition from age and so constructed that it is impossible to keep them in operation when the ice commences to move, and, as navigation is frequently open for a month in the fall of the year under these conditions, it is a great inconvenience and danger to navigation. Many complaints have been received from pilots and officials of Hudson River steamers, and correspondence with them has indicated a number of points at which improvements or new aids are considered necessary. With the large amount of traffic on this river and the size of passenger steamers navigating it at night, it is believed that a modern system of flashing lights on concrete foundations so as to resist ice damage would be of great assistance to navigation. It is proposed to rebuild the light and fog signal at Stony Point, which is in poor condition and far from the edge of the channel, to improve existing aids at Staats Point, Lamphere Dock, Four Mile Point, West Flats, and Con Hook, by providing brighter and flashing lights, to increase candlepower and provide fog bell at Jeffreys Hook, to rebuild decayed foundations and provide new towers and brighter lights at Bear Island, Cow Island, Nine Mile Tree, Roha Hook, Five Hook Island, New Baltimore, Fitch's wharf, Percy Reach, Catskill West Flats, Livingston Creek, Upper Coal Beds, and Esopus Island, to rebuild tower and fog-bell house and improve the light at West Point, and to establish new lights at Van Wies Point, Barrytown Bluffs, Magazine Point, and Anthony's Nose, improving, in all, 20 existing lights and establishing 4 new lights. The cost of providing and moving suitable construction plant has also been included. Detailed estimate: Rebuilding Stony Point... Improving Staats Point, etc., 5 lights, at $2,500.. Improving Jeffreys Hook with fog bell... Rebuilding and improving Bear Island, etc., 12 lights, at $3,000.. Establishing Van Wies Point, etc., 4 lights, at $4,000. Contingencies... Total...... $15,000 12, 500 5,500 36,000 6,000 16,000 9,000 100,000 Mississippi River, La., aids to navigation.-For improving the aids to navigation and establishing new aids on the Mississippi River below New Orleans, La., $50,000. NOTE. It is proposed to establish about 22 acetylene lens-lantern lights on skeleton steel towers, to take the place of the inefficient oil post-lantern lights now shown from wooden posts. Vessels traverse the river, drawing 28 feet of water. The commerce of the river is large and important. From January 1 to December 31, 1913, 3,662 coastwise and foreign-bound vessels, with a tonnage of approximately 8,140,000, entered the port of New Orleans. The imports and incoming coastwise shipments during 1913 were valued at approximately $101,000,000 and the exports and outgoing shipments approximately $213,000,000, making a total value of $314,000,000. Detailed estimate: Conneaut, Ohio, aids to navigation.-For a light and fog signal and improving the present aids to navigation in Conneaut Harbor, Ohio, $63,500. NOTE.-Extensive improvements to enlarge this harbor, involving the construction of new breakwaters and pierheads, and the removal of the breakwater pierhead upon which the present Conneaut Harbor Front Range Light and Fog Signal is situated, have been authorized and the construction of the breakwaters is in progress. The west breakwater pierhead is under contract to be completed in August, 1914. The harbor improvement will necessitate a rearrangement of the aids to navigation and it is proposed to build a suitable structure for the main light on the pierhead, the light to be an oil vapor flashing light, and the present fog bell, which is inadequate, to be replaced with a modern compressed-air siren. The commerce of Conneaut Harbor is extensive. The annual number of vessels entering and departing is about 3,000, representing a total registered tonnage of approximately 9,000,000. Detailed estimate: Kellett Bluff, Wash., Light Station. For establishing a light and fog-signal station at or near Kellett Bluff, Henry Island, Wash., or at some point on the west coast of San Juan Island, Wash., $40,000. NOTE. The greater part of the commerce between Puget Sound and Alaska, and between Cape Flattery and points on the Gulf of Georgia, will be benefited by the establishment of a light and fog-signal station at this point. Vessels proceeding to the northward after leaving Point Wilson have a run of about 26 miles before reaching the proposed location, with no fog signal on the American side. The depths are too great for soundings and there are strong tidal currents of uncertain direction to contend with. A light and fog-signal station will provide a definite point to run for in going north through Haro Strait, and a definite point of departure for vessels bound across the treacherous eastern end of Juan de Fuca Strait for Puget Sound, or bound northward through Haro Strait. This location is where it is customary for vessels to change course. It is important to the mariner that he verify his position here or in this vicinity in order to avoid the dangers on both sides of this narrow strait. A |