LIGHTHOUSES

ZETETIC COSMOGONY:
OR
Conclusive Evidence
THAT THE WORLD IS NOT A
ROTATING—REVOLVING—GLOBE,
BUT
A STATIONARY PLANE CIRCLE.
By Thomas Winship
1899

 start here

(Post 18/47)

LIGHTHOUSES.

The distance at which lights can be seen at sea entirely disposes of the idea that we are living on a huge ball.

From a tract, "The Bible versus Science," by J. C. Akester, Hull, I extract the following:

"A lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, 180 feet high (St. Catherine's), has recently been fitted with an electric light of such penetrating power (7,000,000 candles) that it can be seen 42 miles. At that distance, according to modern science, the vessel would be 996 feet below the horizon." Extract from a letter written by a passenger on board the "Iberia," Orient Line, R.M.S.—"At noon on Thursday, 27th of September, we were 169 miles from Port Said; by the ship's log, our rate of steaming was 324 miles in 24 hours. At 12 p.m., we were alongside the lighthouse at Port Said, it having become visible at 7.30 when it was about 58 miles away. It is an ordinary tower, about as high as the tower at Springhead (60 feet), lit by electricity." According to modern science, the vessel would be 2,182 feet below the horizon. Extract from "Manx Sun," July 24th, 1894.—"The weather of late has been very fine. It was a splendid sight, on Sunday evening, to see the land in Ayr, and Cumberland, so clear that houses could be seen with the naked eye; and the smoke from Whitehaven, and other towns, could be seen very distinctly. Ramsey Bay appeared as if it was enclosed by the surrounding land, from Black Coombe to the Point of Ayr, Welney light being seen distinctly, distance 45 miles."

In February, 1894, a discussion on the subject of the shape of the world was carried on in the columns of the Cape Argus (Capetown), by the writer on the one side, and three antagonists on the other. From the evidence of the editor of the paper in a foot-note to the first letter of "Ancient Mariner" that Dassen Island light had been seen from the beach road at Sea Point, it was shewn that water is level. This light is 155 feet above sea level at its focal plane, and according to the published report of the Inspector of Public Works for 1893, had been seen from the bridge of a mail steamer more than 40 miles away. This "ancient mariner" did not believe, and asked "if anything had gone wrong with the shape of the earth hereabouts." One of his supporters, in a letter to the paper—after the editor had stated that the light had been seen from the beach road at Sea Point (33 miles)—stated that by climbing a hill so many feet the light might be seen! Thus will ignorant prejudice flaunt itself in the face of truth. If the earth were a globe it is evident that Dassen Island light could not be seen from a steamer's bridge 40 miles away, nor from an elevation of 30 feet at a distance of 33 miles. In the former case, allowing 40 feet for altitude of observer, the light would be 871 feet below the horizon, and in the latter 551 feet below. At the close of the controversy, I challenged "Ancient Mariner" to test the case by an appeal to an experiment on the waters of Table Bay, and am still waiting an acceptance of that challenge. I am now credibly informed that the Bluff light, Natal, has been seen at sea from a distance of 30 miles. This light is 282 feet above sea level, and should, according to the globe theory, have been 298 feet below the horizon, allowing 20 feet for height of observer!   

Another and an unconscious witness to the fact of the horizontality of water, is Mr. Smith, of Cape Point, as the following shows:

A LIGHT FROM AFAR.  
To the Editor of the "Cape Times."     

Sir,—At nine o'clock this evening the Danger Point light was distinctly visible to the naked eye from the homestead at Cape Point (about 150 feet above sea level), this being the first occasion, since the erection of the Danger Point Lighthouse, on which the flashes of light have been noticed by myself. The light must be most powerful to be seen from a distance of over fifty miles on a clear night. I timed half a minute interval between each three quick flashes.     

I am, &c.,  
A. E. SMITH.     
Cape Point, August 22nd, 1894.

In a letter from the Engineer of Public Works, Capetown, dated 2nd February, 1898, I am informed that:

"The focal plane of Point Danger Lighthouse is elevated 150 feet above high water level."

According to this, therefore, if the world be a globe, the light should have been 1,666 feet below Mr. Smith's line of sight.

In Answers of 2nd May, 1896, the following appears:

"The steeple, or stump, as it is locally called, of the Parish Church of St. Botolph, at Boston, on the south-east coast of Lincolnshire, near the Wash, has long been utilised as a lighthouse. The tower is 290 feet in height, and resembles that of Antwerp Cathedral, being crowned by a beautiful octagonal lantern. This tower BEING VISIBLE 40 MILES DISTANCE serves as a lighthouse to guide mariners when entering what are called the Boston and Lynn Deeps."

According to globular principles this light should be hidden below the horizon for nearly 800 feet.   

From "Music and Morals," by H. R, Haweiss, I extract the following:

"The Antwerp spire is 403 feet high from the foot of the tower; Strasburg measures 468 feet from the level of the sea, but less than 403 feet from the level of the plain. By the clear morning light, from the steeple at Notre Dame at Antwerp, the panorama can hardly be surpassed; 126 steeples may be counted, far and near. Facing northward the Scheldt winds away until it loses itself in a white line, which is none other than the North Sea. By the aid of a telescope ships can be distinguished out on the horizon, and the captains declare they can see the lofty spire at ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES distant; Middelburg at 75 miles, Fleesing 65 miles, are also visible from the steeple; looking towards Holland, we can distinguish Breda and Walladue, each about 54 miles off."

The above spire would be out of sight A MILE BELOW THE HORIZON, at a distance of 150 miles, and as no telescope can pierce a segment of water, the conclusion is that water is level.

The Earth Review of July, 1894, says: "The Captain of the s.s. Milo, referring to the question as to how far a powerful light can be seen, says: 'The other day, when off Skagen, the rays from Hantsholmen lighthouse were distinctly visible, though the light was fully seventy-two miles away.' Mr. B. wrote and asked how the light could be seen unless the lighthouse was 3,500 feet above sea-level? This is the official reply he received: Editorial Department, Tit-Bits, Dec. 21, 1892. The paragraph you refer to was sent me by the Captain of the s.s. Milo, and he vouched for its accuracy. Under these circumstances I cannot enter into a discussion as to the possibility of his being able to see it or not. P.S.—Mr. B. allowed that the reported observation was made from a mast-head 100 feet above sea-level."

In the Argus Annual for 1894, it is stated, on pages 207 and 271:

"Natal Bluff light, 292 feet above water level, has been seen at a distance of 30 miles." According to globe measurement it should have been about 300 feet below the line of sight.

The Natal Mercury of 18th July, 1898, states:

"The Cape L'Agulhas lighthouse is to be reconstructed to allow for the introduction of a flash light. A lighthouse erected two miles from Fish River, has been completed. The tower is 33 feet high and 238 feet above sea level, and the flash light is visible for over 50 miles."

This light would be 1,400 feet below an observer's line of sight at an elevation of 28 feet, if the world is a globe.   

The following is extracted from Scraps of 27th August, 1898: "I have recently received the following letter, which, I confess, fogs me just about as much as the writer of it complains of being fogged: Sir,—In your issue No. 772 you give an account of the lighthouse at New York—"Liberty enlightening the World." You say the light can be seen sixty miles away at sea, and I think you must be mistaken. A text-book I have by me on surveying and levelling gives eight inches per mile (actually 7.963 inches) as the correction to be made for curvature of the earth's surface in setting out canals, railways, &c., varying inversely with the square of the distance, thus: 60 x 60 x 8 ÷ 12 = 2,400 feet, and making allowance for the light being 336 feet above sea level, it should be 2,074 feet below the horizon at sixty miles. Now (1) either your figures are wrong, or (2) the weight of the statue has flattened the earth for sixty miles round about, or (3) surveyors do not allow eight inches for curvature, and let their canals and railways stick out over the side of the earth like gigantic fishing-rods. I confess I am in a fog. Can you enlighten me in your "Facts and Fancies" column?—Yours truly, "Foggy." I won't attempt to analyze "Foggy's" fogging calculations, but he is certainly very wrong. Any navigator will tell you that the horizon is visible at about fifteen miles from the hurricane deck of a steamer; at twenty from the bridge deck; and at a proportionately greater distance from the masthead. But beyond this you have to remember the added penetration given to lighthouse lights by means of refraction and reflection."

A light can only be seen on the surface of a globe, at a distance the square of which multiplied by 8" (nearly) is equal to its height. This applies no matter how powerful the light may be, because no light can pierce a segment of water, nor can the natural eye with or without the aide of a glass do so.

But, says someone, there is no allowance made for refraction in any of the foregoing calculations. That is quite true, but constitutes no valid objection in the light of the following extract from the "Encyclopedia Britannica," article "Levelling": "We suppose the visual rays to be a straight line, whereas on account of the unequal densities of the air at different distances from the earth, the rays of light are incurvated by refraction. The effect of this is to lessen the difference between the true and apparent levels, but in such an extremely variable and uncertain manner that if any constant or fixed allowance is made for it in formula or tables, it will often lead to a greater error than what it was intended to obviate. For, though the refraction may at a mean compensate for about one-seventh of the curvature of the earth, it sometimes exceeds one-fifth, and at other times does not amount to one-fifteenth. We have, therefore, made no allowance for refraction in the foregoing formulae."

We are fairly entitled to conclude, therefore, from the reliable data furnished as to how far lights at sea can be seen, that the world is an extended plane, and not the globe of astronomical speculation.