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THE NEW BUFFALO LIGHT IS OF 180,000 CANDLE POWER HE recent completion of the new light station on the south side of the north or main har- bor entrance begins a new chapter in the history of Buffalo harbor. Buffalo's first lighthouse was built in 1820 and stood near the present life- Saving station. In 1826 the north and south piers were built to protect the shipping, which increased almost miraculously in amount after the com- pletion of the. Erie:-canal, . in 1625. During 1833 the light was moved to the stone tower on the south pier, and ever since that has been the main harbor light. After the war, Buffalo harbor re-. ceived almost the first attention of the government engineers, who recog- nized its great importance, and in 1868 the south breakwater was be- gun--a wooden crib filled with broken rock about a half-mile from shore. This might have been not only a safe- guard, but a menace to navigation, had not a lighthouse been built near its south end (the site of the 1914 structure) in 1872--the first break- water light. In 1886, the wooden breakwater be- gan to deteriorate and its reconstrtuc- tion in concrete was begun. This was the first work of its kind in the United States, but proved highly successful and has continued in several stages and at intervals, until ultimately the whole breakwater will be rebuilt of concrete. The lighthouse crib also suffered from the elements at those Points not continually submerged, and in 1899 the crib was covered with vertical plank to prolong its useful- ness, The heht. (a- fixed. red of the fourth order) was raised 12 ft. at the same time, to a point 53%4 ft above the mean lake level. Its lantern. (or glass cabin sheltering the actual light and lenses) while on its temporary stilts, encountered one of the strongest winds in the memory of the oldest in- habitant and was given up for lost, but owing to the care and foresight of the men in charge, this $3,000 beacon was undamaged. In 1909 the steamer Frank J. Heffelfinger collided with the lighthouse, carrying away the overhanging deck, the davits, boat and landing ladder. In view of this and ; accidents, a fender of < C rt $3 o © rt ba O oS o piles has been erected to protect the new building. The new light itself, which is to be the main harbor' light, or. "landtal is of the oil vapor type, of 180,000 candlepower. It is a white, flashing (or intermittent) light, and owing to its elevation of 65 ft. above the lake level, will be visible from vessels 18% miles away. On Lake Erie or Lake Ontario there is no other com- bination of light and lenses so power- ful as this. For the protection of vessels in thick weather, the first fog signal was erected on the breakwater in 1880. This was replaced in 1893 by a bell A CLOSE VIEW OF THE NEW LIGHTHOUSE