Selected pages from the 1881 Instructions to Light-Keepers

Around this time, the Funck Lamp was replacing the Moderator Lamp as the illumination source in 1st and 2nd Order lenses. The Funck Lamp, in this case for lard oil, is illustrated below...

This was also the period when mineral oil was replacing lard oil as a fuel. Below is a new Hains mineral oil lamp for use in 4th, 5th, and 6th Order lenses...

Mineral oil, being much more volatile than the former whale and lard oils, was treated with care, as the instructions below show...

This circular shows the fuel consumption rates of various lamps in use in 1881...

Watch for many more such documents to be posted on this site in the future. This project is part of the efforts of the Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society to make the nation's lighthouse history available to the public. Your comments and support are appreciated.

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