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96 THE LIGHT HOUSE SERVICE. The United States Light House Es- tablishment, as an organization separat- ed from the Revenue or direct control by the secretary of the treasury, dates back to 1820, when Stephen Pleas- anton, fifth auditor of the treasury, took charge, under the popular title of gen- eral superintendent of lights. Mr. Pleas- anton was in charge until 1852, His administration was praiseworthy, but many complaints were lodged and many investigations called for. The general conclusion of the investigators was to the effect that Mr. Pleasanton had done the work to the best ability of one man, but that the service had grown beyond the limit of one man's capacity. _ In 1846, after an examination "tour abroad, studying other 'services, Lieuts. Thornton A. Jenkins and Richard Bache of the navy made a report to the Hon. R. J. Walker, secretary of the treasury. In commenting on this report, Secretary. Walker said: '* ape te ke It is obvious that a very con- siderable range of practical and theoretical knowledge is required for the, improvement of the sys- tem; more than can be looked for from one individual, however em- inent in science. The proper or- 'ganization of the system, and 'planning of its details, require the 'efficient head of a bureau familiar 'with the working of a general or- ganization--a person capable of furnishing information in regard to the coasts and harbors from actual surveys; persons minutely: acquainted with the wants of navi- gation, with details of: location and construction of the Light- houses, and with the chemical and mechanical principles involved in lighting. While this knowledge cannot be obtained from one per-. son, a board may be organized, without expense to the govern- ment, by which the system may be considered in all its particulars, and an efficient plan of action recommended. In 1851, Congress authorized the ap- pointment of a board to consider. and report upon the matter of organizing the Light House Service. This board was made up of navy officers, army en- gineers and the superintendent of the coast survey. The French service was, at that time, in advance of all others and was supposed to have been fol- lowed largely in planning ours, In the French service, the executive kead--known as the "Director of the Service'--is an inspector general des Ponts et Chaussees. The French corps des: Ponts et Chaussees is the corps of engineers having charge of works of river and harbor improvement, and in- spector general means a rank in that corps. Inspector des Ponts et Chaussees in. France means Colonel of Engineers United States Army, in our country, engineering Tae Marine. REVIEW An Engineer-in-Chief des Ponts et Chaussees (Lieut.-Colonel or Major of Engineers in this country) is secretary to the Light-House board--known as the Commission des Phares. The Board of Commission is a council of delibera- tion to which important matters are referred for an opinion--a_ purely ad- visory body composed of engineers, as experts on building and navigation ; of pavy officers, as experts on navigating ; of a hydrographic engineer, as an expert on hydrography; and of a Member of the Institute, as a general scientist. To them are referred stich matters as the location of lights to serve the best 1n- terests of navigation; any general change in the policy of lighting; the "proper. height of lights and their character; and, in fact, matters of general policy |. ine the ecutive officers of the service; and our in lighting and lights. In matters of construction, the sends the plans to the general council des Ponts et Chaussees (similar to our board of. engineers) for final review. The actual construction, operation and care of the aids to navigation, are in the hands of engineers des Ponts et Chaussees, who are located at various points along the coast and who are also in charge of works of river and harbor improvement. The -inspectors of the service are officers des Ponts et Chaus- . sees senior to the district engineers. In our attempt or failure to copy this admirable institution, we made the light- house board. (an organization of eight members) the executive head. of the service; made two secretaries to the board--a naval secretary and an en- gineer secretary--thus dividing responsi- bility; and put an inspector and an en- gineer in each district, thus having -an- other divided responsibility. - This organization has done admirable work in spite of the absolute lack of modern business principles in its make- up. Two great bars to speedy and ef- ficient work exist--too large a head (an organization of eight members) and di- vided responsibility and jurisdiction over common ground. Both of these evils were mentioned by the President in his annual message to congress, and by Sec- retary Nagel in his annual report. The French service is a success; is based on business principles of organ- ization; has been copied by many other nations; and is admitted to be the best. Nagel and by the light-house board, to be, in some respects, a failure. Then Ours had done admirable work, but is admitted by the president, by Secretary why Should we not give the real French plan a fair trial? The Mann bill aims at a decided change in the organization, but does it not take us back to the Organization of 1840? It deprives the . Service of the advantage of the discip- line of .a military service, which the director _plan has been followed. March, 1919 president states in his message to be of great benefit to the organization. The French organization, applied jp this country, would be as follows: The Chief of Engineers United States Army would take the place of the director jy _ France; an assistant in his office would take the place of the second executive of the French service and, like him, would be secretary of the light-house - board; the light-house' board would be composed as it is now (except the two secretaries) and would be advisory in 'matters of general policy, of location, of lights and of lighting; the construc- tion, care and operation of lights would: be in the hands of the river and har- bor engineers; the general inspection of the work would be in the hands of the division engineers and the two ex- general council des Ponts et Chaussees would be the board of engineers. The conditions suggested by Secretary Walker over 60 years ago-- the efficient head of a bureau familiar with the working of a. _general organization -- a person capable of furnishing information in regard to the coasts and_har- bors from actual surveys :-- can readily be found in the office of the chief of engineers. We would thus do away with light- house districts and their double organ- izations of offices, clerks and light-house tenders; we would not take the chances of going back to our organization of 1840, which failed: We would correct our failure in organization of 1852-- supposed 'to be on the French mode; and we would. have the actual French organization, which has proved itself to be a success, not only in France, but in many other countries, where the French If the French engineers who perform the duties of river and harbor improvement, have sat- isfactorily performed the kindred duties of caring for the aids to navigation, why should not our river and harbor engineers perform the same duties at a great saving of cost and organization? SOME INTERESTING SHIP-RE- PAIR JOBS AT ANTWERP. Herewith are reproduced photographs of two interesting ship repair jobs, which are being dealt with by the. Ant- werp Engineering Co., the well known ship. repairers, engineers and dry dock proprietors of that port. The enterprise of this company has long been rec- ognized on both sides of the Atlantic, and it possesses an enviable reputation for the smartness of its work and _ the up-to-date nature of its plant and facil- ities. The company is one of the larg- est 'of its kind in Europe, and deals with every class of contract concerning a ship whether hull, machinery .or_ boil-