YACHTMAN'S FRIEND

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 330, 17 September 1932, Page 6

YACHTMAN'S FRIEND

ROMANTIC L1GHTHOUSE SHINEK 1NSIDE THE GOLDEN GATE. With the completion recently oi one of the most beautiful lighthouses on American shores — that which marlcs the entrance to Kuri Francisco's municip'al yacht harboui>— a striking example of Old World design has been nxade to serve to liay's needs. llert the rugged synimctry of Roman-biui watchtowers, 'erected along ihe .shoi'cline of the Mediterraneua during tlu Punie wars, has reappeared in an equally watchful role — that of guid- . ing and guarding a great fieet of pleasure craft. Yet tha liglithou.se structure has also borrowed liberally from the more recent past. Excepting the concreto foundation and the electric lamp, tlu shaft is built entircly of salvage maberial. The sea wall and paving stone surrounding thc foundation once carried the horse-di-awn traffic of earlyday San Franeisco; the eut stone was formerly part of a mansion that crowixed one of the city's seven hilis; the woodwork of solid, highly seaBoned tealc has xxxany times girdled thc globe as parts of half a dozen ships. The very heart and soul of the new lighthouse — the lens lantern behind which burns the electric lamp — has a rich history of its own. From thc ■early 1850's until 190G, on a lofty perch along the unfricndly shores oi California's Humboldt County, it witnessed the gallant struggles of ships. against the waves. The flags of all max-itime nations have fluttered in daylight review befove the lens lantern, while at night the marine parade seemed to comc closer, the green sidelights moving slowly into the north, the red on.;s proceeding with »equal majesty into the south. Often the lights max-ked the p-rogress of a statxly windjammer. And now the veteran glass is carrying on again, this Uma sending a I friendly finger of light across the bay j just insid'e the Golden Gate to guicle the homeward-bound yachtsman. ■ .