The History of the Administration of the U.S.L.H.S. (Part 2)

Lewis continued his inspection noting that off the beaten path lighthouses often had more lamps and reflectors than major seacoast harbor lights, like Boston; that some areas had clusters of lights and other stretches were devoid of any light at all. He attackecl the rated range of the various lights. The Lighthouse Service stated in Light Lists that a light with an elevation of 70 feet could be seen for 19 miles, when in fact the curvature of the earth will only allow a light at this height to be seen for 11 miles, not that the crude lamp reflector system would have that range were it properly elevated.