er to prevent the loss of the
Lives and Estates of His Majesty's Subjects; the said Light
House has been built; and on Fryday last the 14th Currant the
Light was kindled, which will be very useful for all Vessels
going out and coming in to the Harbour of Boston, or any other
Harbours in the Massachusetts Bay, for which all Masters shall
pay to the Receiver of Impost, one Penny per Ton Inwards, and
another Penny Outwards, except Coasters, who are to pay Two
Shillings each, at their clearance Out, And all Fishing
Vessels, Wood Sloops, etc. Five Shillings each by the Year.

This was the practical result of a petition of Boston merchants made
three years before. The tower was built of stone, at a cost of about
ten thousand dollars. Two years later the keeper and his family were
drowned and the catastrophe so affected Benjamin Franklin, a boy of
thirteen, that he wrote a poem concerning it. The lighthouse was badly
damaged during the Revolution, by raiding-parties, and in 1776, when the
British fleet left the harbor, a squad of sailors blew it up. It was
rebuilt in 1783 and has since been increased in height.

Apparently oil-lamps were used in it from the beginning, notwithstanding
the fact that candles and coal fires served for years in many
lighthouses of Europe. In 1789 sixteen lamps were used and in 1811
Argand lamps and reflectors were installed, with a revolving mechanism.
It now ceased to be a fixed light and the day of flashing lights had
arrived. At the present time the Boston Light emits a beam of 100,000
candle-power directed by modern lenses.

When the United States Government was organized in 1789 there were ten
lighthouses owned by the Colonies, but the Boston Light was in operation
thirty years before the others. Sandy Hook Light, New York Harbor, was
established in 1764 and its original masonry tower is still standing and
in use. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in this country. It was
built with funds raised by means of two lotteries authorized by the New
York Assembly. A few days after it was lighted for the first time the
following news item appeared in a New York paper:

On Monday evening last the New York Light-house erected at
Sandy Hook was lighted for the first time. The House is of an
Octagon Figure, having eight equal Sides; the Diameter at the
Base 29 Feet; and at the top of the Wall, 15 Feet. The Lanthorn
is 7 feet high