Readers Guide
Refer to page 16 of Lighthouses Short and Tall for Presque Isle Lighthouse
The earliest fog signals were bells, struck by hand. Then a mechanism was developed that would strike the bell. Only after
the invention of the steam engine could lighthouses have fog whistles, sirens, or horns that were run by machinery. Tending
the fog machinery was an extra duty.
The early keepers in the 19th century earned an average of $300 a year—less than a dollar a day. By 1871
salaries had increased to between $400 and $600 a year. These salaries were supplemented by supplies brought by tender to
locations where there was no suitable land for gardening or keeping livestock. If there was tillable land on the lighthouse
reservation, keepers grew vegetables, fruit, and grain, and kept chickens, pigs, cows, and horses. They hunted and fished
while their wives sewed their clothes and linens, cured meat, and put up preserves. Do you know anyone who knows how to do
these tasks?
