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A new form of estimates for general-maintenance items of appropriations was submitted to Congress and was embodied in the appropriation act. This combines all estimates of appropriation involving the purchase of supplies for the Lighthouse Service into a single item. This combination results in simplifying the office and depot work, while permitting a more correct and straightforward system of accounting than has been possible heretofore.

The publication of light lists and buoy lists intended for the benefit of mariners has been simplified in form and material, and there has been a consequent reduction in the cost of printing and the time required in preparation. An effort has been made to bring these publications up to date, and hereafter to have them reprinted promptly each year.

IMPROVEMENT OF APPARATUS.

Continuous effort has been made to improve the various kinds of apparatus used. The incandescent oil-vapor lamp has been further perfected, increasing the intensity of the light. The use of this light has been greatly extended. The use of acetylene gas for lighted beacons has also been extended, particularly in Alaska, resulting in considerable economy, as these lights do not require the continuous services of a keeper. Acetylene-gas lights and arc lights inclosed in lenses have been introduced on light vessels. Steps have been taken for the improvement of fog signals, particularly with a view to having them sounded promptly on the approach of fog. Progress has been made in this line by a more extended use of the oil engines and ccmpressed air, in place of steam plants, by the introduction of electric ignition for engines, and by the storage of compressed air. Mantles have been introduced for use in connection with Pintsch gas buoys, giving a greater intensity in the lights.

INCREASE IN AIDS TO NAVIGATION.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, there was approximately the following net increase in the number of aids to navigation maintained by the Lighthouse Service: Lights above the order of post-lantern lights, 49; fog signals, 8; daymarks, 175; buoys, 110; post-lantern lights, 106.

The illuminant of 29 lights has been changed to incandescent oil vapor, and the illuminant of 16 lights has been changed to acetylene. There have also been constructed 16 oil houses and 3 light keepers' dwellings.

During the fiscal year light vessels No. 64 and No. 65, occupying stations at Limekiln Crossing South, Mich., and Limekiln Crossing North, Mich., respectively, and Bush Bluff light vessel, Va., were discontinued. The stations formerly occupied by light vessels

No. 64 and No. 65 are now under the jurisdiction of the Canadian lighthouse service. The Bush Bluff light vessel was discontinued, owing to the establishment of more efficient aids in the vicinity.

Light vessels No. 28, No. 63 (relief), No. 64, and No. 65 were sold, they being of no further use in connection with the work of the United States Lighthouse Service.

Light vessel No. 56, formerly assigned to the White Shoal station, Mich., was removed elsewhere during the year, owing to the establishnient of the White Shoal light station, Mich.

The following are some of the more important aids which have been established:

Cape Hinchinbrook light and fog-signal station, Alaska.
White Shoal light and fog-signal station, Lake Michigan.
Rock of Ages light and fog-signal station, Lake Superior.
Split Rock light and fog-signal station, Lake Superior.

Woods Hole, Mass., Nobska Point fog signal.

Boston Harbor, Mass., 7 gas buoys in Broad Sound Channel.

Stratford Point, Conn., compressed-air siren fog signal (in place of bell). Potomac River, Md., buoys rearranged and range lights established.

Beaufort Harbor Entrance, N. C., 2 sets of range lights.

Fernandina Entrance, Fla., 2 sets of range lights.

Florida, east coast, inside passage, 100 daymarks.

Detroit River, Bar Point Channels, 10 gas buoys and 10 spar buoys.
Punta Gorda, Cal., fog signal.

Pauwela Point, Hawaii, light.

On account of constant demands for additional aids to navigation in Alaska and the great extent of dangerous waters in that Territory, the Bureau has given special attention to increasing the efficiency of its service there. Thirty-seven lights (including 14 acetylene lights, 1 third-order light, and 22 minor lights) and 22 buoys have been established in Alaska during the fiscal year. Two of the acetylene lights were initially established as oil lights.

LIGHTHOUSE VESSELS.

Plans are in preparation for the new lighthouses and vessels for which appropriations have been made, the most important of these being the establishment of aids to navigation along the new Livingstone Channel, in the Detroit River.

Active steps have been taken to have overhauled the floating equipment of the Lighthouse Service, and to arrange the stations of tenders and light vessels so that they may be used to the best advantage. Changes in the limits of districts have permitted of some transfers in the stations of tenders. The act of Congress which repealed the restriction on the Lighthouse Service as to the stations of light ships has permitted the Service to place the more seaworthy vessels in the more exposed positions, and this has been done in several cases.

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One new light vessel and one new tender heretofore appropriated for have been constructed and have been placed in service since the close of the fiscal year.

ECONOMY IN APPROPRIATIONS.

As a result, in part, of the reorganization, the estimates for the maintenance of the Lighthouse Service for the fiscal year 1912 were $428,000 less than the appropriations for the preceding year, and the appropriations were made nearly according to the estimates. In addition, for important new lighthouse works about the average annual appropriations were made.

Appropriations heretofore made of $200,000 for a tender for the First district, $30,000 for a tender for the Sixth district, and $60,000 for a tender for the Thirteenth (formerly the Fifteenth) district have not so far been used, as under the reorganization the vessels were not considered immediately necessary. On account of the size of the fleet of the Service, however, it will soon be essential to construct new vessels to take the places of those worn out in service, and additional tenders should be built in the early future under these appropriations, with some modifications as to their use, recommendations for which will be submitted to Congress.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY.

The satisfactory progress made in near and remote regions by the Coast and Geodetic Survey are given in detail in the Superintendent's report.

It is the aim of the Bureau to select localities where, according to the information at hand, the commercial needs or other demands are most pressing. Thus, at the request of the Chamber of Commerce of Seattle, one of the six vessels engaged in the survey of Alaskan waters was ordered to make a reconnoissance of the mouth of the Kuskokwim with a view to its buoyage. An interesting development of the general survey of Cooks Inlet was the delineation of the approaches of and anchorages in Knik Arm, which forms the nearest access for shipping to the Matanuska coal field, one of the two principal coal fields in Alaska. The results of this survey were prepared and photographic copies were furnished to the shipping concerned in advance of the issuance of the regular chart.

In response to a special demand, a surveying ship was dispatched to the Hawaiian Islands for the development of the hydrography close to the shores of Oahu.

In view of the early opening of the Panama Canal, I have directed the dispatch of a surveying ship and wire-drag party to Panama, for the purpose of making such a survey of the approaches as the exigencies of modern and prospective commerce demand.

In the Philippines the rapid progress achieved has been made possible by the cooperation of the Philippine government, whose interest, aside from that attaching to the safety of the United States and Philippine government ships, is made clearly apparent by the fact that, according to the report of 1910, not less than 162 steamers and 440 sailing vessels were engaged in the coastwise trade, while there were 872 clearances and a corresponding number of entries of foreign ships in the islands.

My approval has been given to various acts of cooperation with different bureaus of this and other departments for the purpose of obtaining data of value to the Survey, facilitating the work and rendering services in return.

At the request of the governor of Delaware, two experts, one from the Survey and one from the Bureau of Fisheries, aided that State in its oyster surveys, and the value of their services was acknowledged by a vote of thanks of the legislature, an unusual but gratifying recognition, to which it gives me pleasure to refer.

The delimitation of the Alaska frontier and the re-marking of the boundary between Canada and the United States is progressing under the direction of the Superintendent, acting for the Department of State. The triangulation along the one hundred and forty-first meridian has suggested the desirability of connecting it with the coastwise work at the mouth of the Yukon, by extending a network of triangulation down that river, which is one of the great rivers of the world. Such a triangulation would establish the necessary correlation between the topographic and other surveys already authorized by Congress in Alaska, and I therefore renew my recommendation of last year for an appropriation to initiate this work.

The overwhelming demands made on the Survey for its charts have necessitated a simplification of its chart work in all its branches, already referred to in my report of last year, and to this difficult task the office is devoting its energies. At the outset and for a considerable time, the changes which are being made will add much to the work of the office, but the changes are making themselves felt in increased output and resulting economy.

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