Daboll trumpet

rdf:langString Daboll trumpet

rdf:langString A Daboll trumpet is an air trumpet foghorn which was developed by an American, Celadon Leeds Daboll, of New London, Connecticut. It was basically a small coal-fired hot air engine, which compressed air in a cylinder on top of which was a reed horn. The Daboll trumpet, consists of a steel reed vibrating within a horn, which uses the hot air engine to force cold air by means of an air pump into a boiler, from which it escapes into the horn through a valve, causing the vibrations of the reed, which are regulated by an automatic cam. Daboll's cousin, Charles Miner Daboll (1823-), inventor of the , is credited with developing the Daboll trumpet for practical use. The following citation is from: Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XIX, No. 470, Jan. 3, 1885. The Daboll trumpet was invented by Mr. C.L. Daboll, ofConnecticut, who was experimenting to meet the announced wants of theUnited States Lighthouse Board. The largest consists of a huge trumpetseventeen feet long, with a throat three and one-half inches in diameter,and a flaring mouth thirty-eight inches across. In the trumpet is aresounding cavity, and a tongue-like steel reed ten inches long, two andthree-quarter inches wide, one inch thick at its fixed end, and half thatat its free end. Air is condensed in a reservoir and driven through thetrumpet by hot air or steam machinery at a pressure of from fifteen totwenty pounds, and is capable of making a shriek which can be heard at agreat distance for a certain number of seconds each minute, by aboutone-quarter of the power expended in the case of the whistle. In all hisexperiments against and at right angles and at other angles to the wind,the trumpet stood first and the whistle came next in power. In the trialof the relative power of various instruments made by Gen. Duane in 1874,the twelve-inch whistle was reported as exceeding the first-class Dabolltrumpet. Beaseley reports that the trumpet has done good work at variousBritish stations, making itself heard from five to ten miles. The engineerin charge of the lighthouses of Canada says: "The expense for repairs, andthe frequent stoppages to make these repairs during the four years theycontinued in use, made them [the trumpets] expensive and unreliable. Thefrequent stoppages during foggy weather made them sources of dangerinstead of aids to navigation. The sound of these trumpets hasdeteriorated during the last year or so." Gen. Duane, reporting as to hisexperiments in 1881, says: "The Daboll trumpet, operated by a caloricengine, should only be employed in exceptional cases, such as at stationswhere no water can be procured, and where from the proximity of othersignals it may be necessary to vary the nature of the sound." Thus itwould seem that the Daboll trumpet is an exceptionally fine instrument,producing a sound of great penetration and of sufficient power forordinary practical use, but that to be kept going it requires skillfulmanagement and constant care. "Congress made an appropriation in 1860 authorizing the Light-House Board to makeexperiments with "Daboll's trumpet and other ear signals," but nothing was done until some time later." Daboll's trumpet were installed at the following during trials: * Cape Ann Light - Thatcher's Island ..... " June 30, 1869 * Execution Rocks Light - Long Island Sound January 25, 1869 * Monhegan Island Light - Manana Island Sound Signal Station, Maine, April 4, 1870 * Boston Light - Boston, Massachusetts, October 29, 1871 * Portland Head Light-Portland, Maine November, 1871 * Montauk Point Light - Long Island May 1, 1873 * Highland Light - Cape Cod June 23, 1873