Prof. Faraday, of London, in the Philosophical Magazine for April, expresses a favorable opinion of the electric spark for light house purposes, and states that the experiment, last winter, in the South Foreland high light, has proved successful. During six months this apparatus has done its duty well. The light has never gone out through any deficiency in the engine or machine house, and when from any other cause it may have become extinguished, a single touch of the keeper’s hand has caused it instantaneously to resume its brightness. The illuminating brilliance shed forth has it shone up and down the channel, far surpassed that of any other fixed light. Among the points to be considered before the electric light can be generally adopted, is the expense, which is great, and the variations or occasional interruptions of the light from causes imperfectly known, and therefore imperfectly controllable.
The Daily Dispatch, Richmond, VA, August 11, 1860