New This Week:

5.95/23.30  ANTIQUE NAVY  PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE BOOK.  “The American Navy With Introduction and Descriptive Text,” 1898, Belford, Middlebrook & Co., Chicago.”  Soft cover, 36 pages, large format with black and white photographs.  This amazing pictorial documentary of the United States’ Navy’s fleet dates to the days immediately following the Spanish-American War.  The introduction begins with the sentence “A battle between and barn and a cheese-box in 1861 revolutionized naval architecture.”  It goes on to emphasize the transition of the wooden hull sailing Navy which evolved to steel steamships at the end of the 19th century.  The beginning photograph is that of the Battleship MAINE” in memoriam, lost in Havana Harbor, Cuba on February 15, 1898.  Its destruction literally sparked the war with Spain known as the “Spanish-American War.”  The remainder of the book is filled with beautifully-detailed photographic images of ships in the United States’ fleet at the end of that conflict.  Captions include “The INIDANA’s 13-Inch Guns, The MASSACHUSETTS, The OREGON, The NEW YORK, The BROOKLYN, The Dynamite Cruiser VESUVIUS, The DLOPHIN, The ATLANTA, The CHARLESTON, The CHICAGO, The RALEIGH, The TEXAS, The PHILADELPHIA, The NEWARK, BALTIMORE and Fleet At Hampton Roads, The SAN FRANCISCO, The Torpedo-Boat STILLETO, The SAN FRANCISCO, BANCROFT and Fleet At Hampton Roads, Spinning A Yarn, Firing A pivot Gun, The NEWARK and many more.  Each image measure 8 by 10 inches sight, with high resolution.  These images were produced, NOT using dot matrix format.  He promotion on the inside cover states “The reproductions are better than the Original Photographs.”  Overall condition is excellent, considering its age of one and a quarter centuries.  The heavy paper cover is slightly toned and there are a few minor tears which have been repaired using non-acidic mending.  Overall size 10 ¼ by 14 inches.  A must have reference for the student of the American Navy. 179

5.50  VERY RARE NAVY TROPHY.  The incredible U.S. Navy trophy issued to the ship in the fleet which has exhibited the best battle readiness.  The award was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt to recognize naval gunnery proficiency in the fleet.  This solid brass example is a copy, faithful to the original, which was awarded to the winning ship.  The tradition currently continues embodied in an award by the Commander of the Pacific Fleet to the ship most proficient in overall combat systems readiness and warfare operations.  The original trophy was donated by the Spokane, Washington Navy League depicting areas of Spokane, Washington state and its silver mining community.  The original Spokane Trophy is made of 400 ounces of pure silver and is valued at $4 million. Presently it is on display under armed guard at Naval Surface Forces headquarters in San Diego and is viewed only once a year for the presentation ceremony!  Significantly, the trophy bears the names of the last 96 ships which have won it, including the famed battleships USS ARRIZONA (BB-39) and the USS WEST VIRGINIA (BB-48).   This realistic solid brass copy is mounted on an oval hardwood base standing 10 inches tall and 7 ¾ inches wide, weighing an amazing 7 1/2 pounds!  Excellent original condition.  A U.S. Navy rarity, certainly worth much more than we are offering!  WAS $495 NOW! 195

9.33 COMPENDIUM.   Remarkable 19th century gentleman’s pocket compendium comprising 4 functions in one instrument!  Barometer – altimeter – compass – thermometer.  The aneroid barometer function features a silvered brass dial indicating atmospheric pressure with a huge range spanning 18 to 31 inches calibrated in whole inches divided down to 5/100ths.  It is marked “RAIN, CHANGE and FAIR.”  A delicate indicator needle points the reading.  The dial is signed “Henry Kahn & Co. SAN FRANCISCO, Compensated.”  The altimeter is embodied in the rotating rim surrounding the dial.  The elevation is marked from 0 through an astounding 15,000 feet subdivided in 50 foot increments!  The back of the instrument contains two more functions.  A circular mercury thermometer which indicates the range of degrees Fahrenheit from 8 to150.  It is marked “FAHT” at the bottom of the dial next to the adjustment screw for setting the barometer.  In the center is the magnetic compass under beveled glass.  It indicates the standard 32 compass points on its mother-of-pearl card with the Cardinal and Intercardinal points identified.  North is designated by a star above a lyre.  The body of the instrument is gilt washed brass with a small pivoting suspension loop at the top.  The rim of the altimeter is knurled for ease of setting the reading.  The entire instrument is 2 inches in diameter and 7/8 inches thick.  With the loop it measures 2 ¾ inches in length. It is presented in its cusom made display dome with turned wooden base, 3 inches in diameter  Outstanding original condition showing careful use.  ALL functions operate properly.  795

According to Kornelia Takacs in her comprehensive reference book ”Compass Chronicles,” 2010, Schiffer Books, Atglen, Pennsylvania, this compass was made in accordance with Samuel Barry Singer’s 1861 patent.  The dry card dial is distinctively marked in half-black, half-white, providing a sharp contrast which was much easier to see in low light.  A nearly identical compass dial is shown on page 42, dated at circa 1868.  Two similar examples are shown, dating 1870 and 1880 respectively (p. 44).

Of particular note is the fact that this American instrument, circa 1880, was designed to measure altitudes exceeding the tallest mountain in the United States at the time, that being California’s Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet of elevation.   Long before air travel!

10.49 HARD HAT DIVING PUMP. Genuine World War II era or earlier shallow water diving pump made by the “Miller-Dunn Co. Miami Fla.” as cast in relief on the tops of the twin cylinders. This heavy duty pump is MD’s “No. 1A” model as so identified on the tops. It consists of a cast iron rocking beam attached to brass rods activating dual pistons with leather washers contained within the brass cylinders. Valves on each cylinder direct air to an outlet via a hard rubber hose which connected to the diver’s air line. The cylinders pivot on their bases as the rocking beam works in a reciprocal motion to and fro. The heavy cast iron base is attached to a thick solid mahogany slab mount. A simple metal handle would have been used to operate the rocking beam, which has a slot and set nut to accommodate same. This very handsome presentation measures 15 inches long by 7 inches wide on the base, 16 ½ inches high and weighs 30 pounds. Beautifully restored cosmetic condition, and it still pumps! The nicest of several we have ever offered in 4 decades. 895 

The now legendary Miller-Dunn Company of Miami is shrouded in a good deal of mystery, even though it is documented that the company produced hard hat diving helmets over the course of more than 30 years. Begun in 1915 as a partnership between a plumber and machinist the company was best known for its shallow water "Divinhood" designs which were patented in the United States and abroad. In his monumental reference book "Helmets of the Deep" by Leon Lyons, 1988, Leon Lyons, Hollywood, Florida, Mr. Lyons writes on page 133, "The number two and 3 styles are most popular among collectors of nautical antiques. They have such a strange look about them.” The Miller-Dunn 1A pump was designed for use with both of those rare helmets.

12.95  LARGE NET SHUTTLE.  Authentic late 19th century net making tool. This unusually large example is bound with several fathoms of heavy cotton line.  The shuttle is meticulously hand-carved of oak.  Due to being wound with the cordage only the tip and the tail are visible along with both sides of the tool.  Owing to the heft of the line and the size of the shuttle, it is safe to assume it was used in the salt water fishery.  Amazing original condition.  This is a humble working relic, beautifully preserved, from a time gone by. Certainly a museum piece in the fishing-related industry.  95   

16.66  EARLY CORK SCREW.  Very old, wine cork screw of French manufacture.  This oenophilic tool has a sculpted bone handle with a tufted bristle brush on one side and a turned bone cap on the other.  The working end is a cast iron cork screw with radiating circular top, the entire assembly of which is rove through the bone, held by a very old style circular nut.  The width of the bone handle is 3 ¾ inches.  With brush is measures 4 ¾ inches wide and 4 inches to the tip of the corkscrew to the top of the handle.  Overall condition is excellent, however the tip of the screw was broken off by an enthusiastic wine bibber.  Priced accordingly.  149

AUTHENTIC LIGHTHOUSE. The ultimate! This was an exceptional opportunity to own a very historic relic of America’s rich maritime heritage embodied in the original lamp room from the famous Ballast Point Lighthouse, which served its sentinel duties in the channel of San Diego Bay from 1890 until 1960. This incredibly well-preserved piece of history was built according to specifications laid out by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1885. A copy of the original specifications are included as are much printed references and photographs. Erected in 1890, the 5th Order lighthouse was a significant aid to navigation in conjunction with the Point Loma Lighthouse (1850) poised at the entrance to San Diego Bay. Ballast Point Light was situated further inside the massive bay on a point which jutted into the seaway which posed a hazard to shipping. 135 years old! SOLD

HISTORY

On October 2, 1888, recognizing the need for a harbor light in the increasingly congested channel of San Diego Bay, Congress authorized $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse to be built on Ballast Point. Fashioned in the late Victorian style, the entire structure took 3 months to build beginning in March 1890. The light was first lit on August 1st. It was a sister of the lights at San Luis Obispo and Table Bluff, south of Humboldt Bay. All were wood framed structures with attached living quarters. The ironwork for the lantern was forged in San Francisco and carried south to San Diego by ship. The French firm of Sautter, Lemmonier, & Cie. manufactured the Freznel lens for the Ballast Point Light in 1886. The fixed 5th Order lens was visible for a distance of at least 11 miles.

When California was still part of Mexico the peninsula jutting into San Diego Bay was known as Punta del los Guijarros or “Pebble Point.” For centuries cobblestones washed down by the San Diego River had been deposited on the point. When California gained statehood in 1850 the point was renamed Middle Ground Shoal. As time went on and merchant traffic in the harbor increased, many sailing ships found it convenient to load or discharge the stones as ballast. The practice continued and eventually the name “Ballast Point” stuck.

Accompanying the Ballast Point lighthouse was a huge 2,000 pound fog bell in a wooden tower. In 1928 it was supplanted by a single tone electric diaphone horn.

The first keeper of the light was John M. Nilsson, assigned duty on July 15, 1890. The second was Henry Hall, who took the job on December 1, 1892. Perhaps the most famous keeper was Irish-born David R. Splaine, a Civil War veteran and veteran lighthouse keeper, who assumed the post in 1894, having served at Point Conception, the Farallons and San Diego’s own Point Loma light from 1886-1889.

In 1913 the original old kerosene lamp was replaced with an acetylene burner. Acetylene gave way to electricity in 1928. In 1938 a filter was fitted inside the 5th Order Freznel lens giving the light a distinctive green hue for recognition. One of the last keepers of the light was Radford Franke who recalled receiving the order to “douse the light” upon the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

By early 1960 the light was deemed to be of no further service, so in June of that year the lantern room was removed to a salvage yard. The wooden tower and its brick and mortar foundation remained a couple of years later until they too were declared structurally unsafe and demolished. The bell tower continued to survive, mounted with a 375 mm high intensity lamp on its roof. However the value of maintaining any light on Ballast Point diminished with the installation of harbor entrance range lights. In the late 1960’s the bell and its tower were dismantled. The tower found its way to a private residence in Lakeside, California. The bell had a more circuitous later life. It was purchased from a San Diego area junk yard in 1969 for its scrap value of 5 cents per pound! The one ton bell remained on local private property until 1991, when it was put on loan to the San Diego Maritime Museum. In 1999 the bell was transported to the son of the original buyer, living in Colorado. Then in 2002, the bell finally found its way to the home of the owner’s granddaughter living in Vermont, where it rests to this day.

The story of the lantern’s later life is even more fascinating. The nation was just recovering from the Cuban Missile Crisis between JFK and Khrushchev, when in 1964 the Cuban government cut off the fresh water supply to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. By that time, an experimental desalinization plant had been in operation at Point Loma for 2 years. The Navy hastily ordered it to be disassembled and shipped through the Panama Canal to Cuba. A gentleman working as a crane operator during the process noted the shabby lantern room in a trash heap nearby. He inquired as to the fate of the relic and was told it was salvage. Asking if he could purchase it, the yard foreman told him he could “have it” if he would haul it away. With that, for the next 34 years the lantern room served as a gazebo in the backyard of the man’s residence in Bonita, California. It was purchased by the present owners in 1998, fully refurbished, and placed on public display in Old Twon, San Diego. In late 2025 it found its next enduring home on the shores of the Great Lakes in Wisconsin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. Ross Holland, “The Old Point Loma Lighthouse,” 1978, Cabrillo Historical Association, San Diego, California

Jim Gibbs, “The Twilight of Lighthouses,” 1996, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA.

Kin Fahlen and Karen Scanlon, “Lighthouse of San Diego,” 2008, Arcadia Publishing, San Francisco

Kraig Anderson, “Forgotten Ballast Point “Lighthouse” Seeks New Home,” article in “Lighthouse Digest,” East Machias, Maine, September – October 2011, Vol. XX, no. 5 pages 34 – 37.

“Mains’l Haul,” a periodic publication of the San Diego Maritime Association, Summer 1990, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, pp. 11-12.