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VOICE ONE:

This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about the lighthouses that protect shipssailing along the coast of North Carolina.

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VOICE ONE:

Lighthouses are built along coasts to signal to passing ships.Lighthouses are tall buildings of wood or stone or brick with largebright lights on top. Every night they shine lights to warn shipsabout dangerous areas where there are rocks, low water levels, orstrong currents. The lighthouses along North Carolina's coast arerecognized as signs of safety for travelers at sea.

Over the years, fierce ocean storms have sent many ships crashinginto the North Carolina coast. Other boats have been lost in wars.During World War Two, for example, German submarines sank manyallied transport ships in that area. History experts say more thansix-hundred ships have been wrecked near the Outer Banks of NorthCarolina. Storms still uncover the ruins of wrecked ships along theOuter Banks.

The lighthouses shine their signals to prevent more wrecks. Manyships and lives have been saved because of the United States LifeSaving Service and workers at lighthouses along the coast.

VOICE TWO:

The Outer Banks is a group of narrow islands stretching along theNorth Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands shelterNorth Carolina's inland water passages. For thousands of years,these barrier islands have survived severe weather. Every few years,an ocean storm in the North Atlantic Ocean will move through theOuter Banks with destructive force.

Each island of the Outer Banks has its own lighthouse with aspecial design and history. In addition, each lighthouse has its ownsignal which boats see from a distance. The different light signalshelp sailors identify their position from the land. This helps themjudge if they are close to dangerous water passages. Today, thelight signals work on an electrical timing system. In the past,workers living in the lighthouses had to turn the lights on and off.

VOICE ONE:

North Carolina's simplest lighthouse is on Ocracoke Island in thesouthern Outer Banks. Ocracoke Lighthouse was built inEighteen-Twenty-Three. It is considered the oldest lighthouse on theCarolina coast. Its signal is a continuous white light, which can beseen almost twenty-five kilometers out at sea. Although the plansused to build Ocracoke lighthouse appear normal, the building wasbuilt off-center. As a result, it rises more sharply on one side.

Ocracoke Island is said to be the place where the pirateBlackbeard lost his head in the early Seventeen-Hundreds. Thisfamous ocean robber was killed in a battle with a British officermore than a century before Ocracoke Lighthouse was build. LieutenantRobert Maynard was protecting England's colonial interest in the NewWorld. Historians say he tricked Blackbeard into battle and then cutoff his head. Stories passed down through the years say that thespirit of Blackbeard still walks around Ocracoke Island searchingfor his head.

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VOICE TWO:

Many people agree that the mostrecognized lighthouse in America is at Cape Hatteras, NorthCarolina. The building stretches fifty-eight meters in the air –making it the tallest brick lighthouse in the country. It wascompleted in Eighteen-Seventy. Its signal shines a white light everyseven-and-a-half seconds. Ships thirty-seven kilometers from landare able to see the signal.

Historians believe more people have read about, painted or takenpictures of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse than any other lighthousein North America. It the picture on the official documents of theUnited States Lighthouse Service. It is also a memorial to hundredsof men and women who worked to make North Carolina's coast safe forsea travelers.

VOICE ONE:

In Nineteen-Ninety-Nine, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was movedmore than nine-hundred meters. Officials wanted to protect thebuilding by moving it farther away from the ocean. Huge liftequipment picked up the more than four-thousand ton building andcarried it inland. The lighthouse was then lowered onto a neweighteen-meter square concrete support structure.

Engineers inspected the repositioned building. They declared thatit is standing tall and strong on its new foundation. Visitors canclimb to the top of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, but they need tobe in good physical condition. This is becausetwo-hundred-sixty-eight steps lead to the top of North America'stallest brick lighthouse.

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VOICE TWO:

Another lighthouse along North Carolina's Outer Banks is theBodie (body) Lighthouse. Its history is quite interesting. The fifthfinancial inspector of the United States Treasury Department builtthe first Bodie Lighthouse in Eighteen-Forty-Eight.

Stephen Pleasonton's main concern while building the structurewas to save money. As a result, his workers were not permitted tospend enough money to build a safe base. In addition, the buildingwas fitted with a light system that was not considered effectiveeven then. Shortly after it opened, Bodie Island Lighthouse startedsinking on one side. Workers soon had to leave it.

Several years later, the United States Congress ordered a newlighthouse be built. In Eighteen-Fifty-Two, work began on a new andimproved structure. The second Bodie Lighthouse was to berepresentative of a new look in lighthouses. It was shaped like acircular cone, made of earthen bricks made hard in a fire. Its basewas built on supporting bars driven into the earth.

VOICE ONE:

The second Bodie Lighthouse was destroyed in the American CivilWar. Confederate soldiers from the south wrecked the building toprevent the Union navy of the north from gaining a position to helpits ships. The structure was finally rebuilt and completed inEighteen-Seventy-Two. It rises forty-eight meters in the air.

Today, the Bodie Lighthouse needs several repairs. This is whythe building is not open to the public to climb. However, thelighthouse signal is still recognized by passing ships. It is on,off, and on again for two-and-one-half seconds each time, then offfor twenty-two-and-one-half seconds. Boats up to thirty-threekilometers out at sea are able to recognize the Bodie Lighthousesignal.

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VOICE TWO:

The most northern lighthouse on North Carolina's Outer Banks isat Currituck Beach. Like the other lighthouses along the coast, theCurrituck Beach Lighthouse still serves as an aid to sailors. Thelighthouse runs its light signal from sunset to sunrise. The signalis three seconds on, seventeen seconds off. The light can be seen asfar away as thirty-three kilometers.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse remains unpainted to help tell itapart from other lighthouses along the coast. This also givesvisitors a strong sense of the one-and-a-half-million bricks used tobuild the building, which stands forty-seven meters in the air. TheCurrituck Beach Lighthouse was completed in Eighteen-Seventy-Five.It was the last major brick lighthouse built on the Outer Banks.Visitors are permitted to climb to the top.

VOICE ONE:

Wild horses run free near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Horsesare not native to North America. Yet for more than four-hundredyears, these animals have run unrestricted along the northern OuterBanks. Historians are not sure how the horses first arrived inAmerica. They believe either Spanish or English settlers transportedthem. The wild horses are called Barbs. They are known for theirsize, their ability to work hard, their easy movement, and theirlong lives.

Historians say there was nothing but sea, sand and grass whenthese Barb horses first arrived on the Outer Banks. A continualincrease in summer visitors over the past forty years has madesurvival for the horses more difficult. Because of this, a group ofconcerned citizens has built a fence to separate the horses frompeople. This gives the about six-thousand hectares of land to liveon. The group is trying to make sure the animals will be permittedto stay on Currituck Beach. Like the lighthouses, the wild Barbhorses are a traditional part of life on the Outer Banks of NorthCarolina.

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Jill Moss andproduced by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.