In 1862, a Daboll patent trumpet fog signal
was installed at the Port du Mort light station on Pilot Island off the
northern tip of Wisconsin's Door Peninsula shown here.
The Port du Mort lighthouse on Wisconsin's Pilot Island
The trumpet at Port du Morts received its
supply of compressed air from one of John Ericsson's unique caloric
engines, one of which is shown in the illustration below.
One of Ericsson's groundbreaking Caloric engines
While there were a number of Daboll trumpets
installed at lighthouses throughout the USA, perhaps the most unique
installation was this single horsepower engine installed at the
Beavertail light station in Narragansett Bay. Built in 1851, it was
fueled by a combination of hay, oats and water.
Daboll's unique "oats and water" powered air compressor.
