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PILOTS AND LIGHTHOUSES. MARITIME LIFE-SAVING ESTABLISHMENTS. 963
ing up of the ice in spring; see that vessels arriving from abroad
only enter by the officially authorized channels, and that they call
at the proper customs stations; they have further to provide the
seafaring public with any pilotage required, etc. The pilots in general are
in receipt of no fixed wages, their principal source of income consisting
in the pilotage dues that they obtain from the navigators whom they serve.
However, at stations where only trifling or insufficient earnings in
pilotage are obtainable, the pilots generally receive a definite remuneration,
varying between 60 and 600 kronor (à 1m o sh. or 0-26 8 dollar). The
total of the pilotage dues obtained at each place is divided among the
pilots at the end of every month, generally in equal parts, called
shares (lotslotter). These vary extremely. Thus, the largest pilot-share
in 1902 amounted to 4,585 kronor, while the smallest was only 33 kronor.
The former was obtained by each pilot at the great iron ore exporting
harbour of Oxelösund, the latter by each man at a small pilot-station
on the coast of Gotland.
The Iiighthouse Staff have to see to the lights and, as regards
large sea-lights, to make sure that they burn from sunset to sunrise,
as long as navigation within the range of their light is not impeded
by solid icefields; they have also to attend to fog-signaling when
necessary. At the small lights along channels between the islets that
border the coast, there is no permanent attendance; they are generally,
however, looked after once a week and burn continuously day and
night. As regards them, there are special instructions about times of
lighting. The attendants at lighthouses have permanent appointments
under the State.
The Lightships on the east coast of Sweden are placed in position
as early in spring as feasible, without too great a risk being incurred
from drifting ice; they are taken in towards the end of the year,
as soon as any possibility of their being frozen in is to be
apprehended. But on the south and west coasts of the kingdom, on the
other hand, the lightships are sometimes left at their stations all
through the year. The value of the 21 lightships in 1902 was estimated
at 2,100,000 kronor.
Life-Saving Establishments. The number of persons employed at
these stations in 1902 was 154 (inclusive of 23 men who also belonged
to the pilot and lighthouse services). Their duties consist in
endeavouring to save shipwrecked or distressed crews. They receive payment
for each salvage operation.
Statistics. The Pilot Service, in its entirety, is exclusively supported by
the lighthouse and beaconage-dues (Fyr- och båkmedlen), i. e., the fee paid by
vessels leaving for or arriving from abroad. This charge is at present 25 öre
(3*3 d.) per ton, and for certain voyages, by bill of tonnage; it yielded in
1902 the gross sum of 1,750,043 kronor. The number of pilot fairways is 2,077,
and that of beacons, balizes, etc., 4,959. — The number of vessels that ran
aground in 1902, with a Crown pilot on board, was 41, but in only one of these
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