Les moyens de comunication / Methods of Communication

At Matane, ships were guided into the harbour by a lantern fixed to a mast at the end of the pier, while in foggy weather cannons fired from points along the St. Lawrence signaled the presence and arrival of vessels, including one at the end of La Pointe near the first lord's manor. In the 19th century, navigation information was sent to Quebec City twice daily by Samuel Morse electric telegraph, allowing shipowners to follow their ships' movements as telegraphic dispatches were published in newspapers. From 1884 onward, the lighthouse keeper also operated a semaphore system whose combinations of 18 different flags allowed communication with ships, after which messages were transmitted to Quebec City by telegraph. At the mouth of the Matane River, a buoy helped guide sailors, and its bell rang in choppy currents. In foggy weather during the 1960s and 1970s, a foghorn on the west side of the pier sounded toward the open river, operated by compressed air stored in a tank.

Quebec · Canada