eight o'clock in the morning
The principal beams of this having been towed to the rock by the _ Smeaton _ , all the stanchions and other material for setting them up were landed , and the workmen set about erecting them as quickly as possible , for if a single day of bad weather should occur before the necessary fixtures could be made , the whole apparatus would be infallibly swept away . The operation being , perhaps , the most important of the season , and one requiring to be done with the utmost expedition , all hands were , on the day in which its erection was begun , gathered on the rock , besides ten additional men engaged for the purpose , and as many of the seamen from the _ Pharos _ and other vessels as could be spared . They amounted altogether to fifty-two in number . About half-past eight o'clock in the morning a derrick , or mast , thirty feet high , was erected , and properly supported with guy-ropes for suspending the block for raising the first principal beam of the beacon , and a winch-machine was bolted down to the rock for working the purchase-tackle . The necessary blocks and tackle were likewise laid to hand and properly arranged . The men were severally allotted in squads to different stations ; some were to bring the principal beams to hand , others were to work the tackles , while a third set had the charge of the iron stanchions , bolts , and wedges , so that the whole operation of raising the beams and fixing them to the rock might go forward in such a mariner that some provision might be made , in any stage of the work , for securing what had been accomplished , in case of an adverse change of weather . The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers , for this was a new era in the operations .