The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-13 00:00:00

LIFE BOATS.

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE BOAT
INSTITUTION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.
Sir.---In consequenoe of the late melancholy
accident to the Point of Ayr life boat, it has become
a question of public interest and importance
Whether or not the port of Liverpool is provided
with the for most efficient description of life boats
Whietheh frequent it.
„ I beg to solicit the insertion in your Journal of
the following correspondence, which will throw
some light on the matter, and the publication of
Which is also called for since the published report
of the Marine Surveyor to the Liverpool Dock
Committee, has so much misrepresented the cha-
acter of the life boats possessed by the National
Life Boat Institution, that a refutation of the
coallenarges brought against them is imperatively
d for.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
J. R. WARD,
Commander, R.N.; Inspector of Life
Boats, R. N. L. B. Institution,
John street, Adelphi, London, 10th February,
1857.
Royal National Life Boat Institution,
John street, Adelphi, London,
24th January, 1857.
thp,ear Sir,—As the late unfortunate accident to
„e e
par
of Ayr lifeboat will, I feel assured, induce
as
Liverpool dock committee to enquire seriously
RS to whether there is any description of life boat
Superior in character to those already possessed
toY them, I beg to repeat to you that which I stated
v.-,.„,Y°11 in conversation in September last, that if
committee will depute yourself and , any
theirr life boats, to examine the life boat belonging
lo this institution stationed at Lytham, that our
j'eal secretary at that place, Mr. Edmondson, will
.."e ready to have the boat launched and put to any
t7Perimental trial they may desire to witness, when
wie.existence in her of qualities superior to those
fAuitch are p sessed by their own boats, will, I
in'el Persuaded, be made manifest to them. Indeed
8° important a matter, I am sure that the com-
illit.t
t of the institution will allow me to proceed
,Lytharn and Liverpool to superintend any
vt4Perimental trials of one of our own boats at the
It°t.rtner
Place, and to be present at any comparative
I,..Lei of those at Liverpool, provided the same
Beardbe agreeable to your committee.—l am,
sir, faithfully yours, J. R. WARD.
1:0 Murray Parkes, Esq.,
Marine Surveyor, Liverpool.
~Tape Surveyor's-office, Liverpool, 31st Jan., 1857.
hear
Sir,—Your letter of the 24th inst., together
to the other propositions, has been submitted
offer" 'e committee; and, while thanking for your
that'
,I am desired to decline it. It may be granted
tut
po,, () boat you advocate would stand all the ex-
re;lnlectal tests proposed to apply; and in this
,naPeet differs in no way from those advocated by
o
,2,3! other patrons and inventors ; but the boats
Bitethe Institution, under which you act, have
di,pen,cied their patronage, stand in the category of
own'thers in a far worse position than our own. My
pro-„ °Pinion, therefore, could not induce me to
at pose the adoption of them until further service
re,..seea
ai has proved their decided superiority.—l
dear Sir, yours vary
MURRAY
° Capt. Ward, R.N. MUu
RRAY T. PARKES.

Dear 4th February, 1857.
your cSir,— I beg to acknowledge the receipt of
that °. the Slat January. I must acknowledge
cohoth
it and your report to the Liverpool Dock
see,„111; Ittee, whichjhas appeared in.the papers, have
opc-rtied me much surprise :—Firstly : As the
tliol-:°fle expressed in them differ widely from
Peral,Y°ll. appeared to hold when I had a
lust,"Ai interview with you in September
them uet
ad secondly, as some of the statements in
do and
are so altogether incorrect as to fact. I
tivil°tPool for a moment impugn the right which the
ado Dock Dock Committee or yourself have, to
pleat's'eallY description of lifeboat they or you may
advani or to form any opinion respecting the
of boa,,ges or disadvantages of any particular class
correct wilieh to you or them may appear to be
in evertheless, there are statements, both
We ma re"rt and in your letter to me, of which
Protest port
complain. Firstly : Then I must
ad 3 6tet against the assertion, that the lifeboats
of died by this institution " stand in the category
tho Wasters in a far worse position than those of
Liverpool Dock Committee." Now, I distinctly
ituirrh
that but one accident has ever occurred
all
of the class of lifeboats adopted by the
I.llBtltution (viz., Mr. Peake's), and that one was
1:140(1„'r Such extraordinary circumstances, that no
th Could have avoided upsetting, being no less
th-e 4 the capsizing of a schooner upon her, when
deekload of the former, consisting of casks of
toll°, was dashed with such violence upon her as
ai:end or break all the strong iron thowel pins
aire her gunwales, to injure one of her raised end
owe,.
b "ee so as to impair partially her self righting
'tittis!erto'and, together with the pressure of
the
pee.l herself, to turn her keel up, in which
, through the boom mainsail falling over
for .onuling the boat, she was tied down as it were
crew eported, twenty minutes, when one of her
°filo had succeeded is getting from under
Znrc' eat adrift the sail and gear which held her.
leak,usequenee of her damaged air cases having
tra," and ballasted itself with water, whilst it was
Lut-eersed
, she did not then literally self right,
teadi" men themselves immersed in water,
to Y Pulled her round by a small line fastened
tl"e of her bilge pieces. The crew
erew
fstle schooner and the whole of her own
Etttiq l'e4eePt one man, who was last seen struggling
11,4 the casks of wine in the water, by which he
got •„B,llPnosed to have been injured), then readily
theli;„`°,tbe boat, and were taken safely by her to
qatott,-,l'„ Surely a stronger instance could not be
rights 4 of the importance of the property of self
"as for, although this boat (a 27 feet boat)
ii3l`erl°r in several respects to those now build.-
leohL this institution, such a boat as that at
she ;`", ~, to which I have called your attention, yet
the Poor man who was lost unfortunately (in con-
Niat""e of feeling ill) untied his lifebelt from his
also Was witnessed by his fellow boatmen, he
sta4:ught possibly have been saved, as, although
hagstun: or seriously injured, his belt would still
up i° floated him, and he could have been picked
p t
pert from the boat. Now, it may pro-
All° be assumed as certain, that, had the Point of
then any other of your lifeboats, or any other
the" a self-righting lifeboat, been placed in
Vie,,,aule Circumstances and the crew being unpro-
uod7bwith the best lifebelts, both her own crew,
LIS Cat of the capsized vessel would have perished,
Yet, 1"„ Y were a considerable distance from the land.
unfair; Your report, this particular instance is most
the 113" Y quoted in proof of the uncertainty of even
1,104 ,est self-righting boats performing that func.-t
le, I,TI the time of need, and in your letter to me,
(Ifsatafoe,, may presume, included in the supposed
voeti°ll,e of disasters which have happened to our
unfair unfortunately, I must again repeat, most
bttflo You have included in the class of boats
by this institution, the boat on Mr.
(:,-ugE3 plan, which formed the first rudimentd-
' "h4l3erifnent of the self-righting principle, Eln
them upset and drowned some of those within
;fs eee,iejllefly in consequence of a deficient mode
17tta„,:nag their water ballast ; which, in
_t.w.o_
lad l's, had leaked out ; and in the thud
t.llll.1-Y
been partially admitted. Yet this institu
With 4 never built or placed on the coast a boat
leaf
"Pro -:er ballast. In further illustration of the
he inlet
that Yof classing these lifeboats with such
'eri tit Lytham, to which your attention has
th draw
1,, eta n, I may remark, that whilst one of
1,14 upset at Liverpool, bhateseen or eight
--w11(1 —atbeed on her unwale, at Lytham
tt,ietnty°-ers of the g same class have had
Is four men placed on one gunwale with-
eei„
te nf "R upset. I must question whether
let k-vii°llr own lifeboats, although nearly two
taken
Cr than ours, would bear more than 15 or
has
6,°0 one gunwale ; if so, she need not be
its less a heavy sea in order to prove that she
2 staby
ity than our boats of similar length.
" e have reason to complain that without