Star.
London, England, 1813-01-29 00:00:00

MR. MiILLISON'S INFZNTION.

An interesting article having appeared in one of the
Papers, materially relating to the welfare of the Bri-
tish Navy, Re-are happy in giving it insertion, con-
♦inced that our Naval Readers, their relatives, and
the country in general, will rejoice that a means has
received the amction of the House of Commons,
through which many of the disastrous accidents the
'nature of that service most 'peculiarly exposes them,
may be much alleviated.

In May, 1811, a Petition wasp resented through
Mr. Whitbread to the Home of Commons, from a
Mr. Mallison, respecting an invention, or a new
mode of applying cork, by the use of which an indi-
vidual could never sink, and yet nearly the
same active use of his limbs, for all theme
purposes of
attack and defence. In common with many others,
I was ftarful it would in the end prove one, that was
more to be wished for, than one that would prove
practically useful; especially when a Member con-
nected with the Admiralty publicly declared in the
House, that of all the inventions submitted to that
Board for this desirable purpose, out of 53, that of
Mr. Mallison was the most useless and cumbersome,
and thatit would burbe wasting the time of Gentle.
men in that House, in allowing a committee to be
appointed. The investigation into the merits of the
invention, either real or supposed, was, however, per-
=lifted, and the result such as to leave this country a
fair hope, that through a proper introduction into his
Majesty's service, one unnecessary waste of British
life would instantly be checked (that arising from
boats upsetting), and that when in. the hands of a*
officers, they would possess a power of much allevi-
ating many of those disastrous accidents to which our
profession is ever liable.
The names of the Committee were the following :
Gamed Whitbread, Esq. Chairman; the Right Hon. Mr.
York, First Lord of the Admiralty; the Right Hon. Mr. Rose ;
the Hon. Capt. Pagett R. N.; the Hon. Capt. Bennet, R. N.;
Admiral Sir C. Pole, Lord Viscount Altborpe, General Tarleton,
Sir Wm. Curtis, Bart. the Hon. W. Lambe, General Ferguson,
Lord Ossulston, Admiral Harvey, Right Hon. Lord Castlereagh,
Mr. Peel, Sir R. Bickerton, and Admiral Sir C. Hamilton.
And the Resolutions, which were ordered to be
printed for the more perfect knowledge of each Mem-
ber, such as certainly give a well-founded expecta-
tion, of much benefit arising to the country, whenever
they shall be acted upon. The Committee state, that
having examined the witnesses produced before diem
by the Petitioner, Mr. Mallison, together with his in-
vention itself to save persons from drowning, deno-
minated by him '"The Seaman's Friend," and having
witnessed some actual experiments made in the river
Thames by persons who had on “ The Seaman's
Friend:. .both in swimming and rowing, have unani-
mously agreed upon the following Resolutions:—
lit, Resolved„.---1 hat it is the opinion of the Committee, that
the application of cork after the mode invented by Mr. Mallison,
II effectual for the preservation of persona in the water. And it
appears from the evidence taken, that esperlineots have been
Lade, as well by persons who could swim, ae by those who
could not, in the open sea and in rough water, and by one
reran hi particular, a good swimmer, ins situations( uncommon
peril r all ofoirldeli have been quite sueossefuL
Resolved, —That it is the opinion of this Committee, that
gm application of the invention to the crews of beats going off
from ships to shore, or returning, in stormy weather, would be
exceeding useful. And on all dangerous services of the same
nature, especially as the use of the invention cannot materially
impede the action of the limbs either ita.rowing, walking, or
vetedue any necessary exertion on the beach. And the CGla-
mime have no doubt, that in many dreadful disasters which have
happened, such as fire, or foundering of ships at, sea when in
company of othervessels(as in the instances of tie Prince
George, Admiral Broderick's ship, in the seven years war, and
the Queen Charlotte, not many years since in the Mediterranean)
K 2 quantity of Seamen's Friends, invented by Mn MalUsen, had
iheen on board, many very valuable byes would nave been saved.
3d, Resolved,-1 hat it is the opinion of this Committee, that
the invention of Mr. Mallison is weU deserving of public at-
tention.
Since that period we have lost, through boats up-
setting, five Officers and 108 men, as the following
list will she w : (vide the STAR of the under-men-
tioned dates)-
1811 Officers Men
fexs 17.—Lieutenant Vella& and boat's crew, car-
rying dispatches to Sir R. Keats, at Cadiz, upset
in Ayamonte Bay - -

Ocvossa 25.—Lieutenant Smith and 13 men of the
Egmont, 74, upset returning from Deal
Dac. lit—Seven men belonging to the Scorpion Re-
venue cutter, upset in the look out after smugglers,
the boat, two oars, three hats, and the ammuintion
• chest, driven on shore
Dec. 28.—A Lieutenant and eight men, belonging
to his Majesty's ship Hawke, filled and upset, off
Watley Abbey. One man saved
1812.
'JAN. 16.—The Purser and one man, when the boat
of 14s Majesty's ship Cordelia, upset returning
from Dover - - - - -
f es. 6.—A boat from the Tremendous, Captain
Campbell, was swamped at Plymouth ou Aloaday.
All in her were saved but four men - -
sea. B.—Captain Campbell, of the Tremendous, who
was in his cutter when she upset, was saved by his
Cockswain, who supported him until assistance
came from a vessel lying in Baruey Pool -
MARCH 35.—Two men, when the boat of his Ma.
jesty's ship Lord Cochrane upset in Plymouth
. Sound, the others were saved by a Pilot-boat be-
longing to Cawsand - - . -
Mauna Uti.—Four Men belonging to his Majesty's
ship Naiad upset in goisg from Sphhead to .14-
Mington. Captain Carteret and three ethers were
saved, nearly exhausted, ,by a Drudgertnan pas-

Atiacst 118.—A Lieutenant and 44 men, when the
launch of the Raisonable run foul of a gnu bit, at
Sheerness - .
Anti 15d—The crew of the boat belonging to his
. Majesty's ship Maros; the boat was found be•
twain the point of Towart and Rethsay, bottom
upwards; a hat, and some of the ears driven on

*lion - - -
-
Ann. 21.—Seven men belonging to the Scourge,
Cu toes-house lugger, went to look after smuggler.,
the body of one since found

•

MAY 10...1..1 .! men, when the boat of his Ma-
jesty'. ship Ulympia upset near Dungeness, the
Midshipman and one man saved by the master of
the Watering-house and a bast Okcer . .

5 103

Through wreck, 2,983 officers and men ; viz.
to the Saldanha, of 66 guns, 300—In the Hero, 74 tuns, 741,
sight saved—Defence, 74 guns, 741, ten saved—ln the St.
George, 9$ guns, uOO, eleven saved—ln the Fancy, 14 guns,
100—In the Manila frigate, 12—Chub, 4 guns, 20-1 n the
ilektta, 18 guns, 140, Live saved—ln the Alban cutter, 65.
Of the Magnet and Avenger, both lost, we have no account.
In the situations quoted I shall offer reason to be-
lieve most would have been saved had they possessed
the invention, and to each point shall speak separately.
In regard to the first boat's upsetting, the axiom that
Mr. Mallison advances, 44 that it requires but an ad-
ditional mechanical artificial means of support shun

our Navy at present possess, by which they may be'
prevented from sinking dotli assistance comes to them
or they reach the nearest shore," 3s acknowledged by
all, and most forcibly illustrated in the examples I
have quoted, where the men and officers exposed to
the same danger of perishing, some were saved and
some were lost ; among the most conspicuous of which
is that of Captain Campbell, who was saved by his
cockswain, supporting him until assistance came ;
the four that were lost would likewise have been
saved, had they received the like, or any other arti-
ficial assistance or support, by which they could have
been prevented from sinking.
The same with that of December 28, 1811—and.
in 1812, Jan. 16, March 25, March 26, and May 10.
In three other instances of Dec. 12, 1811, April 15,
and April 21, 1812, twenty-two men perished, altho'
the boats of two, many of the oars, and other light
articles came to the shore. Now had the men been
provided with Mr. Mallison's artificial means, ac-
knowledged by the House of Commons, months
back, adequate- to support them, as it would have
been impossible for them ever to have sunk ; like the
boats, the dead body, the oars, &c. they would
equally have reached the shore, and have been pre-
served.
In regard to wreck, through which we have lost
so very many, Mr. Mallison's axiom appears to be
the most sensible of any yet advanced ; he defines it
to be " a vessel driven near the shore, with an inter-
mediate space of deep water, between the land and
itself; whoever can pass that intermediate space, ei-
ther by swimming, by ropes, by pieces of wreck, &c.
rFite. are, generally speaking, saved; all others are
lost, or die in the attempt of this short passage.n—
Eight men reached the shore from the Hero, ten
from the Defiance, and eleven from the St. George ;
five when the Bellette, and one when the Alban cut-
ter was wrecked off Aldborough. Now, how came
these few to be saved, and so many others perish ?
They passed the intermediate space of deep water
. between the vessel and the shore ; the others were
all drowned in that short passage. Before forward-
ing this, I saw Mr. Mallison, and he candidly told
sue, such was the eisposition he received, that in per-
fect despair of every hope he had so justly formed of
being instrumental to the preservation of a single life,
be should shortly abandon the intention, and enter in-
to some other pursuit. His proposition to the Lords of
the Admiralty I conceive too limited, even for a
first introduction of so invaluable an invention ; it
was the following :—For each ship in his Majesty's
service to be provided with a given number, accord-
ing to their several rates ; and the strongest, most
athletic, and best swimmers, both officers and men,
practised in the use of them, proceeding gradually
from calm to stormy weather; that in case of wreck
happening, they would naturally become more bold
and resolute in their attempts to form a communica-
tion with the shore, the grand desideratum, which,
when formed, most would be saved through being
, warped; when- not required for :his purpose, to be
placed under the care of proper officers, for the ser-
vice of the boats' crews in tempestuous weather, or
lany useful service to which they might be found ap-
plicable, as in case of swamping, or accident hap-
pening, another boat could be sent to pick up the
men, who could not possibly be drowned. He had
stated his ability, in different memorials to the Lords
of the Admiralty, to make 1000 of them at thirteen
shillings each, £650 ; and observes, were you togive
60 to a 74, that number is sufficient for 17, and will
cost but £39 each ship ; calculating that the inven-
tion only lasted six years, the expence that would fall
en this country would be 10s. a-year for a 74,
possessing the means, in case of wreck, of forming to
a greater certainty the communication with the shore,
and preserving every officer and man, who might
otherwise perish during that period through the boat
swamping or upsetting ; all other vessels in propor-
tion. Now, Sir, although this proposition is very
wisely framed, in order to prevent an outcry respec-
ting this simple invention being a means of encoura-
ging desertion, I will advance, that thrice that num-
ber may be placed under the care of officers in a
line.of-battle ship, without the possibility of one being
used for any improper purpose; but much fear,
when so plain a preposition is unheeded, nothing that
1 can advance will prove of any service, either in a
humane or political view ; for if you estimate the
value of these 113 officers and men already lost but
at £6O each, they amount to £6780, a sum sufficient
to purchase 10,430, enough to supply, should the
Lords of the Admiralty or the House of Commons
be unable to devise a better mode of distribution than
the one quoted, nearly two•thirds of our establish-
ment. Had the evil ceased with those already lost,
I should much fear this address proving of benefit ;
but as it will as certainly occur as that the sun
will shed his benign influence over this kingdom to-
morrow, as it has ever done, without the possibility
of this unnecessary waste of life being alleviated un-
less that report is acted on, I will submit to the
House of Commons, and most particularly to the
Committee, of whom, among the naval men, are
three Lords of the Admiralty, if it is consistent with
what I trust the British Navy merits from them, or
whether it is consistent with common justice that they
should longer remain unsupplied with a means which
will most assuredly preserve many, and each has re-
ceived their high sanction as adequate for that pur-
pose—and trust, should you consider this worthy in-
sertion, other Diurnal Prints will follow your exam-
ple, in giving publicity to this plain and simple state-
ment from i.) NAUTICUL

CORONER'S INQUESTS, -*-AR Inquest was held on the
26th inst. at Ratcliffe-highway, on the body of Eliza-
beth Anderson, 7 years old, who was left by her mo-
ther, during a momentary absence under charge of her
sister, 12 years of age, when, in reaching at a kettle
on the fire, her cloaths communicated with the flames,
so that she was severely burnt, and died next morn-
ing.—Verdict, Accidental Death.
A Coroner's Inquest was held on the 27th inst. at
the Black Horse, Whitechapel, on the body of Mrs.
Ann Chatham, 80 years of age. The deceased, it
appeared, was in easy circumstances, and kept a ser-
vant, who went down to the kitchen to fetch her sup.
F per. She heard her mistress scream, and found her,
lon her return, lying upon the floor, enveloped in
flames, proceeding, as she supposed, from the candle
which laid on the floor beside her, and which, in the
act of carrying it in her hand, had caught her clothes.
The girl succeeded in extinguishing the flames, but
she old lady soot' expired. Verdict—Casually

IMMINiii....