Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-11-13

rescued from disabled ship. The diff
Guilty, therefore, is not overcome by inge-
NOUS tackle for lowering; the difficulty
consists in the hard and breakable ma
terial of the boat itself. Where boat
of wood or iron would have its side
cracked or broken by heaving crash
against the ship, cane-wicker boat
would bound off uninjured, certainly
unbroken, and if broken still no worse
for sailing and saving life. This lis
the peculiar triumph Of the new life
boat. You may take an ak and hack
the side, you may chop away tho bow,
you may cut off the keel still her
bouyancy is unimpaired, and she is as
good for her work as before. Can
that be done with any other boat to
which life has to be entrusted in q per-
ilous sea2
The trial boat was exhibited yester-
day on q lorry near the Town Hall, for
q short time before noon, and was then
launched in the river sans cerem0n5c.
1t was o rough and tumble baptism
and no mistake, for the boat took a
line from the Agincourt, by favor of
the Liverpool Steam Tug Company,
and steamipg off sharply, the boat was
pulled clean off the lorry with her
crew of six, and plunging nose under
in the tide, as q bold diver takes
header, came up trim and lively, half
filed, one oarsman completely DOUGH-
ed, the others wet variously, and a
general chorus of applauding
laughter from miscellaneous
crowd. OF course the water
above the wicker floor drained through
instantly, SO that i'll IL minute the men
were standing Oh u dry floor, and ap-
pearng surprised to find themselves
floating so comfortably. The boat was
literally tumbled into the river a height
of 16 to 20 feet, in order to demon
strate her behavior under the worst
conditions, and her lively independ-
The tug now "let 60 the painter" and
the scratch crew III the new boat put
their oars in the rowlocks and pulled
about in rough tide. She went very
steadily, and seemed about as
light as an ordinary boat. Mr..
Graves and Mr.. King then resolved to
sink their property, if overcrowding
would do it. They got into it as many
men as could stand Up allyhow-about
tifty-ive-and the boat was 50 far from
sinking that double the weight might
possibly have proved insufficient. This
showed the boat might be overcrowdetl
without danger-a great matter during
the tumult and wild seltishness of a
shipwreck. What different tale there
would have been to tell if three or four
boats of this kind had been attached
to the Northaeet. The Agincourt
once more took tho life boat in tow,
and steamed at full speed down
stream to the Tower, and back to the
Georges stage, the boat riding the
wash in admirable style, satisfying
even the exactions of nautical critics,
and putting some amateurs in ecstacy.
AS to the boats dimensions, she is Is
feet long feet 4 inches deep, with 8
feet beam, her weight being about 2, 600
weight, or, s,.y onc-third the weight of
an ordinary boat of equal capacity. At
either end is water-tight tank for
provisions. She is fitted with tho
usual valves required by the Board of
Trade, but these arc practically un-
necessary in a wicker cane life-boat.
We shall watch with interest the pro-
gress Of this admirable invention"