The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-08
A sTARrLER FOR OLD SALTS.


Must Life Depend ON Lifeboatss-The
Coming Raft.
1t would probably startle the least conservative
among the shining lights OF the nautical world to
propose 10 revolutionize the entire system OF pro-
viding iie-saving apparatus IN the event OF dsas-
ter, by absshing boats altogether and substitute
ing something else. thereby possibly inducing the
extra caution which might avoid all wrecks not d.
rectly and unmistakably innicted by stress OF
weather. under divine Providence, and at the
same time saving money by eschewing
the expensive delusion of having any arrange
mcnts whatever as . supposed last resort
in time OF need. The proposition might, however,
be very fairly and reasonably made on perfectly
defensibie grounds. 1t is a fact, (which nobody
can denyn that in fair weather, or foul, at murky
midnight or blazing noon, in smooth inland waters
or on the raging ocean, In sudden shock on unsus-
pected reefs, when life hangs on minutes, or even
seconds, when the stern and steady are taken by
surprise, and the weak and incompetent anclud-
ing as an axiom the passenger world generally
an obstructive and multitudinous unit OF idiocy)
drift into various stages OF crazy uselessness,
the boats the nfe-boats, with all their patent
gear and regulations Of circumlocution
boards and red tape bureaux all COM
piled with; with every gimcrack invention
and gingerbread adornment that may set on
the other beauties OF the ship that carries them.
these precious boats never OF the slightest use
Very, very few exceptions, In hundreds OF sad true
stories OF wreck and suffering and loss OF life, con-
firm the invariable rule. Whether from hurry, the
violence or the tempest, the difficulties OF men
hearing one another darkness, or the fatal giving
way vt the supreme moment OF some tackle that
ought TO be, but Is not, In perfect order or from
being slowed away with such care that they might
as well have been carried In the hold the boats are
rarely launched safely. One end will be lowered
before the other, ana the boat filed or dashed
wretches who commit involuntary suicide and take
their neighbors along with them by their ndiscreet
haste. II they chance TO be launched safely there
are ninety-nine chances in hundred against their
being properly supplied. The plugs viii be out or
them or there will be redundancy or sails, with
an absence OF the necessary tackle to work them.
tons OF discipline with considerable success, by
which boats can be launched safely, presupposing
that they are kept ready to be launched, which
readiness is OF itself the one thing needu and the
one thing most generally neglected. This may
seem sweeping arraignment against the
obvious common sense notion OF having boats and
the universal occurrence oil these supplementary
and avoidable aggravations OF the main disaster
which calls the beats into requisition. Let anyone
disposed to controvert the fact try and recall the
instances where boats have in any satisfactory
way performed the service they were built for.
They Will be found to be few.
Now, II boats cannot be launched safely Though
why they should not II ships crews were exer.
cised at the boats as they are OF ought to be and
daily duties on deck and alot, seems dif1cult to
imagine) and kept ready, ut hall cock, as it were
people want lives TO be saved when ship strikes
rock or another ship, or gets burnt or springs
on I second best in the collision not SO long age az
to have faded from our memories and the boats, as
usual fulfilled their usual part OF tantaization and
raft did the best sort OF service. In hundreds OF
instances the rudest Of RATS have done yeoman
passed the catamaran ola Madras fisherman. This
to point to the advisabiity Of the raft being
more generally accepted as desirable portion OF
They should be attended to with the tender
skill Of artists who love their work.
the taste OF the most aesthetic kid-gloved
seaman but everything conducive to the one great
object OF saving life should be adopted and i'm
actually AFFORD ! greater guarantee for life, mere
life, at . pinch, 4 it hadn't boat on board, and
tenn Of docks and piers and deep water alongside,
boat Is thing that Is little used. II they had at
shore when Obliged to o. lie on wcnid be ali that
would be actually requisite. Their deck houses
might have RATS; properly and scientifically
less space, be less weighty and infinitely
easier to handle tnan the present eruption OF
boats which decorate the bulwarks from stem to
stern, and are piled up in inaccessible positions.
The rats could be dashed simply to ringbolts SO
that an axe might serve TO set them iree. long
side. There need De no delicacy as to when end
went first They would not I'll nor capsize, and II
the emergency were great and the ship went down
before the RATS were launched they would noat
clear and swim, let what might sink. They
should be fitted with any amount OF liielines
and arrangements Tor keeping people gath
cred them from being washed Off.
Some provision might be made against exposure
SO as TO bring them up to at least the mOdcum OF
accommodation Afforded by the ordinary boat. They
should be supplied with masts, sails and steering
gear and of course las the boats are now supposed
TO be, but never are) with water and provisions.
They might be steered in the time hon0red fashion
of the Peruvian bdlsas with sliding keel at either
end, which, by the way, being merely forerunner
of the now familiar centreDoard principle, enables
those apparently unwieldly craft to hold good
wind. raft which combined most II not all the
desiderdtd OF perfect iiesaving apparatus crossed
the Atlantic from New York In 1859. She was
more like fraction OF tubular pOnt0on bridge
than anything else, was steered easily enough by
the means indicated above carried a very sum-
cient suit OF sails had ample sheltered accommo-
datiOn for the crew. proved marvellous seaboat,
and was, altogether, comfortable, II not luxu-
rIous vessel II, starting from that crude expert
ment, science and experience would cooperate In
the production Of model raft, and the law should
that ships had their RATS, as they now do their
provisions, their water, their cubic inches OF air
between decks and their hfeboats In proportion TO
souls on board, humanity would be benefited by
something solid and not sham.