The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-11-20
THE PACIFIC
GOmmertlalADbeftlse {.
SATURDAY. NO EMBER 20.
Self-Acting Ship Ventllator.


A simple apparatus, which can be fitted on
board ship TO act automatically, and serve as a
ventilator, 4 fog alarm, and a bilge pump, is now
being exhibited at Lloyd's, and deserves to be
brought to the notice of shipowners and ship
builders. The machine, which we have had an
opportunity Of carefully examining, was intro
duced into this country some time ago, and sub
mitted 70 the most crucial tests. The invention,
which lie patented by Mr.. Theirs, Of New Or
leans, consists of two small cylinders, placed on
either side of a ship in-b0ard, and connected by
a pipe. The cylinders are partly filed with
water, and, as the vessel rolls, the water PUSHES
from the elevated to the depressed side of the
ship, from one cylinder to the other, and, by
creating q vacuum, draws up the foul air from
between decks, or out Of the hold, by pipes lead
ing below. The air which is pumped up by this
self-acting process goes out through q discharge
pipe over the side, and such is the force Of its
exit that it serves TO blow a fog-horn when re-
quired. Fog-horns are used only by sailing
ships but a powerful whistle, especially adapted
to steamships, may be applied with perfect success,
and the larger the cylinder the louder the signal.
n similar application of this principle frees the
vessel from bilge water, and. in fact, will keep
under all ordinary leakage. The invention has
been applied to a large number of ships Of war
and merchant vessels in the United States, there
fore its merits are well known. Commander C..
N. Cushman, of the Wachusset, in bis report to
the Rear-Admiral, stated that the slightest motion
would set the ventilator in operation, so as to
exhaust the foul air in any part of the vessel. or
keep the fog-horns in constant blast, or pump up
water if there were any in the ship. There are
several reports to the sam effect, and among
them is a resolution from the Board of Supervis-
ing Inspectors of steam vessels commencing its
general adoption. Admiral j. Il. Strong, Light
house Inspector, in n document sent by him to
the Lighthouse Board at Washington. writes as
follows
Sin speaking of it as a fog-alarm, which it
becomes by attaching a group of trumpets to the
end of the pipe through which the foul air is
discharge (thus making a friend of a foe), the
keeper of the Sandy Hook Lightvessel writes
most warmly in it's favor; sends me the testimony
of pilots who have heard the alarm from a dis
lance of three miles, and gives me his own expe-
rience of having heard 1t on the pilot boat two
miles to windward."
Bearing in mind that there ara ~ffty-two light
vessels stationed around the coasts of the United
Kingdom, and regarding the Importance of mark
ing their position in foggy weather, the testimony
of Admiral Strong as to this particular applica-
ton OF the invention comes very OPPORTUNITY.
The Trinity Corporation have given notice that,
after the middle of this month, the fog signal on
board the South Sand Head lightvessel will be a
trumpet giving a blast of Eve seconds duration
every two minutes, instead of a gong. The mo-
ton of that vessel would operate on a trumpet on
one side and a whistle or soreamer on the other,
following up the blasts successfully, and this
would denote a regular signal if the system of
alternate trumpet and whistle were adopted. The
cylinders are placed SO as to be worked by the
pitching or rolling of the vessel, and there is al
ways a sufficient movement of the water to set
these machines in motion. 1t is said that a
barrel rolled across the deck of a ship at New
York, by way of experiment, drew up the air
through the ventilator, and blew the horn. The
Osborne yacht, set apart for III. r. Ii. the Prince
of Wales, is fitted with the apparatus, and the
sound emitted is loud and clear. When the
Osborne was up the Mediterranean her fog-horns
could be distinguished from all other sounds.
One of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
ships has just had this yentilator affixed, it will,
therefore. be tested in a few days in the Red Sea
and Indian Ocean, where the heat between decks
is excessive and the ventilation not always per-
feet, or even tolerable. The constant action of
such a pump as we have described would draw
up all the impure mephitie vapour from the
bilges and under decks, and pure air from the
windsails, or ventilatiDg tunnels, must I'LL up the
vacuum created. The noxious efiuvia generated
in a ships hold by the impurities which find
their way there during a voyage, are too well
know to require notice; but if those poisonous
gases can be pumped up as quickly as they are
formed-of which there seems to be no doubt
this ventilating process must tend to conserve the
health of both passengers and crews. Medical
evidence has been rendered in favor of this
method OF keeping the air u~ncontaminated but
we need not quote it. 1t is sufficient to learn
that an automatic machine, occupying but very
little space, will pump up noxious air and bilge
water. Inns loul air pump VIII, we have no
doubt, prove valuable in the preservation of per-
ishable cargoes, and also prevent the decay Of the
vessels timber. Grain can be kept cool and,
where the ventilator has been applied, the lower
tiers of fish have, it is said, turned out on dis
charge, in as good order as those on top. In
petroleum or benzoline cargoes, or in gaseous
coal, it is important to carry off everything tend
ing to combustion or explosion, and this the ma
chine in question is competent to effect. An
ever active air-pump, which docs not depend
upon manual labor or mechanical power to sus-
tain its action, ought to lessen the sacrifice of
life and property at sea.-MitcheH's Maritime