The New York herald., 1879-08-09
The Chances Of Rescue in a
. Sudden Disaster.
SCARCITY OF LIFE SAVING APPLIANCES
What The Agents and Officers Of the Different Steamship
49, Lines Have 10 Say.
STAND BY AND GO DOWN."


been carried to point 80 near perfection that the
periis Of ssagoing are reduced to . minimum. yet
the stories OF awful disaster that I'LL columns Of
the AgRAIp from time 10 time cruel remind
ers atperu ID not eliminated from Q rational cal
cuiataon OF chances in ''going down to the sea in
shps... The stanch iron vesssl that seems in port.
to be - safc % he strongest CASTLE tower or town.
when she IN In mid-ocean Is toy Of the elements,
and may be 1t moment liable an accident that
shall sendsvsry soul on board to untmely death.
Not the hardest mariner will pretend to dispute
this and the passenger. to whom voyage event
of moment. not thing of routine, forgets it.
It is, therefore. question Of great public inter-
sst-what the provisions made for the snatching
Of chances for life out of the jaws of death? When
the hull of mighty steamer 10 destroyed at and
sinks below the waves what can be done and what
is done 10 give TO the Eve hundred thousand or
fifteen hundred persons on board further chance
of suxvtyslf The question is undoubtedly diff
cult enc and has taxed the ingenuity of sailors and
shiphptldsrs for. centuries. nis not too much to
say thw sp te the present time no answer has been
found which st all adequate to the conditions of
ocean travel. obviously the first invention was to
have always at hand some buoyant substance which
could be grasped by the unfortunate person whose
hope should lie in keeping his head above water till
help should come. The necessity for such thing
OF cork Jackets. life BELTS buoys &C.. and probably
no vessel now floats on the seas without some pro-
vision of this kind.
The next thought, also obvious, was to have
smaller ships or boats, which might clear from the
wreck and give better chance, Of life to the sur
vivors Of the prime disaster by Offering possi-
bility of further navigation The boats are also
universally in use and tho newest and best kinds of
hfeboats are SO built to lin port) almost as
safe as ship. They are built OH approved models,
and can carry from nifty to hundred persons
each in smooth water. The third and last con-
trivance, which has not come into general use Is
raft. ready made and OF simple but ingenious con-
struction which can be thrown overpoard as
quickly and almost easily as q ife-preserver, and
will support as many people as can cling to it, 1t
has several advantages over boat. but is not liked
as well by sailors for many reasons.
s.. THE LAWS sUBJscr.
The necessity for some provision o. the kind in
case Of possible disaster is plain that in every
civilized country which has seaports laws have been
enacted compelling tho masters of vessels and espe-
caly Of passenger ships to carry boats and life buoys
and apopuIar belief exists tina. they compelled
to carry sufficient provision Of this kind for every
soul on board. This. however, is not true. Buoys
and boats enough for ordinary accidents and for
rendering help to disabled vessels in all ordinary
\ capital accident-for the of the complete de-
,truction or the foundering OF . vessel in mid
oce4h-no preparation is made to keep all on board
aAoat for . time st least
While boats and buoys be carried 1t is left to
the discretion OF the shipowners In this country
carry RATS in the place OF portion of the required
number Of bosts. and the Pacific Mail Steamship limo
and the steamers of the American line. plying from
Philadelphia to England, all carry them. This ex-
ample has recently been followed by the White Star
line and on each Of the steamers of that line two
RATS to be carried IN future. This not in con-
sequence Of the requirements of the English law
which says nothing about RATS. although the fol-
lowing language was used in the report to Parlia-
ment ot the British Consul in New York In May.
r1yHBoArs AND LFERAPrs.
The question OF manning hfeboats on sea-going
steamers is now attracting considerable attention.
Besides recent disasters on the Hudson River. in
which the boats were OF little or no importanee the
calamities Of the Deutschland and schiller, steam
packets sailing to this port, have the
nefhciency OF hfeboats in the sudden and over
whelming accidents which may at any moment over
take large iron steamships.
1t is matter for serious consideration whether
properly constructed lifersfts, which could be in
stanty launched. would not offer far better means
OF safety to passengers and in OF
and tops OF deckhouses OF merchant stosmships
might. perhaps, themselves be availed Of as RATS
being made detachable and buoyed with cylindrical
Jagged as to prevent injury to any section Of the
chambers in launching. The additional weight and
cost would be mere trife in view Of the important
interests at stake:
THE SUGGESTION NOT FOLLOWED
The proposition to make certain parts Of the ship
buoyant IN order that they may be used as RATS
when RATS needed is declared by sailors to be
imprscticabe. They that the houses and bridges
must be fastened securely possible tho decks
otherwise they would be washed away by the heavy
seas that break over the ships. especially in the win
ter storms As to the RATS, was said they not
in general use ON the steamers plying between New
York and England.
vice in saving valuable lives on several occasions
when lifeboats have been useless. When the steam
ship Leo was burned on April Ii. 1877 about eighty
miles south OF Tybee Island. nineteen persons left
the ship in the two hfeboats and were never heard
of again. Captain Daniels. who comma nded the Leo
got on the ships raft with thirteen Of his crew.
One OF this number washed away by q heavy
wave, which completely upset the raft throwing ali
its passengers into the sea- but all excepting this
were picked up by a Russian bark Again. when
the Emily - Souder was lost of Hatteras January
last the only two persons who were saved among all
that We're on board were two men who took to the raft
in despair when the boats full. The captain
refused to trust himself or any of hts command
the raft a. II had been damaged having hole stove
In Of its cylinders but in spite Of this fact it's
two passengers kept ahoat for days aud
were Yhnally picked up. while the boats were never
Tho lferafts in the market are of two kinds, rub
Der and metal. OF the metal ones there are three
kinds, differing only In minor points OF construc-
tioisS They formed OF hollow cylinders with
conical ends. and strong light framework between.
The cylinders built in sections mpartments,
each OF which Is an ar-tight chamber and there
seven eight of these compartments in each cylin-
der. so that the raft would have to be completely
shattered before IL would lose all its buoyancy.
The kind usod by the American. and Pacific Mail,
and now adopted by the White star linc is that
mado, by H. G. Calkin, OF this city. They can be
made, and some are made with breakers for water.
wheA these RATS loaded the part of tho
cylinders under water, and the platform between
theR ~ down to the level OF the water below il.
so Is out of the question to keep dry
but on the other hand IL is almost impossibilty
to sp qne a them with any load of passengers that
"a 3 I'd. p
The rubber rata are similar In shape. when they
are Mnated to the metal The two rubber cylin
ders are enclosed in smaller cylinders OF canvas,
SO thst' no strain on the rubber cloth Is possible and
the AAngfr pt ipuncture ~ reduced to minimum.
They can sbe packed in q much smaller space than
mstgl yaf,r-Dus, on the other hand. not always
ready FOR instant use ~ the latter More less
timqM necessartly CONSUMED In initiating q rubber
ovorboard The price OF the metal rats, of u size
intended to accommodate sixty persons is from 5000
to 5000 That OF rubbsr raft, OF tho same size IL
about SiOO '