National Republican., 1883-09-29
OIL on TIE wArEns.

sotts, has made u report on the use of oil in
calming q rough sea to tho board on life saw
ing appliances Capt. Sparrow is n member
of the board, and was appointed to examine
and report upon the su6eCt matter of n com
munication addressed to him by Capt. r. B.
Forbes of Boston, who was formerly presi.
dent of the board, requesting that the practi-
cabiliiy ofthe use of oil in controlling tho
surf along our beaches might be in-
vestigatcd. Tho report has been accepted
and presented TO General Superintendent
Sumner ]. kimball with the full approval of
tho board. The experiments arc highly in
teresting, though the subject has received tho
attention of seafaring mon from time imme
mortal. Tho late Benjamin Franklin had Il
weakness which amounted to n hobby, for
experimenting with oil when chance took
him out upon tho troubled waters. While
representing the infant republic in foreign
lands ho was wont to pour oil from hollow
cane upon the surface of the wator when on
boating excursions to show his companions its
effect upon the waves Others of greater or
less noto have experimental before and since,
and the subject has been discussed up and
down at intervals in the public prints and by
scientists.
In his introduction Capt. Sparrow says:
"The receipt of many private suggestions that
oil might be used in calming the seq for pur-
poses of the life saving service, and the ofier-
ing of several devices by inventors for dis
tributing the same, have induced an invest
CATION of the subject, which has involved an
amount of labor not at first anticipated. The
nature of tho phenomena presented by a
rough sea, the relative influence of tho diff
feront agencies concerned in its action, and
just how far this action can be controlled, can
only he determined by carefully prepared ex-
poriments, which would require an eXpeudi-
turo of time and funds not at present at our
disposal. Therefore, the subject is herein
treated only as q matter Of practical Observa-
ton and not of exhaustive scientific inquiry"
Ho then proceeds to givo scientific ex-
planation Of the causes of waves, and toll
what constitutes dangerous seas, and in this
connection says:
The broken crest of angry waves forms a
body of water let loose to rush forward and
downward Light objects are seized by it
and carried along Mt speed equal to its own.
Heavy objects that IL cannot readily sweep
along it runs over and engulfs. 1t is the
breaking Of such q sea which is sought to he
controlled.
Sea breaking upon the shore is widely diff
ferent in character from that in deep water
and additional agencies are concerned therein.
With an onshore wind, an undulation rolling
in from deep water has its base abruptly i'm
pcded both by'the shadows which are in
sufficient to support its volume and the re-
action of its predecessor, known among beach
men as the "undertow," while its crest is at
libertyto move forward This it does by
passing over the retarded base as broken
water, and rushing far up the shore in the form
of surf which, when its force is exhausted
runs back again with rapidity proportioned
to its depth and the steepness of the Shore
forming, close to the bottom, the under
tow" referred to, while the surf from the
following breaker wave passes shoreward
above it.
The sea, which breaks upon the shore worry
a oil pf In
in the immediate vicinity, when the wiads.
are still and the eXpanse of water of shore
shows not a single white cap" and only
few hundred yards from land (often less than
one hundred) the waters are powerlcss to
cause disaster to boat or craft exposed to
them. The huge undulations rolling in only
cause them to lazily rise and fall, but when
the swell reaches the bottom, and there is no
depth of water beyond to which to communi-
cate its mighty impulse, it dashes itself in
pieces together with whatever it bears upon
its crest.
Arnot estimated the extreme height of the
ocean waves, at distance from land suffi-
GENTLY great to be free from any influence
of it upon their elimination, to be twenty
feet. The average force of the waves of the
Atlantic ocean during the summer months, as
determined by Thomas Stevenson, was, GIL
pounds per square foot, and for the winter
months 20S6 pounds. During heavy gale n
amount of force we are urged TO endeavor to
render harmless by the use of oil.
Tho motion of the air being communicated
to water through the medium of friction, it
follows that whatever diminishes friction
tends to prevent water from taking up mo-
| tion. Oil, being of less specific gravity than
water, and possessing properties that admit
of small quantity being rapidly spread over
o large surface, is peculiarly adapted to act as
| q lubricant between the two elements.
| In that portion Of his report which follows
| the captain contents himself with presenting
such facts rs have boen gathered relating to
the calming effect Of oil upon the sea where
it breaks in deep water, together with the
evidence that whore it breaks upon the shore
it has no controlling effect whatever.
| In tho many printed testimonials which
| have been examined relating to the efficacy
of oil in calming tho sea, he notes singular
absence of information leading to the solution
of the question of tho practicability of the
| use of oil as means OF safety in the future or
that of accounting for its not being moro gen.
orally used in tho past.
Inquiry among fishermen and whalcmen
| proves that with this class of seafarers the
efficacy of oil on rough sea is well under
stood, and that during bad gales Mt sea its uso
is common when their boats or vessels are
exposed under circumstances which render
its effects available.
When q boat or vessel is lying to in the
open ocean exposed to dangerous sea, and
by means of drogue or otherwise makes Il
| dead drift. Q. directly before tho wind
the pouring of oil upon the water is an eff
fective means of safety, as under such con-
ditions the craft keeps in the calm surface
over which tho oil prevents the sea from
breaking; but when lying under ranging
sail" no benefit Is derived from the use of oil
since the craft will continually range ahead
from the oiled surface into rough water The
occasions during which vessel makes a
dead drift" are not numerous, since it is q
point during adverse gales to keep under
ranging sail as much as possible in order tC
avoid being blown too far from the inter
course.
The captain gives the results of series of
experiments with various devices for the
scattering of oil upon tho waves, mono OF
which appear TO him to bo very effective OF
successful Some of these devices are fol
pouring oil upon the surface, and others are
for firing projcctles containing oil from can
non and bursting them distance from shore
lie is of the opinion that none of them arr
of any use for the purposes of the life saving
service in the vicinity of tho shore. IN,
captain has been unable to discover that oi
is capable OF spreading in all directions, ire
spoctive of the direction Of the wind. IL hal
been used by allowing it to drip from the storI
of q boat while lying at anchor, both during
] light and heavy winds, but has been fount
to 80 directly to leeward in every case
and never TO windward, and TO spreaC
much more rapidly on line in tn,
direction of the winds than upon q line per
pendicular to it, 1t has been observed tina
cod liver oil spreads over larger surface anI
holds topether more tenaciOuslV than eithe