Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-06-03
Indian Chieftain.
WE sHon pINonma.
We present boloW tho al


Of Tic pond. perhaps hals an acre, As
smooth as a looking glass"
This was a very striking experiment
indeed, which confirmed all his prcvi-
ous facts. though II did not explain
thcm. lie was so much struck with Il
that afterwards, whenever he went into
the country, hccarried little oil In the
upper hollow joint Of his bamboo cane
with which to repeat the experiment as
opportunity offered. The same result
constantly followed. What surprised
HIM most was the wide extent Of space
which single drop Of oil would cover
and the extreme rapidity with which It
spread. He placed drop Of oil on
polished marble and on plate glass, but
Il spread very little; while on water II
spread in an instant many feet round,
and smoothed the waves farther even
than the oil could be seen. Other facts
were continually reported TO him. He
learned that shoals Of herring were be-
traycd to the fishermen by the smooth
ness of the water over them, caused,
apparently, by the oil exuding from
their bodies. A Rhode Island gentle
man told him that the harbor of New
port was always smooth when the
whaling vessels were In IL. He finally
arrived at this explanation:
The wind. blowing over water COW
cred with film of oil. can not easily
catch upon IL so rs 10 raise the first
wrinkles, out slides over 1t and leaves
il smooth as IL finds IL.
He became at length well satisfied
that oil could be utilized to still the
tumultuous waves Of the ocean, even
to the saving of large ships otherwise
past help. Some years after he had
the satisfaction Of knowing that the
experiment had been tried on Dutch
ship, bound from Batavia to Amster-
dam. In wearing the ship around near
lee shore, which was matter of
great difficulty, the captain poured oil
over re foaming sea. This at once
prev, 'd the waves from breaking
iuto I. vessel, and contributed es.
sentialy, as the captain reported, to
her preservation. The quantity of oil
required was very small, considering
the effect produccd-about thirty gall
Ions OF olive oil. DIR. Franklin further
suggested, and partly verified by ex-
pertinent, that boats on nearing a
beach can sometimes subdue the break
ers by pouring out little oil before
reaching them.
All these facts and many more were
fully written out by DIR. Franklin in
1875, and published soon after, both in
French and English. Nevertheless. Il
has only been within very few years
that captains of vessels have practiced
the simple and inexpensive remedy.
After the events Of the present year,
surely no vessel should leave port with
out a supply OF oil and some simple APP
raratus for dropping It slowly and con-
tinuously into troubled sea.
To DIR. Franklin the passengers and
crew of the lost steamship Oregon owe
a debt of gratitude, for it was he who
communicated to Christendom the an
cient Chinese practice of dividing the
hold of a ship into a number of water
tight compartments, which kept the
Oregon afoat nine hours, and ought
TO have kept her afloat until she reached
her dock at New York. His advice on
this subject, too, was not followed TO
any great extent until recently. So
slow are we to adopt improvements
which demand of us little extra
trouble and expense!-M y Ledger.