Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-12-22
LIFE-SAVING SERVICE.
The Wonderful Life-Boat Used at
Government Stations.
It Rights Itself When Capsized and Balls
Itself Out in Heavy weather-Descrip-
tion of the Drag-Bag. an Invalu-
able Accessory Of the Boat.
tChicago Herald.1

beautiful craft Is the lie BOAT. NOT
so graceful in its proportions as the sail
boat, nor so suggestive of speed as the
steam yacht, every timber in its body,
every line in its model speaks Of strength
and ability to ride the waves on its errands
Of humanity. The life boat has character.
II is poem in itself. And it costs 81, 800.
What would you think if man should
say TO you that he knew where there was
boat which, if capsized, will right itself,
and which. If filled with water, will bail
herself out! You might not believe him,
but such craft is the life boat which Cap
tain st. Peter and his crew so lovingly
keep in their bright, clean boat-room. The
-bOat-what a world of adventure, dan
ger, struggles, rescues, heroism, tragedies,
does the very word bring into the minds
q feet long, feet broad, nearly feet
deep, carries eight oars, and weighs, when
empty, 1000 pounds. AS the colored man
who shows you the life-saving models in
the Patent-Office at Washington says of
the life-boat: 'She never capsizes, but if
she does go over she comes up
right of herself" The life-boat rarely goes
over, but when this accident does occur
she rights herself. because in her keel is a
slug weighing 400 pounds, this weight
giving to her keel a constant determine
ton toward the water. and because in
either end there is an enormous air-tight
bulkhead of cork, and ranged along her
sides fourteen other air-tight compart-
ments scientifically proportioned, giving
the upper portion of the boat constant
determination or tendency to rise from the
water. This is easily understood. Heavy
below and buoyant on top, OF course she is
like cat, always sure to alight on her
feet. The self-balancing is not so easy to
nO6nrcfon1
boat with seven or eight big holes in her
bottom would float at all, would you! But
that is just the kind Of !. craft the life-boat
Is. Tubes reach right down through her
bottom TO the water. In these wells the
water rises from below to the level of the
lake. But it does not rise to the deck, be-
cause the deck is always above the level
OF the lake. With the boat plunging into
the waves. water would, of course, spout
up through the wells and flood the deck
were there not a check-valve in each tube,
which close by the pressure of water from
below But when in the surf and waves rush
over the craft and fill her shallow deck
with water, when then' Why the water
rushes down through the wells. 1t does
this because the check-valves open to the
water from above, and because the deck is
higher than the level Of the lake. Water
run of if there Is any place it can run to-
and this is the principle utilized in making
the ife-boat bail herself out. 1t sounds
queer, but in reality it is very simple, and
in practice it works like a charm.
The life-boat is fitted with every con-
ceivable device to secure safety and for
service in case of disaster. Particular
attention is paid to the stowage of its
ropes, lines and anchors, extra oars,
hawsers, ,hfe-preservers, axes, boat-hooks,
etc, these being arranged by strict
method with reference to economy of
space and facility of use, and always kept
on board lest some of them Should be for
gotten in the excitement of 4 sudden sum-
mons for wreck duty. The lifc-preservers
used by Captain St Peter and his men
are the best known. They are securely tied
round the body and over the shoulders.
leaving the arms free for work Every
man puts ON a life-preserver before taking
his place in the boat, and the captain, who
must stand erect in his position as helms
man, is often compelled to lash himself to
the boat
"And sometimes, ;" the grim captain adds,
81 have to have man hold me to keep mo
on my feet"
With one of these big life-prcservers
round his body Captain ST. Peter could
almost walk the water. like st. Peter of
old, so great is their buoyancy. The life
preservers in common use on steamships
arc fiimsy affairs, made of granulated cork
sewed up in canvas. If the canvas rips
or tears the cork runs out and the useful
ness of the preserver is destroyed.
An invaluable accessory of the life-boat
Is drag bag. A drag-bag looks like a
fisherman's net. Even a lifc-boat would
be rather roughly used in the breakers if
it were not for the skill of its crew and the
services of this little bag Its office is al
most like that of an anchor. When the
boat is approaching shore and the big
breakers are rolling high and mighty,
there is danger that great sea will lift
the boat high in the air and throw her
upon the beach. or twist her broadside to
and land her a wreck upon the shore I'm
der such circumstances the captain watches
the seas with an eager eye. Just before
one breaks over. the boat he gives orders
to the szan sitting next him in the stern to
heave the bag. Trailing after the
boat the bag instantly fills with wa
ter, and pulls back almost with the
power Of an anchor well grounded. The
sea rushes by, and then the captain orders
the trip-line pulled. The trip-line is at
tached to the closed or rear end of the bag.
oDA wncH ~ ID puueo ana the bag re-
versed, OF course it offers no further re-
sistance TO the water. When another
heavy sea approaches, the trip-line ia
payed out again, and again the bag fills
with water and '-holds bacl1f' with tre-
mendous power, while the breaker rushe.
harmlessly pas. the boat. The drag-bag is
one OF the latest devices adopted by the
service, and its utility has been proved ON
hundred occasions The anchor of the
hfe-boat weighs 135 pounds, and its cable
is 90 fathoms. or 360 feet long The heav-
ing-line, in whose use every life-sayer is as
great an expert as the lassoist of the
Southwestern cow country, is I'D feet
long, and flies from the captains hand TO
q wreck almost with the precision OF an
---ov. - 1890. -.
- FilIed the PreseriDtion.. -