Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-06-03
OIL UPON THE WAVES.
d.. Franklin a Pioneer In Greasing
Troubled Waters.

Two ships in one gale of wind were
saved from wreck in February last by
n little oil poured upon the tumultuous
waters. The first case reported was
that o; the British steamer Acton,
bound from Baltimore to Liverpool
An enormous wave, at ten o'clock in
the evening, broke upon the vessels
deck, sweeping into the sea two of the
crew, carrying away the wheel-house.
and destroying the steering apparatus.
During many of the hours Of the night
the steamer was a helpless mass at the
mercy Of the waves, since the violence
OF the storm frustrated all attempts to
get tillcr inserted In the rudder and
came near killing the captain and mate.
When things were at their worst the
captain resorted to the expcdient Of
pouring oil upon the waters, which
produced an immediate and astonish-
ing effect in quieting them, and the
crew were soon enabled TO get control
of the ruddcr and steer the vessel out
of the vortex of the storm. The other
instance was nearer home. A bark,
lAOlu DItLlA W ANtN AOIht was
overtaken by the same gale of Cape
Hatteras, and for many hours had TO
drive before the wind with her deck
under water. A sea broke over her
and rushed into tho cabins. Her cap
tain. who had heard of the efficiency
Of oil In smoothing n rough sea. though
he had never tried the experiment.
now rcsorted 20 il as last hope. He
L.. 4 q Il ii
and this he caused TO drop
slowly into the sea by means of large
pirces Of uakum saturated with the oil.
Small as the quantity was the captain
described the effect as perfectly marvel
Gus. The waves were so far quietcd
that the crew were enabled to clear the
ship Of the water and put her upon her
course. The captain attributes the
preservation of the vessel chiefly TO the
= effect of the oil When his barrel of
oil was exhausted he tried varnish, but
this did not answer the purpose.
The true wonder Is. not that these
two vessels should have been saved by
tho use of oil, but that the simple expo
dicht has not saved from wreck thou
sands of other vessels that now he at
the bottom of the ocean. A hundred
and twenty-five years have passed since
Benjamin Franklin discovered and
explained the process. He explained
II with such cleamess and supported il
by such facts and experiments as ought
10 have been convincing TO all who had
business on the sea. In 1857 DIR. Frank
lin sailed for Europe from the port of
New York, in company with the great
fleet Of ninety-siN vessels bound against
Louisburg. in Cape Breton. One day
he noticed that the wakes Of two of the
ships were remarkably smooth. while
all the Others were rufilcd by the fresh
breeze that was blowing. He pointed
this out TO the captain, and asked him
why il was. That officer replied, with
an air Of contempt for the Ignorance Of
landlubbcr:
The cooks have ! suppose been Just emp.
tying their greasy wafer through the soup
pcfe, which has creased the sides OF those
thips a little"
This solution seemed 10 the land
lubber insufficient. but nc could not, at
the moment, think of a better ex-
PLANTATION. Upon further reelection be
recalled to mind a remark of the elder
Pliny, that ''evcry thing is soothed by
oil, " and that this is the reason why
divers send out small quantities of Il
from their mouths, because il smooths
any part which is rough. aud trans
mits the light To them" This passage
inclined him to think II possible that
the cooks grease may have had some
thing to do with smoothing the wakes
Of the two ships The subject passed
from his mind, however, until 1862.
when, being again at sea, he observed
the remarkable quietness of oil on "A
surface OF agitated water in the swing
mg glass lamp Of the ships cabin. He
was continually looking at this smooth
surface OF oil, and was again unable to
think of an explanation that satisfied
bis mind. He mentioned the difficulty
10 an old sea captain, a fellOw-pas-
senger, who saw nothing mysterious in
u. He said that il was an effect Of
the same kind as that which the fisher
men OF Bermuda produce when they
arc about to strike fish with a spear,
and pour a little oil upon the waves TO
smooth thcm and enable them 10 see
the fish. The same captain told him
that the Portuguese fishermen some
times emptied bottle or two of oil |
upon the sea at the mouth of a river TO |
smooth the breakers upon the bar /
From another informant he learned /
that the pearl-divers IN the Mediter-
ranean still practioed tho method, men
toned by Pliny eighteen hundred years
ago OF going 10 the bottom with their
mouths filled with oil, and letting a
little out now and then, which rises TO
lho surface smooths the waves, and 1
permits the light 10 reach them.
II was a way with DIR. Franklin, !
when be had observed any thing curi- |
ous, not TO let Il 20 until he had dis
covered the principle involved Some
years elapsed. however. before he got
teht upon these curious facts. One
cay, while living Ia the neighborhood
u London where there was a large
pond, he observed that the water WAS
tlolcntly ngtated by the high wind
ihat WAS blowing. lie brought out of
lho house q rruet OF oil and dropped
lttlo of II ON the water The oil
spread over the surface with surprising
tNillness, but Il did not smooth the
waves, because he had applied Il to tho
'oewalh sides. and the wind drove the
oN back upon the shore.
~ then, be continues, s.wcnt 10 the
Nlndward side where the waves began
y form, and there the OH, though not
mofe than teaspooniul. produced an
lrN'pnt calm over space several yards
fqqNrn, which spread amazingly ard
ta'eufrd llso|i gradually llll Il reached
mo t.I .III. NAL II.... II II..I 49,. 49,.