The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-09-24
JOSEPH FRANCIS.
Ths Struggles and Sacccss Of the Inventor
Of the Life-Boat.

Il
! Of the Life-Boat.
Joseph Francis, who became famous
as the inventor of the first practical
life-saving car and whose services Con-
gress has proposed to recognize with a
gold medal, has lived for many years
at the Stevens home in lower Broad
way. He is cheerful old gentleman
of eighty-five. His gray harris smooth
cd carelessly over his square. amble
brow. while his gray mustache and
small imperial give pleasing express
sion to his mouth. His pale blue eyes
twinkle beneath shaggy eyebrows and
beam on every body and every thing with
merry cheerfulness, o if he were on
good terms with the whole world. He
wears Old-fashioned broad cloth trousers
and an Old-fashioned frock coat, and
an old-fashioned collar encircles his
throat. He lives quietly and modestlv.
and many had forgotten that he still
lived until the chamber of commerce
called the fact to the attention of Con-
gress last fall, and urged that the SER
vices of this venerable inventor be fifty
recognized.
Mr.. Francis began the study of life
saving methods when he read about ter
rible shipwrecks in his school-days.
When only eleven years of age he made
a small boat with compartments in the
bow and stern, which he filed with
blocks of cork. He was almost beside
himself when he filled the boat with
water and found that not only did it not
sink, but that it tloated with four men
in it. 1t was the first real life-boat built
in the country. He improved upon this
and sent his invention to the Massachu-
sets Mechanics Institute and received
an award. 1t was the first bit of public
encouragement that the boy inventor
had received. and then men of brains
and money became interested in him.
In 1925 he made life-boat with air
chambers along the side in addition to
the cork compartments in the bow and
stern. When he launched it it struck
the water heavily and went down out of
sight. 1t came up again instantly and
right side up. and several men got into
it, but were unable to upset or sink it.
He then took the boat to Philadelphia
to exhibit it, but England was the first
to order two boats of this pattern for
service on the Canada coast. Orders
then poured in for life-bOats of the same
pattern, and he received orders from
the Emperors of Brazil and Russia for
state barges.
Francis continued his experiments,
and in 1888 perfected a covered life-car
for taking people from wreck to the
shore on hawser. This was made of
wood, and when he found that it could
not withstand the banging on the rocks
and lodges he set to work to build one
of iron, and got patent on his success
full invention in 1915. He tried to get
the Secretary of the Treasury to take
an interest in the invention, but the Of
fficial gave him no more encourage
ment than if his ''new-fangled contri-
vance, was found successful at wreck
on the New Jersey coast the Govern
ment would then look into it. Francis
was not disheartcned, but took his boat
to the Jersey coast and waited until the
stranding of the British ship Ayrshire in
a furious storm on January 20, 1850. She
had two hundred people on board, and
after the life-savers had secured a haw-
ser to her the life-car was sent out. Its
first trip brought five persons to the
shore. Within the next two hours every
body save one man was landed on the
beach. This one man jumped on the
car as it was leaving the ship and was
swept overheard by sea. This success
made Francis well-known. Shortly af-
terward he went abroad for his health,
and he gave special exhibition of his
life-car on the Seine before the Emperor
who knighted him and gave
him gold snuff-box, which bore the
imperial initial and crown set in blue
enamel and studded with eighty-six dia-
mOnds. He was also honOred with
medals and diplomas of merit from
other crowned heads, and when he re-
turned home the Government had
adopted his life-car and pontoon wagons.
m Y. Tribune.