The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-03-05
FOX THE LIEEB0AT.
an ENGINE NEEDED TO DRIVE IT
THROUGH THE SURF.

Failed-Dansers of succoring the ship
wrecked-Exhausted Men at the Oars.
II is not a little discouraging TO those inter
ested in maritime affairs. and particularly
to those interested in devices and schemes for
saving the lives Of the shipwrecked, 10 read
that the efforts Of a committee appointed on
Oct. /, 1857, by the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution Of Great Britain, to obtain a plan
for propelLng a lifeboat by some other means
than oars in the hand Of its crew, had en-
tircly failed. In December. 1856. while en-
deavoring tosavet hecrew of vessel wrecked
on the coast Of Lancashire, q lifeboat and her
crew were overwhelmed by the waves and
lost. The disaster vas # the sort &c rouse
the attention OF the entire British nation, and
the Royal Lifeboat institute at once set about
improving the lifeboats in service along the
British coasts.
Among other steps taken vas the appoint
ulent Of n committee, consisting Of Sir Fred
erick Bramwell, +. r.. =; Sir Digby-Murray,
Bart, and Mr. John Thornycroft. oil men
having special knowledge in the matter be-
fore them, to solicit drawings and models
from inventors and manufacturer OF life
boats Of some new craft 10 be propelled 10y
some power other than manual labor at the
oars, such, for instance, as steaIn or cleo
tricity. The committee were empowered to
offer gold and silver medals for the best OF
these proposed devices, should ans be offered,
while the successful inventor would. OF
course, have received a number Of orders for
boats from the institution as soon as the
IH-.M.m. .N.~ml n, llIH
at which time 50 many had been p~rosentcdat
the rooms of the committee that 1t las taken
all the time Of the committee Tor nearly four
months TO complete their examination OF the
devices. Sir Frederick Bramwell, who writes
the report. says that no design worthy Of a
silver medal. or oven OF special mention, was
found. Tie British inventor having failed,
perhaps some Yankee may now succeed
LAUGHING THE LTrBOAT.
Tho need OF s0mosuch device for propelling
ileboats becomes apparent when tho conci-
tons under which the lives Il the ship
wrecked are saved ere considered The
wrecked ship drives ashore in a furious gale,
taking ground perhaps half a mile from the
beach whence the htcbOat must be launched,
AMI always, too, if along tie American coast
south of M0ntauk Point, on "a bar "a good
many hundred feet from shore. The patrol
man brings word to the crew, AND, If it be
night. the men must jump from their warm
hunks and hasten out into the wind and slect
or snow that chill them throughaEd through.
Tho labor of dragging 81 heavy boat over the
sand is not enough TO warm them before they
must wade out into The icy surf that drenches
every thread they wear, and then, "a the boat
noats, leap in and grasp with beuumbed
FINGERS the heavy fifteen foot oars ana pull
Tor their own lives, as wcil as the lives Oh the
sailors Oh the stranded ship The next wave,
if it does hot hurl them back Oh 20 the sand,
halt buries them IN its freezing cold depths,
and then leaves them With coats and wraps
weighed down with ice.
Unnindful u the discomforts aad terrors
around and before them, the life savers
struggle on, and eventually reach the leo side
Of the wreck to find their labor only JUS,
begun, aud their danger, especially from
floating and falling spars, greatly increased
i line must be made fast 70 the ship, over
which the solid water sweeps with tremen-
dous force, and then the sailors, who are
lashed in the rigging aud arc helpless, must
be lowered into the llteboats. Il Is a work
recurring the nerve and strength Of a man
| in lis prime, undiminished by previous eXer-
ton. but il is performed by men who have
been. perhaps for an hour or more, straining
every nerve 10 its utmost tension ia the effort
10 reach the ship.
LANDING THROUGH TIE sCRF.
One hour, may b. two OF three, must pass
before tho sailors are all in the boat. Human
powers, even in the best trained men, have a
limit beyond which they cannot be- strained
and stand the test Encountered by the load
IN their boat, exhausted by their lab0rs In
securing the load, the life savers at last cast
OF the line that holds them 10 the wreck, and
with weakened grasp take up the heavy oars
to face the gravest darser TO which a mariner
is ever exposed, the danger OF landing through
a heavy surf Small wonder il even the
thought OF this danger fails % llag into AIDE
quute action the worn out muscles OF tho
men, and they drift toward shore rather
than row with the wind and waves, and fail
at the critical moment 10 pull toward the
open sea, and are caught by Il booming roller
and thrown headlong into the black depths
ut its base, and finally are cast dead on the
saud, from which they had launched their
boat TO save the lives OK others
The propelling power Of the Iifeboat is gone
when it is most needed 1t ought not to be
either a difficult or an expensive thing 90
provide such a boat with some other sort Of
driving power. The boat IS not hard to
propel. 1t is about 70 feet long, Z wide and
81 deep. IL is decked over on the plane Of
the water line, and the hold beneath isdiyidcd
into compartments, which are usually filled
with cork and parailine wax or some such
light substance, 50 that II the compartment
bo broken open il viii not I'LL with water IL
requires a crew OF six oarsmen and a cOXswaIn.
II an adequate propellins scheme were pro-
vided, one OF these men hight be dispensed
with. After the boat was launched and lis
weight saved, if the ~propelling device weighed
800 pounds. IL would therefore net but a little
over go pounds additional weight for the
boat, but something ought 10 be- made IN
these DAYS of tempered steel and aluminium
that would weigh less. Ii some Of the men
who are taking ont patents for car coupleIS.
railroad switches. and washing machine at
ths rate Of "a dozen a week, with nO reason
able hope Of ever getting the price OF the
patents out Of their devices, were 70 turn their
attention to htcboats, something worthy the
attention al least Of the Royal National Life
boat Institution, perhaps even OF 70 IlFcr
medal, might los produced. When 10 I con.
sidered that such boats would reallD sl Tor
$50, perhaps 5000, each. tho Mas u Goo