The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-04-09

sells by means of the apparatus, set up
and worked in almost utter darkness, the
lanterns of the surfmen being so thickly
coated with sleet that they emitted only
glimmers of light, so feeble that the
lines and implements could not be seen.
"All the boats in the service, although
life-boats, are known as surf boats.
They are made of white cedar with
white-oak frames, and their dimensions
are from 25 to 81 feet in length, 6t to z
feet beam, 2 feet inches to 3 feet 6
inches depth amidships and 1 foot z
inches to 3 feet 1 inch sheer of gunwale.
These have fiat bottoms, with little or
no keel, and have camper of an inch
and q half or two inches in eight feet in
each side of the midship section. They
draw six or seven inches of water, light,
and weigh from 700 to 1000 pounds.
They are propelled with six oars, with
out sails, and will carry besides their
crews from ten to twelve persons, al
though as many as fifteen have been
landed at time in o bad sea. They
cost from $210 to S275. During the
eighteen years these boats have been in
service they have been launched $3.50
times in actual service and have landed
6735 persons from wrecked vessels.
"During all this service they have cap
sized fourteen times, and only six. OF
these instances were attended with loss
of lite, the number of persons perishing
being forty-one, of whom twenty-seven
belong to the service and fourteen were
shipwrecked people. Within the past
fourteen years there have been put into
the United States service thirty seven self
righting and self-bailing lifeboats of the
model of q boat received from the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution. They are
twenty-nine feet three inches in length,
seven feet seven inches beam, three feet
one and one-half deep amidships, one
foot ten inches sheer of gunwales, straight
bottomed, pull eight oars and weigh
1000 pounds each. The great weight Is
made necessary by the device of an iron
keel to aid in securing the self-righting
quality. Out of some AL trips made in
service they saved 5S4 persons, and cap
sized four times; once with fatal results,
five lives, all shipwrecked people, being
lost.
"The Lyle gun is employed for effect.
ing line communication with stranded
vessels. Recently the Hunt gun, de.
vised by Mr.. Edmund s. Hunt, of Massa-
chusetts, and the Cunningham rocket
have been furnished to few stations
where the outlying bars are so far off
shore that vessels may possibly strand
beyond the range of the Lyle
gun. 1t is not for a moment
supposed that the beach apparatus can
be worked at such long distance,
but the passage of boat or life car, or
some improved method might be adopted.
The Lyle gun is of bronze, with a smooth
24-inch bore, weighs, with its carriage,
1S5 pounds, and carries shot weighing
II pounds. This projectile is solid
elongated cylinder 14t inches in length,
into the base of which is screwed an eye
DOlL lOF TcCclVlh2 tLiS SaoI huSi one oo''
projecting sufficiently beyond the muzzle
of the gun to protect the line from being
burned off in firing. When the gun is
fired the weight and inertia of the line
cause the projectile to reverse. The long
est range with this gun under favorable
circumstances is COS yards. The guns
are preferable to rockets in casting lines
for several reasons. A Lyle gun only
costs SS7.SS, of course including appur-
tenances, excepting the projectiles, and
rocket, with its appurtenances, is not
much less in price.
"The only expense attending the use
of the gun is the cost of the cartridge,
say half dime, except occasionally when
a shot is lost, which can be replaced for
50. Several dollars are expended when
a rocket is fired. The gun is easily
handled, readily prepared for firing, and
can be worked almost as we'll in the dark
as in the light. These rockets have
seen and experimental with are not so
simple and easy to manipulate"