Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-07

4
lower hoor Is occupied by the boat room. the
mess room. the store room and the keeper
room. Above are two large rooms, one for the
men and the other, containing spare cots, for
snipwrecked people. The equipment includes
two surf boats, two sets OF breeches-buoy APP
paratus. a life car, signal rockets, q gun and
| projectiles
THE GUN AND PRoJEcTILrs
The gun is a very curious affair. II throws
q projectie about 700 yards, which turns about
end for end after leaving the muzzle, carrying
one extremity of a long rope the size Of lead
pencil Great skill is required in aiming it,
because much allowance has always to be
made for the force and direction of the wind
The projectile itself goes straight enough, but
the rope 1t carries is so blown by the
gale that it may be necessary to direct
the shot far away from the ship, in order
that the line may fall across the lat
ter. To the rope 10 attached what is called q
tally board" which bears inscription in
large white letters on a black ground, in En-
glish on one side and in French on the other.
telling the people on the vessel to pull in the
line as fast as they can. Otherwise it would
often happen that they would not know what
to do with it.
BUILDING A SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Pulling in the line the people on the wreck
lind attached to it an endless rope of larger
diameter, as big round as ones thumb, with Q
block through which it runs and a tail" of
rope fastened to the block. With it comes an.
other tally board, which tells them to secure
the tail piece Of the rope to the mast or what
ever else may be secure, also instructing
them to pull in the endless line and
| similarly fasten tho big hswser which
| they will find attached to it. These things
accomplished temporary suspension bridge is
established between the ship and the shore
and by means of the endless rope any convey
ance slung from the hawser with tackle can be
made to travel to aud fro. The most easily
managed apparatus for the purpose is the
brooches buoy, which is simply a strong cork
belt with short rubber breeches fastened to il
as if to waistband Into this the passenger
inserts himself and Is quickly drawn across the
raging surf. experiencing no other disagree
abieness than a wetting from the spray,
perhaps. Many thousands of lives have been
saved by means of this device. and only one
mas Oeen lost, through the carelessness of the
victim. In exceptional cases. and particu-
ariy for women, the life cara covered boat
shaped affair of iron, which will hold six or
seven persons-is employed in a similar fash
ION. The car Is frequently utilized for fetching
treasure and perlshable valuabes. like silks
ashore. On one occasion it was used to convey
II large amount Of gold belonging to Uncle Sam.
THE sURFMEN on DUTY.
The surfmen ere obliged to stay both night
and day at the stations, patroljing the shore at
regular intervals. This latter part of their
duty is attended with many perils, especially
when the tides are very high, when they are
compelled often to wade or even swim at
times In the darkness they are more or less
likely to tumble over bluffs, or even to get en-
tlrely lost, and in several cases they have lost
their lives through such accidents
On catching sight OF wreck
the patroiman sets off a red light. il it is
night to convey Intelligence to the people on
board the unfortunate vessel that they
are seen. Then he runs as fast
as possible to the station and the life
saving apparatus is fetched with the utmost
possible celebrity. The rescued are taken TO
the station. where they are Immediately sup
Piled with hot coffee, dry clothes and medical
attention if needed. There is a fair library i'm
each station TO relieve the tedium Of enforced
detention for any who sick or injured The
clothing is provided by the Woman's Relief As
ISOLATION, the books being given by tho Sea-
mems Friend Society and by benevolent indi-
viduas. several newspapers are sent regu-
larry to the stations by their publishers.
PRACTICAL WORKINGS AT CHICAGO.
At the worlds fair station there will be reg
ular daily drills, such as are practiced at all
the life-saving posts. spar will be erected in
the usual fashion out in the lake at a distance
OF seventy-five yards from shore, and surfmen,
figuring as victims OF imaginary wrecks will
be rescued from it at suitable intervals. If a
crew with one months training cannot accom-
pl,sh such rescue within five minutes their fail.
ure Is made the subject of reprimsnd. Capable
men have done it repeatedly at night without
any lights, in three minutes and thirty Sec
onds from the time of setting up the appa-
ratus, nring the shot and getting the man
ashore from the wreck pole. Following this
comes the drowning drill, /" in which the men
go through the forms of resuscitating each
other after the most approved method. This
consists briefly. in laying the victim upon his
face. with a roll of clothing under the stom-
ach. pressing upon the lower part Of the back
to expel the water; then turning him over aud
alternately pressing the stomach up into the
chest for three seconds and relieving the
pressure, SO as to induce artificial respira-
i.tion, making sure meanwhile that the throat
is clear by introducing finger wrapped with
handkerchief, and keeping the teeth apart if
necessary with a piece OF wood placed between
them. During the last twelve years this pro-
cess has been successful in 60 out OF llS real
drowning cases in which 1t has been tried.
THE INVENTOR OF THE LIFE CAR,
Joseph Francis. is now in Washington. Though
he did not design the first life boat which
honor is claimed by Noah, he is the father of
life-boat making in the United States, a coach
maker IN England having devised the earliest
modern craft of that description in 1889. He
is nnety-two years old. The last Coner SIS
voted HIM medal ofpure gold, which Wac the
biggest and finest ever given by this govern
ment to an individual. 1t was pre-
scented to him at the White House BY Pres
ideDt Harrison two years ago with appropriate
ceremonies. He has since donated it TO the
National Museum where it is now on exhibit
ton. 1t is worth $1,000. being two-thirds of
an inch thick and as large as a tea plate. To-
gether with it is shown his original life car,
which saved 20l lives from the wreck Of the
Ayrshire on the New Jersey coast in IS47.
People laughed at that car when it was first
made. The inventor is full of curious anec-
dotes.
KNOCKING DOWN AN EMPEROR.
"The Emperor of Austria" said he the other
day to STAR representative, asked me in
1857 to give an exhibition of my life boats on
lake. Eight Thousand people gathered to see
the show. While was experimenting opera
tious his majesty came mp close behind me.
without my knowing it, and looked over my
shoulder. Then hitch occurred in the
process of launching one of the boats, and
seized u rope quickly, giving it powerful jerk
to loosen tangle. The emperor received
q blow from my elbow square in the chest and
was knocked fiat on his back. OF course,
l offered thousand apologies, but he
was very amiable about it. jumping to
his feet aud saying that the accident
was evidently unavoidable. But the assembled
multitude, including several companies of SOL
diers, looked aghast at the catastrophe, i'm
agining that for such an outrage upon the dig
nifty of the sovereign, even though it we're un-
intentional. would presently suffer some
awful punishment. Many of the newspapers
at the time commented upon the affair with