The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1895-01-12
PERILS OF THE OCEAN
INVENTIVE GENIUS TO THE AID OF
DISTRESSED MARINERS.

BOnrd--CuttinG the Throat OF the TInid
with a Feather.
In order that the surfmen who patrol
sur beaches, ready to lend their assist
anca to distressed mariners, may have
ut their command the most efficient APP
paratus inventive genius can suggest, a
boar | on life saving appliances appoint.
ell by the secretary of the treasury is
connected with the life saving service
and convenes upon the call Of the presi-
dent about once II year to consider the
merits Of oil boats, apparatus or meth
DDS which may be presented to them
with a view to adoption in that service
if found practicable, This board makes
public tests of the apparatus presented
for adoption, and their report is en-
bodied in the annual report Of the life
saving service for the year in which the
Investigations were made.
Many valuable suggestions are
brought to the attention Of the board
which secure for the nse of the service
strong lines and effective gear. But
some Of tho schemes and apparatus Of
fered in good faith are SO rid~iculously
absurd as to require but a very short re-
port. and the decision is found i'm
practicable" the board being good
enough to ''cut his throat with a feath-
er" in order that timid genii with
meritorious apparatus may not be I'M
duly discouraged or frightened at the
decision made upon these devices and
thereby deferred from presenting some
thing which might be Of i~ncalculable
value to humanity.
One of the peculiar facts ascertained
by the Investigations of the board is
that those who are probably most apt to
submit models and descriptions nre those
who know least about the real dangers
and consequent needs of q stranded or
stranding vessel. Some Of the concep-
tions Of the inland residents are truly
marvellous.
The subject easily divides itself into
three heads: Boats for going out through
the surf. apparatus for effecting oom-
munication between the shore and
stranded vessels, and means for prevent.
Ing standings. The devices to be con.
sidered as coming first are most natural
ly those to prevent standings, and only
recently o scheme was presented in
which the government was urged to
stretch u very large cable the entire
length Of the coast some distance from
the shore anchored with mushroom an
ohors. Thus if a vessel were dragging
her anchor she would float over this ca
bile toward the rocks until the Gukes Of
her anchor engaged with the cable,
where she would be held safe and sound.
No provision is made for preventing the
parting of her chains. however. But the
scheme of stretching a Large cable from
Maine to Mexico and stringing thereon
mushroom anchors like bangles on a
necklace will hardly meet the approval
Of congress. 4 ws
Another amateur submits sketches
and drawings. minus tho pretty painted
model. however. Of a great boat intend.
cd to run simply by opening a gate
valve in two large longitudinal tubes
which open fore and aft below the wa
ter line. The valves are open when the
boat is launched, and the water rushes
Into the forward intake and passes out
at the stern. The water, passing out,
pushes the boat forward. and the intake
helps relieve the resistance ON the bows,
SO that the boat, of course, is pro-
PEELED by the water passing through
these tubes. The boat thus goes on for
ever through the surf most speedily be.
cause the water is driven out through
the stern most forcibly in a boisterous
sea. To stop the boat the valves are
closed.
Another bright man with a less cum
bersome c~ontrivance, although the ac-
ton is a. hard or harder to understand,
suggests a lifeboat or life raft built upon
the exact model of a window shutter or
blind, arguing that the water, operating
upon the Stats, will set them vibrat-
and that this vibration by it's ac-
ton upon its own motive force will
cause the boat to work forward against
wind and tide. Bathers ut Atlantic City
q couple Of summers ago will no doubt
this inventor and his shutter.
A heart swelling with pity-it ought
to be a woman's-for the poor drenched
captains wife, rescued through the
surf from @ vessel fast
breaking up, has suggested o canvas
similar to a wagon cover tightly
fastened down to the gunwale as q pro-
from the wet. The dear soul,
however. never stopped to consider the
tremendous force with which the break.
srs. which at times turn q 81 foot life
boat end over. would ride down that
fragile protection, burying in its folds
every underneath. And those mem.