The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-12-05
THE LIFE PREsERvERs.
Government Inspectors Say the Portland
was Well Equipped With the Best.

Government Inspectors Say the Portland
Was Well Equipped With the Best.
The sensational report In Boston
paper to the effect that some of the LIE
reservoirs on the steamer Portland were
Id and filled with 'grass" was brousnt
the attention of the United States IN
spectors of steam vessels for this distriot
saturday, by PRSES man swho 1onno
he officials, Messrs George A. Poiiistef
md James H. Merritt, in their office at
DE Custom house.
"The Portland was inspected once
ear in the month of May" SAID Mr.
oil ster. "She was well equipped wit1
ne appliances required by law Mhen !
Aw this report in the Boston paper,
loked up the record and found Gna1 nao
II addition to the usual figures che mem
.randa made when we were making our
asst inspection of the boat. That shows
few many life preseryers the steamer nad
md more than that it shows IN wnnt
art of the ship they were kept. Wnen Inc
ortland was built she was supplied with
81 of ID. Kahnweier's Improved Cork
ife Preservers. hese are among tne
est made. They have the cork in blocks
>
iacket goes on like vest. 1t has no DeH
eng fastened by two cords in front u
would ba hard work to get one OFF even II
{ was not tied In addition to the CORK
lreserv ers there were others MADE OF Juie
nut the parts of the ship to wnlch tne
"a sengers had access were supplied WIFI
ork prescryers, because MIR. Coyis, Jnt
manager Of the line when the boat was
quipped, was particular to have for the
So of the passengers only such kinds OF
life preservers as could be easily put on
In addition to the cork EreserveTs there
we're on the boat at the last inspection IN
May, lilo LeDuc Improve Tule life pre-.
ervers These are fillei with kind OF
cane or reed which grows on the Pacific
coast. They are amons the kinds author
ICED by the board of supervising inspec-
tors. When The Portland was last In
ipected, as is usually the cass. every life
preserver WAS examined The
local inspectors db not examine the man.
ner in which the life preservers were made
or tho kind of material with which they
are filed, That is done by inspectors who
visit the factories and put on the goods a
stamped statement that they have been
approved. This stamp bears the date and
the signature of the man making the in
spection. All the life preservers on the
Portland had been thus approved When
we make our inspections. we examine
every Ills pEcS5FfGf Ol uL6 SLIP separately
taking it up. shaking it and testing it to
see If the covering is in good condition
Especial attention lie paid to the condition
of the parts of the jacket which go over
the shoulders to keep the life preserver in
place. / suppose that | have condemned
a thousand life pTeseryers but on steamers
like the Portland they are generally in
good condition Tor they are kept In places
where 1t Is dry and so they do not rot.
Some of the life presevers will get dirty,
though, and this may have lead somebody
to believe that they were old and worn.
In the forecastle and firemen' g rooms the
men keep their life preservers in the
berths. They sit on them and they sleep
or them sometimes when they have their
boots on, so 1t Is only natural that the
life preservers should look dirty, but it
does not indicate that they are old or
unsafe. The life preseryers on the Port
land were distributed about the boat as
follows: In the saloon there were 1896;
on the hurricane deck there were 107; in
the forward cabin, 13i; in the lower
cabin forward, 53; in the ladies' cabin,
ls5; in the lower cabin aft, 90; IN the
dremen'S and mess r0Omss IL, and III the
forecastIe, lS The boat was literally
supplied with signs telling where the life
preservers were Kept Those in the state
rooms and sleeping cabins were kept by
the berths where they could be easily
reached The tule life preservers are
proDably the kind meant In the references
to life preservers filed with grass AS
an example OF what they will do, take the
case of test I made here in Portland.
There are some of these life preservers on
one of the steamers in the har5or and /
was sent for to see II they were as good
as the cork variety. 1t is the law that .
life prsserver shall be capable of support
ing "A pounds of dead weight SO ! sent
60 49,. qc-k ,x<,1 x,t< "a h..
ing 25 pound to q cork life preserver. Tue
preserver WAS then thrown into the water
and it was noted how much of 1t was
submerged Then the same piece OF iron
was attached to one of the tule life pre-
servers and the same experiment tried.
the result being that the tule make did
not sink as far rs the cork, and more
than that seemed to gain In buoyancy
after 1T had been some time in the water.
''They say that life preseryers were
found which had been torn in two. Well
is there any thing strange about that? In
an accident which smashed great steam
or into small pieces do they think it re-
markable that drilling jacket lined with
cork should be caught in the wreckage
and tornf Then they say that one Of these
life preservers they have picked up Is 90
heavy that it would sink man. II that
is SO how did the life pressrver get ashore
Inspector Merritt confirmed the stata-
ments OF Mr.. Po1lister and agreed with
him in denying that the life preservers
were not IN good shape.
Mr.. Isaiah Daniels. manager of the
Harpswell Steamboat company told q
PRIZES reporter Saturday, night that he
had made a to t of the tule life preserver
and in his opinion they were superior in
buoyancy to the cork preservers. He also
said that in his opinion life preservers
of any kind were of very little use to the
passengers of the Portland in the big sea
which was running when that steamer
was lost.
WHY HE WENT TO SEA.
General Manager Liscomb OF the Port
and Steamship Company, in conversation
with the writer on the train coming up
to Boston from Orleans where he had
been to look after the bodies of the unfor-
Inmates from the Portland, spoke of the
line of reasoning probably followed by
Captain Blanchard when he took the
steamer to sea disrsgarding his instruc-
tions. In substance. Mr.. Liscomb said:
Steamer captains do not always stay
~ L. 1~4<<