The Lehi banner. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1891-1917, 1898-12-17
REMEDY FOR sEAsICKNEss.
Sir Henry Bessemer's ship, which
Proved an Utter Failure.


Proved an Utter Failure.
A quarter of a century ago the late
Sir Henry Bessemer tackled the prob
lem which thousands of his fellow
countrymen tackle every year In vain
the problem of finding a remedy for
seasickness. M. Bessemer's idea was
to secure a quiet haven Of rest In the
midst Of the vessel at sea. where the
voyager might remain and defy sea-
sickness with ease and dignity. His
plans first began to take shape in 1869.
though they did not arrive at the point
Of practical experiment until Ave years
later. He perceived early that the no.
ton Of gaining steadiness by suspen-
sion OF axis, as in the ships lamps
or compass, would not suffice, for
though the compass is by means Of its
suspension on a double axis retained
in a horizontal plane, 1t nevertheless
rises and falls with the pitching OF the
vessel. Hence, in applying the prlnci-
pie to a saloon, Il was necessary to go
to the middle of the ships length.
where the pitching is practically moth
breadth also, where there is little or no
motion. Freely suspended objects.
such as pendulums. begin to osclllats
whenever their point Of suspension is
moved; the transit OF the passengers
to and fro would produce motion,
and the action of the wind on the
sides OF the vessel would cause the
l..It. ii
that he had overcome these difficulties
by the application OF hydraulic power,
The hydraulic power was certainly
arranged with extreme ingenuity, and
the large salon, weighing 140 tons.
and suspended In the midst Of the ves-
sci, could be moved with a touch. In
order to make room for the salon the
engines and boilers were moved from
the usual places which they occupied
in the old paddle steamers to points on
either side fore and aft OF the salon
and duplicate sets OF boilers and ems
gines wer provlded-"ln order to short
en-" the dreaded channel voyage. The
hydraulic suspension was not the only
ingenious device which was depC nded
upon to keep the salon steady. The
great speed OF the ship-she was ex-
pected to attain very high speed, al
though In practice the speed never ex-
ceeded 1874 knots-was trusted to d.
minish the pitching, and she was given
low freeboard, forty feet long at
each end The effect OF this freeboard,
so It was believed. would be to cut the
waves, ship part OF them on the low
deck, and so balance the vessel.
The Bessemer inaugurated her first
trip TO Calais by smashing the old Ca
lais pier-the hydraulic steering gear
falling TO act at a critical moment
and as a matter OF fact the hydraulic
appliances for steadying the salon were
not tried, the real reason being that
they were not finished. Subsequent ex-
perlments were equally unsatisfactory.
The swinging salon did not behave at
sea In the same way as the steam
rocked model which Bessemer had been
studying on land. In comparatively
calm water-which still might have
enough swell to be unpleasant-it
would not act at all. Moreover, the
boat was really too large for Calais har-
Dor. Her fate was sealed by the bank
ruptcy OF the company that owned her,
and IN 1876 she was sold by order OF
| the llquldators. The buyer removed
the salon and It's machinery, discard
ed the hydraulic steering gear and
built the freeboard to the level OF the
rest OF the deck In this commonplSss
guise the old Bessemer had a careea
and only differed from the less stuns
channel boats in having four paddle
wheels instead of two.--Philadelphla
Record.