Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25
hibted rely entirely upon buoyancy they
impart to human being, thus providing
against death by drowning.

hbited rely entirely upon a buoyancy they
impart to a human being. thus providing
against death by drowning.
Great Variety Presented.
Inventions Of this sort extend over an
infinite range of ingenuity. If protection
against drowning were the only condition
to be fulfilled to win the Pollok prize any
one of these inf1atable devices could lay a
strong claim to the award.
The old-fashioned 1ife-belt idea is work
ed out in a bewlderng variety of methods
/ from the simplest to the most complicated
system One exhibitor contemplateS the
presentation of little pad of rubber about
as big a card case to every passenger
who mounts the gang-plank. "All pas
senger has to do says the inventor. sis to
hang the pad around his neck. If by any
chance he finds himself in the the pad
will swell until it is buOyant enough to
float an elephant"
Another competitor for the prize exhibits
a set of lifesaving pajamas which ARE
just like any other garment until the wear
er falls into the water; then they initiate of
themselves, and il would take fifteen horse
power to pull them under
A French rubber manufacturer exhibits
an admirable system of air pads that could
be worn constantly at sea, and which re-
quire only about thirty seconds blowing to
distend them from perfectly fiat state to
the shape of toy balloons capable of Sus-
tanning the weight of two men in the
water.
Still another inventor submits a species
of automatically initiating life belt. the prin-
ciple of which is based on the expanding
influence of water on acetylene gas, with
which the belts are charged
Many of these ingenious devices are per-
feet in theory, but they apply remedy
only to the cases of persons who have es-
capped from the damaged ship to the raging
sea outside. Most of them would be use
less and some of them suicidal. If worn by
passengers on a ship afire, for the elements
of a number of the devices are so explosive
that they would blow the unthinking wear
er into smit hereens in an instant
Another inventor submits a model mat
tress on which passenger may sleep bliss
fully in hours of repoSe or float diSdainful-
~ in hours of danger; but the time required
to transform the couch into a life saver
is just about eight ~times as much as Is
often needed for a hurried trip into eter-
nifty.
Chairs and Rats.
Some methods of life preservers are sub
mitted to which the jurys objection about
nf1atable substances do not apply. One of
these, invented by an old English cap
tain. has the merit of serving a double pur-
pose equally practicable. If everything is
going all right aboard ship the thing looks
just what it is, comfortable armchair.
The seat of the chair is formed by two
transverse straps of wide leather. If any
sudden eXlgency neceSsltateS the paSSen-
ger gong overheard ne unStrapS the leather
band, pulls the framework of the chair up
under his arms and attaches it there by
fastening the straps over his shoulders.
The thing is Tight enough for a child to
handle. for beside the woodwork the only
other things about tie chair are two large
tubes of aluminium charged with air. A
projecting nail or sharp corner or collision
with a pointed object in the~water infiicts
little damage on this life-saving apparatus.
The exhibit of life RATS Is vast and
varied. They are made of every possible
sort of substance and Of every possible
shape and size. One is built on the archi-
tectural lines of string of linked sau-
sages; most of them are double barreled,"
and two or three have three or more air
chambers. The catamaran idea Is worked
out in extreme. For all of these RATS the
same pre-eminent virtue is claimed-un-
sinkableness. In most cases this merit was
demonstrated by the expert tests. but other
qualities were required too, the chief of