Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-16
SAVING LIFE UPON THE SEA,

Inere are few branches of human in
Ventlon in which more progress has been
made during the past half century than
IN unat OF the making of life-saving ap-
/ planes.
Today the life boat service that exists
IN almost every part of the civilized
World rs SO we'll known that it is difficult
70 realize that there ever was a. time
When the coasts upon which the waves
on the oceans break We're unprovided
with this useful invention. However i'm
proDapl 1t may seem the fact still re-
mains that it was only a little more than
a century ago that the first life boat was
designed.
nile 1t has often been stated that the
1rst appliances for life saving at sea
Werethe result of the invention of Henry
Greathead, the South Shields boat build
er'tnls IN not entirely true to fact. Mr.,
Greathead did much to improve the first
invention, but the honor for having made
the ORIGINAL model belongs to Lionel Luz
Kun, a DumoW, Eng, coach builder. 1t
was ne Who first designed and fitted a
BOAT which he called the 'unmergible,"
and for which he took out a peatent in
800. Nothing, however, came of the in
Ventlon. and several years passed bfore
the public actually felt the need of such
a boat.
In September, 1889, however, the "Ad-
venture" of Newcastle was wrecked on
the Hefd Sand. barely a quarter of a mile
from the shore. and all on board were
lost in sight of hundreds Of spectators
who were unable to reach them for want
or a suitable craft. AS a result the resi-
dents Of South Shields offered a prize for
the pest model of a life boat, and that
winch was finally accepted was the in
vention of Mr.. Greathead.
FIRST LIFE BOAT.
Ihls hrst life boat was 30 feet long and
~ rect Wide She was propelled by from
~ TO "a oars. The bow and stern were
pointed and the keel curved. In fact. the
model was an excellent one, and the crft
so soon proved it's capability to accom-
pllsh much that it's inventor had claimed
FOR IT that several other ports were soon
htted out with similar boats.
IRON that time to today inventors
nave been busy in devising new schemes
for the saving of human life at seq hut
nothing that has inspired these eorts has
been SO thoroughly tempting to the man
with the inventive turn than the prize of
2o,oo0,0o that has been offered nv the
heirs of Anthony Pollok, for since the an
houhcement of this contest the patent
office has been deluged with SAMPLES of
every variety of life preseryer that tho
mind or man could possibly conceive.
some OF THESE are novel and some are
but new adaptations of old inventions.
some appear to promise usefulness. while
others appear ridiculous at the first
siance. That the prize of $40. 600 will vet
succeed In bringing out the most perfect
llfe-saVlng appliance in the world is the
deVont hope of all those who are assist
ing the government in selecting the most
promising of the models for more thor
oush examination at the hands of the
shipping experts.
Even at the present time, however, the
n~fe-saving appliances that are in use
have much to them. Thew
nave seen good service and it is seldom
mat they have failed to accomplish their
purpose.
Among the most we'll known of these
appliances are the life buoys and life
belts. The ordinary life-buoy is the best
known. 1t consists of pieces of solid
cork sewn in stout canvas and is pro-
Wded with a line. The cork-jacket Is
the invention of Admiral Ward of the
Engilsh navy and, since it first came in
70 use, 1t has been adapted and rea-
dapted scores of times and in various
ways.
BETWEEN LAND AND SEA.
Experience has shown that the most |
useful appliances for saving life at sea
are those contrivances by means of
which communication can be established
etwee a stranded vessel and the shore.
The first contrivance devised for estab-
t'7iiAS DelWeeH IL Slid 7
and the shore was the invention Of Cap
tain MANLY, in 1907. 1t was Familiarity
known as the life mortar and dis
charged a shot fastened to a line, this
catching in the rigging of the stranded
vessel. The usual way of doing this now
is to send a rocket to which a line is at
tached directly over the ship. and after
the rocket has dropped, the small line
to which it has been fastened falls with
in reach of the men on the deck of the
tranded craft.
Such. then. are the three classes of life
saving appliances-the boat. the buoy or
jacket. and the mOrta ror gum. Based
upon these rough classifcatiOns there
have been thousands of inventions sub
mitted during the past few months, and
in some of them there is undoubtedly the
germ for a bright idea. AS 1t is generally
however. that the problem OF
ON the sea involves the Ques-