The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-12-07
DEVICES USED ON THE SEA
Marvels of Skill in Appliances
to Protect Life
SAFETY COMPARTMENTS

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Built Atlantic Liners Practically
Non-Sinkable.
The dangers of travel by sea have
tecome Infinitely less than by land.
he human element" has less play
ere, and whereas the safety of the
ilroad train depends largely on the
IN eye of the engine driver and
clear brain of the operator, the
cjern steamship is kept true by
cchanical devices, one checking
aother, till the margin of possible
disaster Is reduced 20 a minimum.
Should a leak spring in the hull no
human eye need notice It, but the
watertight door in the compartment
affected will automatically close
should n light go out at the mast
head or on the port bow or else
where an indicator will ring a bell in
the wheelhouse and a dial will tell
where the trouble lies; should a
dangerous coast or another steam
ship, hidden by the fog, be in close
and unknown proximity a subma-
rine telephone attachment will give
warning, and by wireless telegraphy
may knowledge of the presence OF
an Iceberg or a derelict be gained
from passing ship, or q crippling of
the machinery be communicated.
Probably the most important Of
the devices to insure safety to the
skip are water tight compartments
formed by heavy bulkheads, or par
tii0ns of steel, running from the
kee! to the upper deck, the doors Of
which can be closed instantly in case
of accident. The compartment itself
is not a new device, but until
few years ago, when a Scotch en-
gineer named Stone discovered
way to close the doors both auto
matically and by hydraulic pressure
controlled from the bridge, It was
not always effective To close all the
doors separately by hand required
considerable time, and 1t not infre-
Quently happened that the firemen
deliberately jammed them open lest
In the hour Of peril they should find
themselves locked in some watery
trap.
Now not only can the doors be
closed simultaneously by the SIM
pie turning OF handle, but the doors
will shut OF their own accord as soon
as the water in the compartment
rises two feet above the bilge keel.
addition. should an explosion oc-
In the engine room the door
3 may be Immediately closed
the steam prevented from es-
ing into the rest of the ship. No
i-ruction of coal or anything else
a prevent the doors shutting, and
all motive for jamming by the fire.
men Is removed by a mechanism
which permits of the opening Of the
door by any one caught in a COM
partment after 1t has been shut, by |
means of handle at the side to re- |
verse the. hydraulic pressure. The |
door will then close again automati- |
cally.
The working of the system Is ac-
by the supplying OF |
pressure to all the vertical sliding |
doors-there are twenty-five of |
them on the newest boats-by a
main running the whole length of
the vessel. This main is in commu-
nication with four steam hydraulic
accumulators, which are of suf1-
cient capacity when charged to sup
ply a pressure of from 500 to 700
pounds a square inch. The accumu-
lators and the hydraulic pump
which supplies them with the pres
sure fluid are above the water mark,
80 that the water in the hold would
not interfere with their working.
Hydraulic power instead OF
steam, electricity or compressed air
is used for operating the doors be-
cause of its greater safety under
differing conditions. For instance,
the bursting Of a steam pipe would
render inaccessible the room in
which the break occurred; a break
age of electric installation or of the
conducting wires might pass unde-
tected, and pumps TO provide COM
pressed air would be unduly expen-
sive and less reliable than the hy-
uTdulic pump.
A system of communicating
through the water between ships at
sea and the shore, by means OF
which the sound of submerged bells
anchored off dangerous points on the
coast can be heard on shipboard, is
another OF the notable safety devices
which is being put in universal ap-
pltcation. An extension of this sys-
tenn will permit of submarine tele-
phone conversation should there be
occasion for It.
The receiving apparatus on the
ship, which picks up the sound of the
bell and enables the pilot TO deter
mine It's direction, consists of a pair
,f sentative electric transmitters
placed on the inside of the hull,
against the outer plating, below the
One transmitter is on
he port side and the other on the
and both are connected
by wires to telephone receiver box
n the pilot house.