New-York tribune., 1907-01-06
MOTOR LIFEBOATS.
roost Line Heroes Now Hape Finer
Craft than Eucr.
Fro.n The TTfbIne Burean-l


-r,np Service has recently secured seven 81
-. motor boats which are as near rock and
=. ,roof as anything that the hand of man
-, yet placed upon the surface Of the waters
:, -s,,,ires weight of nearly two tons placed
~ the rail of one of these ifeboats to bring
.re e1nwaIe ewash, even with the surface of
fbe sea- and. according TO the official tests made
8, the shipyard when one Of them was placed
,r commission. the craft would sustain a load of
,1u tons dead weight without sinking Eighty-
tvro copper tanks filed with air are provided to
Keen these boats afioat IN the fiercest of storms
and II by any chance the force Of wind and wave
should capsize them. they would automatically
right themselves almost instantly and throw out
over their sides the water that had been shipped
THE moment the boat capsizes the gasolene
motor stops by clever arrangement of the pro-
neIling machinery, and after the boat rights and
halls herself the whirTing propeller starts again
and the interrupted trip to or from some i'm
uerilled ship is resumed
Self-righting and self-bailing lifeboats with
ont motors are not new, and the United States
Iifesaving Service does not claim any right of
discovery in that line The first Iifeboat on rec
ord was built by a coachmaker Of London
named Lyonel Lukin in 1GS5. He fashioned his
with airspaces below deck, like the lifeboat
maker Of to-day makes his, and, in order to
give It still further buoyancy, he placed slabs of
cork the sides, ends and projecting gun
wales. Several boats were built after Lukin's
design, and they are reported to have saved
many lives upon the English coast Iukin's
model was not improved upon until 1852 when
the Duke OF Northumberland offered a prize of
500 guneas for the best kind Of boat designed
TO save lives, and $50 models were submitted
BY inventors in The United Kingdom, France.
the United States, Holland and Germany
man named Peck. a shipwright at Woolwich
bore of the 800 guineas, and with certain altera-
tons his design became the accepted model and
is followed closely to this day. The first lifeboat
of the self-Iighting type to be put into service
in the United States was purchased in 1872
from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution of
Great Britain.
The new motor Ifeboats, which are also
equipped with sails and oars in case of erner-
gency. combine in admirable degree stability.
extra buoyancy, self-bailing and self-righting
qualities, strength. speed and passenger accom-
modation- The arrangement of the weighted keel
and air compartments in relation TO the centre Of
gravity makes the boat self-righting and the
deck, being level with the load waterline and
provided with tubes which carry the water out
Of the boat but do not allow any TO enter by the
same means, makes it self-bailing. A 2O-horse-
power motor moves the propeller and 100 gallons
Of gasolene may be carried for fuel
Captain Sumner L Kimban. general supertn-
tendent OF the Lifesaving Service, is proud OF
the new boats, and viii purchase additional ones
of the same or improved pattern as fast as the
needs Of the work require and Congressional ap-
preparations will permit Just at present Captain
Kimban is engaged In fighting a gallant battle
for retired pay law which viii allow men who
have grown old in the service, or have wrecked
themselves physically for the protection of
others, to draw a few dollars & month during
the remaining years of their lives. The Pres
ident and the Secretary of the Treasury arc
warm supporters of a bill now pending In Con-
gress which viii, II passed. grant small pen
sion to this most heroic class Of public servants
and viii prevent the service itself from becom- |
ing disabled. II now threatens to be, ON 40 |
count OF the scarcity Of efficient men willing to
undertake the hardships and dangers Of tho |
work
The life Of The enlisted man In the seryica II |
harder by far than that Of any soldier or saIlnr
ana the Dangers confronting him. though they
may not froWn upon him from the cannon's Il
mouth, are Just as real and a great deal more |
frequent The service organized at present |
divides the sea and lake coasts Of the United /
States into thirteen districts, each under tho 1
direction Of a superintendent, and 278 station4 /
each In charge Of a keeper or captain of st1.t
uon crew. The district superintendents receivai
from $l7OO to 5000 a year. the station keep@l
s3oo and the surfmen S65 month The swS-I
men are enlisted like soldier1 huf onfv for Al