The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-01-04
MEMORIAL TO
IDA LEWIS DEEDS
ufehOat Named In Honor Of
the Life Saving Heroine.
SELF BAILING, VERY BUOYAN1
Grow Of Motor Driven Graft Claim She
Can Breast Any Storm That Can BE
Breasted by an Ocean Liner-BuiIt
Out Of Mahogany.

Out Of Mahogany.
Ida Lewis, the farfamed heroine of
the Lame Rock light at Newport, R. l.,
has again been honored by being made
the sponsor for new motor lifeboat
which, 1t is. declared, will inaugurate
an entirely new epoch In the heroic
work of the life saving crews through
out the world.
For years those men in Washington
who are at the head Of the life saving
service have been searching for boat
which could brave and live through
any storm on the worst coast in the
United States. For ffty-three years
Ida Lewis has been saving lives single
handed In storms before which the
| strongest men would quail. Finally
the perfect lifeboat has been discov-
cred and built, and the men who were
responsible for it have insisted that
| it bear the name of the Grace Darling
Of America.
Brenton's Point life saving station,
on the southern end of the island Of
Rhode Island, is the proud possessor
of this new lifeboat, and in the Ida
Lewis the Brenton's Point crew pre-
dict that they will make rescues which
have never been equaled since 1870.
Built Of Mahogany.
The Ida Lewis is constructed, through
out her entire length of thirty-six feet,
of mahogany. With her extra space
she will be able to do much better and
more effective work Her six cylinder
engines develop thirty eight horse
power So great is her buoyancy that
she could be cut into seven pieces and
each one of the seven pieces would
remain afioat
She is self righting and self bailing.
Along her keel she carries 1.4S0 pounds
Of gun metal. while to her bottom are
attached seventy copper tanks. Seven
air tight compartments make it I'M
possible for her to be sunk, even
though her skin be punctured below
the self battling scuppers.
The adoption of motor power by life
saving crews means great saving
of human strength at a time when 1t
is sorely needed. The statistics of the
Washington Office show that on an av
erage the life of a human being is
saved from shipwreck every ninety
minutes along the shores of the United
States. In 1907 $500 lives were i'm
periled, but only twenty persons
were drowned out of forty-nine YES
sells which were completely destroyed.
With motor life saving boats the re-
markably small percentage of lives
lost at sea will be materially reduced. |
say the life saving experts.
Can BE Put Out In Worst Storms.
The Atlantic coast, aud especially |
the section around Cape Cod, is the |
most dangerous part of the seaboard |
of the United States
When a storm is raging and the an |
CRY white tops of immense waves are |
driven before the gale with all the |
speed of bullets the work of the life |
saving crews is perilous in the ex
IRENE. When the red glare of the
Coston signals lights up the beaches
and the riot of surf, telling the sur |
rounding stations that a boat Is doom /
ed, the crew which goes out to the
rescue throws itself into the very jaws |
of death.
Often the lifeboat is lifted like cork
when the, crew attempt to launch it
and tossed back on the beach again.
Sometimes the boat is successfully |
launched through the breakers only to /
find that the onshore wind is SO strong
that 1t is impossible to make Roadway
against 1t.
Such an experience as this is impos-
sible for boat lfkeAthe Ida Lewis. It /
Is true that she is tooAarge and heavy
to be taken out Of theNwater when
she Is not In use. She mustSbe anchor
ed In sheltered spot. Under the lee
Of Brenton's Point is an ideal anchor.
age. and here the Ida Lewis will lie at
all times. When the occasion calls heA
crew will tumble out from their ouor-
tiers and put out to her. Then there 10 |
no gale strong enough and no waves
high enough to prevent her from 90
Ing straight out TO sea. Trips that |
would be utterly impossible for the
ordinary lifeboat Will be quite pos
sible for thetIda Lewis. And i'll addi- |
ton TO being able to put out in the
worst storms she viii do so without
exhausting her crew for the supreme
struggle Of life saving.
Monument TO the Real Ida Lewis.
The Brenton's Point life savers are
forced TO cover large territory. and
the Ida Lewis will be particularly vel
come to them on that account. The
Ida Lewis win shove up into the teeth
OF any gale without any hesitation. au-
tomatically freeing herself from the
tons of water which crash down upon
her by means of her self bailing soup
pers. Any storm which can be breast
ed By an ocean liner can be breasted
by the Ida Lewis. say the members Of
her crew.
The Ida Lewis will stand as monu
nent to the real Ida Lewis, the hero
Inc Of the Lime Rock light. and no