The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-03-11
LITE SAVING EQUIPMENT
 ON SOUND STEAMERS

Vice President Gardner, of the New York. New Haven and Hartford that the steamers of the various lines of the New England Steamship Com pany are being equipped with inn proved and additional life saving ap- paratus. Many of the steamers have already been provided with new equip ment according to the standard now
 considered necessary by officials Of the Company. and the work Of sup plying the remaining steamers is be ing comp1efed as rapidly as possible Some time ago directors of the Company appropriated $250, ,000 for proving the life saving equipn ent of the steamers. This appropriation was made notwithstanding the fact that the steamers were already equipped far beyond the standard required. With such an amount set aside for this purpose, the officials were able to make experiments and thereby de-
 termine how the different lines could
 be improved in this respect.
 That the endeavors or the manage ment to make the steamers on the lines comprising the New England Steamship Company as safe as human [ lingenuity can devise have resulted in success is attested by the recent fire drills on the Chester w, aChapin. of the New Loudou1 Line Government Inspectors made an unann ounced visit for reinspection of this steamer and; were so pleased with the exhibition that they congratulated Captain Pet: tigrew and the officers and men un-, der him on the manner in which they handled the Hfeboats. The equip
 nent of this steamer consists of twelve
 boats with "a eapacity of ferty per sons each, four with capacity of we eTfyzfour persons each, and eight cF,a
 fifteen persons each. The boats are swung on Sheathe davits.
 When the signal for the drill on the Chester w. Chapin was given, the
 crew, pilots, engineers and deck of j ffcers immediately took their places Everyone has a place previously as signed at practice drills, which they are supposed to take during every
 drill or in time of actual danger. A second signal is given and the canvas tops of the life boats are removed the ] boats swung out on the new automat- ic davits and then lowered. It is in , the type Of davfts used to lower the
 boats that the Conpanx has perfected it's greatest improvement, and permits
 the compIetlon of a drill in two min
 utes time: This was Ene time requir- ed when the Government inspection was made.
 These davits and automatic lower ing devices are controlled by brakes,
 so that when boatsis launched the
 danger Of one end going down faster than the other is eliminated Under
 the old system of lowering boats with
 out such safety devices. there was al
 ways possibility Of boat being up-
 set and the passengers thrown into
 the water. In fact, such cases are
 known to have happened in accidents l atSsea. Under the new system, how I ever, the boat is kept at the same lev el at both ends, and should anything g
 happen to the man lowering the boat
 the automatic brakes would prevent I such regrettable occurrence. All the
 steamers of the New England Steam ship Company are being equipped with the Chester w. Chapin has been put | into commission or some similar me- chanicaI arrangement that has proved | equally effective in safe guarding the lives of passengers fn case of accident.
 It is the policy of the Company not only to maintain the standards set by the Government but to excel them if possible by originating and adopting improved methods. @s-- In order to provide space for the in ] creased number of boats with which the steamers are being provided, the
 comfort of the passengers has had to be sacrificed tothe extent Of depriving them of the promenade on the upper 1 deck, but as safety is of primary i'm I portance this was unavoidable. The Hines that are being equipped with the improved apparatus, that Is, those be- longing to the New England Steam ship Company, are the Bridgeport l Line, the New Haven Line, the New London Line, the Providence Line, the
 Fall River Line and the New Bedford
 Line