Evening star., 1915-06-07

work are being brought forward each
year. Some are
ManY Inventions impractical and OF
little value. Most
lor Aiie-oaVlns' OF the best are
the result of ideas gained by men who
have had long experience and know
guarded against The most complete
life saving apparatus for use at
watering place has been designed by
George Freeth. a Pacific coast life
guard with a long line Of rescues to
his credit. His invention consists OF a
high power motor cycle capable of
speed of seventy miles an hour while
carrying a side car. the body Of which
is six-foot box. This box contains
all the apparatus needed for the
drowned person. including the pull
motor. This cycle was first used at
Redondo Beach. California, but ts now
being rapidly introduced at other re-
sorts.
The pulmotor. primarily designed for
mine rescue work, has been introduced
at all saving stations. 1t supplies
oxygen to the lungs after natural
respiration has ceased. and in nine
cases out of ten restores It, The
downward over the knee of the res
cuer to expel the water from his lungs,
after which the pulmotor mask is slip
ped over his face and air pumped into
his lungs
A cigar-shaped metal buoy is one of
the recent inventions which facilitates
the rescue of persons drowning at some
distance from the shore. This buoy is
capable of sustaining the weight of
two men in the water 1t is attached
to leather belt which the lifesaver
buckles around his body before going
into the water. A fine wire cable is
wound about hand reel kept on shore.
This cable is 1,6oo feet long. but is
easily handled by a small reel When
the hfesaver reachers the drowning
person. he clasps him firmly but makes
no EFFORT to swim to shore with him.
Some one on the shore, by turning the
reel, WIN draw both bodies in the same
manner employed by the fisherman in
reeiing In large fish. The buoy sup
ports them on the surface of the water,
"n1ie they are being drawn in.
Ihe United States life-saving service
is engaged chiefly in the rescue Of per
sons from shipwrecked vessels and has
made as many as 10000 rescues during
single year. The American seacoas st
is divided into thirteen life-saving dis
tricts. with nearly 500 stations, manned
by carefully trained men. The sta
tions are of three classes-complete q
life wing stations with resident crews,
lifeboat stations with a resident keep
er in charge and volunteer crews and
provisfoned houses Of refuge in charge
OF keeper. These last are provided
only along the desolate coast of east
Florida.
The English Nfeboats were first used
In all OF our life saving stations. These
boats are constructed with double bot
toms. which provide for the storage Of
a quantity Of air. sufficient to sustain
them above water. Some of them have
the ability to right themselves IL over
turned. They are now being largely
supplanted by power boats in most
American stations. The first Of these
Marquette, Mich, in 1899. It proved SO
efficient that within five years thirteen
such boats were put into service. They
are thirty-f1ve feet long and propelled
by twenty-horsepower motors. Each
boat has room for forty men.
Now, the government life service Ia
promided with more than a hundred Of
these pow r
Power-Boat Speed lifeboats,
a Great Advantage. .eu NV n.@,v ~,.n a.n
vised six-cylinder automarine engines
In addition to these are provided a num-
UcT OI SuTIDOaIS, smaller ana lighter,
which are also power driven. The use
OF motor boats has marked a great ad-
vance In life saving, because of the
speed with which the rescuers are borne
out to the scene Of disaster.
The life saving rocket now in use at
the stations will carry a line 1000
yards from shore. The light line thus
carried is attached to a stronger rope.
capable Of sustaining the weight Of
several persons.
Each year the United States govern
ment makes an official examination of
the new life saving devices which have
been designed during the year. One
which seems to present great possibil-
tiles in the equipment Of ocean steam
ers is the kapok-stuffed mattress, which
may be utilized as life raft. KApok
Is produced from a plant growing in
Java and several other southern coun-
tries. 1t is absolutely waterproof and
remains buoyant after being in the
water for hours. In the tests made by
the navy a few months ago 1t was
demonstrated that a ten-pound kapok