The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

cushion will keep your head above water
even after you are exhausted or uncon-
Ecious. Equipped with any one of these
articles YOU are sure to be rescued, IL
YOU do not die of thirst or hunger or
exposure. and remember that rescue
comes pretty quickly in these modern
times If radio service.
once in the water you will find it i'm
possible to duck your head under. Watch
're person next TO you and see him con-
tort his body TO keep ii upright and his
head above the water with the cork life
rr.s"ryer. Contrast his situation with
Yours II you were fortunate enough to
grab a mattress and go overheard with
8. YOU need have no fear of it's doubling
np under you. There are metal bars 20
prevent that. With n stick or board you
can paddle around at will.
The danger of drowning which was
Imminent at first, does not worry you
sl much now. Having complete conf
dcuco in the pillow or cushion about you
or the mattress under you you begin to
speculate on how long 1t will be before
help comes AS far as the life pre-
server itself is concerned you do not
worry. That's the difference between
this newest of life preservers and the
cork belt.
The real difference, however, between
these new prsservers, which are stuffed
with a vegetable fibre called kapok or
Hauds'lk. and the cork preserVer Is the
relative buoyancy of the two. Ilanasilk
will support from twenty to thirty times
H. own weight in the water, while cork
will only support six times its own
weight. Ordinary reindeer hair will sup
port eleven times its own weight
II took the Navy Department two
years to prove the buoyancy OF ilanasilk.
Every pillow now in use in American
submarines is an ilanasilk pillow. All
hammock mattresses for sailors and a
considerable portion of the mattresses
Of the officers hunks are now made of
kr.S. This makes the sailors ham,
mock, pillow or mattress his life pre-
server The British Board Of Trade, fol-
loving an investigation resulting from
Oh" Titanic and Empress of Ireland dis
a-'urs, has adopted for use aboard all
Ships under British rule the ilanasilk
"" preservers and pillows.
AZ the investigation in Quebec of
d." loss of the steamship Empress of
anna says u report, dNltHllOH was
r.,l 10 the fact that many persons
We're found dead shortly after the ves-
e.. slnk clear of the vessel with life
belts on, but their heads under the
water, II was stated to Lord Mersey,
who had charge of the investigation,
thar the kapok type of life prescrver
49, ..l have avoided this situation, as II
holds the head out of water even when
n. Wcarer may be unconscious from
4, exposure or exhaustion. As a re-
Sar IF this situation the British Board
a." Trade, since Lord Mersey's report,
hH adopted the ilanasilk preserver"
To Lieut.. S. +. Edmonds, United
Sif'"s Revenue Cutter Service, retired
f" the credit for having discovered
the fc saving qualities of kapok. Al
Oh. me Of the Titanic disaster he was
on ,ne staff Of a periodical In the South
II" prepared an editorial dealing with
Oh. Rck Of lfesaving appliances and
Ing forth the proposition that every
myers berth mattress should be-
. luly a comfortable mattress, blu
Also an efficient life raft. The editorial
"tf not published, as II seemed toe
fantastic, but Lieut.. Edmonds, to vindi.
gt." himself, set about realizing his
d" am.
NJ" found kapok and learned its his
''E He improved the ordinary lSapol
"''rcss by putting a pipe frame
"'.U i It, 50 that one can sit on It!
'''" with ones feet in the water ana