A Ship for Bathing Purposes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1890-Accepted 2nd Aug., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Ship for Bathing Purposes.
I, KARL GERSON, Doctor of Medicine, of Hamm, Westphalia, Germany, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
A ship requires for its propulsion, a certain force which is proportionate to the
resistances which are opposed to its motion. Persons who, in a bathing apparatus
secured to the ship, are exposed to the action of the water, will oppose to the water a
passive resistance, because the said persons are carried along by the force of the ship,
without being active themselves. In consequence of this passive resistance, a pressure
is exerted upon the human body, which pressure is converted in the body into heat,
and can be increased or decreased, according to the speed of the ship. The result is
therefore the production of heat in the human body, while the same is at rest during
bathing. This effect may be considerably increased by exposing the body at the
same time, to artificially produced waves, for instance by placing the above mentioned
apparatus (irrespective of the usual vicinity of the ship) close behind the two paddle
wheels of a steamer. The waves which are thereby produced are refreshing to the
bathing persons in consequence of the effervescence arising from the mixture of
water with air, and enhance the effect of the bath.
In the annexed drawing:
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a paddle steamer fitted with my bathing
apparatus, the latter being in section.
Fig. 2 is a cross section.
Fig. 3 is a top view.
Fig. 4 is a cross section on a larger scale.
To both sides of the steamer, including the passage over the paddles, is fitted a
gallery G which is connected with the body of the ship by means of longitudinal and
cross bars, so as to form part of the ship. As shown in the drawing, the gallery G is
closed outwardly, as well as at the top, and is only provided with windows f and
doorways o, the latter serving to establish communication with the dressing chamber A.
Lengthwise, the gallery G is divided by means of partitions w, resting upon cross
bars 9, into different compartments, each of which is connected to a separate dressing
room A by a doorway o. Each doorway o communicates with a passage F by means
of a door t giving access to the bathing compartments or cells. The fixed upper part
of each bathing cell is provided, at the bottom, with a pan or basket made of iron and
wood; each basket is so formed as to allow free passage of the water and is so
suspended or secured, that it can be dipped more or less into the water. The upper
and lower frames 6 and 6', made of suitable material, are connected by means of four
rods c c to a hoist d which can be worked from the deck; moreover, the frames b, bl
are held at a suitable distance apart by means of rods e, e. The lower frame 6' has
a bottom g made of lattice work, the meshes of which are of such a width, as not to
offer too great a resistance when lowering or raising the basket into or out of the
water. The rods e pass through openings made in the roof of the bathing cell and
are connected to any suitable hoisting apparatus. To facilitate the raising and
lowering of the basket, the frames can be guided by flat rails or by any other
suitable contrivance.
In each cell may be fitted suitable seats, handles or other like accommodations.
Instead of forming the galleries quite closed, the same can also be open at the
outer sides and at the top.
In such case, suitable safety appliances would be required, and provision would be
made that the gallery can be closed with cloth curtains or other suitable material.
In the annexed drawing, the gallery is only applied at the rear part of the ship,

page_text: i.e. behind the paddle box, but it is evident, that the bathing cells can be fastened
to the sides at the front part, i.e. in advance of the paddle box.
Likewise, several rows of bathing cells can be fitted alongside of the ship, in which
-case the cells situated in a line would communicate with the dressing room, by a
doorway common to all cells.
Instead of subdividing the gallery into several cells by means of partition walls,
the gallery may be constructed as one single bathing chamber, the lower part of
which can be raised or lowered bodily at will.
If it be considered that, in accordance with the Archimedian principle, a body dipped
into water loses as much of its weight as corresponds to the displaced water, it will be
readily seen,
that the ship would not be considerably loaded by the apparatus fixed
thereto.
A paddle steamer fitted with a bathing apparatus of the kind herein before described,
may well be called a "bathing.ship" since with the exception of excursions in summer
it would be used only for bathing purposes and in consequence thereof, it would
undergo changes on deck and inside. Such a ship can be used on large rivers and
also at sea, preferably a short distance from the coast. The hereinbefore described.
apparatus may also be applied to other classes of steamers.
Having now particularly described my invention, and in what.manner the same is
to be performed, what I claim is :—
1. In a paddle steamer or other ship, the combination with the galleries G on the
sides of the steamer, of dressing chambers A, passages F, and bathing cells composed
of upper and lower frames b, 6 and rods c and e, substantially as described and for
the purposes specified.
2. In a paddle steamer or other ship, the combination of galleries G, with dressing
chambers A, passages F, bathing cells and hoists d, substantially as described and for
the purposes specified.