Year: 1876




sea, and, if possible, Of preventing
vessels from laundering. Mr.. Rhodes
suggests metallic cases to be placed
between the timbers of a wooden
vessel, and in every available space
not required for purposes Of stowage.
In iron vessels the effective plan
though expensive is of simple appli-
cation, and that is to have a perfect
ly tight ceiling inside the frames, or
in other words double vessel with
air-tight spaces between the two
shells. These spaces should be so
arranged that they will constitute
air-tight cases between every set OF
timbers clear fore and aft. The pow
er of buoyancy or fotation to such a
double vessel would be immense,
and even if series of holes should
be made in vessels bottom, or sides,
enough air space would still remain,
particularly if the vessels hold was
in separate sections with water-tight
bulkheads, to keep the vessel from
sinking. Experiments by Government
should first be made to determine
the requisite air spaces required to
float vessels of various sizes loaded
with heavy material.


In the experiments made before the
British Admiralty Board, to ascer-
tain some practical method of rails
ing the iron-clad ship Vanguard, one
inventor produced a model made of
tin pierced full of holes and sunk in
a tank of water. By means of an
air-pump, a column Of compressed
air was forced through a small flexi-
Bile pipe into the sunken model,
which SO effectually drove ont the
water that the model rose and float
ed so long as the air was forced into
it. 1t seems to us practicable that a
donkey engine such as every ocean
steamer carries could be SO connect
ed with an air-pump apparatus as to
make this plan available as one
means of saving life.


Mr.. Rhodes proposes that the air
eases he suggests to be placed under
the lower deck beams, be kept in
their places by simply boarding them
over, and that the air cases under
the main deck where the passengers
are, should be made of a size and
length easily handled, and secured
IN such way that they could be
Immediately taken from their places
to be used as life-rafts. In the Sci
entifc American" for August, 1875,
is an account of life-raft made of a
long metal cylinder with two stretch
ers and an oval air-tube, and attach
ed are cork and india-rubber floats.
These cylinders and stretchers can
be fixed in two minutes and half
and thrown into the water for instant
use. This raft, which cost $500, and
is capable of holding one hundred
persons, can be easily made up into
a deck seat, and as the whole weight
is but 400 pounds, the launching
would be easy. The efficacy and
buoyancy of this raft were shown to
members of Parliament by its being
Aoated down the Thames from Lam
beth to Temple pier with thirty-6ve
men upon it who tried their utmost
to capsize it without effect.


A new lifs-boat has also been test
ted at the Trinity House Hull, and
patented by Messrs. Anderson &
Burkinshaw, of Burlington Quay,
called the Reversible hfe-boat. As
its name implies, it is top and bot
tom both alike, and if it should turn
over while launching there are
thwarts and seats running around
the side, just the same as there would
have been had the boat gone in the
other way up. Whichever side the
ife-boat takes the water, when she
Is once aAoat couple of flaps run
ming the whole length will close and
form the bottom of the boat, and
there is an arrangement for drawing
a further flooring out, which will
rest on strong beams. The boat re-
ceives its buoyancy from a massive
belt of cork, which is encased in can
vas and runs from stem to stern on
each side, and forty separate air
tight tanks, ten on each side of the
upper and lower parts of the boat.


There seems to be plenty of USE
ful and eficacious means of saving
life In cases of shipwreck, but SO far
as ife-preservers go, the sad expert
ence of the Pacific and numerous
other vessels of the past year have