OIL QUELLING AN ANGRY SEA.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 6964, 18 January 1888, Page 4

OIL QUELLING AN ANGRY SEA.

A frequent cause of disaster to ships is the breaking of seas over them, and on < this point the Hydrographerof the United _ States has published within the last two i : years, in pamphlet form, digested from the • MontlUv Pilot Cluxrt, a list of Lid authen-) 1 ticated cases in which furious seas were J allayed by the use of oil, the latest proof of which is furnished by Captain Wales ot , the British steamer New Guinea, as fol- < lows: — "In January of the present year, making _ passage from Baltimore to Antwerp, encountered a very heavy western gale, accompanied by a tremendous sea. ■ Considerable damage had been done to boats and about the decks by the i seas coming over the side, and the - captain, wishing to avoid heaving the vessel to, if possible, decided to try thei_ effects of oil, his attention having been j called to it by the perusal of printed ac- * s counts. Two men were stationed forward j — one at each closet—with ordinary soup j j and bully cans filled with raw linseed oil, - thc bottoms of the cans having been j punched with two or three small holes. | Tiie oil was allowed to trickle into the j bowl and thence into the sea, with what seemed to the captain a wonderful effect. Tne oil-slick extended well out on either quarter, and so far astern that not a . single sea broke on board after the uso of the oil was begun." The captain described the manner in which the great white-crested seas would come roaring after the ship, as if they - would sweep her decks fore and aft; and qow. on meeting the oil-slick, the crest of - the sea would apparently be shattered into fin*, spray, and nothing left ot the tremendous breaker but an enormous £ swell, over which the vessel rode easily and without taking a drop of water. The captain gave his personal attention . to the expenditure of oil, regulating its . flow by stopping one or more of the holes 3 in the can when more than was necessary ] ran out, and in this way he succeeded in ' making seven gallons of oil last twenty- I four hours. Ail this time his decks were J almost absolutely dry, the only water coming on board being the fine spray from the crest of each wave as it came into . contact with the oil-siick, and was blown on board by the wind. Captain Wales adds that he makes a point of using oil when even not absolutely necessary, as it. adds so much to the cdmfort of all oa Iward, and eases the ship. It would seeni to be the part of discretion, now that the question of the use of oil in such cases is iinallv settled, that all ships be regularly equipped with appliances for casting oil on the water, just as they are compelled to carry lights and compasses. Sea . breakers"—appliances for the distribution of oil—have been patented both at Home and abroad, and are now used by al! cattlecarrying steamers and some other vessels. Special oil is now manufactured fortms purpose.— Forum for November. I SHIPPING TELEGRAMS. Auckland, January 17. Arrived—Waihora, from Sydney (12th instant). Passengers — For Napier—Mr Grant. For Wellington —, Mesdames Muir and Aldrieh, Misses Aidr.ich, Mr Robb. For Lyttelton—Messrs Reid, Fordhatn, Carrick, Charlesworth. 'For Dunedin—Mrs Maill, Mother Gabriel Gill, and nine Dominican nuns, from England. Sailed—Manu-oa, for Sydney. Wellington, January 17. Arrived — Takapuna and Mahinapua, from the South. Sailed—Australia and Takapuna, for the North; Mawhera and Grafton, for the South ; Mahinapua, for the West Coast. DONEDIN, January 17. Arrived —Wairarapa, from Melbourne. Sailed—Johann Carl, barque, for Lyttelton.