A VALUABLE IMPROVEMENT IN SHIPS' TELEGRAPHS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8589, 16 September 1893, Page 8

A VALUABLE IMPROVEMENT IN SHIPS' TELEGRAPHS.

An invention for printing and recording j the commands of ships' officers and others j with the time each command is given, has just been completed in this city, and may be seen in perfect working order in the large rooms of the upper story of the A. M. P. Buildings. The following is a brief description of the apparatus: — A series of eight levers are suitably arranged in a convenient position on the bridge of a vessel ia two rows of four each. , the ioremost row to control the " ahead," and the rear row the " astern " movements of the vessel. There is also a "stop" and a " stand-by " lever, the whole of which are in direct, independent, mechanical connection with a neatly-designed order dial, ! placed immediately in front of the Engineer | on duty in the engine-room. The eight ' several orders on this dial are hidden from view until any one of the' levers on the bridge are pulled over, when the corresponding order plainly appears, and remains in view holding over the lever on the bridge until v the engineer touches the repeating lever in front of him, which allows the one on the bridge to return to its former position, and thus indicating that the order was understood. A bell is bounded with each i of these movements. The instrument for ,

printing the time with the orders (which is j the invention proper) may be fixed in any ' suitable position either in the chart room or at any point between the bridge and the engine room. In*describing this instrument we may briefly state that it is a pnrely mechanical thii3 avoiding the uncertainty of electricity as applied to mechanics, and is worked by the same levers simultaneously with the orders given to the engineer by means of lever and slide movements aMng on type, which prints the orders—(Full astern, slow ahead, stop, &c, &c.), aud a good clock having a revolvingtwenty-fourhour dial with raised figures which print the time exactly to the minute, immedir.tely under the orders. The recording of the orders and time are arranged by means of a coil ot paper revolving from one reel to another, a band of carbonised paper passing between the type and the plain paper from the reel, both" these papers having a forward movement of about one inch upon each order being given. The aim of the inventor has evidently been to put on record beyond dispute any j order given from the bridge of a vessel to ! the engine room. There has generally been a doubt left in the minds of those concerned in marine-enquiries, as to who had been at fault in casualties when the evidence of deck and engiue-room officers had been con- i Aiding. We may instance the wreck of the Elginshire at Timaru, and the mishap through which the s.s. Waitaki sank the tug Pluckey at Dunedin. The system of independent levers for each order, adopted by the inventor, commends itself as a great advantage over the method now in vogue of working the telegraphs of the larger class of steamers, for in cose of the accidental breaking of one of the levers or wires others can be used which would avert an accident, while the present system depending 'solely on one eudless wire or chain becomes utterly useless and worse than useless if it breaks, and in breaking stops at say full ahead instead of full astern. A mishap of this nature, costing a considerable sum, occurred to the s.s. Coptic at Lyttelton only a few months ago. The recording instrument and the whole of the mechanical appliances have been designed and constructed by Mr H. Cunnington—of Cunnington aud Co.—of this city, from x plans prepared by the patentee. The clock dial was made by Mr Edwards— of Edwards and Henry —of Gloucester street, and we cannot speak too highly of the neat workmanship aud finish of the whole work. By the addition of the necessary levers, this machine can also be made to record the courses given to steer by to the men at the wheel of either a steamer or a sailing vessel. The necessary steps have been taken to protect the invention by letters patent here aud elsewhere.