FOR THE SAFETY OF SHIPS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13374, 16 March 1909, Page 6

FOR THE SAFETY OF SHIPS.

Wo to not know to what extent tho Marine Department kecrai in touch w i:li tlv> invention* of othrr countries for the safety of navigation, but two of tlio«- kl<?a.> strike us as b-:in;j; p".rtic:i"arly worthy of the Department's attention. One is the submarine signalling buoy, which, aocord-

ing to a cable published yesterday, has been adopted by Trinity Hcuse for use along the British coasts. It is a comparatively simple contrivance. A bell latt-achod to f>. buoy. operated either by the act-ion of rho wavEn cr by connection with the shore, rings uridfr tho water, and tht> sou nil , v.avrs that it sends forth are caught by microphones attached to the inner eidrs of vessels in tho neighbourhood , , and nre tran-smittrd to telephones on the navigating b:idgcs. A veiwcl fiMod with this apparatus has two recoi veins, one on each side, and a captain feeling his way townroi a c\>nst in a fo;; cen tell, by listening at the tok'piione and: ob-

yerving an iii«.!'icator, whether the buoy lies on his port- or starboard bow, or ahwid. It nc-c<ls no great amount of imagination to realise tho prrat utility of this invention, arhd its applicability to navigation round our cca.rts. As it is stated , that one of bucys ivns kept for a whole year in an exposed portion of tho Attantiic coast of North America, and ausverett its purpose well, ivp presume that those warning bells could be placed off headlanc'is about our oasts and not merely in harbours. Tl>s buoys, cf course. wculd be of no use if the shipping companies did not instal tho corresponding apparatus in their vessels. Even where tlwre were no bells, the apparatus on ehipboerd , would detect the sound of breakers long before it was apparent to tho unaided ear. Only one vessel—the White Star liner Oevic—fitted with tin's apparatus, has visited our waters. TJkj system is in fairly extensive use in. the North Atlantic, and sooms to deserve all that is eaid in its favour. Our coast-line is so long and so dangerous,, and tho amount of our shipping in. pro-

portion to our joptilation so great, that KiiLmarino signalling might bo used round our coasts with great advantage. The Department might also enquire into the possibilities of a floating lighthouse, invented by a Canadian engineer. The largest lighthouse of this sr-rt can bo left ix> iteelf for nine or twelve months, during which time a powerful acetylene light, visible twenty miles away, ie automatically lighted and extinguished every night. The structure aleo has a powerful whistle, which emits an ear-piercing shriek invaluable to tho mariner in thick weather. It is said that one of those immense buoys, suitable for piecing in exposed positions, can be maintained at a cost of £33 per annum—a fraction of tho cost of a lighthouse. The U.U3 of the invention is extending along the eastern oca-st of North and Sout.h America, so that apparently it is well beyond the experimental stage.