FAIR CRITICISM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 547, 30 June 1909, Page 4

FAIR CRITICISM.

I\X , . • [ —"f \ I , I- ( MR FISHER'S LIFEBOAT Sir, —In your issuo of last Mondav, June | SI, you givo an account of tho tna\ of my I aon-capsifcablo i lifeboat Thou vou start to ' cntioiso >Woll, sir, honest criticism is all \ any one wants when you pub--1 ■> Ush statements, apparently* with the clear m- £ tention of misleading the public, or, on tho { other hand, of criticising when you are prac- * , tirally incapable of doing so, which is it, sir, y I am unablo to siy [' i' Now, sir, with your I will start \ from your headline—"Points for Considera- ! tion " You say tho principles of tho trial I have been proved (Open confossion, etc, ' [i etc) Many thanks for that, as it is adV nutted all round Then you say ft is haid I ' to imagine such a oraft being efficacious in \ a storm at sea You, sir, are a journalist, n- not an expert, and thorofoic incapable of f f judging 1 will quote tho words of an expert f raiding; a good position, bib name I enclose i His opinion three months ago —"Absolutely f the best and most practicable invention | ' , going " (This by the way) f You then go on and try to make the public S believe that they have to get into my boat in tho open sea With a hull built in a r manner that rather encourages rolling I Sir, ' * criticise mo fairly,' please: jVhv, higher up, you havo told them in print' that the inside passcngere on the of tho trial i entered from the deck of tho ship If, then. ■ v sir, you Can load my boat on the ship, and closo the manhole down, why on earth or • water do you want to open it and lot these mountainous seas como in when jou ore full inside and perfectly safe? So jou see the , difficult matter as you term it, etc , of open- , , intf the manholo m a heavy sen, is merely a jdifhcult matter with you only, not in \ - pactico "* / "" Now, sir, this rolling which yon so dras--1 ttcoll} criticise 1 Wore you only explicit lh , giving the complete detail of tho constrnc- " ' tion as you are in misleading tho miblic, ' then this explanation would not have been i l needed You know, or should, that boards < are,placed round the outside to prevent or , obviato the tendency to roll These wings, oi rolling may bo any width, made steel, if wo wish We will now use your ' ' own words Tlio outer boards with life i lines aro all \ery well, but the hull wouldi , have to bo equal on both sides to prevent tho hull rolling ovor If half-a-dozen men j j clung to ono side, and a dozen on the other, , the unequal balance must cause the boat to revolve, etc , etc Oh,' Mr Editor, what a , % lot of ,rot I will go farther than you and : , say twelve menihang only on one side, does i i not comnion-ssnse toll us that when doing so I>■ that tho board being hung on has to contend ■ M with tho water that jt must press downwards, i then tho board nt tho keel his to lift a greater amount of w.itor than tho weight of ; - the men themselves If no put sticks along no resistance boards, then resistanco The , _, wider the boards the greater tbe volume ; - of watei ,to displaco Try it, sir, on a matchbox, then givo tho public the benefit of your , experience , , : ' I could go on nllirh farther, but I believe st 't yourbclf and the public will now havo a better * gnp of rav boat and its capabilities Your criticisms have called for this, and m fair- ■_ ••' neßs to myself I take it you will publish my 1 views as well, as it is onlv fair that nhen : you aro put right rho public should bo put ' nght also Hundreds of tho public have seen my boat and had your criticisms explained • and been satisfied There are hundreds more ■i who have only 6eon your report, and will take [ ""it for granted as,being correct Thanking * ,you,—l am, etc., ,' v ■ ! • ' H FISHER ' June 27 , ' , / [We willingly-publish our correspondent's , explanation, and*freely admit thee obvious ( truth of his' Contention that'the wider thd f- ' wings, or (rolling a cbocks, placed along ,the 5 sides and keel ot tho boat, the greater the i- resistance and tho less likelihood there is of l '<■ tlic outer shell of this cylindrical boat re\olv- ? rag No doubt this improvement can bo cart ' Tied out 'It[ is alsq quite true that tho pas- £' sengers are supposed to enter the boat wjiilo t i it rests on tho vessel's deck This does not f • alter tho fact that wrecks do, not always ; < occur in, such places and under such circum- [ > J stances aa to permit things to* bo done as ' / designed, and it would be a decided lmprove- . Mont could it be made possible to enter tho boat after launching The real objection to -• tho boat, however, at present, is tbo absence of means of propulsion and the inabi}ity of those •i < inside- to steer it or to see where it is going ?■<',' Possibly tho inventor has thought out ways of overcoming these shortcomings, but ho { ' woukl bo wise to recognise that criticism at . this may lead to improvement, l and save him expense and disappointment \ toter] i