NOVELTIES AND INVENTIONS.

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 71, 25 March 1922, Page 11

NOVELTIES AND INVENTIONS.

Some novelties in the way oE proposals for increasing tho safety of ships at sea come from Queen's Island. Messrs. Harland and Wolff 6Uggest that there should be a systom of closing the storm valves or scupper valves ironi a central position near the waterlino of the ship. These valves, it is explained,. are of the ordinary flap type, and are not watertight, so that in the event of damage, and the consequent immeieion of tho valves, water will pass into tho ship through the scupper pipes when tho upper enus of the pipes are immersed. Many. naval architects believo that tho battloehip Audacious (the mystery ship of early war casualties) was sunk largely by the admission of water through the scupper' pipes, which in her case terminated at the deck below, the upper deck. In connection with this matter the Belfast firm has devised a system which consists of * plucger, operated hydraulica-Hy from a hand pump on the bridge, and b> means,of which the flap may be pressed homo against its seating and so rendered watertight. Another interesting feature of tho device is that the liquid used is not affected by frost. The firm has aW a. new method of transporting boats from an inboard position to one directly under the dants. This arrangement consists of a carriage moving on rails, and on an endless wire operated by % compact hand winch on tho inboard side of the bout, or on any other convenient position. . The boat 16 always under control, because tho carriage cannot ".overhaul" tho winch, which is self-hold-ine, oven if the vessel is rolling considerably. From Liverpool there also comes news of new boat-handling appliances in tho form of a device invented by Captain Wright, of tho American' steamer Steelmaker. Tho gear is electrically controlled, and it provides for the simultaneous .launching, if nscessary, of all the lifeboats on one side of the'brat deck to the level of any of the other decks, so that they can bo boarded easily. The motor is operated from the bridge by the officer of ; the'.watch. : Its,first turn releases the boat fas'-eninga, next the boat is ■ raised clear, and then the davit's are swung outward. After passengers and crew are on board the o.'Bcer in charge of the boat controls, tb* ■».. otors, ana can,'' in .the sim-, plest manner, either raise it or lower it. By pressing a button he can raise it clear of the sea at any moment, and thus—in, bid weather—prevent it from being dashed against tho side of the ship. Besides, there arc no heavy fall blocks, the falls' being single wir« lines. It all looks very well, and appears to work very well on tho American ship.