INGENIOUS INVENTIONS FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12818, 18 March 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

INGENIOUS INVENTIONS FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA.

In* his great battle ' with the sea, a battle which never ends, man has displayed much ingenuity. While realising that, the foe will always be too strong for him ho never relaxes his efforts to make ocean voyaging as free from danger as possible.

Captain J. M. Donvig, a- Norwegian shipmaster, has invented a floating globe which has undergone repeated tests successfully.

This globe, capable of holding sixteen persons, may bo amply provisioned, watered, and supplied with fresh air.. It is claimed to be absolutely non-sinkable, floating on the surface of the wildest sea.

In his globe Captain Donvig has utilised the principle of the hollow ball that floats readily upon the water. The shell is constructed of steel, and is braced sufficiently to make it strong enough to withstand the battering of angry waves or even pounding upon rocks or the shore. It is so constructed that the part intended to be the top will always float uppermost. In part the ballast consists of two largo tanks, each capable of holding 250 gallons of fresh water. Seats for passengers that encircle the interior are built over lockers, in which a considerable quantity of food may be stored. In the top of the globe is a twelve-inch ventilating pipe, which may be raised to a height of five feet or lowered so as to be flush with the outer surface of the globe. There are tliree manholes by which a passenger may enter or leave the globe, and through small glass portholes the outer surroundings of the globe may be observed. The interior contains toilet accommodation and cooking appliances, so that with fresh water, warm food, and dry, if somewhat cramped, quarters castaways may manage to pass the time in more or less comfort until rescued or the globe drifts ashore.

Completely fitted out, and containing sixteen persons, tho life-saver draws twentythree inefJos of water.

When caught in a collision, passengers and crew of a ship have only to climb into life-saving globes, close the manholes, and, without fear, wait for their vessel to sink.

No matter how great the suction, Captain Donvig asserts, the globes will bob to the surface serenely and right side up. By displaying a flag by day and discharging rockets at night he would expect to be picked up without great delay, unless the wreck occurred far out of the usual lines of sea travel.

A marine —Captain Engclhardt, of Denmark—has just invented a, collapsible, non-sinkable lifeboat, which, when not in use, may bo folded and stowed away in much less space than is required for the ordinary boats aboard a ship. The operation of extending or opening it is very simple, requiring only a few moments. A boat of such a type, twenty feet long, even when filled with water, will, it is asserted, sustain more than 40001b, and one twenty-six feet long will float 80001b. The great buoyancy of Captain Engelhardt's craft is due to the fact, that its bottom and fender are filled with kapok, the product of a plant that grows in Java and Sumatra. It will sustain from thirty to thirty-live times its own weight in water seven and a-half times the buoyancy of cork..

When not in use the superstructure of the boat may be folded down. When erect the superstructure is surrounded by a lender, also idled with kapok in watertight cushions. In extending the boat, the oars are released, an oval-shaped thwart supplied with cross-thwarts slides into position, and stanchions and other parrs drop into their places automatically. Tito mechanism is simple and not easily put out of order.

It is asserted that this boat would be serviceable even with its sides torn, its plugs lost, and its bottom crushed. Being less than a foot in depth when folded, it may easily be stowed. Heavy seas are not likely to injure it. ■ Furthermore, it is always ready. Should a vessel with such an equipment sink suddenly the lifeboats would float as rafts, and still support their full complement of passengers. • '' : Captain Engelhardt's "boat is very easy to launch. If the davits ore jammed, it may be thrown overboard bodily, and be manned and extended later while in the water. Its construction is such that it cannot capsize, even if all the passengers it will hold are crowded against one rail. An interesting development of the gasoline motor has taken v place in England, where it has been applied to a lifeboat for the use of regular coast life-saving stations. The motor is intended to relieve the crew from the arduous labour entailed in approaching a wreck against heavy seas and head winds. Sometimes life-savers and those whom they are endeavouring to rescue meet death in the surf because the men have been exhausted by the terrific strain of battling with the seas. An experimental motor-driven lifeboat has been put into service at Newhaven. It is expected that all the important stations of the British coast will soon be equipped with such craft. Before adopting the gasoline motor into the lifeboat service many difficulties were surmounted. In the first p'.aco it was imperative that the motor be adequately protected from the violence of the waves that arc constantly shipped. To attain such an end it was found necessary to enclose the engine in an absolutely watertight case. Then, again, the motor had to be as nearly automatic as possible. But what was far more important was that the lifeboat should not lose its ability to right itself because of the weight and position of the machinery, and also that the motor should stop automatically in the, event of the boat being capsized. All these requirements, it is asserted, have been met in the craft just put into service at Newhaven.

M. Probst, ft native of Geneva, has invented a new life-having costume. Dressed in it, he has remained fifteen days at sea. There is no limit to the time- this new lifesaving apparatus may be worn. It is made of indiarubber, and can easily be put on. It is watertight, and covers all but the hands and face. So light is it, that nearly half the body remains above water. Ingeniously made watertight pockets contain the necessary provisions, implements with which to repel the attacks of large fish, and a trumpet with which to attract the attention of passing ships. Francis G. Hall, jun., a graduate of Yale University, lias invented a modern breechloading firearm, destined to materially increase the efficiency of life-saving corps. It is considerably less than three feet in length, and is built of steel, and a special kind of bronze, unaffected by salt air. It tapers from the breech, where the greatest strain comes, to a diameter of five inches at the muzzle. A special self-locking mechanism; believed to be the simplest and to have the fewest working parts of any yet devised, closes the rear of the bore in such a way that any water finding its way wiTl instantly drain out. The firing hammer, with safety device, is actuated by- a lanyard, and relies wholly on the pull of the gunner, all the springs and delicate latches ordinarily used in army cannon being entirely done away with.

Instead of having the powder charge in a loose, woollen bag, open to moisture, it is contained, together with its primer, in a hermetically scaled bronze cartridge case, which slips easily into the breech of the gun.