BALLOONS TO SAVE LIFE AT SEA. (New York Herald.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 19

BALLOONS TO SAVE LIFE AT SEA. (New York Herald.)

The balloon has become a marine life-iaving | appliance. The big ocean greyhounds will soon, it is thought, be equipped frith lifeboats harnessed to balloons so as to be practically unsinkable. This novel device has been i patented by a shrewd Connecticut Yankee | named Riley. While the combination boat ! will doubtless prove of the greatest service in saving people far out »t «c», it wi!l not bt? j available at life-saving station*. The wind i» UBu&lly blowing shoreward when vessels are in danger, and for thi* reason it would bo almoit impossible to force the boat, hampered by the billoon, to the aasi*t»nce of a cr»fe. In a recent test made in the Connecticut \ River, near Middletown, it was shown that, i even with the boat filled with water to the gunwales, the lifting power of the prevented the craft from either sinking or upsetting. The boat was constructed under Mr Riley's direction, and is 16ft in length. Cylinders filled with compressed gaa were 1 placed in compartments, and from these the balloon, whioh was harnessed with cords to a hollow mast connected with the cylinders, waa inflated. The mast, which is of gas pipe, is adjustable, and when turned for- ! ! ward the big balloon acted as a sail, oars proving quite unnecessary. The most interesting and convincing portion of the exhibition was when the passengers and crew were landed and the boat filled with water. Even with the extra submersion, the boat floated along with scarcely a perceptible decrease in speed. By the simple process of reversing the pumps the | inventor showed how he could pump the gas from the balloon back into the cylinders. Some of the gas was then burned ag a beacon light, which could be seen for many miles around. With this and a reflector signal, flaahes can be made which would be certain to attract the j attention of passing vessels. Another claim of the inventor is that it can, , by being launched from a sinking veisel, secure aid from Bhore before a life-saving cftw, even though ready, could shoot a lino aboard. Often, owing to a strong wind directly off shore, the s life-savers are uuable to place a life line so that j it can be of assistance. This difficulty is met by Mr Riley, who ha* supplied his boat with a line, Tha boat, he claims, whan supported by the balloon, could, even without a crew, be headed for the shore, and owing to itß remarkable buoyanoy would have little difficulty in riding breakers and setting within reach of the lifesavers*