A NEW LIVE-SAVING APPARATUS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3894, 11 October 1880, Page 3

A NEW LIVE-SAVING APPARATUS.

(London Figv o, Jubj 2.) In the presence of a largo number of gon. tlemen who had been specially invited by Captain Hobeon, a trial waa inadc in the Annexe at the Royal Aquarium of the iavention of the Rev W.Cowell Brown, * Wes'cyan minister, of Sheffield, for lessrning the number of deaths by drowning. A chemical preparation is inserted in a portion of the cat, waistcoat or drees. It does not add to the weight or in any way alter the app- nranco of the garment. Iho preparation is inserted between the lining and th.? clo";h ; in the caee of a coat, it is place-1 on each side of the breast and up the back. TLe moment a man falls in the water the coat inflates, and ho taunot ktep his head under the waves. Ami ng tho experiments successfully attempted at a previous exbibiticn at Sheffield, two small pieces of linen, will: -art of tho preparation inserted between the folds, were thrown into tho water. The linen instantly inflated so as to form a mmi jl,. re cushion and floated about the bath. A:- attendant then put on a coat, with the procuration inserted in it. He first went under a shower-bath, where he was thoroughly drenched, to show that inflation would not take place under ordinary cirtiimstances of a shower. Undor the showerbath the coat did not alter its proportions in any way whatever. The attendant then took a "header" into the water. He re-appeared at the surface almost immediately, and the coat promptly inflated. Entering a part of the bath deep enough to lake him up to the eyes, ho could not touch the bottom at all, and the water scarcely reached his chin. By a strugglo he dived partially beneath the surface, but came up again instantly. I Divesting himself of the garment, it flouted about the bath till it was taken out. The inventor also attached a piece of load weighing three pounds to life appliance, which presents the appearance of a short, light sleeve, or lining, and threw it into the water. The sleeve en touching the water iiißtantlv expanded hV a small bolster, cad floated about the lath well out of tho water, sustaining t1,,, lead weight till botli wero fished out. Nearly all theso experiments Bnd many more <>! an extraordinary nature were performed at the Westminster Aquarium ou Thursday. Tho inventor states that his apparatus, which would eiruply form an additional lining inserted in a portion of tho garment, would sustain a person in tho water as long as he could possibly endure tho exposure. For 45 or 50 hours it would be effective for its purpose In tho event of a person losing consciousness, tho lining in the back would form a kind of bed, nnd that in the breast a pair of pillowß, against which his head would rest.