JOYFUL VOYAGES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12458, 21 March 1905, Page 2

JOYFUL VOYAGES.

SEA-SIOKNESS BANISHED BY

SWINGING BERTHS

DENTISTS INVENTION.

Tliere will (says a I/ondon paper) be a great demand for tiie Lord Waa-dieai anct the OalaiiS by passengers who dread the Ohanneil passage when they know that each of theise boats is fitted with Mr Walter Whitehouse's bunk, to which reference has already been made in the "Express.'^ No invention for the abolit km of seasickness has, it is claimed, mo I'.eariy approached perfection as this. _ Mr Wliitehouse is a dentist vho practisies in London. He is, m;oa-eover, a. bad sailor, but ens>conced in Iris bunk he no more of Crossing the Ciiannel than of drawing a tooth. He.t6W a P'rass representative that the idea of the present' invent ion came to him as the result of some unsiicces's-■ ful experiments which lie and several other gentlemen made years ago. THE WORK FOR YEARS. "I have been engaged on my present device," said Mr Whitehom>e, '-for moo than three years. The mechanical pro-' ■blems wera the most difficult to solve, and they have occupied the attention ot some of the best mechanical engineers in London for several months. "It was the, application of electricity to the invention which eventually solved the puzzle.

"I am not a good sailor," addod Mr Whitehouse; ''indeed, they liardiy know a worse at Dover, and the sailors an the Channal; packets have often lia-d n laugh at my expense. Even goin^ on board :a ;b;cia)t im jthe Qiaiibpur lias oft-en upa&t me. '.■."■'

"But in my swinging cot I have braved the Channel without a qualm, and I claim to have solved the probelm which I set myself."

It ia two years since Mr Vincent Hi! the general anaaiiagter of the S.E. ans G.R., gave facilities for Mr Whiteh-ou.se'i lexpeiiiments, land! the inventor has ha< an enthusiastic-"ally in Captain Dixon the company's marina superintendent During those two years incessant oh serrations andl improvements have brought thei berth to its present state of perfection. HOW THE BERTH WORKS. It is-suspended in-a .steel-framework from the roof of on' 9of the deck ©abina, and the motion of the boat as counteracted by four cords from each corner, I which pass through electric brakes. These automatically maintain the cob in a horizontal! .position.' The berth is fitted with a water.mattrass, and <has an .electric fan, which can be set in motion by touching a button, and drives a delicious draught, across the lace o if the occupa-iit. Thg Press repWsenfative tried the h&rth reoantly in a moderia'te sea, which ha<3, however, afflicted a large proportion of the passengers. The cot swung like a binnacle lamp on a pendulum as the boat rolled and looked aS if it were having a. bad time of it when iiegairded' frofrii outside. But once iin the berth the occupant .realised that it was motionkss, and that it was the ship which was axslling.