A NEW LIFE-SAVING VESSEL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 152, 31 March 1876, Page 8

A NEW LIFE-SAVING VESSEL.

Thb London 'Times ' of November sth has the following :— Another experiment in this very praiseworthy direction was made yesterday afternoon at the Blaekwall Point Dry Dock. The day was dull and the wind keen and cold ; very 'ar, indeed, from inviting weather for a trip down the water, but perhaps there is some good reason why launches and such riverside ceremonies should occur during the winter months ; at any rate, they invariably do. The vessel launched yesterday was invented and designed by Mr. J. A. Stockwell, the shipbuilder at Blackwall. It is circular m form, and capable of enrrvin" si\tv passengers below deck, all of whom can be safely housed before' the vessel takes (he water. It is fitted with masts, sails and rudder a stem, or projecting cutwater, aud a shifting keel to drop down at pleasure with lockei'3 for provisions and water-tight compartments to hold fresh water. In the centre is an aperture fi;te I «ith a network made of hemp, combined with india-rubber, allowing free play ior the waves, whereby, it is be.ieved, will be insured a comparative immunity from capsizing It is suggested by the inventor that m lar-re passenger ships one of these vessels might be built as one of th" ordinary deck-houses, fitted for use either as captain's cabin, chart house or store-rooms, and built on a railroad girder just high enough above the deck to form a fair curve for the outer launchwavs, ami the berthing on either side being made movable, the -whole de'ek-house, c 11 able say, of carrying six hundred souls, could be launched complete into the water. A technical description of the machinery would, perhaps eeeni somewhat complicated, but it is only fair to say that in the opinion of those best acquainted with the working, the" launch, even under the most adverse circumstances, would be an affair of but'aven few minutes. The trml jestercby was certainly in every respect as satisfactory as such tiials can be, taking place as they must under circumstances so essentially different from the reality. The vessel and launching gear were adapted tc a vessel of fifteen hundred tons, but the latter was fitted to an old hulk, which would fairly have represented one of three thousand tons. Consequently, the height from which the vessel took the water was far in excess of what it properly should have been, considering, also, that the deck from which it was launched was stationary. Nevertheless, the little craft slid down easily enough into the water, carrying on her deck ten or twelve men, who paid the penalty of their refusal to seat themselves below, as they should have done, with a sound duckinoShe quickly righted, however, and, the saiJs being hoisted, made her way up the river as far as the ship at Greenwich, whither the company who had witnessed the experiment also repaired on the invitation of Mr. Stockwell, to lunch, and to hear his explanation of the models he had prepared of his new invention. There have been so many different experiments of a similar sort made within the last year or two with more or less success, that it would be invidious, if, indeed, possible, to assign the palm to any one without some more practical and conclusive trial. As regards this latest invention, it would certainly seem that the vessel itself, when once launched, is about the most complete of its kind that has been yet seen; with regard to the apparatus for launching it we have the assurance of the inventor that it can be easily and almost instantaneously worked, and the experiment of yesterday undoubtedly, so far as it could, verified the assertion