OIL ON THE WATERS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1922, 3 December 1913, Page 10

OIL ON THE WATERS.

■? — SAFETY IN STORMS. A LITTLE-GOES A LONG WAY. The'captain of thu is reported to have said, aiter'the Voitiirno disastc.'-, "I swear uy oil en troubled waters now " and to have m-"-ed that liners should add oil tanks to their safety devices. The same course was recommended in an Admiralty memorandum of so long ago as Jgp'u (says tho Manchester "Guardian"), 'Tho memorandum begins:— "Attention is drawn to the fact that a very small quantity of oil skilfully applied may prevent much damage to ships (especially the smaller class), and to boats, by modifying the action of breaking seas."

l''or the distribution of the oil the uso is recommended of small perforated" canvas bags hung over the bow or stern and the lnomorandum includes advice that applies specifically to a case like that of the Volturno:—-

"For boarding a wreck, it is recommended to pour oil- overboard windward of her before going alongside." "With the crew and passengers of aii American liner," writes a correspondent of the "Guardian," "I was saved from foundering in a hurricane off the Bahamas 2G years ago this month by the action of a bag full of cylinder oil, not much bigger than a man's head. I shipped at St. Thomas for New York. Tho vessel was a yacht-like, dean built, fine-weather boat, with snore deck cabin accommodation and higher free.' board than was warranted by the sort of weather she Was always likely to encounter between Now York and the West Indies. All went well until, somewhere olf tho Bahamas, we ran into bad weather, which got steadily worse, until at last matters began to look really serious, reaching a climax whim the steering gear got hopelessly damaged, the wooden whoclhouso bashed -in. and every boat and loose tiling upon deck smashed to pieces or swept overboard by the enormous seas which continually washed over us. To make matters worse, tho captain lost ncne or head altogether.

A Bag on a 7 Spar, "Tho ohief officer was appealed to, and recommended the uso of oil. The idea seemed new to the first officer. He was sceptical, and tho two entered into a lively discussion as to the pros and cons ot tho proposition. Ono thing both agreed to, and that was that to pour oil out of a barrel was useless, as it would iloai away with tho current and wind and would do no good at ail. Tho chief dived into his store-room, and, bringing back with him a large washlcather for cleaning purposes, he called up tho second engineer, and told him to bring a can full of cylinder oil. Tho ends of the washleatker were brought together so as to form a bag, then oil was carefully poured in until a bagful was formed a little bigger than it man's head. Tho ends were made fast, and that part of the operation was complete. "It was tho chief's intention to make fast this bag of oil to the end of a spar, and the spar to the deck, but the bag was to be perforated at the bottom so as to let the oil out each time tho vessel rolled. The bag would then "hit tho water with sufficient shock to let a small quantity of oil out on that side of tho ship to which the spar was attaciied, and wo should float, so ho argued, in old own oil bath, which could br; easily renewed when the seas •no longer broke over us. .

"With infinite difficulty and danger, for tho ship was continually swept by .great, seas, the spar,and its precious burden were- launched,' : aud in a. few minute? the ship and all on board were gently lolling on a glassy but undulating surface, while aH'around the storm ragod, and the baffled waves leapt against cacli other and lashed themselves into foam, while wo lav gently rolling at our ease, repairing our steering gear, pumping out the water from the flooded hold and cabins, contentedly and peacefully riding out the storm." A Pint sn Hour Enough. In an article in tho "Daily Telegraph" Professor Ray Lankcster expresses surprise that the mercantile marine should neglect tho tiso.of oil in storms.'.Ho gives an account of experiments with its uso and of notable instances when it has proved most effectual. Fortv or fifty careful statements from ships' captains are, he says, on record, showing that great breakers, driven over the stem by a following wind, were almost immediately changed in character by pouring a. pint or two of oil behindhand the ship was saved. "There is a consensus of opinicn," adds Professor Ray Lankester, "that the, gradual dripping of one pint of oil an hour is enough. Captain- Kenneth Doyle writes in 1883 to say that ho found one pint of oil an hour enough to abolish tho breakers when lie had to lie to in a breaking sea. A ship running ten knots and slowly dropping out oil. will leave a. perfectly smooth wake, ten knots long by 40ft. wide, covered with a film of oil. The thinness of this film is beyond description: it is that of tho black part of a soap bubble. "The thinnest possible film of oil spread over • the surface of the water acts vety much as if tho water wero covered by a thin skin of india-rubber. It prevents tho water from breaking or beginning to break. When 0113 looks at big, well-formed waves rising and falling on any sheet of water, one can always see on the surface of the big waves a sot-of small or secondary waves. Tho oil film prevents the* formation of those smaller secondary waves which, in increasing in size, end in the production of 'breaking erosts.' Oil strangles the waves in their birth. !! '