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A NEW LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS.

EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIMENTS. From Morgan's British Trade Journal. That part of the Thames immediately in front of Cremorne gardens was the scene of an exciting spectacle recently. What is said to be a wonderful triumph of American invention was exhibited in the presence of several thousand persons, who lined the river from Battersea bridge up to Cremome gardens, and plied little craft of every conceivable shape while the experiment, which was the cause of the gathering, was being made. The apparatus. which was first brought under the notice of the English public on this occasion, is intended for the rescue of shipwrecked persons. The inventor, we are told, is Captain J. B. Stonor, of New York, a gentleman of independent fortune, who served throughout the great civil war, and his object, it is said, is not to make money, but to perform a truly philanthropic work. Two Americans —a gentleman and his wife—have been commissioned to explain the nature of the apparatus ; and the way in which they are obliged to do so is certainly novel and interesting. They first slip their arms through cork jackets, and then insert their persons in a loose india-rubber over-coat, which covers the whole of the body, except the hands and face, around which it is tightly secured. Indiarubber weights are then attached to the shoes,'so as to enable the wearers to maintain a perpendicular position and perfect equilibrium, and being thus equipped they jump into the water. They carry with them a tin case, in shape something like a buoy. This article is divided into two compartments, and in the upper one they manage to pack biscuits, a flask of brandy, a revolver, Bengal lights, Roman candles, and some Liebig’s sausages. Smoking and newspaper reading are not luxuries which a shipwrecked individual would probably enjoy in a “life on the ocean wave;” but American originality provides for them, and adds cigars and a newspaper to the tiny freight. The lower compartment of the case contains about six quarts of water, which is drunk through an india-rubber tube closed by a inetal screw top. The provisions which are thus carried are supposed to last eight days, and if a shipwrecked person should fail to be rescued before the end of that time, he has the consolation, when dying, of knowing that his body cannot sink, that his will, papers, and jewellery are safe, and that his friends will know how he quitted the world. The invention has been patented by an American company. with a capital of 300,000 dollars, and the price fixed for each suit is L 7. The public will not have an opportunity of investing in the apparatus for some months, inasmuch as a series of experiments in most European countries are contemplated with the view of testing the success with which the invention is likely to be attended. The Prussian Government have, it is stated, expressed their determination to adopt the apparatus, and it is said that in consequence of the encouragement received in France, America, and elsewhere, 50.000 suits are now in process of manufacture. Mr and Mrs Craddock—the two Americans to whom we have referred—remained in the river nearly half-an-hour, and showed veiy little exertion beyond what was required in using little indiarubber paddles, which form part of the apparatus. The experiment was conducted under considerable difficulty, Mr and Mrs Craddock being prevented from moving in the water by the clustering of the boats, whose occupants were deaf to earnest protestations. They both opened the buoy shaped case, helped themselves to some of the contents, fired a revolver, and exhibited lights and a red flag, bearing the word “ Eureka.” The time occupied in donning the dress is three minutes and a

half. Captain Stonor hopes to provide all passenger ships with these extraordinary dresses, being ready to lend them for LI each for every voyage, and to provide each ship with a man capable of explaining their utility.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18690917.2.12

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1987, 17 September 1869, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
663

A NEW LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS. Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1987, 17 September 1869, Page 3

A NEW LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS. Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1987, 17 September 1869, Page 3

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