The Globe. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1875.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 268, 21 April 1875, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1875.

" Captain Boyton, with his life- " preserving apparatus, floated fifty " miles across the Channel, and night- " fall only prevented him from reaching " Boulogne. The result was tele- " graphed to the Queen." Such is the intelligence Baron Keuter thought important enough to telegraph at a considerable cost to the Australian press, and the nature of the news more than "justified the expense. All who go down to sea in ships are greatly interested in any invention which has for its object the prevention of those dreadful catastrophes, which every now and again alarm and startle the world. The recent loss of the La Plata and the Cospatrick has, of course, directed attention to the question of the possibility of preventing the repetition of such calamities, and although numerous suggestions have been made, which if carried out would greatly lessen such danger, no one has ventured to go the length of Captain Boyton. He maintains, and judging from the accounts which have appeared in the London press, he is justified in maintaining, that by his invention dangers by shipwreck will altogether vanish. Equipped with his life-pre-serving apparatus a man is as safe from drowning on the bosom of the ocean as on board ship, and continue to live for days and weeks on the surface of the sea, provided he had secured food and water in bags proTided for the purpose, Hie invention

consists simply of an inflated indiarubber suit, which enables him at will to float on his back high and dry, and by means of a sail or paddle to propel himself forward. He can also when he likes tread the water while he is employed fishing, shooting, or doing anything else which requires the use of both his hands. Captain Boyton recently performed a voyage from Wapping to Lambeth in the presence of thousands, and during the voyage proved to the spectators that |he was quite as much at ease on the surface of the water as if he were in an arm chair. When tired of standing upright, all he had to do was to rest his head on an inflated pillow. In this respect Captain Boy ton's invention is superior to all other life-preservers. A shipwrecked voyager could, by it, recruit from day to day his exhausted strength by means of sound and healthy sleep, and without suffering from the evil effects of cold.

The cost of the suit, £l2 or £l4, must be a bar to its extensive use by immigrant ships at present, but the chances are that were the invention largely in demand, the cost of manufacture would be reduced to as many shillings. Were such the case, how very different would be the records of our various marine departments. Wrecks would not be prevented perhaps, but the number of lives lost would be comparatively few. Each passenger safe in his own lifeboat would betake himself to the water without fear, and if far from land he would have an opportunity of uniting with the others and forming a raft from the remains of the wreck. Of course, no invention can save a ship from the consequences of panic. The dress can be, it is said, put on in two minutes by a cool hand, and by anyone, but it must be thoroughly fastened and inflated or it is useless, and when danger suddenly arises, the difficulty is to get people to think aad act calmly. But that got over, a shipwreck or a fire at sea would be disarmed of all its terrors. The applications of the invention are practically boundless. Not only will it be of incalculable use in fires and shipwrecks, but it could also be of value in communicating with lighthouses and other inaccessible places where boats are, at considerable risk, at present employed. On its application to amusement we need not enlarge. Our readers can easily imagine what an interesting feature this invention may introduce into the amusements of our wateringplaces.