NEW LIFE PRESERVER—EXPERIMENTS AT WOOLWICH.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 203, 10 May 1848, Page 3

NEW LIFE PRESERVER— EXPERIMENTS AT WOOLWICH.

A highly important and interesting experiment recently took place at Woolwich, to establish on a full scale the merits of Mr. Alfred Ilely's newly-invenled " flexible floating cylinder," and its combinations, lor the preservation of life from shipwreck. The trial was carried on in the presence ot Commodore Sir Gordon Bremcr, K.C.B. and K.CH. and under the direction of the inventor, by order of the Lords of the Admirality, who, in consequence of the favourable report of the Commodore Superintendent of the Dockyard on the subject of the partial tiial he made of the above invention on the 15th of May last, were pleased to order the construction of a full sized " catamaran," composed of thirty flexible floating cylinders. Fhe exclusion of water from any substance of Jess specific gravity must produce a floating effect equal to the difference of the density of the two bodies : und the amount of buoyancy is ia the ratio of the gravity of tUe mass,

and of its displacement. Upon (Ins simple but beautiful principle of nature is thepiesent invention founded, and not on thnt of inflation with ait which charncteiizes every plan that has hitherto been brought forward for the preservation of life at sea. It consists of a simple cylinder or tube, made of stout flexible waterproof material, intended, in the hour of need, to be filled with bedding, clothes, provisions, stores, or any other substance of less specificgravitv than water; and, when to filled and closed ,it both ends by a tight rope lashing, exercises a floating power of Gl lbs to the cubic foot of water displaced Thus a hammock enclosed in one of those cylinders has been proved to float about 212 lbs. of dead weight, and to sustain in the water fourteen men with their heads anl shoulders above the surface. The peculiar merit of this plan lies in the novelty and fe.is bility of the idea of not only convci ting articles of food, clothing, and bedding into a ready and safe vehicle for preserving the lives ot passengers and crews in case ol shipwieck, but also of aftbiding them the means of su-tenance on the voyage, and shelter from thd elements when landed, perchance, on a desolate coast. The thirty cylinders composing composing the raft, terinud a catamaia.i, made use of recently, with their respective lashings, only weighed 85 lbs., and was stowed aw.iy in the compass of a smnll cask. These cylinders, having been charged with hammocks, &c. t were securely lashed to four longitudinal and fifteen cross spars, the former twentyfive and the latter five feet in length, forming a spaciou» and. substantial r.ifc, composed of a flat bottom and sides, incapable, from its natuie and construction, of being either upset, swamped, or stove in, and yet liable to be sailed and steered with the utmost facility and precision. At a given signal from Sir Gordon Bremer, and in the presence of a great many naval officers and the principal authorities of the dock yard, the catamaran was lifted from the ground, and a bottle of grog having been broken over its bows, a white flag, bearing the inscription " Forlorn Hope," in black letters, was hoisted by Mr. Hely, the inventor, and received with three times three hearty cheers. The catamaran, having been launched into the river, received on board four half-cylinders, containing eight gallons of fresh water each, and then took in thirty men, be ; ng her estimated complement. Paddles were used, anda square sail rigged, under both of which she behaved to the admiration of the spectators on shore. The Commodore having expressed himself perfectly satisfied with the result of this second trial, the catamaran wai carried up the stage, alongside the flag-ship, and the hands dismissed, the hum-nocks, &c. contained in the cylinders having, on being turned out, been found as dry as when they were first put into them. The Lords of the Admiralty, to whom a special report of Mie experiment will be made, will no doubt look further into the merits of this curious invention, with the view to its ultimate adoption in the service.— London Paper.