A RISKY ADVENTURE. LONDON TO MELBOURNE IN A LIFEBOAT.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 417, 6 November 1889, Page 6

A RISKY ADVENTURE. LONDON TO MELBOURNE IN A LIFEBOAT.

A Di;spAT<;ir from London to Melbourne lai?t week stated that Captain Jorgcriren, late of Norwegian ship Kagna, who recently started on the voyage from London to Australia in a small patent lifeboat only 30 feet in length, has safely accomplished t;he'< firob $,000 miles of the journey, , }\;tying ain'ived at Madeira. Captain -rjforgenbon's! intention is to accomplish "the entire 'voyage from London to Mel- ' bourne in his patent boat, which is built of iron, and is only 30 ieet long and 8 tons in measurement. This is an experiment to prove the actual value of Jorgensen's patent lifeboat, qnd to show that it can live in the open Sea and in any kind of weather. Tho Jorgensen life-boat is made ot iion or steel, "and it consists of nothing else than the water tanks which eveiy ship must cany to contain a supply of fresh water for the passengers and crew. Each lifeboat ia jiuado up bf so' many tanks, which in case of wreck can ''be attached to each other by bolts and sciews in a few minutes. The forward 'tank is shaped like the bow of a shipj the after tank being fitted with ji rudder. Fresh water ballast is placed between the false and true bottom of each tank, and serves the double purpose .'qt a' good supply and of keeping the tanks 'upright. Each tank will float by itself, but they are, of course, more manageable ■when connected together in the shape of a boat. Provision is made for supplies of solid food to bo placed in a watertight compartment in each tank. A mast can also bo shipped. The tanks are \ placed on rollers so as to be easily ! mo\cd from place to place. The idea of the inventibn occurred to Captain Jorgen«en when in Melbourne a year ago, and it ia his intention to ,have the boats manufactured in. Melbourne, where his invention w'as^ warmly approved of by the chief officers of the Harbour Trust and by the Victoria Humane .Society as a simple and practical means of saving life at sea.