PECULIAR LIFE-SAVING DEVICES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 118, 5 October 1912, Page 9

PECULIAR LIFE-SAVING DEVICES

INVENTORS' '-PERFECT" METHODS. Every big shipwreck brings forward a number of inventors who have discovered an absolutely perfect method of saving life at sea. Needless to say, nine-tentlis of these inventions are utterly useless (states a well-known English publication).

Most inventors have turned their energies to making a ship unsinkable'. In fact, the ideas for unsinkable ships are simply legion. When the ill-fated Drummond Castle went down off Usliant, drowning every soul save two, a French engineer came forward with a scheme for making ships unsinkable, no matter how much damage they had sustained.

His idea was to have a number of Waterproof air-tight bags attached to receptacles containing calcium carbide. As soon as water enters the ships and wets the carbide volumes of- acetylene gas are produced, turning the gaslight bags into balloons. Even if the ship were completely waterlogged, it was stated that these bags would be sufficient to keep it afloat. So far the in-, vention has not been taken up. One would have thought that lifebelts could hardly be improved upon. Mr. Robert Whitby invented some years ago, however, a lifebuoy which carries a night light with it arid signals its position in the water on the darkest night. The buoy is capable of keeping four to six people afloat for an indefinite time. Another lifebuoy that was considered by the Admiralty a few years ago was fitted with an ingenious series of watertight compartments, and contained food and water and brandy sufficient for three days. The limit, however, was reached uy the inventor of this lifebuoy when he provided his apparatus with alight and a selection of books to read while the unfortunate "man overboard" was waiting to be rescued. An ingenious substitute for the lifebelt was tested some time ago, but, like many more of these inventions, it has not come Into universal use. This invention was a kind of waistcoat with' rubber airbags which fitted over the shoulders. These airbags were four in number and separate from one another. Many of them were capable of supporting a man. j

The waistcoat idea only weight four pounds, and the bags could be inflated and the whole thing slipped 011 in less than thirty seconds. The waistcoat was fitted with special watertight pockets, which contained sufficient biscuits and fresh water to last for five days. An ounce find a-half is not much to carry about, yet this is the weight of a pocket life-saver patented shortly after the loss of the Drummond Castle. It fitted into the waistcoat pocket and contained a cartridge which exploded 011 contact with the water and gave out a sufficient supply of gas to keep a heavy man afloat for some days. If every passenger on the Titanic had carried one of these there would have been no loss of life, according to the inventor.

A Captjin Chard invented a patent mattress raft which was capable of saving any number of lives. These mattresses were made of practically unpuncturable material, and were fitted with hooks at the side, so that a large number of them could be lashed together to make a big unsinkable raft in a very short time.

But perhaps the most extraordinary invention was that put forward in 1900. The inventor suggested that the deckhouse of a ship should be so constructed that bv pulling out a few bolts it could be detached from the rest of the vessel. It was made in the form of a flat-bot-tomed pontoon, fitted with sails, and capable fit" taking everyone on board safely to liand.