Shipwreck
When a Man falls Overboard.
The instant an alarm is given that a man is overboard, the ship's helm should be put down, and she should be hove in stays; a hen-coop or other object that can float should also be thrown overboard as near the man as possible, with a rope tied to it, and carefully kept sight of, as it will prove a beacon towards which the boat may pull as soon as lowered down. A primary object is, having a boat ready to lower down at a moment's notice, which should be hoisted up at the stern if most convenient; the lashings, tackle, etc., to be always kept clear, and a rudder, tiller, and spare spar to be kept in her. When dark, she should not be without a lantern and a compass.
There should also be kept in her a rope with a water, and therefore it is not suffocated by the fluid, but breathes freely. But man, on the contrary, being able to lift his hands over his head, and generally doing so in case of this accident, his hands and arms make up the difference in specific gravity, and his head, impelled by the weight of his hands and arms below the water, his body fills, and he is consequently choked and suffocated. The remedy therefore is, in all such cases, to keep down the hands and arms, and as a further security, to act with them under and against the water, it will then be impossible to sink, unless the weight of clothes or other circumstances ope. rate to the contrary.
The Marine Spencer.
The marine spencer is made in the form of a girdle, of a proper diameter to fit the body, and six inches broad, composed of about 500 old tavrn corks, strung upon a strong twine, well lashed together with lay-cord, covered with canvas, and painted in oil so as to make it water-proof. Two tapes or cords, about two feet long, are fastened to the back of the girdle with loops at the ends.
Another tape or cord of the same length, having a few corks strung to the middle of it, is covered with canvas painted. A pin of hard wood, three inches long, and half an inch in diameter, is fastened to the front of the girdle by a tape or cord, about three inches long. To use the spencer, it should be slipped from the feet close up to the arms, the tapes or cords are to be brought one over each shoulder, and fastened by the loops to the pin; those between the legs are to be fastened to the other pin. A person thus equipped, though unacquainted with swimming, may safely trust himself to the waves; for he will float, head and shoulders above water, in any storm, and by paddling with his hands, may easily gain the shore. Such a spencer may also be made of cork shavings put into a long canvas bag.
It has also been suggested, that every part of the usual dress of the sailor should be made with a view to preserving his life, in cases of accident; and for this purpose that a quantity of cork shavings or clippings should be quilted into his jacket about the collar and neck, between the outside and inside lining; or as a belt of considerable breadth across the back and shoulders, then principally omitted under the arms, and resumed over the chest and stomach, yet not so much as to create inconvenience. If in these, and other parts of his dress, so much cork could be conveniently worked, as would give the sailor an opportunity of recovering himself, and making use of his own powers in cases of contingency, many valuable lives might be saved.
Bamboo Habit.
The bamboo habit is an invention of the Chinese, by the use of which a person, unskilled in the art of swimming, may easily keep himself above water. The Chinese merchants, when going on a voyage, are said always to provide themselves with this simple apparatus, to save their lives in cases of danger from shipwreck. It is constructed by placing four bamboos horizontally, two before, and two behind the body of each person, so that they project about twenty-eight inches; these are crossed on each side by two others, and the whole properly secured, leaving an intermediate space for the body. When thus formed, the person in danger slips it over his head, and ties it securely to the waist, by which simple means he cannot possibly sink.
To extricate Persons from broken Ice.
Let two or more persons hold a rope or ropes, at both ends, stretched over the broken ice; so that the drowning person may catch hold of it.
The Life-Boat.
The life-boat is generally thirty feet long, and in form much resembles a common Greenland boat, except the bottom, which is much flatter.
She is lined with cork, inside and outside of the gunwale, about two feet in breadth, and the seats underneath are filled with cork also.
She is rowed by ten men, double banked, and steered by two men with oars, one at each end, both ends being alike. Long poles are provided for the men, to keep the boat from being driven broadside to the shore, either in going off or landing. About six inches from the lower poles, it increases in diameter, so as to form a flat surface against the sand. The weight of the cork used in the boat seven hundredweight.
She draws very little water, and when full is able to carry twenty people. The boat is able to contend against the most tremendous sea and broken water; and never, in any one instance, has she failed in bringing the crew in distress into a place of safety. The men have no dread in going off with her in the highest sea and broken water; cork jackets were provided for them; but their confidence in the boat is so great, that they do not use them.
The success attending this expedient for diminishing the number of unhappy individuals almost daily lost in a watery grave appears to have been more than equal to the most sanguine expectations formed of its utility; and the great object in view, viz., the safety of those persons who hazard their own security to preserve others, has been fully accomplished.
Safe and readily constructed Life-boat.
In London Eng. a model of a life-boat was exhibited before the Royal Humane Society, which may be put together in the space of half an hour, in any case of shipwreck, and which cannot sink or overset, let the sea run ever so high. All that is necessary to be provided is a keel or plank of any convenient length, and a few pigs of iron, such as vessels usually carry out for ballast. The officers of the ship are to take care to keep two or three empty water-casks, perfectly tight, the bungholes corked up, and a piece of tin or leather nailed over them. These casks are to be lashed with ropes to the keel, along with the pigs of iron for ballast; and any spare poles or spars may be also lashed to the sides, so as to give the raft the form of a vessel, and at each end make a lodgement for the men. Any of the square sails of the ship will form a lug-sail, and may speedily be suapted to the new life-boat, and a strong and broad spar may be lashed on as a rudder.