Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/428

 422 LIFE BOAT the United States, nothing has been produced which possesses the excellent qualities of the English life boat. The boats used at the life- saving stations of the United States are or- dinary surf boats of cedar, upon the plan most in favor with the surfmen on the coasts of Long Island and New Jersey. These boats are light, weighing about TOO Ibs., and are easily transported on their simple carriages along our sandy beaches. It is proposed to provide many of the life-saving stations with boats after the plan of the English life boats, but slightly modified to suit the various locali- ties. Life-Saving Apparatus. During heavy gales the surf sometimes breaks against our shores with such fury that it is frequently im- possible to reach a wreck with the life boat. On such occasions communication is estab- lished between the shore and the wreck by means of a line carried over the wreck by pro- jectiles thrown from a small piece of ordnance or by rockets designed for the purpose. Un- der favorable circumstances at least 400 yards of the line can be carried out by either meth- od. An eprouvette mortar of 5^-inch calibre is used in the United States life-saving sta- tions, throwing an iron ball of 20 Ibs. weight, to which the line (one inch in circumference) is attached by a spiral wire to take up the jerk. To facilitate the clear run of the line it is peculiarly coiled in a box, or laid down in long fakes on the ground. When the shot or rocket line has been successfully thrown over the wreck (fig. 8), a larger line (two-rhch manila) is then attached to the shore end, and hauled off by the people on the wreck ; and with that line a still larger one (four-inch hawser) is hauled on board and made fast to the wreck, as directed by those on shore by chors, and crotches ; and with the second, or hauling line, various appliances may be hauled back and forth until all hands are saved. The FIG. 9. Life Car. method of transporting persons from a wreck to the shore, used exclusively on the coast of the United States, is by means of a covered FIG. 8. Shooting the Rope to a Wrecked Yessel. means of tallies attached to the line. The hawser being thus made fast, it is set up taut by the people on shore, with tackles, sand an- FIG. 10. The Car on the Eope. metallic boat, known as the life car, which is sufficiently large to contain four grown per- sons or eight small children. It is made of light galvanized iron, and when the hatchway is closed is nearly water- tight. The time usually occupied in arranging the lines and sending off the car, after firing the mor- tar, is about 30 minutes ; and with the apparatus in proper order the car can make the passage from the wreck to the shore, traversing in each trip a distance of 350 yards through a raging surf, within ten minutes. The life car was intro- duced into the United States service in 1849, and in the following year was instrumental in saving 201 lives from the British emigrant ship Ayrshire, cast away on Squam Beach, N. J., during a fearful snow storm. This mode for conveyance of passen- gers from wrecked vessels was the invention