Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/254

* LIFE-SAVING GUNS AND ROCKETS. 232 LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. the forward pari of the carriage and Ihu under side of the >.'un. The projectile is the chief fea- ture of the apparatus, and consists of a cylindri- cal tube of tin, into one end of which is soldered a solid hemispherical shot which rests on the HUNT UUN ASD PKOJECTILE. cartridge in the gun. About half the shot line is coiled in the tube, from which it pays out dur- ing flight, the balance of the line being in a can, or on a reel, placed on the ground or deck. When the gun is discharged the weight of the line causes the projectile to reverse similar to the Lyle method. Tltc ilas^aoliisct(s Humane So- ciety uses the Hunt gun, which has a range of more than 700 yards. The rocket, which is the invention of Patrick Cunningham, of the same State, consists essentially in a head carrying the projectile charge, in combination with a tube adapted and arranged to contain a coiled line. The latter is connected with a sliore or deck line in the same manner as the Hunt system. This is a powerful rocket having a range of 1000 yards with a small line. It is fired from a stand. Guns, rockets, or mortars, of various designs, are used l)y all life-saving institutions for effecting line communication with stranded vessels. For other life-saving appliances, see Life-Saving Skrvice. LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. The Life-Saving Sen-ice of the Inited States was organized under the present system in 1871. Previously, however, a number of small boat-houses had been located on the coasts of Long Island and Xcw .Jersey, placed in charge of ofhcers known as keepers, and imperfectly equipped with boats and appliances for the use of such of the coast residents ns might volunteer to serve without compensaticm upon occasions of disaster. The act of April 20. 1871, gave the Secretary of the Treasury authority to establish additional stations on the coasts of Long Island and New .Jersey, and to employ crews of experienced surfmen at such stations and for such periods as he might deem necessary, at a com- pensation not to exceed forty dollars per month. Vpon this limited authority the inauguration of the existing system was undertaken. Subsequent legislation has extended it to embrace the entire o<-ean and lake coasts of the United States, and ha.s added many improvements. Its purpose, primarily, is to save life from wrecked or im- periled vessels near the shore by means of or- ganized equipment and effort. Xext to the rescue of life is the saving of marine property. In 1807 the Massachusetts Humane Society, a benevolent organization, placed a lifeboat station at Cohasset. which was the first regular attempt in this country to render direct aid to the ship- wrecked from the shore. Later the society built a number of small stations and enlarged mate- rially the scope of its work. The creation and extension of the Government service, however, re- lieved the society of much of its charge, although it still maintains some oO small bouses, equipped with boats and line-carrying guns, on the ila>sa- ■ ] chusetLs coajit. Between 1848 and 1871 Congress made occasional small appropriations, commenc- ing with one of .$10,000 in the former year, for providing means for the rescue of life and prop- i erty from shipwreck, and under the authority of ' such fragmentary legislation a number of houses were establislied along the seaboard furnished with boats and some other life-saving ap])liances. Lifelioats were also placed at scattered points on the Atlantic and lake coasts. The stations erected had to rely upon volunteers from among the fishermen in the various localities to man the boats and apparatus as occasion required. i While there was much of value in this inchoate ' service, its defects were many and serious. Fi- nally the occurrence of a number of disasters to vessels and their crews on the Atlantic Coast, disclosing the inadequacy of the means of succor then at hand, so aroused public sentiment as to cause the enactment of national legislation, upon which the present life-saving system is based. It is the only governmental sen'ice, all other litV saving institutions, except one or two small En ropean organizations, being maintained wholly or ■ in part by private contribution. I At the close of the fiscal year which ended June 30. 1001, there were 270 stations included in the service. Of these 195 were situated on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Oulf of Metxico, 58 on the shores of the Great Lakes. IG on the Pacific Coast, and 1 at the falls of the I Ohio River, Louisville, Ky. Kight stations in- cluded in this summary were houses of refuge on the eastern coast of Florida. For the con- venience of administration, the sea and lake coasts, which have a general extent of about 10,- 000 miles, exclusive of Alaska, are divided intu separate districts numbered from 1 to 1.3 iiiclii sive. These districts have been fixed with ref- erence to the conformation of the shores, there j being 8 on the .Atlantic, 1 on the Gulf, 1 on the Pacific, and .3 on the lakes, one of the last-named (the 10th) including the station at the falls of the Ohio Kiver. The station buildings are located at points of danger to shipping, most of them being at ex- posed places. Those on the ocean coast are gen- erally two-story wooden structures, built to withstand severe winds and the encroachment of storm tides, and. when conditions permit, are placed sufficiently back of high-water mark to make them safe. The stations on the lakes are , similar. to those on the seashore. Many of them, however, are located in the vicinity of harbors, behind piers or breakwaters, and are specially devised for the use of the heavy lifeboats em- ployed in that region. The interiors of the buildings are divided into suitable apartments for the accommodation of the crews and the re- ception of the live-saving appliances, the largest space being allotted to the boatroom. from which a sloping platform leads for the running out of the heavier equipments. Stations exposed to view from off shore are so painted that they can be distinguished a long distance. Each has a lookout tower, or platform, where the day watch is kept, and is marked by a llagstaff that may be used in signaling passing vessels. Two sta- tions, the one on the Ohio River and another in Boston Harbor, are house-boats, or floating sta- tions, which are moored in their respective lo-