L I F L I F 573.
support is provided for by annual grants of money from Congress. Secondly, besides protecting its vast extent of seaboard, it has to provide for the shores of its great lakes, or fresh-water seas. Then, the coasts of America, unlike those of England, are destitute of human habitations in many places, which renders necessary the constant employment of surfmen for the express purpose of looking out for vessels in distress and manning the surf-boats. It also necessitates the erection of houses of refuge, provisioned so as to afford shelter and food to shipwrecked crews for a considerable time, at places where, without such provision, those who escape the sea would probably perish from hunger and exposure.
The shores of the United States – lakes and sea – are over 10,000 miles in extent, embracing almost every variety of climate and formation of land. This vast extent of coast-line is divided into 12 districts, with a total of 179 stations. Of these 139 are on the Atlantic, 34 on the lakes, and 6 on the Pacific. Those on the desolate coast of Florida are houses of refuge only, without boats or apparatus. Many of the stations are closed during the fine months of the year, their crews being disbanded till the winter gales again summon them to the heroic and dangerous work of saving the shipwrecked. That they render noble service in this way may be gathered from the annual reports. The report for 1830 shows that the disasters to shipping in that year amounted to 300, that on board of the vessels thus endangered there were 1989 persons, of whom 1980 were saved and only 9 lost. The property imperilled at the same time was estimated at, in round numbers, £790,000, of which over £540,000 worth was saved, besides which, in one hundred and twenty-eight instances, stranded vessels were hove off, and piloted out of danger by the surfmen. The total number of lives saved by this service, since the introduction of the present system in 1871, to the close of the fiscal year in June 1881, was 11,864; the total number of persons sheltered 2610, and the number of days' shelter afforded 7350; the total value of property saved, $14,958,875.
Owing to the flat shores of the Atlantic coast, and the sparseness of the population, heavy boats are found unsuitable. Only a few boats on the English model exist in the service. The boats chiefly in use are surf-boats, incapable of self-righting, and liable to be swamped, but which nevertheless seem well suited for the work, and are admirably managed. They are very light, and can, on their transporting carriages, be easily dragged along the shore by their crews. The cork life-belts worn by the men are of the plan first designed in 1854 by Rear-Admiral Ward. For projecting a line over a stranded vessel, the Americans prefer the mortar, or other piece of ordnance, to the rocket. In addition to the travelling lifebuoy, they use a metallic car, or small covered boat, which can hold three or four persons, who, entering it by a small manhole, are shut in and drawn ashore, safely protected from injury, even though overturned by the surf. This clever contrivance has been of great service in rescuing invalids, children, and aged persons. The total cost of the service is somewhere about £90,000 a year.
The history of the United States Life-Saving Service may be said to have begun in 1848, though half a century before that the Humane Society of Massachusetts had erected some huts of shelter and stationed some boats on the coast. In that year the United States Government was led to consider the subject of loss on their shores, chiefly through the energy of the Hon. W. A. Newell of New Jersey, a member of the House of Representatives. Captain Douglass Ottinger (the inventor of the life-car) was charged with the management and reconstruction of the service. The impetus given to it at this time was never quite lost. Again, in 1854, renewed efforts were made to improve the service, but no great progress was made till the year 1871, when the present effective system was organized; new stations were built; the patrol system between the stations was introduced; the regular keeping of journals and sending in of reports was ordered; libraries for the use of the men were sent to stations; uniformity in signals was arranged, and a thorough reform in all departments accomplished.
The French Society for Saving Life from Shipwreck, modelled on the basis of the English system, is a vigorous and healthy offshoot. It continues steadily to extend its operations along the coasts of France, besides introducing its life-saving apparatus into Algeria and other colonies. It was founded in the year 1865, and from that year onward has continued to do good and ever-increasing service in the saving of life and property. At the date of its report ending 30th June 1881, its lifeboat stations numbered 62, and its mortar or other projectile stations 391. During the year its lifeboats and gun apparatus had saved 209 lives and 16 ships, to which may be added 31 lives, for the saving of which the society had granted rewards. From the time of its commencement in 1865 to the above date it has rendered the following noble service: –
Lives saved by its own boats and apparatus 1,826
Lives saved by other means, for which the society granted rewards in gold, silver, and bronze medals, and cash 303
Total of lives saved from the beginning 2,129
Besides this it has saved 149 vessels and succoured 348, and has awarded 28 gold, 129 silver, and 319 bronze medals, 513 diplômes d'honneur, and about £20,400 in recompenses to those who have assisted in saving life in circumstances of unusual danger. It has also spent about £53,000 in the purchase and repair of its matériel. The receipts of the society show that its work is appreciated. At 31st December 1880 the subscriptions and donations together amounted to nearly £2600, and the legacies bequeathed to it the same year were about £1000. The boats chiefly used are built on the model of those of the English institution. The gun is preferred to the rocket in connexion with the life-saving apparatus. In addition to its direct work of saving life, the French society has accomplished much good indirectly by its influence. It has been instrumental in bringing about this result that, among the qualifications for a captain's certificate in the French mercantile marine, a thorough knowledge in detail of the means of saving life from shipwreck is required. It has also laboured to extend the usefulness and reduce the cost of the gun and rocket apparatus, besides securing that this apparatus, on Mr Delvigne's system, shall be supplied to every ship of the French navy.
The German Association for the Rescue of Life from Shipwreck, under the patronage of the emperor William, was founded at Kiel in May 1865, and is prosperous both in regard to its work and finances. It is maintained by voluntary contributions, and has 21 local branches on the coast and 27 in the interior, besides 149 agencies over the country. Previous to 1865 several private societies for saving life from shipwreck existed in the chief seaports of the North Sea and Baltic. These have been absorbed in the present association, the proceedings of which are reported in a paper entitled From Shore and Sea, published at Bremen once a quarter, and largely modelled on the Lifeboat Journal of the English institution. The association provides the whole extent of the German coast with life-saving apparatus. It has 74 lifeboat stations, 20 of which are provided with the mortar or rocket apparatus. With these means it has, in the year 1880-81, saved 122 lives and 2 ships. The total number of human lives saved by the association since its commencement is 1184. From May 1880 to May 1881 the amount subscribed by its members was £57,000. As in America, the heavy self-righting and self-emptying boats of England have been found unsuitable to the thinly peopled and flat sandy beaches of Germany. Lighter and shallower boats have therefore been adopted. These are iron-plated and not self-righting, but almost impossible to capsize. The stations are visited at least once a year by an inspector, and the whole system seems to be well regulated and thoroughly efficient.
In addition to the above, lifeboat societies or other lifeboat organizations formed – more or less on the basis of the National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain – are to be found in Russia, Italy, and Spain.
Life-saving Hammocks, &c. – Various forms of buoyant mattresses, pillows, and india-rubber cloth life jackets and belts have been contrived. Among these may be specially mentioned the air lifebelt of Admiral Ward, which has four compartments, separately inflated, so that the puncture of one does not quite destroy the belt. Admiral Ryder's hammock also deserves notice. Its virtue lies simply in a cork mattress, which, when rolled up in its hammock, forms an efficient lifebuoy capable of supporting a man with his head and shoulders well above water, and it enables three men to float in an upright position. Cork mattresses are said to be cheaper and more comfortable than those stuffed with hair. Two such hammocks lashed together, about 20 inches apart, will enable two or three men to propel themselves easily through the water. The advantage of having such mattresses in a ship is obvious, for every one on board would be thus provided with a life-preserver.
It has also been suggested that the cushions of deck and cabin seats should, in a similar way, be made life-preservers, and that cabin furniture should be constructed so as to form rafts in cases of emergency. It is well to know, on the authority of the Philosophical Magazine (vol. xx. p. 362), that even a hat tied in a pocket handkerchief and held with the crown downwards may help to sustain a drowning man. It need scarcely be added that empty water-casks, tightly bunged, with ropes arranged for clinging to, form pretty good life-preservers. (R. M. B.)
LIFTS may properly be held to include all sorts of apparatus whose object is the lifting of weights. When the apparatus consists of comparatively small, separate, and portable pieces, it is called lifting tackle. When the lifting apparatus reaches that degree of size and complication that entitles it to be called machinery, there seems to be no general technical term that will include all kinds, but for the different classes of lifting machines there are such special names as cranes, hoists, elevators, lifts, winding engines, and lift pumps.
There is very little distinction made between hoists,
