62 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1915. 



waist and over the shoulders, made of kapoc, a new substance 

 resembling cotton. In order to keep the figure in an upright 

 position, S-pound lead weights are placed at the feet. The out- 

 side pressure of the water naturally sends 

 the air within the suit up around the neck 

 and shoulders, making an additional agency 

 for keeping the body upright. 



The inventor believes that by tlie use of 

 this suit the shipwrecked mariner may not 

 only float for several days, but float in com- 

 parative comfort, having a supply of food 

 and water. The latter is provided for by 

 a rubber bottle attached at the waist outside 

 of the suit and furnished with a rubber tube 

 long enough to reach the mouth. The food 

 is kept inside the suit and by simply slippmg 

 the elastic neckband up to the forehead the 

 wearer can eat in dry comfort. The weight 

 of the entire suit is IS pounds, and it can 

 be folded into comparatively small compass 

 The first of the two accompanying illustra 

 tions shows the wearer of the suit prepared 

 for his plunge into the water, and the second 

 shows him comfortably floating about on 

 the surface. 



To save persons from drowning has a 

 twofold phase. The first, tliat of keeping 

 them from sinking, has been the aim of the 

 various apparatus we have already described 

 in which rubber figures so hnportantly; but 

 it is no less desirable that some ready means 

 be provided for the recovery of those that 

 have gone to the bottom and yet can be 

 resuscitated if brought to the surface for 

 treatment soon enough. The Germans liave 

 undoubtedly blazed the way in this latter 



effort, and the well-known Draegerwerk. at Lnebeck. has evolved 

 an exceedingly efficient and novel equipment for just such vital 

 emergencies, and a great many of these are now in use abroad. 

 Hitherto in drowning accidents where the body has been car- 

 ried out by currents or undertow, the only sort of rescue 

 work has been by means nf (li\iii« apparatus uhicli, ot course, 



Outfit for Submari 

 Service. 



The 



Ixelmet face platf. 



necessitated a supply of air. from above the surface of the water, 

 and consequently required a pumping crew. In most cases there 

 was no such apparatus available, and even where it was it proved 

 cumbersome and slow to operate, 

 stricted the movements of the di 



vhile naturally it greatly re- 

 The new Draeger equip- 



ment can be put on in a few seconds, gives the rescuer unlimited 

 freedom of movement, and makes him independent of external 

 air supiihes fur at least a half hour. The diver carries with him 

 his own air supply in steel bottles filled with 

 umpressed oxygen, which regenerates the 

 air confined within the helmet. In a general 

 way in construction and operation this ap- 

 paratus is similar to that used in rescue 

 work in smoke and noxious fumes, which 

 was described in detail in the issue of this 

 luiblication for March, 1915. 



\fter donning the Draeger outfit, the res- 

 i iRT jumps into the water over the spot 

 where the body is believed to be, and is im- 

 mediately carried to the bottom by means of 

 weights. He can move about till he finds 

 the body. He then encircles it with a rubber 

 belt which he inflates from a small steel bot- 

 tle of compressed air. The body immedi- 

 ately rises to the surface and the rescuer, de- 

 taching his weights, rises with it. This a])- 

 paratus is a part of the equipment of the 

 crews on the German submarines, as was 

 mentioned in the article on "Rubber's Vital 

 Tart in the Submarine," in the issue of The 

 l.\Di.\ Rubber Wori,d for last June. 



The British have evolved an escape dress 

 tor a like service in submarines, and the 

 well-known English firm of Siebe, Gorman 

 X- Co. is directly responsible for this develop- 

 ment in which water-tightness is obtained by 

 the generous use of rubber. Our illustra- 

 tions suffice to give an excellent idea of this 

 outfit and its working. Like the German 

 Draeger dress, the English equipment is pro- 

 vided with a combined purifier and oxygen 

 generator. A man so confined 

 need not lack for fresh air for a 

 considerable period. When the 

 surface is reached, the wearer is 

 able to inflate a flexible chamber 

 which surrounds the jacket, 

 forming a life-belt, and then he 

 can open the glazed port in the 

 front of the helmet and breathe 

 freely from the atmosphere. 

 Siebe, Gorman & Co. have sup- 

 plied many hundreds of these 

 rescue outfits for the British 

 and other foreign services. 



It would take a long list to 

 cover the manifold forms rub- 

 ber has taken in the effort to 

 provide means to keep people 

 afloat and to prevent their 

 drowning. Many thousands of 

 these are in use today. Besides 

 these, other buoyant rubber de- 

 vices are in continual use in 

 the teaching of people to swim 

 or in making it possible for 

 them to venture into the wa- 

 ter quite free from any risk. 



If human ingenuity can ac- 

 complish it, Goodyear's dr.'ain 

 of some device universally ef- 

 fective in saving human beings 

 from drowning will yet come 



true. 



UK Drakger Apparatus 

 Rr.s ri.xG the Drown 



