'62 



SERVICE, UNITED STATES LIFE-SAVING. 



to, its extreme range being 421 yards. This 

 gave place to the Parrott gun, of cast iron, with 

 a steel tube or lining, weighing, with its ash- 

 wood carriage, 266 pounds, carrying a 24- 

 pound elongated projectile, with a maximum 

 range of 473 yards. The Lyle gun, which has 

 superseded these, is of bronze, smooth bore, 

 weighing 185 pounds, with a cylindrical line- 

 carrying shot weighing 17 pounds, and a range 

 of 695 yards. The reduction in weight over 

 the lightest previous ordnance is 110 pounds, 

 and the increase in range over the old eprou- 

 vette is 274 yards. Other advantages of the Lyle 

 gun are its strength, owing to the tenacity and 

 ductility of its material, its freedom from corro- 

 sion, and its exemption from the erosive action of 

 gases, there being little windage, and from wear 

 by the projectile, this being nearly the length of 

 the bore. The projectile has a shank protrud- 

 ing four inches from the muzzle of the gun, to 

 an eye in which the line is tied a device which 



now ready for transportation to the scene of 

 a wreck/ When brought there, it is turned 

 upside down, disclosing the false bottom, with 

 the frame superimposed upon it. Two men, 

 one at each end of the box, release the fast- 

 enings, and, each pressing his foot upon tho 

 false bottom to keep it down, the two lift off 

 the frame, bringing away the pins with it. The 

 false bottom is then lifted off the line, which 

 remains in the box, disposed in the layers of 

 diagonal loops or fakes made by the pins. The 

 line is thus arranged to pay out freely, and fly 

 to a wreck without entanglement or friction. 



LYLE GUN. 



prevents the line from being burned off by the 

 ignited gases in firing. The shot-line is made 

 of unbleached linen thread, very closely and 

 smoothly braided, is waterproofed, and has 

 great elasticity, which tends to insure it against 

 breaking. The lines in use are of varying 

 thicknesses, according to circumstances, rang- 

 ing from one eighth to three eighths of an 

 inch, and their length varies 

 from 500 to 700 yards. The 

 shot-line is carried in a faking- 

 box a wooden chest with 

 handles for convenience in car- 

 rying. There are two or three 

 sizes in use, the dimensions of 

 the largest being about three 

 feet long by one and a half 

 wide, ami a foot deep. Con- 

 nected with it is a frame, a lit- 

 tle larger than the box, with a 

 row of wooden pins set verti- 

 cally into its four sides. A 

 false bottom, which is a tablet 

 of wood pierced with holes 

 corresponding to the pins, is 

 let down over them until it 

 reaches their bases, and rests 

 upon the frame. In disposing the shot-line, 

 the faker begins at the corner, and coils it in 

 successive diagonal loops or fakes over the pins, 

 layer above layer, until the line is completely 

 rove. The box is then let down over the pins, 

 and fastened at each end to the frame. It is 



METHOD OP WITHDRAWING FRAME AND PIN8 FROM SHOT- 

 LINE IN FAK1NG-BOX. 



The end is now tied into the eye of the shank 

 of the shot in the gun; the box, which is al- 

 ways placed a few feet to the windward of the 

 gun, is canted up on one side at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees; and the line is ready for fir- 

 ing. The line is always brought ready faked 

 to the scene of action and fired from the box. 

 In case a second shot is necessary the line is 

 laid out in large loops upon a tarpaulin spread 

 out upon the beach, which is called French 

 faking. This is done to save time, twenty-five 



FIRING SHOT-LINE TO WRECK. 



or thirty minutes being requisite to fake a line 

 properly in the box ; but it is less desirable, as 

 exposure to the flying sand or the rain or spray 

 lessens the range by impeding the flight of the 

 line. When the shot-line reaches the wreck, 

 the shore end is connected with the whip or 



