LIFE BOAT. 



admit the body of the boat, and secured 

 by the cross pieces, b, b. 



c, c, c, c. Four low wheels, each sunk 

 or hollowed in the middle, to run better 

 upon a rail-way or timber-road. 



d, d. Two indents made in the side tim- 

 bers, that the bottom of the boat may be 

 firm therein. 



e, e. Two small rollers, moveable in the 

 cross timbers, for the keel of the beat to 

 slide upon. 



f, f, Two long- rollers, one at each end 

 of the frame, to assist in raising 1 the boat 

 upon, or sliding it off, the truck or car- 

 riage. 



This boat went off on the 30th of Ja- 

 nuary, 1790 ; and so well has it answered, 

 and even exceeded, every expectation, 

 in the most tremendous sea, that, during 

 the last eighteen years, not fewer than 

 between two and three hundred lives 

 have been saved at the entrance of thg 

 Tyne alone, which otherwise must have 

 been lost : and in no instance has it ever 

 failed. This useful, and, to a maritime na- 

 tion, highly important invention, was oc- 

 casioned by the following circumstance : 

 In September, 1789, the ship Adventure, 

 of Newcastle, was stranded on the south 

 side of Tinemouth Haven, in the midst 

 of the most tremendous breakers, and all 

 the crew dropped from the rigging one 

 by one, in the presence of thousands of 

 spectators, not one of whom could be 

 prevailed upon by any reward to venture 

 out, to her assistance, in any boat of the 

 common construction. On this melan- 

 choly occasion the gentlemen of South 

 Shields called a meeting of the inhabi- 

 tants, and premiums were instantly offer- 

 ed for plans of a boat, which should be 

 the best calculated to brave the dangers 

 of the sea, particularly of broken water. 

 >lany persons laid claim to the reward, 

 but the preference was given unani- 

 mously to Mr. Greathead's. 



The principle of this boat appears to 

 have been suggested to the inventor by 

 the following simple fact : Take a sphe- 

 roid, and divide it into quarters : each 

 quarter is elliptical, and nearly resemble* 

 the half of a wooden bowl, having a curva- 

 ture with projecting- ends : this, thrown 

 into the sea or broken water, cannot be 

 upset, or lie with the bottom upwards. 

 The length of the boat is, as we have 

 seen, thirty feet ; the breadth ten feet ; 

 the depth, from the top of the gunwale 

 to the lower part of the keel in midships, 

 three feet three inches ; from the gun- 

 wale to the platform (within,) two feet 

 four inches ; from the top of the stems 

 (both, ends being similar) to the horizon- 



tal line of the bottom of the keel, five feA 

 nine inches. The keel is a plank of three 

 inches thick, of a proportionate breadtb. 

 in midships, narrowing- gradually towards 

 the ends to the breadth of the stems at 

 the bottom, and forming- a great convexi- 

 ty downwards. The ends of the bottom 

 section form that fine kind of entrance 

 observable in the lower part of the 

 bow of the fishing-boat called a coble, 

 much used in the north. From tiiis 

 part to the top of the stem it is more 

 elliptical, forming a considerable projec- 

 tion. The sides, from the floor-heads to 

 the top of the gun-wale, Haunch off on 

 each side, in proportion to above half the 

 breadth of the floor. The breadth is con-r 

 tinued far forwards to wards the ends, leav- 

 ing a sufficient length of straight side at 

 the top. The sheer is regular along- the 

 straight side, and more elevated towards 

 the ends. The gunwale fixed to the out- 

 side is three inches thick. The sides* 

 from the under part of the gunwale, along- 

 the whole length of the regular sheer, 

 extending twenty-one feet six inches, are 

 cased with layers of cork, to the depth 

 of sixteen inches downwards ; and the 

 thickness of this casing of cork being four 

 inches, it projects at the top a little with- 

 out the g-unwale. The cork on the out- 

 side is secured with thin plates, or slips 

 of copper, and the boat is fastened with 

 copper nails. The thwarts, or seats, are 

 five in number, double banked ; conse- 

 quently, the boat may be rowed with ten 

 oars. The boat is steered with an oar ai 

 each end : and the steering- oar is one 

 third longer than the rowing oar. The 

 platform placed at the bottom, within the 

 boat, is horizontal, the length of the mid- 

 ships, and elevated at the ends, for th 

 convenience of the steersman, to give 

 him a greater power with the oar. The 

 internal parts of the boat next the sides is 

 cased with cork; the whole quantity of 

 which affixed to the life-boat is nearly se- 

 ven hundred weight. The cork, indis- 

 putably, contributes much to the buoy- 

 ancy of the boat, is a g-ood defence in go- 

 ing- along side a vessel, and is of princi- 

 pal use in keeping the boat in nn ci m ec 

 position in the sea, or rather for giving- 

 her a very lively and quick disposition to 

 recover from any sudden cant or lurch, 

 which she may receive from the stroke 

 of a heavy wave. But, exclusively of the 

 cork, the admirable construction of this 

 boat gives it a decided pre-eminence. 

 The ends being similar, the boat can be 

 rowed either way ; and this peculiarity of 

 form alleviates her in rising over the 

 waves. The curvature of the keel and 



