NOTES ON LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES. 137 



Weight of boat 2,250 pounds; 18 men in the boat; 10 men at the davits; 

 5 minutes 15 seconds were required to swing it outboard. 



A number of releasing gears were tried out, all with more or less success ; 

 in fact, it might be said that all of them performed the operations expected 

 of them but only one of them seemed to me to meet the demands of absolute 

 simplicity. 



In concluding my paper I beg to say that the Board, which is composed 

 of the following gentlemen, Col. C. B. Baker, Gen. George Uhler, G. A. 

 Anthony, Naval Architect, Capt. James McKay, Capt. A. D. Lothrop, Capt. 

 W. T. Oliver, is doing a great work, which will bear fruit, and the careful 

 consideration and serious attention which these gentlemen gave to the vari- 

 ous ideas presented show their determination to arrive at conclusions based 

 entirely on mental deductions and not on personal preferences. 



DISCUSSION. 



The President: — Discussion on the paper " Notes on Life-Saving Appliances," 

 by Mr. W. D. Forbes, is now in order. 



Mr. Warren T. Berry, Member: — The first officer of one of the large Atlantic 

 ships told me recently of having completely destroyed two all-wood boats by lowering 

 them loaded to equal their full capacity, and suddenly checking the falls. There is 

 evidently considerable room for improvement in the construction of lifeboats, and 

 I think a steel keel is a step in the right direction. 



Mr. Forbes refers to what he calls the hencoop system of life-saving, i. e., a 

 section of deckhouse so fitted that it can be released and floated off as the ship sinks. 

 Of what value would this arrangement be in case of a fire serious enough to necessi- 

 tate abandoning the ship? 



Should the round-bar davit be damned by the faint praise that it has the advan- 

 tage of simplicity only? When fitted with the proper worm and gear attachment 

 it is adjustable as to outreach, as then it can be held either forward or aft of its 

 extreme outboard position and so keep the lifeboat close alongside for loading or 

 unloading. I have seen at boat drills many times a 26-foot lifeboat swung out, 

 ready to lower, in considerably less than two minutes with such an arrangement. 



The figures given comparing the effort required to operate pin-type and quad- 

 rant-type davits are not at all conclusive, possibly because the pin-type davit 

 selected for comparison was not a good design. This also applies to the data given 

 of time required to swing out boats with the pin-type davits. 



