NOTES ON LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES. 143 



As regards the argument that the sea may be so rough that it would be fool- 

 hardy to try to hoist a lifeboat at all with the people in it, this may be true, but an 

 experienced seaman can always find ways and means. For instance, around the 

 Hawaiian Islands and the coasts of Central and South America, where most of the 

 harbors are open roadsteads and ships have to ride at anchor, they roll and pitch 

 about when embarking or disembarking their passengers in small boats. The way 

 they do it there is to swing out one of the cargo booms, or else a crane, and transfer 

 the passengers in a specially designed basket. This is done in all kinds of weather. 



I quite agree with Mr. Welin that for ships of ordinary heights substantial 

 bollards for lowering with Manila falls are as good as anything, and if it is desired 

 to facilitate boat drills and hoist boats quickly and at a minimum of time and labor, 

 this can best be accomplished by power capstans, to which the boat falls can be led. 

 For very large ships, however, where the boats are chocked from 60 to 80 feet above 

 the water-line, it is a different matter, and there it may be necessary to utilize some 

 mechanical means and lower the boats with wire falls ; in such case I believe that a 

 system Uke the one devised by Mr. Welin for the S. S. Imperator will cover all 

 requirements. 



In discussing this paper a great deal has been said about stresses on the different 

 types of davits, and some criticism has been offered as to the way of calculating 

 said stresses. I personally know the man who did this work, as regards the Welin 

 davits, and I know also that we have fitted thousands of davits and have found his 

 mode of calculation correct. The safest way to go about it, when rigging up special 

 gears for heavy weights, is to lay the stresses down graphically. However, the gen- 

 tleman who criticized this work has not offered any better solution. 



Now, as you all know, I am the representative of the Welin quadrant davit. 

 I did not start to introduce this davit in the United States without due considera- 

 tion. I first had my patent attorneys send me copies of all the patents for davits 

 ' which had been issued during the last twenty years ; they came pouring in rapidly 

 until they reached close to 2,000. I asked the attorneys to stop. I found there 

 were close to 200 which had actually been manufactured and fitted ; none of them, 

 however, survived the experimental stage. As soon as we took up the Welin davit, 

 practically all of them were replaced with it. There are about 6,000 sets of Welin 

 davits in use. Some of these were installed on ships which went down at sea and 

 their efficiency was put to actual test. In all cases on record, the davits performed 

 the work rapidly and efficiently, no matter what the weather conditions were. 



It is not a matter of sentiment with me ; if to-day or to-morrow a better set of 

 davits should appear, I would be one of the first to take an interest in it, even to 

 the extent of investing, because I am firmly convinced that nothing can be too good, 

 either as regards lifeboats or davits. 



In conclusion, I add a few words to the discussion on Ufeboats. The principal 

 objection offered is that lifeboats are of no use except in smooth water. To those 

 who hold this theory, I wish to point out the fact that sailors, i. e., really experienced 

 seamen, who know how to handle a Ufeboat in a high sea, place far more confidence 

 in them than architects and engineers who lack practical experience in handling 



