[127] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 771 



Lyman's patent bow-facing rowing- gear — Continued. 



stroke; secondly, to enable the outer end of the oar to be 

 bow of the boat is slightly raised by the motion of the rower, 

 instead of being lowered by his motion as in ordinary rowing. 

 (4.) The stroke is longer than with ordinary oars. (5.) The 

 oars can be instautly closed up out of the way along the side 

 of the boat without detaching them from the gunwale, and by 

 pressing up catch of the handle joint they can be folded inside 

 the gunwale of the boat. (6.) It is better from the fact that 

 the blade of the oar is in front, and can be seen at the begin- 

 ning of the stroke, so there is no difficulty in avoiding obstacles, 

 and there is no possibility of 'catching crabs.' (7.) With these 

 oars the boatman makes no more effort in steering than in di- 

 recting his course while walking, and this advantage lessens 

 greatly the effort in rowing. (8.) The recovery, i. e., return 

 stroke of these oars, is very easy, so that any head wind upon 

 the blade is hardly noticeable. (9.) While rowing there is no 

 noise from the bearings. (10.) A pair of these oars weigh about 

 6 pounds more than the ordinary oars, but this additional 

 weight has this advantage, that at the beginning and end of 

 the stroke it helps to lower and raise the blade, owing to the 

 peculiar position of the oar. (11.) When these oars are de- 

 tached from the boat no wood or iron projections are left on 

 the wale of the boat, as in ordinary rowing gear, and thus a 

 serious inconvenience is obviated. (12.) All danger of collision 

 is avoided, and this advantage cannot be overestimated. One 

 of the chief advantages of facing forward is that the oarsman 

 can row with greater ease and safety in rough water. These 

 oars can be attached to and detached from the boat very 

 quickly, and they can be closed up in a convenient form for 

 carrying. These several advantages, viz : the front view, the 

 increased ease and speed in rowing, the raising of the bow in- 

 stead of depressing it, the closing up of the oar out of the way 

 while on the boat, the increased facility in avoiding obstacles, 

 the diminished effort of hand and eyes in steering, the rowing 

 without noise, the better balance and swing of the oars, have 

 commended this new gear to all who have tried it." — (Lyman.) 



Noiseless rowlock. 



Frederick D. Graves's improved noiseless rowlock. Boston, Mass. 

 28,292. Frederick D. Graves. " The object of this invention 

 is to improve the construction and operation of the class of 

 rowlocks in such manner as, first, to insure the proper inclina- 

 tion of the blade of the oar, and prevent the liability of its catch- 

 ing the water when feathering in recovering, as well as to insure 

 the proper position of the blade of the oar when making the 



