LIFE 
by referring to Plate Life Boat, &c. in 
which 
Fig, 1. A cross section of the Life Boat. 
F,F. The outside coatings of cork. 
G G. The inside cork filling. 
H, H. The outside planks of the boat. 
I. One of the stems of the boat. 
K. The keel. 
N, N. The timber-heads. 
P. The thwarts, or rowers’ seats. 
R. One of the stanchions under the 
thwarts, each being thus firmly supported. 
S. A section of the gang-board, which 
crosses the thwarts, and forms the passage 
from one end of the boat to the other. 
T. The floor-heads, or platform for the 
rowers’ feet. 
V, V. The two bilge pieces, nearly level 
with the keel. 
W, W. The gunwales. 
X. A ring bolt for the head-fast, there 
being another also at the other end. 
Y. Platform for the steersman. 
Fig. 2. A longitudinal section of the Life 
Boat. 
FEE. The sheer or curve of the boat. 
I, I. The two sterns or ends. 
K, The keel. 
L, L. The aprons, to strengthen the 
stems. 
M, M. The sheets, or place for passen- 
gers. 
N, N. Timber heads, or boat-fastenings. 
O, O, O, O. The tholes on which the oars 
are slung by gromets. 
T. Flooring under the rowers’ feet. 
Fig. 3. Plan of a Truck or Carriage with 
four wheels, to convey the boaTto and from 
the sea. 
a. An oblong frame of wood consisting 
of two long pieces, hollowed a little to ad- 
mit 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, tuat the bottom of the boat may be 
firm therein. 
e, e. Two small rollers moveable in the 
cross timbers for the keel of tiie boat to 
slide upon. 
fi f Two long rollers, one at each end of 
the frame, to assist in raising the boat upon, 
or sliding it off the truck or carriage. 
BOAT. 
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 the Tyne alone, which 
otherwise must have been lost ; and in no 
instance has it ever failed. This useful, and, 
to a maritime nation, highly important in- 
vention, was occasioned by the following 
circumstance : In September, 1789, the 
ship Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded 
on the south-side of Tynemouth 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 melancholy 
occasion the gentlemen of South Shields 
called a meeting of the inhabitants, and 
premiums were instantly offered for plans 
of a boat which should be the best calcu- 
lated to brave the dangers of the sea, par- 
ticularly of broken water. Many persons 
laid claim to the reward, but the prefer- 
ence was given unanimously to Mr. Great- 
head’s. 
The principle of this boat appears to have 
been suggested to the inventor by the fol- 
lowing simple fact Take a spheroid, and 
divide it into quarters ; each quarter is el- 
liptical, and nearly resembles the half of a 
wooden bowl, having a curvature with pro- 
jecting 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 gunwale to the platform (within)’ 
two feet four inches ; from the top of the 
stems (both ends being similar) to the ho- 
rizontal line of the bottom of the keel, five 
feet nine inches. The keel is a plank of 
three inches tiiick, of a proportionate 
breadth in midships, narrowing gradually 
towards the ends, to the breadth of the 
stems at the bottom, and forming a great 
convexity 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 
tnis part to the top of the stem it is more 
elliptical, forming a considerable projec- 
