LIFE-PI? ESERVER. 
G6'o 
That this is clone with the afliftance of low wheels, or 
■what may be called rollers, upon which (lie is dragged to 
the water’s edge ; and, by means of hands proportioned 
to the weight of the boat, the can be launched with- as 
much eafe as any other boat. He remembers th$ in ft a nice 
ftated by Mr. Samuel Plumb, in which the life-boat, 
being drifted to the northward by a ftrong tide, was 
landed, and again launched to the fouthward, oppofite to 
the wreck, and in the face of a very heavy fea. When 
the Gatefhead, Planter, and other (Trips, were wrecked, it 
was firft difeovered that the life-boat could adt with per¬ 
fect fafety athwart the fea ; and fince that time, the boat 
has been rowed athwart-fea, or otherwife, indifferently, 
as the objeft to be relieved required it; and that the goes 
with the fame fafety from one objeff to another, in a 
broken fea, as an ordinary boat would pafs from one drip 
to another in a fmooth fea. He is confident, fince the 
eftablifhment of the life-boat, that there have been at leaf! 
300 perfons brought on-fliore from ill i p s in did refs, and 
wrecks off Shields, the greateft part of__whom mufc other- 
wife have perilhed. And the witnefs added, that it was 
his opinion, founded upon experience and the obferva- 
tions he had been enabled to make, that no fea, however 
high, could overfet or fink the life-boat.” 
The originality of Mr. Greathead’s invention is there 
proved by proper certificates and attefiations; and the re¬ 
muneration that he had received, over and above a profit 
of from fen to fifteen pounds each upon building a few 
boats, are dated to be, From the Literary and Philofo- 
phical Society of Newcadle, five guineas; Royal Humane 
Society, a medallion; Corporation of the Trinity Houfe, 
100 guineas; Society of Arts, a gold medallion and'50 
guineas. The vote of parliament, on the third of June, 
in confequence of the foregoing report, was, “ That a furn 
not exceeding 1200 pounds be granted to his majefty, to 
be paid to Henry Greathead, of South Shields, in the 
county of Durham, boat-builder, as a reward for his in¬ 
vention of the life-boat, whereby many lives have already 
been faved, and great fecurity is afforded to feameri and 
property in cafes of fhipwreck.” 
The fubferibers at Lloyd’s, on the'20th of May, voted 
to Mr. Greathead the fum of 100 guineas, “as an acknow¬ 
ledgment of his talents and exertions in inventing and 
building a life-boat,” and 2000I. “ for the purpofe of en¬ 
couraging the building of life-boats on different parts of 
the coafts of thefe kingdoms.” At the beginning of 1804, 
Mr. Greathead received a very valuable diamond ring 
from the emperor of RufTia, whofe munificence to ingeni¬ 
ous men of all countries is well known. 
The following extraff from the Tyne Mercury of the 
29th of November, 1803, is another proof of the great uti¬ 
lity of the life-boat. “The Bee of Shields, John Houfton 
maker, having put to fea (21ft Nov.) in an eafterly wind, 
had not proceeded far, when it began to blow ftrong from 
the fouth-eaft, which obliged him a few hours after to pfit 
back. In taking Tynemouth bar at the laft quarter ebb, 
in a very heavy fea, file (truck the ground, and unfhipped 
her rudder. Being now completely unmanageable, (lie 
drifted towards the north fide of the bar, and at length 
drove on the Black Middens. They who have witnefled 
the tremendous fea which breaks on the north-eaft part 
of this harbour, in a fouth-eafterly wind, may form a con¬ 
ception of the dreadful fituation in which the crew of 
the veffel were fituated. In the midlt of rocks, where the 
fea runs mountains high, fo as frequently to obfeure the 
fhip, and where any veflei might be expended immediately 
to go to pieces; their only refuge from being fwept into 
the gulf, was to climb up into the fhrouds, which the 
captain, with fix meQ and boys, being the whole crew, 
inltantly effected. The dangerous fituation in which they 
were placed, immediately attrafTed an immenfe number 
of fpe&ators from both North and South Shields. The 
fhores in every direction were lined with people, who ex- 
preffed, by their anxious looks, the moft Sympathetic ap- 
prehenlions for their fafety. The making ufe of the life¬ 
boat was by nioft people thought impoffible; and, at all 
events, the attempt was attended with extreme danger, 
owing to the tremendous fea, and the immenfe rocks which 
lay where the veffel was ftranded. So confident, however, 
was Mr. Greathead, the inventor, of the life-boat being 
able to live in any fea, if properly navigated, that he, 
without hefitation, and with the greateft alertnefs, volun¬ 
teered his fervices to bring off the men from the brig. 
This intrepid offer operated like, eleftricity among the 
bailors; and immediately the Northumberland life-boat 
was launched, and manned with Mr. Greathead and South 
Shields pilots. In the courfe of a few minutes they reached 
the veffel without much difficulty, and picked off the 
men from the fhrouds fhivering with cold, anti almoft pe- 
rifhed by fatigue. One man, in making too much hafle 
to enter the boat, fell into the breakers, but was imme¬ 
diately recovered. When the whole crew was in the boat, 
they rowed towards the fliore; and in lefs than an hour 
from the time the boat was launched, did they return in 
fafety to South Shields, without a fingle accident!” 
In May 1807, the gold medal of the Society of Arts vva# 
voted to Mr. C. Wilfon, of the Commercial Road, Lon¬ 
don, for a boat which poffefTes great advantages either in 
embarking or difembarking of troops, in affording fuccour 
to veffels in diftrefs, or in preventing accidents from car¬ 
rying too great a prefs of fail. It unites the powers of a 
fecure failing-boat, with more room and greater expedi¬ 
tion than Other boats which draw the lame depth of wa¬ 
ter ufually poifefs. Its conftruftion alfo obviates the 
danger of its being overfet by perfons crowding on one 
fide, in getting in or out of the'boat. The inventor calls 
it a neutral-built felf-balanced boat. “ By the term neutral 
is meant, what is neither of the two prefent modes now 
in ufe, i. e. clincher or carver, but both united, viz. 
clincher in the infide and carver on the outfide, which 
neutralizes both the two into a third; and, as every thing 
has a diftinguifhing name, I have taken the liberty to pre¬ 
fent it to the public- under the name of a neutral boat. 
“The two modes of clincher and carver built have each 
their feparate advantages and difadvantages in regard to 
each other. I (hall begin with the clincher firft. As the 
fides of the planks are firmly fattened to each other, by 
lapping over and rivetting, they are much ftronger than 
if the edges only butted ; and they have the property of 
being made tight without caulking, only in the huddings 
and keel-feams; and are much lighter than carver-built 
boats, and more adapted for many tries; befides laving 
the difference between thick and thin plank. But they 
have their difadvantages alfo; in the fiVft place, both un¬ 
fair fides and unfair water-lines, which makes them liable 
to be injured by other bodies they come in contact with, 
and have the edges of the planks broken fo as to make a 
leak, which would not happen to a fmooth-fided boat; 
neither can the uneven fide move fo well through the 
water, on account of its various refiftances. They have 
alfo this difad vantage, that, if damaged, they require the 
fkill of a profeffional workman to repair them. 
“The carver-built boats have the advantage of having 
fmooth fides and fair water-lines, together with having 
the planks-of an equal thicknefs all over the boat, which 
makes them lefs liable to receive injuries when meeting 
with other bodies, and more adapted to move in the wa¬ 
ter, by their fair fides and fair water-lines. They are alfo 
more readily repaired ; if a profeffional boat-builder is not 
at hand, it can be done by a common fhipwright, or any 
workman that is ufed to wood-work. But they have alfo 
their difadvantages; in the firft inftance they are under 
the neceffity of being built of plank of a great thicknefs 
to ftand caulking; at the fame time they require larger 
timbers, which makes them heavy and unfit for many 
ufes,and alfo a great confumption of timber on account of 
the thicknefs cf the plank neceffary. They are alfo more 
fubjeft to leaks from various caufes than clincher-built 
boats. 
“We will now look to the neutral fyftem, and fee if 
botri 
