MECHANIC K S. IN N the year 1776, Mr. William Shipley, of Maidstone, whose benevolence is univerfally known and acknowledged, and who has already been mentioned in this volume, page 125, prefented to the Society a contrivance, called by him a Floating Light, for faving the lives of perfons who fall over-board in the night: this contrivance appearing to the Society ingenious, and the intention humane, the Society voted their thanks and a filver medal to Mr. Shipley, who left with them one of the floating lights, which is preserved in the Society's repofitory, and of which the following is a description. The machine confifts of a kind of boat made of tin-plates, two feet four inches long, twelve inches wide, and twelve inches deep the cover of this boat is folK2 dered dered down, fo that the whole cavity is water and air tight; but, left by any accident the boat fhould be bulged, and confequently funk in the water, the infide is filled with bladders blown up with air: if therefore a hole fhould chance to be beaten through the fide, one or two of the bladders at moft would be injured, and the remainder would be fufficient to keep the machine floating on the water. That any unfortunate person who falls over-board in the night may have an opportunity of difcovering the machine, there rifes from the cover or deck of the boat four upright pieces of tin, ferving to fupport a circle which is foldered to them; within this circle is another, moving on two axes, in the manner fea-compaffes are hung, and fupporting the lanthorn, which is thus kept in its perpendicular pofition, notwithstanding any irregular motion of the boat. There are also fixed to the fides of the boat two projecting handles for the perfon to lay hold of, in order order to fupport himself till he is brought to the fhip's fide by the means of a rope,' which being made fast to the tin boat, and the other end remaining on board the ship, the people may with ease hawl the apparatus and man towards them. Thus far may ferve as a general description of the floating light; but in order to facilitate the faving the man, another contrivance is added, confifting of a lanthorn, to be let down from the ship by a rope, and having a rope-ladder fastened to it, whofe ufes are more fully described in the annexed paper, as fent by Mr. Shipley with the machine. It may be proper to obferve that, to prevent the light in the lanthorns being put out by the spray of the sea, their tops. are made double, which, though they are pierced full of holes for the purpose of admitting air, will effectually prevent that accident. An Account of the Ufe of a FLOATING LIGHT, calculated to fave the lives of fuch perfons as have the misfortune to fall over-board in the night. IT is propofed, in order to make this float useful, that it be every night under the care of thofe officers who are on the watch, and that its lamp be frequently trimmed and supplied with fresh oil, and its fnuff moistened with oil of turpentine, that it may take fire with the leaft touch of a lamp or candle; and whenever the fhip is alarmed by any of the failors falling over-board in the night, the officer on watch may light the lamp in the lanthorn belonging to the float as expeditious as poffible, and let the float down by the fmall cord into the water, till it has floated about one fecond of time, and the float is a little way out of the perpendicular of the final cord; he is then to faften the cord to the reel for way the line, and tofs it over-board, which will fink down and pull the line almost perpendicular: and thus it will not be liable to entangle the perfon when he fwims to the float, who, when he has got hold of the handles of it, may move it very faft which he will, only by ftriking his legs in the fame manner as he does when he swims; and as the light of the lamp will be a certain direction for the perfon over-board to find the float, fo it will also direct them in the ship to find the man and float. And when the fhip has tacked about, and is come to the float, then the following method is propofed, to take up the man and float into the ship, viz. the lanthorn with the ropeladder may be let down from the end of a pole with a cord and pulley, till the crofs bar below the lanthorn touches the water, which may be feen by them in the ship by means of the light from the bottom of the lanthorn, and thus the man in the water may lay hold of the crofs K 4 |