THE years 1850-1, next to the year 1785, were those of the greatest importance in the history of the Coast Life-boat, and in fact of- the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION also, for, as has often been pointed out, apathy in the Life-boat cause had allowed things to drift into a parlous state. The greater number of the so-called Life-boats on the coast were rotten, and except at a few places organization was conspicuous by its ab- sence. Algernon, the 4th Duke of North- umberland, as is well known, came to the rescue, and the result of his offering a prize of one hundred guineas for the best model of a Life-boat must have been as astonishing to him as it was satisfactory.

The Committee who were appointed to examine the models and recommend to whom the prize should be awarded, began their report by congratulating his Grace on the liberal manner in which his offer had been responded to by boat-builders and others from all parts of the United Kingdom. There were also several foreign competitors who submitted models. 280 models and plans were sent into Somerset House, embracing nearly every con- ceivable form of boat or raft, and con- taining mechanical contrivances of almost every description, a wide assort- ment of material being used or recom- mended in their construction. Much attention was bestowed on giving the models self-righting power, and many ingenious methods employed to that end, mostly of far too complicated a nature to be of any practical value.

Then, as now, much time and trouble was spent in applying manual power to drive screw propellers or paddle wheels, and many models were sub- mitted illustrating the inventors' ideas in this direction ; of these, perhaps the most curious was one showing "one boat suspended within another pro- pelled by a screw worked by six men." •Another showed a method of propulsion brought about by " 10 men pumping water," and another "by exhausting air," whilst a fourth was " propelled by a fishtail." The application of steam to Life-boats was anticipated by Mr. G. Remington, C.E., of Warkworth, who sent in a model of a Life-boat showing a screw propeller to be worked by a steam-engine of 10 horse-power. She was to be of the folio wing dimensions:—Length, extreme, 40 ft., of keel, 36 ft.; breadth, 8 ft.; depth, 6 ft. Sheer of gunwale, 9 inches.

Weight, 300 cwt., and to cost 500Z.

Great attention was paid to ballast, both liquid and solid, the generality of methods proposed being too complicated for Life-boat work although many were undoubtedly clever.

Self-baling or relieving the boat of water which might come on board, also had a large number of devotees, and here again there was a noticeable pro- pensity shown for ingenious but too complicated methods. However, it must not be supposed that no practical advantage was gained-in this direction, for the present extremely simple and efficient non-return valve fitted in all the Institution's Life-boats was the outcome of this competition. Prior to 1852 the " relieving tubes," which con- veyed the water off the deck, were open at both ends, consequently, even in a slight sea, the water would spurt up through the tubes, making it anything but pleasant for the men sitting on the thwarts. The non-return valves being placed on the upper or deck end of thetubes almost entirely stopped this dis agreeable spurting.

Among the methods suggested for self-baling, were many boats fitted wit! scuppers with self-acting valves, for discharging the water through the side instead of the usual system employed viz., tubes connecting the deck with thi bottom of the Life-boat. One competitor fitted his boat with siphons tc take the water off; another provided an "hydrostatic apparatus for delivering the water" (hydrostatic apparatus for this purpose is continually being recommended, but as a rule is heavy and complicated). Many varieties o: valves were also advocated.

Turning to the material used in the construction of the Life-boats and their various parts. Cork, of course, was much favoured, whilst gutta-percha wickerwork, dried rushes, kamptulicon and copper were, among other substances, employed in addition to wood and iron.

Many eccentricities were to be found in the form of the boats submitted for competition. Double-boats, and even a triple-bottomed boat, boats without bottoms and rafts of all descriptions, a boat with a rolling cylinder at bottom for land transport and one of wicker- work covered with canvas to be rolled along the beach to the site of the wreck and then opened out! Several of the competitors fitted their models with " centre-boards " or " sliding keels." To show what was aimed at tiy the offer of the prize of 100 guineas, it might be convenient to quote from the notice to boat-builders, fec., which was published and circulated largely in October, 1850.

"Great loss of life having occurred from time to time on the coast of Northumberland and elsewhere by the upsetting of life-boats, and especially in the case of the Shields Life-boat in December last, whereby twenty pilots were drowned, notice is hereby given that, with a view to the improvement of boats to be employed for such | purposes, His Grace the Duke of Northumberland offers the sum of 100 guineas for the best model of a Life- boat, which may be sent to the Sur-veyor's Department, Admiralty, Somer-set House, London, by 1st February, 1851." Then follow the names of the Committee, and further, "It is con- sidered that the chief objections to the present Life-boats, generally speaking, are:— 1. That they do not right themselves in the event of being upset.

2. That they are too heavy to be readily launched and transported along the coast in case of need.

3. That they do not free themselves of water fast enough.

4. That they are very expensive." It will be seen from the above that self-righting was the " first plank in the platform," consequently it is not sur- prising that the prize was ultimately awarded to a boat embodying that principle.

In order to judge the various models the Committee agreed upon certain points which they considered essential qualities of a Life-boat, and apportioned values to them as follows :— Qualities as a rowing-boat in all weathers........20 Qualities as a sailing-boat. . . . 18 Qualities as a sea-boat—as stability, safety, buoyancy forward for launching through a surf, &e. . . 10 Small internal capacity for water up to level of thwarts.....9 Means of freeing boat of water readily 8 Extra buoyancy: its nature, amount, distribution and mode of appli- cation .........7 Power of self-righting.....6 Suitableness for beaching .... 4 Room for, and power of, carrying passengers........3 Moderate weight for transport along shore.........3 Protection from injury to bottom . 3 Ballast, as iron (1), water (2), cork (3) 3 Access to stem or stern .... 3 Timber heads for securing warps to . 2 Fenders, life-lines, &c......1 100 In spite of the prominency given to " self:righting" in the circular, it will be seen that only a value of six was allotted for this property.

It might appear strange nowadays, considering the different circumstances under which Life-boat work is done, that a committee could be found to agree as to what was the best universal type of Life-boat. The following extract from their report explains to a certain extent how they were actuated: "It will be seen by the above formula (table of values) that the Committee consider it an essential requisite in a Life-boat that she should be a good rowing boat, able to get off the beach in any weather in which a boat can live at sea, as without the power of doing this other good qualities are of no avail.

To this, then, is awarded the highest number. As on the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, where the wrecks generally occur on outlying sands, all the Life- boats go off under sail, and, as it was evident some of the best models were prepared with this view, it was considered that these also were entitled to. be placed on a par with boats built chiefly for pulling; but as rowing is the general rule around the coasts and sailing the exception, a slight difference was made in favour of the former." The Committee selected the names of thirty-seven competitors for publishing in their report, with marks awarded to them varying from 84, obtained by Mr.

James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth, whose model was awarded the prize, down to 60. This list included all the well-known Life-boat-builders of the day. Thirteen sets of drawings were also reproduced and attached to the report, showing the methods employed by the following competitors: James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth; Henry Hinks, Appledore, Devon; J. & E.

Pellew-Plenty, of Newbury, Berks ; William Teasdel, Great Yarmouth ; Harvey fe Son, Ipswich; George Farrow, South Shields ; George Palmer, Nazing Park, Essex; William Van Houten, Rotterdam ; Messrs. White, of Cowes; Lieut. B. Sharpe, R.N., Hanwell Park; Commodore Lord John Hay, C.B. (then Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard); Thomas Costain, Liverpool; and James Peake, Assistant Master- Shipwright in H.M. Dockyard, Wool- wich (and subsequently a member of the Committee of Management of the.

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITU-TION). The last did not compete.

He was one of the Committee, and was requested by his colleagues to prepare plans, in which, profiting by the experi- ence gained in examining the models, all the best qualities should be com- bined.

It is not the province of this article to enter exhaustively into the history of " self-righting," or to take part in the controversy which has raged round it ever since the first Life-boat provided with self-righting powers was built, a controversy over which much ill temper and ill feeling has been generated in the past, and even up to within a very few years ago. Now many of the most violent partisans are no longer with us, and there is this to be said, that in nearly every instance, those who took the most prominent part in the controversy were only actuated by an honourable desire to put the best possible Life-boats into the hands of the men who have to use them, often in circumstances demanding great gallantry. In times gone by there is no doubt that the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTI-TUTION advocated the use of self-righting Life-boats in a very marked degree; latterly, however, a broader view has been taken, and the self-righting boat is not put forward more than the other types. Greater experience of Life-boat work on the part of officers and men has resulted in more mutual trust, and the Life-boatmen are now allowed a considerable voice in the choice of their Life-boats; consequently, the relative position of the self-righting boat canalone be established by the experiences of the future.

The Duke of Northumberland's prize of 100 guineas having been awarded to Mr. James Beeching, in 1851, he at once built a boat to the model submitted, and the Harbour trustees of Ramsgate having witnessed the satisfactory trials, purchased her, and stationed her at Ramsgate.

The model of Mr. Beeching's boat may launched. The principle (a very simple one) of making a boat " self-right," or, in other words, return to its normal upright position after being capsized, had been known for very many years and had been experimented on, but Mr. Beeching's Life-boat was the first built that ever embodied this principle.

The body of the boat was of whale- boat form, and it will be observed that ! it closely resembles the yawls now in LIFEBOAT. BY JAMES BEECHINC. CT YARMOUTH.

SUBMITTED TO COMPETE FOR THE NORTHUMBERLAND PREMIUM.

Fig.3.

PLAN.

Fig.4.

Fig. 5.

SECTION AT 3.

be seen in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution, in the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall.

The plans which are reproduced will show at once the description of boat, and although our eyes are now accus- tomed to the unsightly high end boxes in the bow and stern of self-righting Life-boats, no doubt her appearance must have called forth considerable sur- prise and criticism when she was first SECTION AT C use on Yarmouth beach. The floor was slightly rounded and the sides round in the fore and aft direction. Stem and stern-post nearly upright. The boat was clinker-built of wainscot oak and iron-fastened.

Length, extreme, 36 ft., of keel, 31 ft,; breadth of beam, 9J ft.; depth, 3| ft.; sheer of gunwale, 36 ins.; rake of stem and stern post, 5 in.; straight keel, 8 in. deep ; 7 thwarts, 27 ins. apart, 7 ins. below the gunwale and 18 ins.

above the floor; pulls 12 oars, double banked with pins and grummets. A cork fender, 6 ins. wide and 8 ins. deep, ran outside at 7 ins. below the gunwale.

Extra buoyancy was given by air- cases, 20 ins, high, in the bottom of the boat under the deck; round part of the sides, 24 ins. wide by 18 ins. deep, up to the level of the thwarts, leaving 10 ft. free amidships; and in the head and stern sheets for a length of 8J ft.

to the height of the gunwale; the whole divided into compartments and built into the boat. Extra buoyancy was also given by the cork fender, the total amount being 300 cubic ft., equal to 8| tons.

A water ballast tank divided into compartments occupied the midship portion of the boat, 14 ft. long by 5 ft.

wide, and 15 ins. high, containing when full 2 tons. An iron keel weighing 10 cwt. was also provided. The means for freeing the boat of water was by 8 tubes of 6 ins. diameter, and 4 of 4 ins.

diameter, making a total discharging area of 276 sq. ins. Rig—lug foresail, and mizen. Draft of water with 30 persons on board, 26 ins.; weight of boat, 50 cwt., of gear, 17. Supposed to be capable of carrying 70 persons.

Cost, with gear, 250?.

A glance at the drawings will show that this Life-boat, apart from the self-righting arrangements, was an extremely powerful boat, more efficient for sailing than for pulling, and likely to be a very good sea boat.

The self-righting properties were obtained by giving the boat considerable sheer of gunwale, providing raised air- cases at her ends, the absence of side air-cases for a length of 10ft. amidships, the introduction of 2£ tons of water ballast, and her iron keel. That is to say, if the boat were capsized the bow and stern air-chambers, having sufficient buoyancy to support the whole weight of the boat when keel up, she would, consequently, be resting on two points, with the iron keel and water ballast carried in an elevated position above the centre of buoyancy, forming an unstable equilibrium, in which position the boat could not remain, unless most carefully balanced, for the weight of the keel and ballast would be sure to fall a little on one side or the other, and, consequently, drag the boat round to her normal position. It appears that Mr. Beeching must have trusted to a large extent to the weight of the water ballast to " right" the boat, for the small amount of iron, viz., 10 cwt., on the keel, would have been a very unimportant factor in the process in so large a boat.

By leaving out the side air-cases for a length of 10 ft. amidships it is quite clear that Mr. Beeching was fully alive to the deterrent effect on self- righting exercised by large side air- cases ; a moment's consideration will reveal the fact that they must act towards preventing a boat from righting.

The principles employed by Mr.

Beeching are of course not the only ones by which self-righting power may be obtained, but they are the simplest, and for that reason have continued to remain in force up to the present date, with the exception that a heavy iron keel has been substituted for the water ballast, and continuous moderate-sized side air-cases take the place of the arrangement made in the prize Life-boat.

In some of the self-righting boats of the present day it is true water ballast is used but it is not one of the factors in self-righting; in fact, it sometimes re- duces the self-righting power in an infinitesimal degree.

Before leaving Mr. Beeching's life- boat it must be recorded that the first boat which has been described was an unqualified success, and did an enor- mous amount of work at Ramsgate until she was worn out and replaced.

With some of his other boats he was not so successful. In 1852 two Life- boats built by him capsized and failed to right, several lives being lost; one was stationed at Rhyl and was 26 ft.long, 7 ft. beam, 3 ft. deep, carrying 18 cwt. of water ballast; and the other was stationed at Lytham and of the following dimensions, 28 ft. long, 7 ft. beam, 3J ft. deep, and carrying 25 cwt.

of water ballast. Both of these boats were supposed to be self-righting boats, but an article in the December 1852 number of the Life-boat, page 124, points out that the end air-cases, " in- stead of being water-tight as in the prize model, are lockers with doors in them; that the water ballast escapes by the pump hole every time the boat rolls, and the tank thus not being full the ballast becomes shifting ballast." The mere fact of the end boxes being used as store lockers was quite enough to neutralize the self-righting arrange-ments ! Be that as it may, these accidents gave a handle to the anti-self- righting party, and the controversy, which had already begun, was fanned into flames which have only died out in recent years.

Pursuing the course adopted in these articles, the history and development of the self-righting boat will be brought up to the present day before returning to treat with some other Life-boat models, submitted to compete for the Northumberland prize.

(To be continued.)