IT is only natural in this and other countries that the humane desire to improve the means for saving life from shipwreck should appeal to and occupy the minds of men -with a turn for invention or mechanically inclined.

Such being the case, it will surprise few to learn that the offices of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION are frequently visited by those who have given much time and thought to the praiseworthy object of the improvement of Life-boats or the methods of launching and transporting them, or to the gear used in connection with Life - boat work. It is perhaps needless to say that any suggestions or inventions likely to prove of even the smallest advantage are most eagerly welcomed, for, as has often been pointed out, the efficiency of the practical part of the Institution has been built up on experience gained from those who have to use the Life-boats and from those who have taken a deep interest in their improvement.

Unfortunately a very large number of inventors who visit the Life-boat Institution seem to have omitted what anyone would think would be the cardinal principle of finding out what has been done before in the particular direction in which they have spent much time, thought and often skill.

A little trouble taken in making inquiries, either at the offices of the Institution, or at the Patent Office or the British Museum, would in a very large percentage of cases save the expenditure of much misplaced energy and its resultant disappointment. It must be most disheartening, after weeks and months of trouble, to be told that your labours are wasted, and that the principle you are advocating has been tried and experimented on frequently before and found to be of no advantage.

Such however is the experience of the greater number of inventors who visit the Institution, not that they ever go away convinced ! No doubt the experiences of the Life-boat Institution are by no means singular in this respect.

A list of the strange devices which have been brought before the notice of the Life-boat Institution would fill a good-sized volume, but reference to a tew of what might be called " Freak Life-boats" possibly would prove of some interest to the readers of this Journal, and also might possibly act as a deterrent to those who are ambitious to swell the list.

Different methods of propulsion (other than oars and sails) have long occupied the minds of inventors. A model of a steam Life-boat was submitted as early as 1850, but such is the difficulty of adapting means of propulsion to a boat which has to meet all the complicated requirements of Life-boat work, that it was not until 1889 that a steam Lifeboat appeared on the list of the Institution's fleet, and even now so few are the places at which a steam Life-boat can honestly be said to justify the great cost of upkeep, that there are only four of these boats on the coast.

A very favourite idea with inventors is to apply manual power to turn paddlewheels or screw-propellers by means of cranks, and numerous models and designs have been submitted to the Institution having this method in view, but apart from many and obvious other reasons against this idea, there has never been any proof adduced that sufficient power or speed can be obtained by this means, and as a method of manual propulsion the oar of unknown antiquity still reigns supreme.

Numerous mechanical systems of propulsion have, and are being, continually advocated, such as engines driven by air or electricity, not to mention every conceivable kind of oil and gas motor, but with the exception of the last-named, with which the Institution is busily engaged, either from excessive complication, weight or other causes, none of these systems has been found suitable for Life-boat work.

It is, however, in the variety of form and shape that the inventors have given the greatest scope to their energies and imagination. Pontoons, rafts, catamarans and such-like contrivances, often excellent for special work in foreign countries, are continually being submitted. Most of such designs, undoubtedly possessing at least one good qualification for a Life-boat, namely, stability, but unfortunately lacking in nearly every other necessary quality.

Catamarans are much used in many places, notably in Brazil, and it is known that they keep at sea in heavy weather, but that is a very different thing from being so much under control as to be able to approach a wreck; neither can they be considered satisfactory for pulling off a lee shore in a gale of wind. One type of pontoon description has been given a very fair trial in the Life-boat service, and also by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, namely, Messrs. Richardson's Tubular Life-boat. For very many years a few of these were in use. One was tried at those very important competitive Lifeboat trials conducted by the Institution which took place at Lowestoft and at Montrose in 1892-1893. Compared with the sailing competitors, the tubular boat was anything but a success, but in competition with the pulling Life-boats this type showed to better advantage, and in fact gained a good many adherents.

In spite of this, and although for many years it was the custom to send deputations of Life-boat men to see a tubular Life-boat before deciding on the description of boat they required, this type of boat has not " caught on," and is represented by a solitary example at Rhyl, where, at any rate, it must be conceded that the men have every confidence and satisfaction in her.

Double boats, and even triple boats, have claimed a great deal of the attention of inventors. These of course have a strong affinity to the pontoon or tubular Life-boats, and their advocates have in many cases produced some excellent examples of craft having great stability and seaworthy qualities, but when all is said and done, this class of boat leaves much to be desired from a Life-boat point of view, both in handiness and speed; added to this, to be of any value they must be of considerable size, requiring large boat-houses, and rendering them difficult to transport.

Formerly inventors turned their minds towards fitting paddle-wheels in double boats, and many people will no doubt have seen boats of this description on ornamental waters in public parks, etc., usually propelled by cranks worked by the feet.

In addition to "double boats," by which is meant two boats joined together side by side, another form of " double boat" has claimed the attention of those anxious to help the Life-boat service, viz., one boat suspended within another, much like a compass on its gimbals.

Not content •with this anything but simple departure in naval architecture, one design was submitted which further complicated the arrangement by introducing a screw propeller worked by six men.

Many designs for boats with open bottoms have also from time to time been, submitted. This, of course, is only carrying to extremes the method for admitting water ballast formerly in vogue in the Norfolk- and Suffolk Lifeboats.

It will be remembered that these boats had about 20 four-inch (or larger) plugs in their bottom, which were withdrawn as soon as the boat was afloat, the water then finding its own level in the boat. Even this was open to objection and has been superseded by the system of confining the water ballast in tanks. The open bottom boat, except in the case of the tubular Life-boats, has never come into practical use in the Life - boat service.

A great variety of boats, completely covered in by convex steel decks, or some such method, having small hatches by which to obtain access to the interior, have been invented, and brought to the notice of the Life-boat Institution.

Their power of keeping the sea has frequently been proved, but a great deal more than this is required to make a suitable coast Life-boat, and in these covered-in boats one of the most important necessities is absent, viz,., the power of the crew to work the boat when nearing a wreck, and to assist in getting the shipwrecked crew from the ship to the Life-boat. It would indeed puzzle a Life-boat Coxswain to transfer a shipwrecked crew from a vessel stranded on the Goodwin Sands to a boat with a semicircular deck, with perhaps only a small hatch about eighteen inches diameter, down which each of the survivors would have to be taken.

Whatever the description of boat used as a coast Life-boat, she must be so designed that her Coxswain and crew can not only see what they are about, but also have full freedom for their legs and arms, and be able, when required, to work together. Neither the introduction of steam nor motor-power will counteract this necessity.

Boats have been designed combining a method of land transport with their legitimate functions as boats. One such had carriage-wheels fixed on axles under two of the thwarts, with an arrangement for detaching the wheels by means of a lever as soon as the boat was afloat. Another had four little wheels, twelve inches in diameter, fitted into the keel, while several have been fitted with a cylindrical roller in their bottoms, to come into action when being launched or hauled up.

One of the strangest suggestions ever made was that of a wicker Life-boat covered with canvas, intended to be rolled along the beach to the site of the wreck, and then opened out into boat shape.

Many systems of obtaining the power to " self-right " have from time to time been submitted. In one case the design showed five round shot placed in the bilge to roll from side to side against a spiral spring. Another designer advocated a suspended weight, in conjunction with the usual high end-boxes as used by the Institution in their self-righting Life-boats. Traversing ballast in various forms other than the five rovmd shot alluded to above have had many adherents ; likewise many have favoured principles in which water is used for the self-righting agent, admitted in various ways into tanks. In fact, even to mention all the methods advocated for making a boat " self-right " would provide material for a long chapter.

Many strange means for getting rid of or ejecting water have also been proposed.

Here again the systems have been usually of so complicated a description as to render them quite unsuitable for Life-boats, especially as an extremely simple arrangement for self-baling has been found to fulfil all the requirements.

Speaking generally, the inventors who visit the Life-boat Institution have one fixed idea in their heads as to how Lifeboat work is done, and have worked in this direction, not having any experience of the multifarious ways in which Life-boats carry out their task, governed as it is by all sorts of geographical considerations. Again, nearly every inventor, in explaining his invention, begins by stating that his boat is uncapsizable.

Here is another pitfall, for it is a statement not at all likely to impress those who have made the study of Lifeboats their profession. It can honestly be said that no absolutely uncapsizable boat or even ship has ever yet made its appearance, rafts there may be. Stability is comparative only, size, form and distribution of weights being the governing factors. If it is permissible to offer a word of advice to those anxious to improve the machinery used by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION; let them, before setting themselves to a hard and intricate task, first study the methods in which Life-boat work is carried out, not only at one part of the coast, but at many parts, and if this is impossible, they should try to ascertain what has been done before in the particular direction in which they think an improvement might be effected. By so j doing valuable time will be saved and disappointment avoided.

The Life-boat Institution has much to be grateful for in the efforts of inventors, but it is specially indebted to those who have carefully studied the subject before making their proposals.