The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

LUBRICATE TI WAVES, SoMERVILLE, N.J., Aug. Editor Marine Record: Referring to the article under the head of “Pouring Oil upon Troubled Waters’? taken from your esteemed coniemporary, the Nace 27 2d. tical Gazette, of New York, which was print | ed iu the Reconp lust week, August 23d, would further say that this old, oft-quoted and familiar saying, or phrase, has lony been looked upon as merely a metiphor or figure of speech, thatand vothing more, but there can no lenger be the slightest doubt in regard to its eflicacy in subduing the trou« bled and angry sea during a gale, T shall erdeavor to convince any subserib ers of the Marine Recorp who may. still be skeptical, as 1 know some of your lake- faring people are nov so credulous as our salt-water Jacks.” A case ison record where the ship Abrant Hl. Howland was eanght ina typhoon off the coast of Japan, and Jay to, anchored as it Were, toan enormous right) whale. the sea became smooth owing to the oil frou the animal having leaked out of dhim and smoothed the waves. ‘This ship owed het life to the uncticus uid which flowed from the dead whale. Fishing vessels, especially whalers, often ride easier in a gale on account of the oil which saturated the wood, aid ships have more than ence been saved by allowing a minute stream of oil to trickle over the side. It saves a vessel from being strained or tak- ing heavy sexs on board, and lessens ‘the dangers of foundering, and [ am inclined to believe that it is only ignorance of its sooth- ing virtues, or else a false and sinful econo- my, that at present interferes with its gen- @ral adoption by mariners and boatmen. Of the advantage of this means ot safety there is no longer the slightest doubt, as the writer has iearned from practical experience. Divers in the Mediterranean cast oil upon the waters in order to clear the light under the surface of the sea, by the stillness so caused. ‘The leakage, of retined .blubber from old whaling ships, while in harbor, has been no- ticed to keep the water in the dock so smooth that a ripple could not even ruffle its sperm coated surtace. This agent is perhaps one of the most re- toarkable of all phenomena, and yet, strange to say, those who would be the most bene- fitted by its use seem to take the least inter- est in testing it to discover which of the muny oils bring about the most satistactory results. Any and every kind of oil will act, but I think some of the cheapest and coarsest kinds are superior to the fine and high priced oleaginous fluids. . The Montrose (British) lifeboat even a short time ago made two careful expert- ments which were highly flattering and powerfu’ testimony of the great value of oil in subduing the turbulent sea. A small quantity of oil might be the means of saving boats, gear and crews otf fishing boats while attached to their nets after the setting in of stormy weather. The following piece of rhyme written, probably, by some old whaler poet is full of significance: When round the ship the tempest rages, A little oil its wrath assuages, And helps effectually to svoth it; The ship's path, too, it serves to smooth. How curic us, is it not, that SPERM oil Should be the antidote to turm-oll ! The ancient Greek and Aseyrian seamen constantly used it upon their coasts with reat success, ‘and yet here we are in the midst of learned chemists ind scientists and nineteenth century philosophers, nine out of ten of whom know nothing of pouring oil up- on the troubled waters, excepting as they may have used the phrase to quell a turbu- lent debate about the properties of lun Nous paint or the advantages of electricity for working purposes, etc. Hoping you will again call the attention of nautical people to this most important factor for saving precious lives and valua- ble property, Lyvemain, dear s Yours very truly, G. Fosrer HOWELL, = = A BURLAL A'T Sika, You have sometimes seen the dead laid to rest in the bosom of their mother earth; did Witness the you ever corresponding cere- mony performed at sea, th so, you weed not be reminded ot ancholy of such ; man remains to them there amid the gentle embienis of ¢ > Wierd and moving mel- 4 To teliow the bu 7 yvavecand leave red and friends, and anqnility and peace, he is an office sufficiently solemn and touching, | but to consign them with rade aud hasty ceremony to rest in the path less ways of the restless deep is a duty so sad and pathetic 10 stir the sensibility of even the most stoie- al and indifferent. ‘lo those who travel much at sea few voyages pass without some incident.of a pecniiar or striking character. The one in question was no exception to this rule, [t was one of the stormiest of the many storm passages encountered by Athan- tic stenmships during th» present spring. The westyard bound ship labored hard in her course, and what progress she made was achieved with the utmost difiealty., Allon board were in astute of great discomfort, aAs the | vessel drifted away from the greasy monster | Fe aa A ‘ | quietly down into your silent depths,” iumy ia one of absolute consternation and ‘dismay. ‘The siekn jucidental to such j limes prevailed excensively, but this is a malady on which itis not the custom to lav- ish much sympathy or ecomiment. One poor | fellow in particular had been down in me | “bunks? tor several days, but his illness, | ugeravated by other Gatises, was of a kind to merit even less consideration than ordinary jsea sickness itself. He belonged to the steerage, had come on board at Queenstown, and it became known that then, aud for some time previcusly, he had been drinking bard. | Such a course has gem rally but one Cermia- fation, ‘his one was svon to have its issue {in the common doom, | But what a morning was tharon which | this spirit broke from its clay! ‘Phe sen was washed to a tempest, wild and terrible to | look at, and it: seemed as if every moment we would all be engulphed in a watery grave, “The poor fellow had ouly been dead J With preparations for his) burial Those }sturdy marines, who fear neither the tem. pest nor the country’s foes, become timid in the presence of death, tor the traditional sa- | persdition of theirelass has trught them to | regard it as a system of di er, In cireun- stances like these no time is lost in needless preparation ; so, in a hurried and pertuneto- ry fashion, the boy-surgeon had soon given his certificate of death. The ship’s carpe: « ter, too, had completed his‘task, and, in two hours after his decease, this poor unclaimed wail of humanity was lyiug in his rude boar¢ coflin ready for burial, the British fiag now wrapped around it was! were detailed for this purpese. The rude box, wrapped in its English flag, was, with difficulty, half dragged, half carried up the narrow winding stairs, and slowly reached the entrance of the companion way, where a priest in readiness had for some time been reading from his Latin book. In afew words the good father explained:-to those who had the contluct of the ceremony that the Church, in circumstances like these, permits abridg- ment of her custumary rites. ‘he wind and Waves were now indeed terrible. Sea after sea broke over the ship, one minute delug- ing the deck with tons of water, and the next shrouding everything -in darkening whirlwinds of ‘spray. Small groups of the thoughtful or curious had managed to craw) above, and now stood cowering and shiver ing under the lee of the deckhuuses, wait- ing the end of the ceremony. Familiar with every caprice of the ocean the skilful sailors seemed to accommodate their nrovements to the motion. of the ship, and even to utilize her rollings and plung- ings to forward the solemn work on hand. After much difficulty they at length reached the side of the ship, and, with heads uncov- ered, formed a circle round the rude coffin. until the good father who was reading from his Latin book made a motion with his hand, when the black plank was thrown out, and one end mide to rest on the rail of the ship, and the other on the shoulders of two gail- ors. There wasa momentary pause in the progress of the rite, and then the priest be- gan anew to recite his unaudible utterances in the ears of the storm. The e’ements raged on with redoubled force, and each time the ship sank into: the waves it appeared as if the might go down to rise no more. It ap- peared as if now we must have reached the very climax of the tempest. In rapid and terrible succession sea upon sea continued to done but hold on, and wait for some abate- ment in the fieree hurricar e, If among the few spectators there was a pious soul he might well have ejaculated the prayer—“Oh ! savage and inexorable sea, re- mit for one short moment the tumult of your rage, and suffer this homeless and unbe- j friended wreck from the human race to sink But perhaps the deep sea would have been inex- j orable to prayer, and it was better that those ibrave men should again braee themselves for a supreme effortat action. So they listen ,on through the pauses of the storm, and wait for (he opportune moment, whieh, ever seoner or Tater arrives, Tt came, A favor- ‘ing lurch of the vessel enabled the men to Hland the rude coftin on the black plank, but, before the priest had time to make a second motion with his Nand, a hl wave had swept the heavy weight from the Ulack | plank, and rried it from sight into the! {boiling waste below, AW was now over, fas before, apd the rode box, with the (lage of | Britsin wrapped around it, was soon left fi behii d. — = An improvement in horizontal steam boi! ers, designed to make the most econonien! | use of fuel, and to seeure great strep uthy ane | heating surface, has recently been patented | by Mr. Geo. Kingsly, of Leavenworth, Kus, Fhe boiler is so constructed as to be readily }cleaned of seule, and) the inventor elaine that in case one of the Hues had become rup tured, no greater damage than the extin- plushment of the fire would be the result, ps — = The late Senator Chaudler once when the decline of American shipping was unde: discussion, poohed at the Maine complaints and said that Michigan built more shipping than Maine ever did, and that her shipbuild ing was never more flourishing, | | | pan hour when all in the ‘forward? are dstiy | srationary excise, A few minutes more, and the coffin with! ; ready to be borve aloft tur the final ceremo- ! § ny. A detachment of able-bodied seamen | thunder on the deck, and nothing could be | — je re ship labored forward Uirongh the storm | THE MARINE RECORD. CLO BE IRON WORKS. General Founders, Machinists, Blacksmiths and Boiler Makers. AND IRON SHIPBUILDERS. OFFICE & WORKS, Cor. ELM & SPRUCE Sts. CLEVELAND, 0 SE A DH cw «& Weare densing ‘Having provided our ing the edges, instead of warranted in saying we can furnish the best work for the least money which we can build of either Iron or Steel: Return flue Marine Boilers, izontal or vertical, Locon-otive Boilers, Cylinder Boilers, Flue Boilers, plate Iron work, TUBULAR BOILERS OF ALL SIZES. For a moment all was silent expectation, | puny. rene BOILER. 5 Includes the Celebrated Chain Sheave Windlass, with Amazeen Beam, Wrought Iron Shaft, Prices Furnish We keep all Bi rie engines in stock, which we ure prepared to selliat respective prices. Stution- ary engive includes Governor, Throttle, Cylinder, and Oiler, O11 Cups and Waste Cocks. Marine Engine’ includes’ Link and Reve Motion, Circular Throttle, r, Oiler, Oil Cups and Waste Cocks, sime as ry; —no governor or tly wheel. Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10, have single cranks, with separate journal when used with stationary engines. BL They ave provided with good brass: boxes in both ends of connecting red and crosshead, with best possi- ble prevision made for taking up the wear. The Cyl- inder, Steam Chest anid lower head’ are cast in one piece and the frame, slides, and journals in one piece, thereby lessening liability of derangement and first cost’ and insuring a durable machine. The Cylinders are neatly covered with cast iron laging. Slide valve with lar, ¢ ports. Piston filled with good metallic packing. Material and workmanship guaranteed. bane ms a) EEE ess. jai Pp! a ES Se prepared to furnish on short notice Stationary or Marine, either High Pressure, Low Pressure, Con- or Compound Engines, Horizontal or Vertical, with or without graduating cut off. Vertical Engines Kept in Stock. MARINE ENGI new boiler works with the most approved tools for riveting by steam, plan- chipping, dril.ing, punching, shearing and bending by steam power, we feels VERTICAL BOILERS. For small power, where size and weight are objectionable, we recommend these styles, which we can furnish, made of C. H. No. 1 Iron or Steel, with or without Cast Iron Base and Smoke Stacks and Trimming. Boxes, Iron Winch Heads, and Brakes. Pe AAG Miia | in the following kinds of boilers, Tubular Boilers, eithes hur- Smoke Stacks and general. TUBULAR BOILERS OF ALL SIZES.. put SUBMERGED TUBE. ee ed on Application. The Common Pat- ent Windlass, includ. ing all castings, wel- ding butt shackles.