After standing by till near nightfall with no prospect of the storm moderating, the commander of the Martha Cobb determined to make an effort to save the crew of the fast foundering craft. The Martha Cobb's petroleum was in casks, some of which leaked. The captain had noticed that when the pumps were being worked the sea in the wake of his ship was always much smoother. He got the Martha Cobb to windward of the wreck and started the pumps, in the hope that the oil in the well and bilges would create a smooth when it reached the sea, so that the dinghy could be lowered in safety.
He found, however, that the ships drifted faster than the oil, so that while the sea to windward was comparatively smooth the water to leeward was rough as ever. So he kept his ship away, ran down under the vessel's stern and luffed up under her lee. Then he started the pumps and also allowed a five-gallon can of fish oil to trickle into the water through the scuppers. The effect was almost miraculous. In less than half-an-hour the crested surges and breaking combers were converted into long heavy swells such as you see when a calm has succeeded a heavy gale.
The little dinghy was lowered, and manned by three men was pulled to windward alongside the wreck with little difficulty. All hands were rescued, and the tiny boat, while engaged in the gallant work, shipped no water. All this time the waves were breaking furiously outside the magic limit of the oil-slick.
One more illustration and I am done. Capt. Amlot, of the steamer Barrowmore, on January twenty-fourth, 1885, while in 51 degrees north latitude and 21 degrees west longitude, fell in with the sinking ship Kirkwood. This ship had for part of her cargo several hundred casks of canned salmon. In order to make a smooth and allow the boat of the Barrowmore to come alongside in safety, the crew of the Kirkwood broached a number of the cases, and opening the cans poured the oil from them into the sea. This had the desired result, and although the sea was very heavy the oil reduced it rapidly, and the boat of the Barrowmore had no difficulty in taking off the twenty-six men that composed the ship's company of the Kirkwood.
Two quarts of oil used per hour will produce effective results. A ship scudding before the wind, with a mountainous sea running and threatening to poop her, has expended this amount and kept dry. Experts have calculated that this quantity of oil has covered the sea with an infinitesimal film measuring thirty feet in width and ten nautical miles in length. As the thickness of this film is only .0000047 of an inch, its efficacy is indeed marvelous.
A simple and excellent device for distributing oil has been invented by Capt. Townsend, of the United States Signal Office. It is cheap and convenient, and is especially adapted for use in boats or small yachts. It has been thus described:
"It consists of a hollow metal globe ten inches in diameter, with a capacity of about one and a-half gallons of oil. It has an air chamber separated by a partition to keep it afloat in a certain position, and there are two valves. When filled with oil the upper valve is adjusted to allow oil to flow out at any desired rate, while the lower valve admits water. When placed in the sea it floats with the upper valve a little above the surface, and water will enter to displace the oil from the graduated upper valve. The specific gravity of oil will keep it in the upper part of the distributor, and the motion of the globe on the breaking waves or swell will insure the ejection of the oil through the graduated valve in any quantity."
OIL DISTRIBUTOR.
This may be used by towing over the bow when running, or made fast to a sea anchor when hove to.