The pontoon would accommodate, not comfortably but safely, all those who failed to find room in the life-boats.
It is Mr. Nixon’s plan to install a gas engine in one of the compartments. With this engine the wireless instrument would remain in commission and direct the rescuers after the ship itself had gone down.
LIFE-PRESERVERS AND BUOYS
Life-preservers are chiefly of the belt or jacket type, made to fit about the body and rendered buoyant by slabs of cork sewed into the garment, or by rubber-lined air-bags. The use of cork is usually considered preferable, as the inflated articles are liable to injury, and jackets are preferable to belts as they can be put on more quickly.
Life-buoys are of several types, but those most common are of the ring type, varying in size from the small one designed to be thrown by hand to the large hollow metal buoy capable of supporting several people. The latter are usually carried by sea-going vessels and are fitted with lamps which are automatically lighted when the buoy is dropped into the water.
ROCKETS
American ocean-going steamers are required to have some approved means of firing lines to the shore. Cunningham rockets and the Hunt gun are largely used. The inaccuracy of the rocket is of less importance when fired from a ship than when fired from shore.
CHAPTER XXXI
Seeking Safety at Sea
ONE MORE TRAGIC LESSON—RESULTS OF TITANIC DISASTER—LONDON CONFERENCE ON SAFETY AT SEA—LIFE-BELT DRILL—GIANT RAFTS—LIFE-SAVING SUIT—STORAGE BATTERIES FOR LIGHTS—DOUBLE HULL ABOVE WATER—SUBMARINE BELL—REGULATION OF TRAFFIC