James.
Answer.—It is not easy to determine this question. Many writers give the credit to Mr. Henry Greathead, of Shields, Eng.; others give it to Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder, of London; others to William Wouldhave, parish clerk of St. Hilda’s Church, South Shields, Eng. Now that the Royal National Life-boat Institution of Great Britain alone has 271 life-boats in its service, and more than 900 lives annually, on the average, are saved, mainly by these boats, when the life-saving institutions of other countries are using them with most gratifying results, it is not strange that the honor of this invention is zealously contested. The facts seem to be these: The first patent for a life-boat was granted in England, in 1785, to Lionel Lukin. It was not satisfactory for several reasons, but was improved by Admiral Graves, of the Royal Navy, and Henry Greathead, a boatbuilder of Shields. This was improved by George Palmer, a member of the National Life-boat Institution, and remained the favorite boat in the service until 1851, when in response to the offer by the Duke of Northumberland of a prize of 100 guineas, about 100 models of improved life-boats were exhibited, and the prize was awarded to Mr. James Beeching, of Yarmouth. This boat, improved by Mr. R. Peake, of the Royal Dockyard, Woolwich, was adopted by the National Life-boat Institution, and is still its favorite model. Undoubtedly Greathead has received more credit for this invention than any one else. He received the gold medals of the Society of Arts and the Royal Humane Society. He received £1,200 from Parliament in 1802, and a purse of 100 guineas from Lloyd’s. He obtained patents and honorable awards in foreign countries and made large sums by furnishing boats for life-saving service for Great Britain and other lands. Nevertheless, the honor of inventing the self-righting life-boat is strenuously claimed for William Wouldhave, particularly by his fellow-townsmen and parishioners of South Shields. The story is that soon after a wreck, accompanied with a terrible loss of life, which occurred at Tynemouth in September, 1789, Mr. Wouldhave noticed a wooden dish floating on the surface of a well, which, on being accidentally struck by his finger, when he was assisting a woman to raise a skeel of water, turned bottom upward, and instantly righted itself again. Capsizing it again several times, he noted that it always righted itself. He discovered the self-righting principle then and there, and soon after made a model life-boat of tin, which he offered to exhibit to the ship-owners and mariners of South Shields as a suitable boat for rescuing persons from wrecks. The affair was greatly talked about, and a committee consisting of gentlemen connected with the merchant marine was appointed to test the model and any others that might be offered for inspection. Greathead, the boatbuilder above mentioned, exhibited a model at this time, and upon testing the merits of the boats Wouldhave’s proved to be self-righting and unsinkable by any water it might ship. Greathead’s model failed in these respects, though in others it was pronounced a good sea-boat. Mr. Greathead, however, was what Mr. Wouldhave was not, a shrewd business man. He made improvements in his model, adopting some of the features of Lukin’s patent above mentioned and some of Wouldhave’s, and it was not long before he had introduced it into actual service, not only in Great Britain, but elsewhere. Hence his name has become famous as the inventor of the life-boat, while Wouldhave’s name was known to few but his townsmen as the actual and original inventor. The first model made by Wouldhave is now in the Free Library Museum at South Shields. His tombstone, in St. Hilda’s Church-yard, bears a life-boat carved on it, and above the gaselier in the church a model life-boat is suspended in memory of him.
“BULLS” AND “BEARS.”
Jonesboro, Ark.
Explain how “bulls” and “bears” operate to affect the prices of stocks and provisions.
S. W. Morehead.
Answer.—The means used to “bull” and “bear,” or raise and depress, the prices of stocks, grain, provisions, etc., are innumerable, varying with the needs of the times, but influenced much more by the combinations of capitalists and brokers. The “bulls” magnify every circumstance favorable to the appreciation of the stocks they hold or have agreed to take at a given time, while those who have contracted to deliver such stocks, or who for any reason wish to buy, do all in their power to depreciate them, and are therefore nicknamed “bears.” Any one who has ever witnessed a bull and bear fight will not question the appropriateness of these terms as applied to the combatants in the exciting wars among the kings of the stock board. The bulls struggle to toss the stocks higher; the bears squeeze and tug to force the prices down. The former resort to all kinds of expedients to induce small holders to cling fast to their stocks instead of putting them on the market. They persuade them by direct appeals, or by circulating encouraging reports, that these stocks are bound to rise rapidly in value; and they often combine to buy up the stock of the few who persist in selling, so as to “corner” the market. Not content with fair means, they sometimes enter into combinations with one another, and employ third parties to buy and sell stocks of the same description on ’Change, in such a way as to create the impression that there is a greater demand for them than there really is, when in fact the sales are never consummated, or merely amount to an exchange among themselves. Often, when neither the foreign nor home news was favorable to their purposes, false reports have been telegraphed through the country by interested parties, to affect the stock board. Similar methods are pursued on boards of trade.
ORIGIN OF POSTOFFICES.