A 565166
THE
ROMANCE
OF
IFE PRESERVAT
BURNLEY
TRANSPORTATION
LIBRARY
HV
660
B96
THE ROMANCE
OF
LIFE PRESERVATION

ARTES
LIBRARY
18 17
VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TUEBOR
SI QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒNA
CIRCUMSPICE
TRANSPORTATION
LIBRARY
1
Transportation
Library
AH
660
B96
1
THE ROMANCE
OF
LIFE PRESERVATION
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
473
amongst the waterside public-houses. Both in winter
and summer the Society is instrumental in preventing
many fatalities, particularly in the London parks. The
casualties on the Serpentine alone in 1886 were :—
Twenty boating and other accidents; 112 persons were
rescued whilst bathing, one person was drowned while
bathing, six committed suicide, and five were prevented
doing so by the Society's boatmen.
A most important feature connected with the Society,
and added to its objects a few years ago by the inde-
fatigable secretary Captain Home, is the swimming
competition with reference to saving life from drowning.
The Society was certainly the pioneer in the move-
ment, which has been taken up by kindred institutions.
Prizes are given to boys at public schools and training
ships, &c., to encourage proficiency in saving appa-
rently drowning persons, and by using a dummy the
youths are getting quite expert in the practice of
saving life both on the surface and under water.
The work of the Society has doubled within the
last twenty years, although the voluntary assistance.
accorded it has not kept pace with its usefulness—a
circumstance which, doubtless, may be remedied by a
wider publicity to the history and character of the
Institution.
Woodfall & Kinder, Printers, 70 to 76, Long Acre, London, W.C.
THE ROMANCE OF INVENTION;
OR,
VIGNETTES FROM THE ANNALS OF INDUSTRY
AND SCIENCE.
By JAMES BURNLEY.
Price, 5s.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"Such a book as Dr. Smiles might have written."-Times.
"So many books have appeared of late that glorify the careers of
'self-made' men and make a fetish of success, it is refreshing to notice
a book of more generous stimulus and nobler aim, that does something
better than appeal to the selfish instincts of boys. Such a book is Mr.
James Burnley's The Romance of Invention,' which, true to its title,
deals with the human interest of the subject--the woes and disappoint-
ments of inventors, their hopes and fears, their faith and endurance-
rather than the material progress involved in their discoveries. Mr.
Burnley has executed a difficult task with equal skill and sympathy.
His survey of a wide field will be found fruitful in suggestion.'
Saturday Review.
"A capital volume, brightly written."- Weekly Dispatch.
"Mr. Burnley has compressed a great deal of information into his
Romance of Invention.' Instead of writing detailed lives of inventors,
he has grouped his materials together under such subject-headings as
'Invention and Murder,' 'Whims of Fashion,' 'Kings of the Kitchen,
'Inventions Discovered by Accident,' and so on. He has plenty of
interesting stories to tell, and is hardly ever technical in the telling. His
book should prove very attractive."-Graphic.
"This is a capital gift book. A wonderful company they are of whose
strivings, failures, successes, and sometimes but not always great
rewards, Mr. Burnley has to tell. Here are the inventors of the old
world, from Tubal Cain down to Archimedes, the alchemists, half-
philosophers, half-charlatans, and others almost without number. The
steam-engine, the stocking-loom, the telegraph, have all their heroes and
their romances. In short, Mr. Burnley has here almost an inexhaustible
subject."-Spectator.
"Mr. James Burnley's 'Romance of Invention' (Cassell) is a book as
full as it can be of curious information and suggestive anecdotes. He
has conceived and carried out the bold idea of gleaning some of the most
striking facts from the wide field of human genius, and arraying them in
such a way that we can trace the growth of human needs and the
expedients by which they have been supplied from the dawn of invention
in the Stone Age to the present day. This information he marshals in
successive chapters, dealing with the discoveries made in the classical
period-much of which is necessarily vague and disappointing-the fruits
ลง
3
of the alchemist's toil, and so on to later times, when Watt and Stephen-
son built up their fruitful thoughts into wonderful monuments of useful-
ness, and Nasmyth and Crompton placed the future under an irredeem-
able debt to them. Mr. Burnley has contrived to avoid tediousness in
his treatment, and has put forth the result of wide and patient reading
in a very delightful volume."-Daily Telegraph.
"The volume is as interesting as a novel, and as useful as a work of
reference."—Nottingham Journal.
"We have seldom seen a work of this kind which has so delighted us.
It contains a fund of information relating to inventions and inventors,
which is given in a clear and most interesting manner."-Sunday School
Times.
"It would be impossible to find a more suitable book for a boy with a
mechanical turn."-Derby Mercury.
"Gathers together, in a more comprehensive and readable way than
we have before met with, the stories of the various inventions and dis-
coveries in the annals of industry and science. Sunday School
Chronicle.
"It is as full of exciting incident, of feats of courage, of plodding
perseverance against almost insurmountable obstacles, of devotion to ideas,
of unconquerable heroism, and of manly endeavour as any tale of battle
and conquest, whether by sea or land, and is, moreover, a work that is
highly instructive and inspiring."—Liverpool Post.
"We heartily commend it.". -Bristol Times and Mirror.
"It is a great storehouse of facts, and so makes an excellent book of
reference, while it is as readable as a good novel."-Halifax Courier.
"A particularly readable book."-Yeovil Gazette.
"The subjects have been very judiciously varied, and the story is
always well told."-Yorkshire Post.
"Just the book to put into the hands of a lad, for be his inclination
ever so set against reading, he could scarcely turn away from these
entertaining pages."-Church Times.
"It places science and invention before the young in the most fasci-
nating light, and while intensely interesting cannot fail to sharpen the
inventive faculties and quicken the desire for study."-Bridgwater
Chronicle.
“Told with a graphic and glowing pen."-Norwich Press.
"A most interesting book."-Cockermouth Times.
"Out of the vast stores of materials at his band Mr. Burnley has made
a book valuable and instructive as it is certainly entertaining."—Man-
chester Weekly Post.
"An extremely interesting work."— Wakefield Free Press. -
LONDON: CASSELL & CO., LIMITED.
"How true is that old fable of the Sphinx who sat by the wayside,
propounding her riddle to the passengers, which, if they could not answer,
she destroyed them! Such a Sphinx is this life of ours to all men and
societies of men. Nature, like the Sphinx, is of womanly celestial loveli-
ness and tenderness; the face and bosom of a goddess, but ending in
claws and the body of a lioness. There is in her a celestial beauty, which
means a celestial order, pliancy to wisdom; but there is also a darkness,
a ferocity, a fatality, which are infernal. She is a goddess, but one not
yet disimprisoned; one still half-imprisoned-the inarticulate lovely,
still incased in the inarticulate chaotic. How true! And does she not
propound her riddles to us? Of each man she asks daily, in mild voice,
yet with a terrible significance, 'Knowest thou the meaning of this day?
What thou canst do to-day, wisely attempt to do.' Nature, universe,
destiny, existence, howsoever we name this great Unnameable fact in the
midst of which we live and struggle, is as a heavenly bride and conquest
to the wise and brave, to them who can discern her behests and do them ;
a destroying fiend to them who cannot. Answer her riddle, it is well
with thee. Answer it not, pass on regarding it not, it will answer itself:
the solution of it is a thing of teeth and claws. Nature is a dumb
lioness, deaf to thy pleadings, fiercely devouring."
THOMAS CARLYLE.
:
THE ROMANCE
OF
LIFE PRESERVATION
BY
JAMES BURNLEY
AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF INVENTION,
"}
tr
TWO SIDES OF THE
""
ATLANTIC," ETC.
LONDON
W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE
PALL MALL, S.W.
1888
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
70 TO 76, LONG ACRE, W.C.
PREFACE.
THE saving, rescuing, and preservation of life are
essentially matters of romance. We can hardly
approach the subject at any point without having our
emotions stirred to active sympathy or admiration, for
the record is alive with deeds of daring and endurance,
heroism and suffering, self-denial and devotion. So,
although in the following pages the chief aim has been
to bring into one connecting link the leading facts and
incidents relating to the origin and growth of the
various organizations and measures which man's
humanity to man has devised for the protection of life,
the romantic phases of the inquiry have, it is hoped,
been sufficiently dealt with to justify our title.
Many books and articles have been written on
separate branches of our subject, but, so far as I am
aware, it has not been previously attempted to embrace
in one comprehensive view the entire scope of life-
saving efforts. In framing such a sketch I have
naturally been compelled to be as concise as possible,
seeing that a whole volume would have been little.
viii
PREFACE.
enough for the thorough treatment of some of the sub-
divisions; still, all the more prominent features have
received attention. Much literary and scientific labour
has been laid under contribution in the bringing to-
gether of the scattered materials, but the main sources
of information are indicated in the text. It would
have been easy to have expanded the narrative portions
of the volume, but my object has been to trace the
development and present condition of our life-saving
resources rather than to give a series of exciting
stories.
J. B.
1
CONTENTS.
PART I.
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
CHAPTER I.
THE EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT THE STORM
PAGE
3
CHAPTER II.
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS
. 24
CHAPTER III.
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
50
CHAPTER IV.
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES (continued)
. 70
CHAPTER V.
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS
. 87
CHAPTER VI.
THE LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS
•
98
PART II.
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
CHAPTER VII.
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING
119
X
CONTENTS.
PROTECTION FROM FIRE
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
137
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES
•
. 160
PART III.
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
CHAPTER X..
THE INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE
CHAPTER XI.
193
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES
204
CHAPTER XII.
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
228
CHAPTER XIII.
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS
247
CHAPTER XIV.
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS
272
PART IV.
MAN AT STRIFE.
CHAPTER XV.
THE CHANCES OF WAR
291
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM
309
CONTENTS.
xi
!
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS
PAGE
323
CHAPTER XVIII.
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY .
344
PART V.
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
CHAPTER XIX.
GREAT EPIDEMICS, AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN MET
359
CHAPTER XX.
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS
376
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS
•
393
CHAPTER XXII.
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
428
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE MODERN HOSPITAL SYSTEM
•
444
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY
458
اعات مالی اتم ماس ممي
PART I.
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
B
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
CHAPTER I.
THE EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT THE STORM.
THE early navigators knew little of safeguards or pre-
cautions; in putting off to sea they placed themselves
almost wholly at the mercy of the waves, and when
storms arose had to trust mainly to the strength of
their vessels to carry them safely through. The size
of the earliest ships was necessarily inconsiderable.
They carried but a single mast and a sail of leather
or cloth, and were managed with ropes of broom or
hemp. At the termination of a voyage they were drawn
on shore. When, however, the keel was added and the
size increased, stranding became no longer practicable,
and the anchor and cable were invented to confine the
ship at a due distance from land. To begin with, the
anchor was only a large stone, but was afterwards
made of wood and stone combined; and, later on, of
iron, having teeth. Then there was a specially large
anchor to which they gave the term the "Sacred," this
being only cast in the times of extremity. But little real
knowledge exists of the early history of ships; there is
an abundance of legend, tradition, and conjecture, but
B 2
4
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
scarcely anything of substantial evidence. The great
maritime people of antiquity were the Phoenicians,
whose ships monopolised the entire trade of the Medi-
terranean for many centuries; their merchant fleets
sailed from the Syrian sea into the Egean, the Euxine,
and the Tyrrhenian seas, and to the Western Medi-
terranean; and established colonies that perpetuated
their naval renown. In the art of shipbuilding they
were in advance of all other nations; still, in the
matter of navigation-the steering from place to place.
and the avoidance of storm dangers-they must have
been at a great disadvantage, seeing that they had no
conception of longitude, or any means of determining
it. They sailed by guess, and when perils encompassed
them battled with them as best they could, science
lending but scant aid.
The ships in which the Saxon pirates cruised in the
German Ocean, and invaded Britain, we are told, were
made with a wooden keel, with sides and upper-works
of wicker, and exterior of hides. Such small progress
was made in ship-building that it was not until the
fourteenth century that the war-galleys of the olden
times began to give place to larger vessels moved by
sails instead of oars. They were of crooked, half-moon
shape, very high at the stem and stern, the planks
nailed with iron, and not set edge to edge and calked.
For the most part they had but one mast, never
more than two, with square sails attached to yards,
and were only capable of advancing with a favourable
wind.
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote: "Whoever was the first
inventor of ships, every age has added somewhat to
them, and in my time they have been greatly bettered.
It is not long since striking the top-masts has been
devised, together with the chain pump, which taketh
J
1
i
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
5
10
We have now
up twice as much water as the old one.
skidding sails, and the weighing of anchors with the
capstan; moreover, we have fallen into consideration
of the length of cables, and by it we resist the malice.
of the greatest winds, for true it is that the length of
the cable is the life of the ship."
The art of navigation, however, received its greatest
aid by the introduction of the mariner's compass, the
most important of all the instruments employed by
the navigator. Although it is said to have been known
to the Chinese more than a thousand years anterior to
the Christian era, it did not find its way to Europe
before the thirteenth century, and was not in general
use until a much later period. Columbus discovered
its variation in 1492. Thenceforward the sailor had
not to rely solely on his knowledge of the land.
The discovery of America may be regarded as one of
the first direct results of the application of the mariner's
compass; but as the navigator's sphere of operations
became enlarged, he was brought into contact with
fresh perils, and to obviate them was driven to the
adoption of new expedients. When, towards the end
of the fifteenth century, a ship was able to set out with
a compass, a cross-staff or astrolabe, a table of the
sun's declination, a correction for the altitude of the
pole-star, and a not over-reliable chart, it was deemed
to be splendidly equipped for all emergencies. In
1470, almanacks were first published in Poland, and
three years later were in use in England. They gave
tables of the sun's declination, and that of many of
the stars, and tables for finding the latitude by the
pole-star and the "pointers." Until the fourteenth
century, paddles had been used to steer by, but
these now gave way to rudders, which soon became
universal.
6
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
After Columbus had traversed the larger world of
waters, comprising the stormy Atlantic, and the course
of navigation had been extended until the mightier
Pacific had been explored, the ships that had sufficed
for quieter seas had to be greatly improved upon.
Science was laid under contribution now in all things
relating to ships. The lateen sail was superseded by
the square sail, and that in turn gave way to the
trapezoidal sail, as far as small vessels were concerned;
while the old clumsy hulls were displaced by models of
great beauty. Men began to inquire into the effects
and properties of waves, to study the action of wind
on the sails; and, generally, to adapt the ships to a
better resistance to the dangers of the seas.
In the first known work on shipping, by Sir Walter
Raleigh, an attempt is made to describe the improve-
ments which an enlarged necessity had brought about.
"We have added crosse pillars," he wrote, "in our
royall ships to strengthen them, which, being fastened
from the kelsom to the beames of the second decke,
keep them from rattling or from giving way in all
distresses. We have given longer fleures to our ships
than in elder times, and better bearing under water,
whereby they never fall into the sea after the head,
and thereby shake the whole body; nor sincke sterne,
nor stoope upon a winde, by which the breaking loose
of our ordnance, or the not use of them, with many
other discommodities are avoided. And, to say the
truth, a miserable shame and dishonour it were for our
shipwrights if they did not exceed all other in the
setting up of our royall ships, the errors of other
nations being farre more excusable than ours."
Little by little, improvements in the art of naviga-
tion came to be introduced, though it is not until we
come to comparatively recent days that science has.
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
བ
really grappled successfully with the storm, and even
now much remains to be done before the knowledge we
possess in this direction is effectively and completely
utilized. A brief allusion to some of the principal
aids to navigation discovered and brought into use
prior to the present century may be of interest at this
point.
As we have seen, the earliest anchors were nothing
but stones. Wood and iron succeeded, but with all
the improvements of modern times there has been little
change of form in this instrument.
At a very early period the cross-staff appears to haye
been used by astronomers for measuring heights and
distances, and more recently by seamen for calculating
altitudes. It was one of the few nautical objects used
by Columbus and Vasco da Gama.
The astrolabe was found to be more convenient than
the cross-staff, and was in common use at the beginning
of the sixteenth century. It could not be used, how-
ever, for measuring distances. In 1534, Gama pro-
duced what was called an astronomical ring, which he
presented to the secretary of the King of Hungary.
He claimed for it that it could accomplish all that had
been said of quadrants, cylinders, and astrolabes.
Something of this kind was possessed by Sir Francis
Drake. In the museum attached to the Royal Naval
College at Greenwich there is exhibited such an instru-
ment, said to have been used by Sir Francis prior to
1570.
The mariner's compass has been greatly improved
during recent years. The compass box and hanging
compass were invented by William Barlowe, an English
Divine and Natural Philosopher, in 1608. In the
latter half of the eighteenth century, the deviation of
the compass needle was observed by Mr. Wales, who
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
8
accompanied Captain Cook on his voyages of discovery
as astronomer; but the first attempt to correct the
deviation was made by Captain Matthew Flinders,
who discovered it while on a surveying expedition
to Australia in the beginning of the present century.
He suggested the introduction of an upright iron
stanchion, so placed as to counteract the ship's attrac-
tion, and the explanation then given by him of the
action on the needle of the ship's iron has formed the
basis of all subsequent investigations. More recently,
the introduction of iron in the construction and equip-
ment of vessels has stimulated inquiry in order to
detect the causes of the vagaries of the needle, and
apply a remedy which should make the compass a
thoroughly reliable instrument.
The art of navigation was greatly assisted by the
introduction of the Nautical Almanack. In former
times mariners were much indebted to the books
of predictions known as ephemerides, compiled for
the use of astronomers. The problem of longitude.
and latitude is capable of solution only in connec-
tion with some "prediction" of the absolute positions.
of the heavenly bodies at the time when the observa-
tions are made upon them. This annual volume
of predictions constitutes the Nautical Almanack. It
had its origin in England about the middle of the
last century, and owes its existence to a memorial pre-
sented to the Commissioners of Longitude in 1765 by
Dr. Maskelyne, which, after setting forth many facts
and experiments to prove the utility of the lunar method
of obtaining the longitude at sea, concludes with the
statement that "nothing is wanted to make this method
generally practicable but a Nautical Ephemeris." The
first volume was that issued for the year 1767, and the
work has continued to be published annually ever since,
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
9
•
being remodelled in 1830 by the Committee of the
Astronomical Society of London.
The question of determining the longitude at sea
was under the control of the Commissioners of Longi-
tude from 1714 down to 1828, during which period
they disbursed in all a sum of £101,000, mainly in
rewards. They offered £10,000 for a method of
determining the longitude within sixty geographical
miles, to be tested by a voyage to the West Indies and
back; £15,000 for its discovery within forty miles;
and £20,000 within thirty. A sum of £10,000 was
also offered for a method that came within eighty miles
of the shores of greatest danger. But no grant in this
connection was made before 1737, the first grant being
made in that year, and the last in 1815. It is to be
regretted that much of the money spent by this Board
was wasted upon projects that bore small practical
result.
"It
The chronometer perfected by John Harrison solved
the problem of longitude, and it was he who, after
many years' delay and much neglect on the part of
the Commissioners, received the £20,000 reward.
may be fairly said of John Harrison," writes Dr. Smiles,
"that by his invention of the chronometer-the ever-
sleepless and ever-trusty friend of the mariner-he
conferred an incalculable benefit on science and naviga-
tion, and established his claim to be regarded as one of
the greatest benefactors of mankind." At the present
day the determination of longitude can be relied on to
between two and three miles by the chronometer.
All aids to navigation, whether in the form of instru-
ments for ascertaining a ship's locality or directing its
course, whether for affording warning against, or pro-
tection from, dangers, are so many interpositions of
science for the safety of ships and seamen from the
10
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
*
strife of the waves. All the seas of the world have
been embraced in these later days within the far-reach-
ing arms of science; not only does a ship set out with
a plentiful supply of scientific apparatus, but the accu-
mulated experience of centuries of navigation has left
its impress and record-in some cases imperfectly, no
doubt, but, as regards the main routes of sailing, with
a clearness that is of the greatest advantage-for the
guidance of the mariner in all ordinary emergencies.
Cartography was one of the earliest sciences of the sea,
and is to-day one of the most valuable. Sea-maps were
undoubtedly in use by the ancients, for guiding their
barques in their voyages of adventure or profit, but it
is not until we touch the period of the inauguration of
maritime enterprise among modern nations that we get
at anything definite in the way of charts. Prince Henry,
Duke of Visco, is credited with their first introduction
into the marine service of Portugal about the year 1400.
The first chart made in England appeared in an
almanack printed on vellum in 1520. Some forty
years later, John Rotz, a Frenchman, made for Henry
VIII. “A Book of Hydrography," containing charts of
the sea-coast finely painted on large skins of parchment.
The early charts, however, did not cover any great ex-
tent of surface, and they contained many errors, which
were exposed by Martin Cortes, Petrus Honius, and
Edward Wright, a treatise by the last-named, entitled
"Certain Errors in Navigation Detected and Corrected,"
published in 1599, being of especial value. One of the
most famous charts of the sixteenth century was that
of Gerard Kauffman, more familiarly known as Mer-
cator, a Flemish geographer. This was published in
1556, but its utility was lessened by the fact that "the
intervals between the parallels did not agree with the
differences of the corresponding meridional parts of
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
11
those parallels," a deficiency which Wright supplied in
his book already mentioned. The work of chart making
has since then been prosecuted with great activity, the
English nation having published about 3,000 different
charts, and the French nearly as many. The English
Hydrographic Department was established in 1795,
from which date all matters relating to charts and
sailing directions, coast surveys, and the like, have been
under its control.
""
It is only within a comparatively recent period that
science has grappled with the storm in real earnest.
Before this could be done with much prospect of suc-
cess it was necessary that the nature and properties
of these visitations should be understood. In ancient
times it would have been termed "presumptuous
to attempt to investigate grand natural phenomena,
but in these days we carry our researches into such
things to the utmost limit that our knowledge and
experience will take us, knowing that every fresh
deduction is an additional safeguard to human life.
Dean Swift, once upon a time, gave a recipe for
manufacturing a storm. "For your tempest," he
wrote, "take Eurus, Zephyr, Auster, and Boreas,
and cast them together in one verse; add to these,
of rain, lightning, and thunder-the loudest you
can--quantam sufficit. Mix your clouds and billows
well together till they foam, and thicken your de-
scription here and there with a quicksand." For a
flight of imagination this might pass, but these are
hardly the ways of nature. “As fickle as the wind,'
used to be a metaphor much in use with sentimental
swains in regard to the changeable objects of their
affections; but this was a libel on the wind, for
modern science informs us that this fundamental ele-
ment of the storm is controlled and directed by laws
12
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
as fixed as those which regulate the starry firmament,
and is a beautiful and wonderful agent in the economy
of our system.
Amongst the earliest labourers in this field of re-
search were Sir William Reid, of the Royal Engineers,
and Mr. Redfield, of New York. Mr. Henry Pidding-
ton of Calcutta published, some thirty-five years ago,
"The Sailor's Horn Book for the Law of Storms," in
which the plainest instructions were given for the navi-
gation of ships through the dangerous cyclones of the
Indian seas; and previous to that Dr. Thom had made
public his "Inquiry into the Nature and Course of
Storms in the Indian Ocean.” Mr. C. M. Meldrum,
In
M.A., also wrote on the same subject, in 1873; and
Professor Dove, of Berlin, has done much towards an
elucidation of the Law of Storms in his remarkable
treatise thereon. The name of the indefatigable navi-
gator and philosopher, Lieutenant Maury, of the
United States Navy, has also to be remembered with
gratitude in connection with the study of storms.
prosecuting the researches necessary for the demonstra-
tion of the dangerous consequences of neglecting the
indications by which storms are invariably preceded,
and the pointing out of the means for their avoidance,
these men have worked with a zeal worthy of all
praise.
By far the greater number of storms at sea belong
to the class known as revolving storms, such as hurri-
canes, typhoons, cyclones, &c., created by a disturbed
condition of the atmosphere extending over a circular
area varying in diameter, according to the locality in
which it occurs, from fifty to a thousand miles. A
knowledge of the laws of these storms indicates to the
seaman his readiest means of escape from them.
Their characteristic is that they blow continually round
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
13
and round a centre or vortex, the gyration invariably
taking place in one direction, and that direction con-
trary to the apparent course of the sun; so that in
north latitudes these storms revolve from right to left
(or in the opposite direction to the hands of a watch),
and in south latitudes from left to right (or in the same
direction as the hands of a watch). The mariner
who understands this knows the position of the
vortex with respect to the locality of his vessel, and is
able to make the necessary calculations as to the best
way to work himself clear.
These revolving storms are common to the three
great oceans, the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific, but
seldom occur within less than 5° or 6° of the equator,
and are never found in very high latitudes. They
prevail mostly from July to October or November, and
are most severe in the West India, Madagascar, and
China seas.
The movements of these storms have
been carefully traced, and their several characteristics
analysed with great care and ability. One of the
surest warnings of the approach of a revolving storm
is the sudden falling of the barometer. In the centre
of some of the most severe storms it has been known
to fall as low as 27.7 inches. One valuable general
rule for emergencies of this kind has been laid down,
under the authority of the Hydrographic Office, "for
all vessels, in all cases, except when controlled by land
or shoals." It is thus set forth :-"Let them im-
mediately steer in that direction which will most
quickly increase their distance from the vortex, or
centre of the storm-field. But then let it be remem-
bered that the whole storm-field is itself in motion;
that it is travelling with certainty to the westward,
while within the tropics, though with very uncertain
velocity; and that it has a tendency to curve round to
14
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
the northward in northern latitudes, or to the south-
ward in southern latitudes when leaving the tropics.
The situation of the vessel must therefore be con-
sidered, not only with respect to the present position
of the vortex, but also with respect to the place to
which it will have advanced by the time she may have
executed any projected run; for otherwise, though
going at her best speed, she might be overtaken by a
following, and probably an expanding storm." Ad-
ditional directions of a very elaborate kind are also
given, constituting gratifying evidence of the way in
which science has come to the help of the seaman
when placed in peril by these most serious of all
storms.
Often, however, the storm is too violent to be over-
come by acts of seamanship alone, and it is to the
saving of life that the efforts of officers and men have
to be confined. When the ship fails to afford a place
of safety, then is the time for good discipline and
bravery to make the most of such appliances as are
at command for the preservation of human life.
With all our scientific knowledge, and with all our
preventive legislation, it cannot be said that in these
matters our ships are sufficiently equipped. The means
provided are greatly inadequate, and to the limited
extent of their capacity often fail to render service in
the last extremity. Referring to this question of in-
sufficient boat accommodation, Admiral Jasper Selwyn
writes:-"With regard to our passenger steamers, few
people understand the discrepancy between the Board
of Trade requirements and actual practice. I have been
across the Atlantic several times in 6,000 ton vessels,
carrying actually from 1,500 to 2,000 passengers,
capable of carrying with ease 3,000 passengers. There
were probably boats on board, which, in case anything
i
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
15
A
happened to the ship, would have carried from 200 to
300 passengers, supposing all those boats had been got
into the water without damage, a thing you can scarcely
expect from an undisciplined crew, and still less disci-
plined passengers; and supposing that every precau-
tion had been taken." It is to be feared that in the
majority of cases this is something like the condition
of affairs on board ship in regard to the saving of life.
The provision of adequacy is not enforced. Appliances
for saving life at sea are of two classes, one applicable
to the saving of individual lives, and the other to
saving collective lives. Of the first, the various im-
proved life-belts, life-jackets, life-buoys, floating mat-
tresses, and portable articles of various kinds, it is not
necessary to say more than that they are well worthy
of attention; and it ought to be compulsory upon
owners of passenger-carrying vessels to provide a suffi-
cient number of these appliances. With respect to
the supply of boats, it has recently been reported, in
connection with a Departmental Committee appointed
by Mr. Mundella, in 1886, to inquire into these
things, that "the boats should be increased 100 per
cent., and approved rafts of collapsible boats should be
added."
A measure has already been before Parliament,
which provides that every vessel above fifteen tons
burden navigating the ocean, or any river, lake, bay, or
sound, shall be provided with such boats, life-boats,
floats, or rafts as the Board of Trade shall determine.
Vessels carrying passengers are to be provided at all
times with a serviceable life-buoy or belt, of a pattern
approved by the Board of Trade, for every passenger
carried, and for the officers and crew. These are to be
kept in good order and in accessible places on the
vessel, in readiness for immediate use in case of acci-
16
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
dent; non-compliance with the Act to subject the
master to a penalty of not less than £5, or more
than £100. Although the pressure of other business
in Parliament has retarded the passing into law of this
measure, there is an evident desire that more effective
means than have hitherto been adopted should be
secured for the preservation of life at sea; and it is to
be hoped what is done will be thorough, and such as
will give the public better confidence.
Much ingenuity has been expended upon the pro-
duction of life-saving appliances. The contrivances
are various, and every year sees something fresh
brought out. Empty water-casks, well bunged up,
form a ready and reliable means of preserving the
buoyancy of the human body. A thirty-six gallon cask,
with ropes attached to hold on by, is capable of sup-
porting ten men. Then there are life-rafts, consisting
of square frames buoyed up by a cask at each corner.
Frames of bamboo, and inflated goat, reindeer, and
seal-skins have been largely employed in foreign coun-
tries as life-preservers. Jackets and belts of cork in
immense variety have been patented; it being estimated
that a pound of cork is sufficient to support a man of
ordinary size. An improvement upon cork was dis-
covered in India-rubber cloth, which, when inflated,
is superior in buoyancy to cork, although it has the
disadvantage of being more liable to damage. The air
life-belt of Admiral Ward deserves special mention.
It consists of four compartments, separately inflated, so
that the puncture of one does not quite destroy the
belt. A suggestion was made some time ago that the
cushions of deck and cabin seats should be constructed
on the life-preserving principle, so as to form rafts in
cases of emergency, but does not appear to have been
acted upon to any appreciable extent. In April, 1878,
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
17
the British Society for the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures, and Commerce offered their gold
medal to the person submitting the best means of
saving life at sea when a vessel has to be abandoned
suddenly, and the decision was in favour of cork
mattresses faced with hair.
<6
There has recently been revived the ancient idea of
pouring oil upon the troubled waters" when storms
arise, and, to a certain extent, the method is successful,
though it is obviously incapable of being applied on a
large enough scale to be included amongst science's
more active agents in opposing the force of the storm.
The idea is at least as old as Pliny. In Philemon
Holland's translation we read: "All seas are made
calme and still with oyle; and therefore the dyvers
under the water doe spurt and sprinkle it abroad with
their mouths, because it dulceth and allayeth the un-
pleasant nature thereof, and carryeth a light with it."
For many centuries the soothing power of oil was
accepted as a fact that only needed demonstration to be
substantiated; but it was not until Benjamin Franklin
put the matter to the test of actual experiment, that
scientific deductions of any value were made on the
subject. Travellers had brought many strange tales
from abroad respecting the action of oil on the waves.
It was said that the fishermen of Lisbon, when about
to return into the Tagus, and when the surf on the bar
was more than usually rough, occasionally adopted the
plan of emptying a bottle or two of oil into the sea;
thereby allaying the breakers sufficiently to allow a
boat to pass in safety. People were told that in the har-
bour of Newport in Rhode Island, the sea was always
smooth while any whaling vessels were in it; the in-
ference being that the leakage of oil from the barrels
spread itself over the surface of the harbour and stilled
C
18
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
the waves. It was also reported that a Dutch ship sail-
ing the eastern seas in 1770, encountered a storm, and
that the captain, for greater safety in wearing the
ship had poured oil into the sea. The story was that
the salvation of the ship was due to some four quarts
of olive oil. These things made a deep impression
upon the mind of Franklin, and during his residence
in England he made an experiment with a cruet of oil
upon a large pond at Clapham, the results of which he
clearly described in the Philosophical Transactions.
He declared that a spoonful of oil made half an acre of
water" as smooth as a looking-glass."
Franklin subsequently repeated the experiment on a
larger scale at Portsmouth and elsewhere, and was fairly
successful. In trying to account for this quieting of
the waves by oil, the philosopher supposes that, when a
film of oil is on the surface of water, the air has nothing
to catch hold of; that it slips over the oil, as a greasy
pig's tail would slip out of the hands of Hodge at a
fair; and that it cannot wrinkle the oil, or wrinkle
the water beneath the oil. It is unable, however, to
stop the deep, full wave; it can only kill the little un-
dulations with which these greater waves are embroi-
dered. Science cannot get much further than this.
Since Franklin's day, the experiment has been re-
peatedly tried, and upon very stormy seas, but the
action of the oil is only to make the waves smoother of
surface, not to diminish them greatly in volume or
force.
Of a much more practicable and useful character
have been the precautionary measures adopted in re-
gard to the building of harbours of refuge, which
consist of one or more breakwaters, forming a barrier
either complete or partial to the progress of the waves,
and which from their position and size serve as a safe
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
19
retreat for vessels overtaken by a storm, where they
can remain unharmed until the gale has subsided. It
is essential that harbours of refuge should be accessible.
at all times; whilst many small commercial harbours
can only be entered when the tide is high. The latter
are called tidal harbours. It is unnecessary here to
devote particular attention to the uses and formations
of the various natural harbours, such as the mouths of
rivers, creeks, bays, &c.; our concern is with artificial
harbours.
It often happens that a port has been established on
a site possessing some natural advantages which were
sufficient while vessels were small, but that it has to
be improved and enlarged for the accommodation of
vessels of increasing size. Sometimes, too, a long line
of coast is devoid of any natural shelter, in which case
the construction of a harbour of refuge prevents great
loss of life and property. And it may be that no
natural harbour exists in the nearest line of communi-
cation with other countries, or is suitably situated for
strategical purposes. Under these circumstances, har-
bours have to be improved and created, and occasionally
most unfavourable and exposed sites have to be resorted
to, in which the skill of the engineer is taxed to the
utmost in providing shelter where waves and currents
have previously ruled supreme.
The various works of this description which have
been constructed round our coasts are necessarily of
stupendous strength and massiveness; still, such is
the force of the waves during great storms, that many
of them suffer serious damage from time to time.
For example, in January, 1877, a portion of the
promenade wall of Dover pier was washed away; a
length of 150 feet of the sea-wall of the Colombo
breakwater was deflected by the waves during the
C 2
20
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
south-west monsoon of 1878; the outer arms of the
Madras breakwater were laid in ruins by a cyclone in
November, 1881; and hardly a year passes without
some casualty of the kind being reported.
The most marvellous instance, however, of the
power of the sea is afforded by the movement of a
mass of masonry set in cement, and weighing 1,350
tons, which had been built as a termination to the
breakwater in Wick Bay. This mass having been.
specially designed in 1871 to protect the outer end of
the breakwater, which had suffered damage on several
occasions, was itself carried away in December, 1872.
It rested upon two courses of 80 and 100 ton blocks
laid upon the rubble base of the breakwater, to form
a level foundation five feet below low water; it was
about 45 feet wide, 21 feet high, and about 26 feet
long. The repeated blows of the waves during the
storm gradually turned the huge mass round on its
base, and at last tilted it off its foundation on to the
inside of the pier.
Legislation has co-operated with science to a
considerable extent in adding to the safety of our
ships and seamen. An Act was passed in 1861 for
deepening rivers, and creating or improving harbours.
In seventeen ports, in the twenty years following this
enactment, no less a sum than £23,582,733 was
expended, towards which £982,352 was advanced by
the Public Works Loan Commissioners. At Liver-
pool the outlay was £7,500,000; on the Tyne,
£3,300,000; on the Clyde, 3,144,000; at Barrow,
£1,928,250; at Greenock, £1,300,000; at Dublin,
£1,161,986. The advantage to navigation, and the
security to lives thus effected are incalculable.
One of the most valuable of the contributions of
science to help man to avoid the dangers of the storm
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
21
has been in the establishing of a system of storm
warnings. Mr. Renfield, whose work on the Law of
Storms we have previously referred to, was the first
to suggest the transmission of intelligence of storms
by the electric telegraph. This was in 1847. The
various attempts made by him in America to carry
his idea into effect did not have any immediate result,
and were much retarded by the Civil War of 1861.
France was the first European nation to take the
matter up officially. In February, 1855, Leverrier
obtained the sanction of Napoleon III. to the creation
of an organisation for the purpose of distributing
weather warnings over the countries included in the
scheme. It was some years, however, before the
system was in practical operation. Leverrier's plan
was, as described in a letter to Sir G. Airy, in 1860,
to establish an organisation whose work it should be
"to announce a storm as soon as it appears at any
port in Europe, to follow it on its course by means
of the telegraph, and to give timely notice of it to
the coasts which it may reach.'
The question of storm warnings had for some time
been attracting attention in this country, and at
the British Association meeting at Aberdeen in 1859,
presided over by the Prince Consort, a resolution
had been passed in favour of their introduction. A
sort of experimental warning was dispatched in 1861
by Admiral Fitz Roy, and in the spring of the follow-
ing year his system was definitely established, and
has since met with general acceptance throughout
Europe. At first he tried to accomplish too much,
and sent out warnings covering an interval of three
days, a period which experience has proved to be
too long.
Referring to this system, Mr. R. H. Scott,
22
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
writes:-"The basis of his signal system was the
employment of solid figures, what are called mathe-
matically, solids of revolution, to convey his messages.
The use of flags was objectionable, as these are
employed for many other purposes besides storm
signalling. Of such solids there are three simple
forms, the sphere, or ball, the cylinder, or drum, and
the conc. If any of these are hoisted on a flagstaff
they will always present the same form to the eye
at a distance, no matter how they are blown about.
The ball will be a circle, the drum a rectangle, and
the cone a triangle. Of these forms the ball was
already pre-engaged, at least in our harbours, e.g.
for conveying tidal signals as to the height of water
on a bar. Admiral Fitz Roy, however, adopted the
two others. With him, the cone, point upwards,
indicated a gale from a northern point; reversed, it
showed that the gale was to be expected from a
southern quarter; and the drum announced danger-
ous winds from opposite quarters successively.' In
this country the use of the drum has been abandoned,
as it was found that little practical advantage could
be gained from it. Our area is so small that we
generally have only time to announce the existence
of a storm, without attempting to indicate its probable
violence-a quality only to be learnt from reports of
its effects.'
The cone and drum signals, in various combinations,
are now in use throughout Europe, except in Holland,
where the storm-indicating apparatus used consists
of a bar or cross piece like a ship's yard, hoisted on
a mast, which can be swung round so as to point in
any direction. In the United States they have a
very elaborate system of flags and lamps, the former
for the day, the latter for the night. As far as this
EFFORTS OF SCIENCE TO COMBAT STORM.
23
country is concerned, the system we have adopted
has been of very great service. More than half the
signals of approaching storms have been fully justified.
A further testimony to the utility of the work is
afforded by the fact that a circular was issued by the
Meteorological Council in 1881, asking for expressions.
of local opinion as to the value of the warnings, and
that of the 135 replies received they were, with few
exceptions, unanimously favourable. The storm
warning system erected by Admiral Fitz Roy has
now been in existence over a quarter of a century,
and in connection with the telegraph service is
yearly extending its usefulness. There is still room
for a great expansion of the organisation, especially
in reciprocation with other countries; but, even as it
is, it has been the means of effecting a great saving
of life and property.
24
CHAPTER II.
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
The record is one in which
THE tragic annals of the sea are crowded with inci-
dents of death and disaster which might have been
avoided or greatly mitigated if responsible authorities
and officials had but adopted proper precautionary
measures and appliances.
deeds of splendid heroism are strangely blended with
acts of wanton and culpable neglect. Science, inven-
tion, and legislation have done much-though by no
means enough-for the protection of life at sea; still,
the men in charge of our ships, from the owners down
to the humblest mariner, have often displayed such a
reckless disregard of precautions concerning the lives
entrusted to them, that not even the wonderful personal
bravery and self-sacrifice which they have shown in the
moment of peril can be accepted as sufficient atone-
ment for their omissions. A reference to some of the
more serious shipwrecks of modern times will make
only too clear the catalogue of criminal defaults.
Seldom, indeed, in sudden danger, has a ship been
found to be fully equal in its equipment and appliances
to the preservation of the lives of its passengers and
crew, when these have been numerous. In the majority
of instances the boat accommodation has been woefully
inefficient; in some cases bad discipline has been an-
swerable for serious consequences; and, occasionally,
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
25
unskilful seamanship has led to tragedies of the most
painful description. There are times, however, when the
force of the tempest is so great that the best skill of the
navigator is unable to cope with it. In any of these
emergencies, it is well if the life-saving resources of
the vessel are of an adequate nature; but seldom is such
the case; as a rule, they have been found to be miser-
ably deficient.
'The most dreadful of all terrors at sea is that of fire.
It appals the stoutest heart. To meet the emergency
of fire every ship has a regular "fire-bill," in which
each officer and man has his appointed station or duty.
The first step is to assemble the crew at quarters, where
they are divided up into groups under their proper
officers. Every available pump is put in requisition;
the hose are led out; a wrecking party is supplied with
axes, &c., and a smothering party with wet blankets.
Means are employed to prevent unnecessary currents
of air; the ship's course is changed with reference to
the wind, that the latter may be the least favourable to
the spreading of fire; the magazines are furnished
with flood cocks by which they may be filled with water;
and sentries are posted over the boats to prevent them
being lowered without orders. These means-particu-
larly the use of the powerful steam pumps of our modern
ships-have frequently been found adequate to control
an ordinary fire; but at times, owing to the presence of
special combustibles, or the aid which the wind may
give to the flames, all hope of saving the ship is quickly
abandoned, and reliance has to be placed on such means
of preservation as the ship happens to possess.
In the first year of the present century, the British
three-decker, the Queen Charlotte, 100 guns, while off
Leghorn, some ten or twelve miles from the shore, was
discovered to be on fire. The flames spread with
26
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
terrific rapidity. Splendid discipline was observed
from first to last, and the utmost efforts were made to
save the vessel, but without avail. The lower-deck.
ports were opened, the scuppers plugged, the main and
fore hatches secured, the cocks turned and water drawn
in at the ports, and the pumps kept going as long as
the men could stand at them. Boats were sent off
from the shore to the assistance of the burning ship,
and, when the vessel was found to be past all hope of
being saved, picked up some of the crew; but Captain
Todd, the commander, and his first lieutenant, Mr.
Bainbridge, continued to the last to direct the opera-
tions of the crew. The captain sat down and wrote
particulars of the calamity, for the information of Lord
Keith, the admiral, and gave copies of the record to
different seamen, desiring that whoever might escape.
would deliver it to his lordship. Both the captain and
the lieutenant perished at the post of duty, and upwards
of 670 other lives were lost. One hundred and sixty-
seven were rescued by the boats sent from Leghorn,
but there does not appear to have been any one saved
by life-preserving appliances belonging to the ship.
A scarcely less heartrending disaster was that which
befell the Kent, East Indiaman, in March, 1825. She
had on board a crew of 148 men (including officers),
besides 20 private passengers, and 20 officers, 344
soldiers, 43 women, and 66 children belonging to the
31st Regiment; and was bound for Bengal and China.
While in latitude 47° 30′ N., and longitude 10° W.,
she was overtaken by a strong gale, and fears were
entertained regarding her safety, much of the cargo.
consisting of shot and shell, which rolled fearfully. An
officer went below to examine the stowage, carrying
with him a lantern. A sudden lurch of the ship made
him drop the light, which, coming in contact with a
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
27
broken cask of spirits burst out into wide-spreading
flames that from the first seemed to be irresistible.
Every available resource was used to check the further
progress of the fire. Water was poured into the hold
from pumps and buckets, and wet sails were let down
upon the flames. Captain Cobb gave directions for
the lower decks to be scuttled, the combings of the
hatches to be cut, and the lower ports to be opened to
admit the waves. Many were drowned by the sudden
letting in of the waters, and for a time the ship seemed
to be in danger of foundering. But the fire continued
to spread. For several hours they had nothing before
them but death. The flames were raging in the hold,
and were every moment expected to reach the powder-
magazine; but just as the passengers were on the point
of yielding themselves up to their fate, a sail was
sighted on the lee-bow, the flags of distress were
answered by the hoisting of the British colours, and,
crowding on all sail, the ship bore down to their rescue.
It proved to be the brig Cambria, Captain Cook, bound
for Vera Cruz. The boats were got out, and the com-
mand was given that any man who should dare to enter
the boats before the women and children had quitted
the vessel should be cut down; but the utmost disci-
pline and order prevailed, and no such attempt was
made. It was a perilous transit from the Kent to the
Cambria, with the fury of the storm around them, but
all the women and children were safely embarked.
The boats occupied three-quarters of an hour in going
and returning, and all the time the conflagration was
increasing with terrible rapidity, rendering an explosion
more and more imminent. Captain Cobb began to
make his final preparations. A rope was extended
from the end of the spanker-boom, and along this un-
certain outlet the men were told to creep, thence sliding
28
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
down the cable hanging from it into the boats. The
risk was fearful, for the great waves lashed the boats
to and fro, and made the task of dropping into them
most difficult. Night was drawing on, moreover, and
the wreck was already twelve feet below the water-mark.
Any moment might be their last. Still the work of
escape was steadily continued, and when at last the
boat came back for the final time, the men left on the
burning vessel were not more than she was capable of
taking. If the explosion were averted but a short time
longer they might be saved. One by one they crept
along the rope, and all were in the boat except the
Captain and the few whom terror had completely
paralysed, and whom he in vain strove to arouse from
their torpor. The guns, which had fallen into the
burning hold, began to explode, and the position was
one of dreadful peril. Beseeched by the occupants of
the boat to think of his own life, the Captain at length
crawled across the boom mainyard and lowered himself
into the crowded boat, which soon afterwards safely
reached the Cambria, from whose deck the rescued.
people watched the burning ship illuminating the
heavens with a lurid glare through the night. About
half-past one in the morning the magazine exploded
with a terrific noise, presenting a sublime and awful
spectacle. After that the flames expired in a chaos of
blackened timbers, and nothing more was left of the
Kent, East Indiaman. Eighty-one lives were lost in
all, and the list would have been greatly increased but
for the admirable discipline enforced, and the example
afforded by the officers.
The burning of the Amazon, in January, 1852, was
a lamentable instance of insufficient precautionary
appliances. She was understood to be the largest
timber-built steamer in England at the time, and was
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
29
men.
very luxuriously fitted up, being owned by the Royal
Mail Steam Packet Company, and engaged in the West
Indian service. When the steamer started out from
Southampton, on the afternoon of the 2nd of January,
1852-a Friday-she was regarded as being in every
way well-fitted for her voyage. She carried about fifty
passengers-amongst them, Major Eliot Warburton,
the gifted author of "The Crescent and the Cross,"-
and her officers and crew numbered a hundred and ten
In spite of her fine appearance, however, there
was an uneasiness felt by many passengers in regard
to the unsatisfactory working of the engines, which
frequently became so heated that they had to be
stopped until they cooled. One passenger, Mr. Neil-
son, was in such dread of fire that he could with diffi-
culty be got to go to his berth at night; and insisted
on staying on deck until after midnight. The fears.
which had been excited were only too well-grounded,
as it afterwards turned out; for, on the Sunday morn-
ng, as the ship steamed into the Bay of Biscay, the
alarm of fire was given, and it was discovered that
flames had broken out in the vicinity of the engine-
room. An effort was made to stop the engines, but
the fire prevented their being approached. The same
cause hindered the hose being got out. The passen-
gers were seized with panic, and the cries of anguish
and terror were fearful to hear, mingled as they were
with the wild cries of the animals on board.
steamer, which was making thirteen knots an hour,
could not be stopped, owing to the impossibility of
getting at the engines. This rendered the lowering of
the boats impracticable, although the ship carried nine,
four of which were life-boats. So the steamer con-
tinued to drive through the waves with her ever-in-
creasing freight of fire, and with every mile the chances
The
30
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
of safety diminished. At last the cry arose, Every
man for himself!" and crew and passengers lost all
self-control. At this critical moment the captain
ordered the forward life-boats to be lowered, but the
order came too late, the boats were on fire. A rush
was made for the other boats, but it was found that
they had been secured on some new principle, of which
the persons handling them were ignorant; and the
consequence was that three boat loads of poor wretches
were capsized into the water, one after the other, and
all were drowned. After a time the speed of the
vessel abated a little, and an attempt was made to
lower the remaining boats. This time their efforts
were more successful; five in all got safely away.
Gallant attempts were made by one of the life-boats to
effect further rescues from the burning ship, but a
strong gale arose, and prevented the boat from getting
near. In the end the magazine exploded, and the
Amazon was blown out of existence, the brave captain,
Symons, and Major Warburton perishing with her.
Fifty-eight lives only were saved out of 160.
One of the most appalling of recent cases of de-
struction of ships by fire occurred in November, 1874,
when the emigrant ship Cospatrick, bound for New
Zealand from London, was burned to the water's edge
in mid-ocean. She had on board 429 passengers,
mostly emigrants, and carried a crew of forty-four.
About midnight, on the 17th of November, the cry of
Fire!" was heard, and the passengers rushed on
deck in frantic confusion. Captain Emslie, aided by
his second mate, strove manfully to get the ship's head
before the wind, to prevent the flames from being
beaten back over the vessel; but she refused to answer
her helm. After some delay the order was given to
lower the boats, but such was the disorder and con-
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
31
fusion, that the moment the first boat touched the water
it was capsized, and all its occupants were drowned.
Hen-coops, timbers, and other movable articles were
thrown to the people struggling in the water, but all to
no purpose. Later on they succeeded in lowering two
other boats, into one of which forty-two people, and
into the other thirty-nine, made their way; and these
boats continued by the ship until it went down. The
Captain threw his wife into the sea to give her a last
chance of life, and leaped into the waves after her; but
both were drowned. The two boats made for the Cape of
Good Hope, and kept together as long as they could;
but they finally drifted apart, and the one in charge of
the chief mate passed into the darkness of night, and
was never again heard of. The occupants of the other
boat suffered the most horrible privations; many died
of hunger, some went raving mad and jumped into the
sea; and so they perished one by one, until the 27th
of November, when the ship British Sceptre, of Liver-
pool, chanced to fall in with the boat, and took on
board the few who remained. Ultimately, only three
men out of 473 seamen and passengers survived, and
these were landed at Plymouth. The great mistake
that was made in meeting this emergency of fire was
the delay which occurred in handling the boats. All
hands were kept at the work of subduing the fire,
which it was past all human effort to restrain. If the
seriousness of the disaster had been at once recognised,
and the crew had been employed in utilising and equip-
ping all the life-saving apparatus at command, the
probability is that the greater portion of the passengers
and crew would have been saved.
The steamboat Golden City, from New Orleans to
Cincinnati, on approaching Memphis, about daylight on
the morning of the 30th of March, 1882, caught fire.
32
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
She was headed for the wharf, and moored in four
minutes, but the line parted before many persons could
get ashore, and the swift current swept the steamboat
in one mass of flames down the river. She carried
forty passengers and a crew of sixty. Thirty-five per-
sons were drowned or burned to death. All the
officers but the second engineer escaped. This officer
first discovered the fire in the cargo; he raised an
alarm, and then remained manfully at his post till the
fire prevented his escape.
sea.
Collisions are a class of disaster which are often
more suddenly fatal than any other catastrophes at
They generally occur in a fog, during the night,
or in a crowded harbour. The Rules of the Road,
which are well defined, and accepted nearly universally,
are sufficient to enable ships to avoid each other on all
ordinary occasions; but there are times when it would
seem as if no human care were sufficient to prevent
collision. The light of one ship may be burning
brightly, and yet, from some unsuspected cause, may
be screened to the look-out of another vessel. This
has no doubt led to many collisions at night. No
rules will supply the want of careful attention to the
running lights, the keeping of a good look-out, and
the exercise of sound judgment in the management of
the ship. Yet all these precautions may be duly
observed by one ship, and if neglected by another in
close proximity collision may be unavoidable. Such
was the case with the Northfleet.
This ill-fated emigrant ship, with 379 souls on board,
had dropped anchor off Dungeness, on the afternoon
of Tuesday, the 21st of January, 1873. The winds
were adverse, and she remained in what was deemed
to be a position of perfect safety the whole of Wednes-
day, and at nightfall hoisted her lights and set her
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
33
watch with all customary precaution. The passengers,
who were bound for Australia, were in no apprehen-
sion of danger, but pursued their amusements below
deck with complete confidence. Nothing occurred to
mar their pleasure until about half-past ten, when the
men on the look out caught sight of a large screw-
steamer bearing down straight upon them through the
darkness. They immediately hailed her, and every
possible exertion was made to attract the attention of
those on board, but without the least effect. The
steamer came relentlessly on, and crashed into the
emigrant vessel amidships, with such terrible force that
her prow entered one of the berths where a passenger
was sleeping. But this was not the worst. No sooner
had the collision happened than the steamer backed
with all possible speed, and under cover of the dark-
ness stole away without stopping to render the slightest
assistance to the damaged ship and its human freight.
A survivor told the story of what followed in simple
and graphic language. "Most of the emigrants had
gone to bed," he wrote, "and were dropping off to
sleep; but I and three other fellows were playing
cards at the second table from the midship hatchway.
The doctor had been round and ordered them to their
berths, as he would not allow playing at so late an
hour. Some of us were talking, laughing, and joking
innocently, when suddenly I heard a voice on the deck
cry out, Ship ahoy!' I was wondering what it
meant, when I heard a gurgling noise like water,
and immediately afterwards a tremendous crash. I
rushed upstairs at once. One of my mates got up,
dropped his cards on the table, and turning pale as a
sheet, ran to his bunk in fright, and endeavoured to
hide himself. The other two followed me up on deck.
Some of those who had been asleep sprung from
D
34
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
their beds without their clothes, which they had stowed
away under their pillows, and did not care to put on.
When we reached the deck it was dark, and yet not so
dark that we could not see around us. There was one
light at the masthead, and two others, red and green,
under the bow. Just as we got up there was another
crash, and we heard the mate, who was a north-
countryman, shouting to somebody, though we could
not at the moment either see him or them. As we
ran towards him we saw a large vessel right against us,
with her bow so near that I could have jumped on to
her, and a lot of men running about on her deck,
'jabbering' in a tongue that we could not understand.
Then the mate turned to me and said, 'I can't under-
stand what they say. You run down below and tell
that French fellow to come up; perhaps he can talk to
them.' For we had a French fellow' among us.
6
"As I was turning round to go down, I saw the
foreigner bearing round with her stern to ours, and a
lot of her crew running to the bow with a piece of
tarpaulin, which they threw over the figure-head, so as
to hide her name. With that she backed water, and
got clear of us. The mate was shouting to them all
the time, and when he saw this he cried out, Ship
ahoy! stop and save us, for we have over four hundred
emigrants on board;' but it was useless, for she con-
tinued to back water, and then shot ahead across our
bow, and was away with her black smoke driving in
our faces before we could say many words to each
other, while they on board her cried out something
foreign, which of course we could make nothing of.
"At that moment there were but few on deck. I
ran to the hatchway of the married people, and I put
my head down and halloed, Come up all of you;
she's sinking!' And then the doctor, who was stand-

GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
35
:
6
6
ing near, said to me, Go down below and lie quiet,
and don't make a row, there's nothing the matter.'
But I did not believe him, and as I was running
for'ard again I saw the boatswain and a lot of the
sailors going aft, crying out, All hands at the pump!'
But first I had a look over the side of the ship, and
there I saw as plain as possible a tremendous hole
stove in her side, and you could hear the water rushing
in like a river. While I was doing this the captain
and all the crew had come on deck, and we set to work
at the pump with a hearty good-will, for even then we
thought we could save her. They tied ropes to the
handles of the pump, which was a double-acting one,
and we all set to together. We did not get out much,
and the ship lay perfectly still, and we could almost
feel her sinking. At the same time the captain had
got his blue lights out, and was firing them from the
quarter-deck; and when he had done that he ordered
the men to fire the gun abaft. They loaded the gun,
but it would not go off; and so they carried it up to
the quarter-deck, and tried it again. All this time
those that were below were coming up slowly, and ene
by one, looking round cautiously as they stepped on
deck, with a wild expression in their faces, as if they
could not believe it, and did not know exactly what
was going on. There were several women who rushed
up first, and began to scream and cry. But the cap-
tain told them to go down again and be quiet, and
wait till they were called, for they could do no good;
and so all of them excepting two went down, and their
husbands mostly with them, all very scared. Pre-
sently the mate, who was superintending at the pumps,
said, 'We had better stop, as it is no good trying any
longer.' Then the captain came among us and said, ' You
go for'ard, my man, and ring the bell as hard as ever
D 2

36
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
you can,' which I turned to do.
As I came
along I saw the mate and the storekeeper and two or
three of the sailors pulling away at the ropes of the
foremost life-boat.
"The wind was beginning to blow and whistle
through the rigging, and I could see that the fore-part
of the vessel was sinking near the level of the water.
The mate cried out to me to give him a hand in lower-
ing the boat for the captain's wife and the women;
and I took hold of one of the ropes; but as they were
somewhat confused, or the pulleys would not work, we
were unable with all our efforts to get the boat down.
And as I looked round I saw the crowd on deck get-
ting thicker and thicker, and I noticed the captain's
wife coming along wrapped up in a rug, and looking as
pale, poor lady, and as sad, as if she were going to die
that moment.
"There was a wild panic, I can tell you, among the
strong rough men, when it became apparent that the
vessel was sinking. The wild rush for the boats, and
the mad confusion which took place, were like the
trampling of a herd of buffaloes. Poor Captain Knowles,
brave as a hero all the time, was nevertheless angered
at the reckless selfishness of the men, and he drew a
pistol and threatened the big fellows who were leaping
helter-skelter into the boats. He said, 'The boats are
not for such as you; they are for the women and
children.'
We have not space to follow the narrative further in
all its terrible detail. Thus far we have seen what
demands are made upon a ship's crew and passengers
in time of sudden peril from collision. The rest of the
story deals with the desperate struggle for the boats,
the rushing, tearing, and shrieking of the panic-stricken
emigrants, and, finally, the sinking of the vessel and
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
37
the last fight for life of a crowd of poor wretches clutch-
ing at spars and bits of wreck as long as the strength to
do so remains. Only eighty-six lives were saved out of
the 379 persons on board. The Spanish screw-steamer
Murillo was afterwards charged with having caused the
disaster, and it was sought to punish the captain of that
vessel for his want of precaution and his inhuman
conduct; but the Spanish authorities did not, or would
not, consider that there was direct legal proof against
the Murillo, so he escaped; there is little doubt, how-
ever, that he was rightly charged.
A collision of a still more disastrous character took
place in September, 1878, when the saloon steamboat
Princess Alice, returning to London from a pleasure.
trip to Gravesend and Sheerness, and having on board
over 700 passengers, was run into by the screw-steamer
Bywell Castle, off Woolwich, at about eight o'clock in
the evening. What happened it is impossible accurately
to describe. A scene ensued which has had no parallel
on the Thames. Some few clambered on to the other
vessel, but nearly all rushed to the after part of the
steamer as the bow subsided gradually under water.
There were perhaps a dozen life-buoys on board, and
some boats were swinging in the davits ; but even if they
could have been got at they were miserably inadequate.
Indeed, the owners of the Princess Alice had made no
pretence of providing life-saving appliances. Only
some 200 souls were saved. In the legal inquiries
which subsequently were held both vessels were blamed,
-the Princess Alice for not porting her helm when she
came end on to the Bywell Castle, and the latter for not.
stopping her engines and going astern.
In the spring of the same year-31st May, 1878—
two German ironclads came into collision off Folkstone,
one of which, the Grosser Kurfurst, sank with nearly
38
OF THE SEA.
THE ROMANCE ANCE
300 victims out of 447 hands. The circumstances of
the collision were remarkable. The German squadron.
-which left Wilhelmshaven for Plymouth on May
29-consisted of three vessels, and at the time of the
accident was sailing in two columns; the König
Wilhelm, with the flag of Admiral Von Butsh, and the
Prussien forming the port division, with the Grosser
Kurfurst forming the starboard. A fourth ship, which
had not joined the fleet, was intended to fill the place
in the starboard division represented by the Prussien
in the port division. The German Admiral was lead-
ing the port division, the Grosser Kurfurst being within
less than two ships' lengths of the Admiral, and bearing
slightly abaft the beam. This was her nominal bear-
ing and distance, but in reality she was even nearer,
and probably not more than one length intervened
between the two ships. In this formation the German
squadron came across two sailing vessels hauling to the
wind on the port tack, and consequently standing across
the bows of both divisions. The Grosser Kurfurst had
first to give way, which she did at the proper time,
and strictly in accordance with the Rules of the Road,
porting her helm and passing under the stern of the
first of the two sailing ships. But the König Wilhelm,
which was close to the Grosser Kurfurst at the time,
and steering a course parallel to her, endeavoured at
first to cross the bows of the sailing vessel. In the
meantime, the Grosser Kurfurst had resumed her.
original course, and was then lying right across the
bow of the König Wilhelm, as she came under the
stern of the sailing barque almost at right angles to
the original course. The captain of the Grosser Kur-
furst, seeing the terrible proximity of the König
Wilhelm, immediately put his vessel at full speed,
hoping to cross her bows, but the space would not
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
39
allow it. He then gave the order to port her helm,
thinking he might lay his ship parallel to the course of
the König Wilhelm, but unfortunately for this also there
was neither time nor space, and the only effect of the
helm can have been that the stern of the Grosser
Kurfurst, swinging rapidly towards the approaching
danger, must have largely contributed to the force of the
shock. The commander of the König Wilhelm, seeing
the inevitable fate before him, gave the order to reverse
the engines, which it is said were actually going full
Even
speed astern at the moment of the collision.
here more might have been saved had everything been
as one might have expected aboard the Fleet. The
hammocks had been stowed in some unusual place
between the boom boats. Had they been in their
ordinary place they would have floated away and afforded
so many life buoys. As it was, the ship's boats were
mostly smashed by the collision. Admiral Butsh, whỏ
was below at the time of the accident, was afterwards sen-
tenced to six months' imprisonment for neglect, but the
Emperor pardoned him after fourteen days' incarceration.
The mail steamer Cimbria, from Hamburg to New
York, with 380 passengers and a crew of 110, was run
into in a fog, on the 19th January, 1883, by the British
steamer Sultan of Hull. The circumstances of the
disaster were of the most heartrending description.
Eight boats were carried by the Cimbria, but one after
another was capsized as soon as it was lowered; and
with those that got away the struggle for life was so
hard that they were compelled to repulse the drowning
to prevent overcrowding. The captain, officers, and
crew showed a splendid courage and self-sacrifice,
most of them perishing in endeavouring to save the
passengers and do their duty.
The accident to the Cunard steamer Oregon, on
40
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
the 14th March, 1886, at the entrance to New York
harbour, is another illustration of the sudden demands.
of an emergency of collision. The ship had made a
very favourable passage from Liverpool, having had
fine weather all the way across, and at half-past four
on the Sunday morning was run into by a heavily-
laden schooner, which showed no light until too
close to clear the Cunarder, when she put out a white
light, afterwards getting away without being identified.
Captain Cottier, who was in command of the Oregon,
gave immediate orders for the utilisation of the ship's
life-saving resources, and all was done that could be
done to keep the steamer afloat. The pumps were
worked to their full capacity, but had no chance
against the volumes of water which were pouring into
the vessel. All the passengers were in bed at the
time of the collision, and some continued to sleep
for an
hour afterwards. The greatest order and
perfect discipline prevailed up to the time the water
flooded the furnaces; but when the stokers and
firemen were driven from the fires they rushed for
the boats, regardless of everybody else, and the officers
had to fight them back with axes and belaying pins.
Fortunately, the boats were not required to be put to
their full test, or it is probable they would have been
found very inadequate to the occasion. The pilot-
boat took off 400 of the passengers and crew,
nearly 500 were transferred to the steamer Fulda,
which happened to come in sight before noon. The
only casualty was that a lady passenger broke her little
finger. The Oregon went down about eight hours
after being struck.
and
In the more recent case of the sinking of the
emigrant ship Kapunda, off the coast of Brazil, on
the 20th of January, 1887, with 300 emigrants and
:
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
41
sailors on board, a fatal error of seamanship was
brought home to the officer in charge of the Ada
Melmore, the ship which ran into the Kapunda. It
was about three o'clock in the morning when the
accident occurred. The morning was fine, the stars were
shining brightly overhead, and the wind was favour-
able. Suddenly, the chief officer of the Kapunda saw
a vessel on the starboard bow, showing no lights, and
apparently going in a direction exactly opposite to
his own.
He immediately gave orders to the steers-
man to bring the vessel's head nearer the wind, which
was then blowing at right angles across the course of
both ships from the eastward. The Ada Melmore,
instead of holding on her course, on seeing the green
light of the Kapunda on her starboard bow, also put
her helm hard down, thus bringing her head to the
wind and cutting directly across the new course of the
Kapunda. The order had been hardly carried out
when the Ada Melmore crashed into the starboard of
the Kapunda, which ill-fated ship sank at once, her
unfortunate passengers being almost without exception
drowned in their beds, and only a fraction of her crew
being saved. In the inquiry which afterwards took
place it was shown that in order to effect a paltry
economy of oil the captain of the Ada Melmore had
faced the enormous risks of collision, and, further
than that, that the outlook had been very inefficient.
As to the other classes of emergencies at sea they
are mostly the result of storm, and the catalogue of
disasters is an almost unbroken list of inefficient
precautions. In the memorable case of the loss of
the Birkenhead troopship, off the Cape of Good Hope,
in February, 1852, there was a lamentable deficiency
of boats, and of these some were stowed away and
could not be put to use. Three boats, however, were
42
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
lowered, into which the women and children were
hurried, Colonel Seaton standing in the gangway, with
his drawn sword in his hand, to prevent any of the
men from forcing their way to the boats. "Every
one did as he was directed," wrote a survivor, "and
there was not a murmur or a cry among them until the
vessel made her final plunge. The officers had their
orders, and had them carried out as if the men were
embarking and not going to the bottom; there was
only this difference, that I never saw an embarkation.
carried out with so little noise and confusion."
little more than twenty minutes from the time when
the vessel struck the fatal rock all that remained of
the Birkenhead were a few spars and some fragments
of timber drifting upon the waves. Of about 640
souls only 97 escaped with their lives.
In
When the telegraph cable steamship La Plata was
wrecked in the Bay of Biscay, in November, 1874,
the boats and other appliances that should have
afforded safety proved of little avail. One of the
boats was torn from its davits by a heavy sea, and the
davits rent the ship's side and helped on the work
of destruction; another capsized; the only boat that
was got off being the port-quarter boat, with fifteen.
men in her. There were so-called life-rafts on board,
which were stowed one above another and secured on
the forebridge, and when the ship went down the
despairing crew struggled frantically to get them out
and to float them, but in vain. Out of the seventy-
five persons on board only seventeen were saved.
Neglect or default of some kind (mostly in relation
to the boats) has added materially to the loss of life in
many of the great shipwrecks of modern times. In
the case of the wreck of the Atlantic, on the 20th
March, 1873, while making for the port of Halifax,
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
43
Nova Scotia, in a violent storm, there had been serious
neglect of proper precautions; the lead had not been
used in sounding, and the watch had not been duly
vigilant; omissions which were marked by the severe
censure afterwards passed upon Captain Williams and
the suspension of his certificate for two years, the
punishment being less than it otherwise would have
been because of the splendid bravery displayed by him
in his efforts to save the lives of his passengers. The
ship struck upon a rock a few minutes after three
o'clock in the morning. The crash seemed to tear
asunder every plank in the vessel. All the boats on
the port side were carried away instantly, and as the
ship speedily heeled over, those on the starboard side.
were also rendered useless. The passengers were told
to secure themselves to the rigging, as their only means
of protection against the fury of the waves. About a
hundred and fifty feet distant rose an elevated rock,
and to this storm-beaten pile the seamen contrived to
carry five lines. From the rock to the shore was a
further distance of one hundred yards, and this passage
was also bridged by a rope, Mr. Brady, the third officer,
and two quartermasters swimming ashore with it and
making it secure. Two hundred persons effected the
transit from the wreck to the rock, but only about fifty
ventured on the more perilous passage from the rock
to the shore, and of these many were drowned. The
inrush of waters into the doomed vessel was so great
that hundreds of the steerage passengers were drowned
in their berths, and numbers of those who were able
to make their way on deck were either washed away or
crushed by the fore-boom, which had broken loose and
was swinging to and fro, killing every one who chanced
to be within its range. When morning dawned assist-
ance came from the shore, and those who had not
44
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
already perished were for the most part saved. Captain
Williams remained on the wreck, issuing his orders
with the utmost coolness, and in every possible way
directing, encouraging, and consoling the wretched
passengers, and when at last his hands and feet were
frozen and he was unable to make any further effort
he was rescued by one of the boats. Out of the 931
persons on board the Atlantic at the time she struck
481 were lost, including 295 women and children, not
one female being saved.
Reckless seamanship was the cause of the wreck of the
Schiller, in 1875, on the Scilly rocks. She was an iron.
steamer of 3,600 tons register, and was just complet-
ing her voyage from New York to Hamburg. Having
made a favourable run across the Atlantic, a thick haze,
which gradually deepened into a dense fog, surrounded
her on the evening of the 7th of May, but the anxiety
of the captain to make a quick passage caused him to
risk danger rather than decrease his speed. The fog
prevented him from taking proper observations, still
it was not until the ship had run into actual peril
that the engines were put to half speed and the course
of the vessel was altered. The precautions were too
late. In half an hour the Schiller drove full on the
Retarrier Ledge, near the Bishop Rock Lighthouse,
and no human effort could save her. Two of the boats
were smashed by the fall of the funnel, and the others
were washed away. The chance of rescue seemed
hopeless. The catastrophe had become known on
shore, however, and the life-boats came out from St.
Mary's, succeeding, after great difficulty and danger,
in taking off forty-one persons, chiefly women and
children. But the ship broke up in the midst of the
gallant efforts that were being made to rescue her pas-
sengers, and 300 men, women, and children perished.
1
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
45
Neglect of ordinary precaution was responsible for
the wreck of the Channel steamer Victoria, voyaging
from Newhaven to Dieppe on the night of the 12th
April, 1887. This time, however, the neglect was not
on the ship but on shore. A heavy fog had settled
over the Channel, and the vessel was approaching
Dieppe. The fog-horn signal at the lighthouse on
the headland of Ailly was not sounding at the time,
and it was the absence of this indication that led to
the disaster. If the warning had been given the ship's
course could have been altered and the accident avoided.
It was ten minutes past four on the morning of the
13th April when the vessel struck upon the rocks
with a great crash. Considerable alarm was felt by the
passengers at the first shock, but the officers, believing
that the vessel would be safely carried off by the tide,
assured them that there was no cause for anxiety. As
the time passed, however, and the Victoria remained
firmly fixed, the excitement increased, and when, at
5.15, Captain Clarke ordered the boats to be lowered,
many of the female passengers were in a state of
abject panic. Unfortunately, during the lowering of
one of the boats a lady's cloak became entangled in
one of the davits, with the result that the boat almost
immediately capsized, the whole of its occupants being
thrown into the water. Every effort was made to
rescue the people thus put into peril, but in spite of
all that could be done several were drowned. The
rest of the boats were lowered successfully, and the
other passengers and the crew were safely landed.
But there have been many terrible shipwrecks which
have been so sudden in their cause and so swift in
their effect as to be beyond control or mitigation by
ordinary precautionary measures. The catastrophe
has reached its fatal completion before any life-saving
46
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
appliances could be utilized. Although, in the case of
the Captain, there is little doubt the defective con-
struction of this unfortunate turret-ship was primarily
responsible for its loss, human skill or precaution
was of no avail when the moment of peril arrived.
At sundown, on the 6th of September, 1870, the
Captain and several other vessels of the British fleet,
chiefly ironclads, were cruising off the Spanish coast,
when a gale sprung up, which increased as the night
advanced. All through the night the storm raged with
relentless fury, and when morning dawned and the
anxious seamen looked out from one vessel to another
not a sign was visible of the Captain. She had gone
down in the squall. As was afterwards gleaned from
the lips of survivors, Captain Burgoyne, who was in
command of the ship, was on deck at the time of the
catastrophe. The vessel was under steam and sail,
with her double-reef fore and main staysails set. At
midnight, on the calling of the middle watch, the
weather was very threatening. Fresh instructions
were given as to the management of the canvas, but
before they could be carried out a tremendous sea
struck the vessel on the weather beam, and flooded
her lower decks. Captain Burgoyne and the men
immediately found themselves waist-deep in water, the
ship being on her beam-ends, and quivering from stem
to stern in her violent efforts to right herself. But
she was unequal to the task; she turned right over,
and was speedily floating with her keel uppermost, all
who were below being drowned. The men of the
watch and the captain were the only persons to whom
the least chance of escape was open. The pinnace
life-boat was seen at a short distance off, keel
upward, and they swam towards her, the captain,
Mr. May, the gunner, and an able seaman named
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
.47
Heard succeeding in reaching her. But they were
unable to keep their position, the sea was so turbulent.
Presently the ship's second launch, with ten men in
her, came alongside and took all the little company on
board except Heard and the captain. "Come, sir,"
said Heard, taking his commander by the hand, "let
us jump." Captain Burgoyne answered, "Save your
own life, my man." As the distance between the
pinnace and the launch continued to increase, Heard
exclaimed, "Will you come or not, sir?" and when
the captain replied, "Jump and save yourself; I shall
not forget you some day," he ventured on the danger-
ous leap, and succeeded in reaching the launch.
Captain Burgoyne was never seen again. Only seven-
teen men out of a crew of 500 were saved. In the
inquiry that afterwards took place, the opinion was
expressed that the catastrophe was caused by the pres-
sure of sail upon the Captain, though that would not
have imperilled a ship constructed on sounder princi-
ples. The vessel's freeboard was too low, and she did
not possess sufficient stability.
A disaster of the purely unpreventable class was
that which befell another vessel of the British Navy,
the Eurydice, on the 24th March, 1878, in a sudden
snowstorm and squall off Dunrobe, the last headland
of the Isle of Wight which the vessel had to pass
before reaching secure haven. H.M.S. Eurydice was
one of the training ships, and had just returned from
a winter's cruise to the West Indies, with a crew of
some 250 ordinary seamen and boys, besides passen-
gers, marines, and others.
She was struck by a
sudden squall of a most furious character, and capsized
and sunk with such rapidity that it seemed as if every
soul on board had perished. The Eurydice was off
Ventnor about 3.30 P.M. As then seen by the coast-
48
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
guardsmen, she was under all plain sail. The wind
was then about west, which would be on the ship's
port quarter. A steady falling of the barometer was
the only sign of change; but between two and three
in the afternoon, the weather altered completely. A
sudden rise of the wind occurred, which shifted to the
north, and blew for a short time almost with the force
of a hurricane, and then followed a heavy fall of snow,
which was not, however, of long duration. Before sail
could be shortened, the hurricane struck the unfor-
tunate ship, and veering by the north round towards
the east, filled the canvas and bore her over on her
starboard broadside so promptly that nothing could be
done to get the canvas off her before she was on her
beam ends. One of the survivors heard the order to
"pipe hands, shorten sail," but before anything could
be done the catastrophe occurred. As the weather had
been very fine, all the ports were open, and the fury
of the wind preventing the vessel righting, she soon
filled and went down. As she sank she righted, but
the ebb tide seems to have caught her on the port, and
canted her to leeward, so that when she took the
ground her head was to the southward of east, though
her course would have been about north-east.
Various acts of legislation have within the last few
years materially added to the safety of ships, sailors,
and passengers, in so far as they have laid down a
succession of useful and wise regulations as to the
conditions upon which only ships are permitted to go
to sea. Some of the statutes require the survey of the
hulls, machinery, and equipment of passenger steamers
and emigrant ships, and several Acts may be said to
have been the result of Mr. Plimsoll's agitation on the
subject of the unseaworthiness of vessels of the mer-
chant service. For all that, much remains to be done
GREAT DISASTERS AND HEROIC DEEDS.
49
by the Legislature before the best that can be achieved
in this direction has been accomplished, and nothing
less ought to satisfy a maritime nation like England.
It is no pleasing commentary upon the various enact-
ments of later years to be told by so eminent an
authority as Mr. Thomas Gray, C.B., that notwith-
standing the steps taken in lighting the coasts, and in
providing life-boats and rocket apparatus; the improve-
ments to the entrances of harbours; the adoption by
the Legislature of nearly all the remedies proposed in
1836, 1843, and 1817; the vast improvements in, and
increased safety of, ships; the effective operation in the
main of the Grain Cargoes Act, and of the measures
taken to prevent the explosion of gas on coal-laden
ships; the detention of 1,021 unsafe ships; and the
fact that the great Steam Ship Companies rarely lose a
life, the loss of life in 1881 had become larger than
Of course it has to be borne in mind that all the
time we have been improving our provisions of safety
our ships have been rapidly increasing in number, and
that under the old system (or want of system) the
fatalities would necessarily have been proportionately
greater. In 1836, there were 25,820 ships on the
register of British ships, and their tonnage was
2,792,646 tons. Of these, 600 ships were steamers of
an aggregate tonnage of 67,969. In 1886, there were
38,335 ships on the register, of a tonnage of 9,323,615
tons, 8,913 of them being steamers of 4,293,115 tons.
Assuming that one steam ton does four times the
amount of work of one sailing ton-which is Mr.
Gray's estimate-it may be concluded that while in
1836 there were 2,996,553 effective tons of shipping,
there were in 1886 not less than 22,202,960 tons.
ever.
E
50
CHAPTER III.
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
WHEN man first began to go down to the sea in ships,
one of his earliest necessities would be a guiding light
to shape his course by when the darkness of night
spread itself across the face of the waters. Out on the
open sea the stars of heaven would point the way, but
when his ship was in proximity to land he would need
some friendly beam from the shore to lead him safely
to harbour. The first lights of the kind took the form
of beacon fires, which were placed on the lofty head-
lands round the coast at night, and served to indicate
to the mariner the points he had to aim at or avoid.
In the ancient literature we find numerous allusions.
to fires of this description, but the difficulty of feeding
and keeping open fires alight on the crests of the hills
would soon suggest the need of affording them some
structural protection. Thus the transition from beacon
fires to fire-towers or lighthouses would be naturally
brought about.
Amongst the early maritime nations, lighthouses
were not only a recognized aid to navigation, but were
invested with a sacredness which constituted them de-
votional objects as well as guiding marks. There is
much that is obviously mythical about the stories which
have been handed down concerning the lighthouses of
the older civilizations. We do not get at anything
1
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
51
really tangible until we come to the celebrated Pharos.
of Alexandria, which was included among the Seven
Wonders of the World; yet even in respect of that
remarkable monument of antiquity we are not able to
glean anything very precise. The name of its founder
does not survive, but we know that its architect was
called Sostrates. This ancient lighthouse was built on
the isle of Pharos, about a mile distant from the city
of Alexandria, and was of white stone. According to
Pliny, it cost a sum equal in present value to about
£390,000, and was of great height and massiveness.
It is not known when or how this great lighthouse ceased
to exist, whether it fell to decay by the natural process.
of time or was demolished by the hands of invaders, but
there is evidence that it was standing in the twelfth
century. Beyond that we know little or nothing.
Indeed, the records of early lighthouse history are so
very meagre and unsatisfactory that it is not until we
touch comparatively modern times that we are able to
trace the existence of anything like a general lighthouse.
system.
Much speculation has been indulged in with refer-
ence to the Colossus of Rhodes, another of the Seven
Wonders, which was said to be seventy cubits in
height, and of such immense proportion of limb that
a man could hardly compass one of its thumbs
with his arms. By some the Colossus-which was
in the form of a statue of Apollo-was said to have.
served the purpose of a pharos, and to have stood at the
entrance to Rhodes, with its legs stretched across the
mouth of the harbour, ships in full sail gliding under-
neath with the greatest ease. Whether such were its
position and object may be doubted, as some of the
writers who make most particular reference to it are
silent on this point. It was said of Chares, the
E 2
52
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
sculptor of the Colossus, that he had "made a god
like to a god, and endowed the world with a second
sun."
Be that as it may, the statue remained erect
only for the short period of fifty-six years, and was
then overthrown by an earthquake. For hundreds of
years afterwards its prostrate form, with its huge dis-
figured limbs forming so many vast caverns, was re-
garded as one of the world's greatest curiosities; and
when in 672, on the occasion of the capture of Rhodes
by the Saracens, the brass composing the statue was
sold for a sum equivalent to £36,000, it took a
thousand camels to carry the fragments away. But
the evidence of its ever having been used as a light-
tower cannot be said to count for much.
We have to come nearer home, and to deal with
matters of more recent maritime history, before we
can gain a real starting point for our story of the light-
houses. There is an interesting relic of the Roman
occupation of Britain in the remains of the ancien
lighthouse, still speaking through its crumbling ruins.
of the storms and tempests of a far-back time, on the
summit of the lofty steep overlooking Dover harbour.
This was no doubt used as a lighthouse in times.
anterior to the Conquest, but long before England rose
into eminence as a seafaring nation it had been trans-
formed into a military stronghold, and as such con-
tinued to be used down to recent times.
Much has been written and conjectured concerning
the Tour d'Ordre of Boulogne, erected by the Emperor
Caligula in commemoration of his victories; and after-
wards utilized as a lighthouse, and so used down to
the seventeenth century. All remains of this once
famous tower have long since disappeared; but since
1835 its place has been worthily occupied by a light-
house in which a powerful lighting apparatus has been
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
53
kept in nightly operation, greatly to the advantage of
the navigation of that part of the Channel.
Another celebrated lighthouse of the past was the
famous Tour de Cordouan, erected on an extensive reef
at the mouth of the river Garonne, serving as a guide to
the shipping of Bordeaux and the Languedoc Canal;
and, indeed, to all that part of the Bay of Biscay. Accord-
ing to tradition, the first Tour de Cordouan was built
by Louis the Debonnair, but there is nothing of actual
record to support the story. Let the original structure
have been built at what period it may, we know for a
certainty that the second tower was erected at the
instance of one of our own heroes-Edward the Black
Prince-between 1362 and 1370. This lighthouse was
forty-eight feet in height, and its light was obtained
by the burning of billets of oakwood in a chamber at
the top of the tower. A holy hermit had charge of the
place, and received a toll of two groats sterling from
each vessel entering the harbour. This tower served the
purpose for which it had been built until towards the
end of the sixteenth century, when Louis de Foix, the
architect of the Escorial, was entrusted with the erec-
tion of a new one. He began his operations in 1584,
and completed the structure in 1600. Mr. Alan
Stevenson-no mean authority-has declared that for
architectural grandeur the Tour de Cordouan is the
noblest edifice of the kind in the world. Time and
the rush of waters have committed ravages upon it,
entailing various acts of restoration during the many
years it has stood the brunt of the storm; but it still
remains in much the same form as when De Foix
handed it over complete to Henri Quatre. The
building is 177 feet in height, and consists of a pile
of masonry, forming successive galleries, enriched with
pilasters and friezes, and rising above each other with
54
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
gradually diminishing diameters. These galleries are
surmounted by a conical tower, which terminates in
the lantern. Round the base is a wall of circumval-
lation, in which the light-keeper's apartments are
formed; the wall serving also as an outwork of defence
for receiving the first shock of the waves. The tower
itself contains a chapel and various rooms, and the
ascent is by a spacious staircase. The upper portion
of the structure has been replaced, and the tower
considerably increased in height.
In this country lighthouses were in the old days
matters of private enterprise. But when Britannia
found it her special vocation to "rule the waves," when
the sovereigns of England began to have their fleets.
of war, and our merchant princes had their richly-laden
argosies on every sea, stronger measures of protection
were necessary than had sufficed for more primitive
seafaring. Henry VIII, who, despite serious faults
and worse follies, possessed many kingly qualities, was
the first English monarch to see the need of an official
organization for dealing with maritime safeguards. On
the 20th of March, 1512, he issued a royal charter
constituting "The Brotherhood of the Trinity House
of Deptford of Strand, and St. Clement," whose duty
it was to pray for the souls of sailors drowned at sea,
and for the lives of those in peril. Henry graciously
assumed the rôle of the "pious founder" for this
occasion; the brotherhood being established "out of
the sincere and complete love and devotion which we
have for the very glorious and indivisible Trinity, and
also for St. Clement the Confessor." But the holy
brotherhood enlarged their office considerably as time
went on, and in addition to their prayers began to
assume certain functions and privileges giving them
authority in maritime matters.
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
55
In 1566, the eighth year of the reign of Elizabeth,
coast lights and sea marks were formally placed under
the control of the Trinity House. The condition of
English lighthouses at that time is pretty clearly set
forth in the preamble to the Act accomplishing this.
"Forasmuch," it reads, "as by the destroying and
taking away of certain steeples, woods, and other
marks standing upon the main shores adjoining to the
sea coasts of this realm of England and Wales, being
as beacons and marks of ancient time accustomed for
seafaring men, to save and keep them and the ships in
their charge from sundry dangers thereto incident,
divers ships with their goods and merchandises in
sailing from foreign parts towards this realm of
England and Wales, and specially to the port and
river of Thames, have by the lack of such marks of
late years been miscarried, perished and lost in the
sea, to the great detriment and hurt of the common
weal and the perishing of no small number of people,"
it is enacted, and so forth.
This is a sufficient indication that the lighthouses
round our coasts were not by any means numerous at
that time. In 1536 Henry VIII. had granted per-
mission to the Trinity House of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
to "found, build, make, and frame of stone, lime, and
sand, by the best means which they know or can, two
towers, one, to wit, in the northern part of the Shelys
(Shields), at the entrance of the port of the said town,
and the other on a hill there fit and convenient for
signals, meets, and bounds;" and about the same
period there were a few lighthouses erected on other
portions of the coast, but they were few and far between.
Progress in this direction was somewhat hindered by a
quarrel which arose between the Trinity House and the
Crown, for the former made so much of its authority
56
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
that its action was often regarded as an interference
with the prerogative of the sovereign. The Trinity
House claimed, under the Act of Elizabeth, the right
of erecting new lighthouses, and of levying tolls for
their support," as it thought fit;" but, on the part of
the Crown it was contended that the authority given to
the Trinity House "excluded not his Majestie." The
fact was, lighthouse tolls became rather an important.
item as the shipping trade of the country developed,
and under the Stuarts were regarded with a covetous
eye by the Crown. A sort of compromise was effected,
but the advantage of it was mostly on the Crown's side.
The King pretended to submit all petitions of private.
individuals for licenses to build lighthouses to the
Trinity Board, but, although as a rule the Trinity
Corporation reported against these private projects,
the objections were mostly overridden by the Crown:
generally for some valuable consideration.
Charles I. was besought to grant a patent to Sir
John Meldrum, giving him permission to erect
"lightes" on the North and South Forelands, as a
protection against the dangers of the Goodwin Sands,
but the Trinity Board reported that there was "no
necessity for such lighthouses; neither will they be of
any use for avoiding the aforesaid dangers." For all
that, Sir John got his patent, and thereafter levied
twopence a ton for the support of his lighthouses.
Sir Edward Howard obtained a patent, in 1614, for the
erection of a lighthouse at Dungeness, and the privilege
of levying a duty of a penny a ton. Some years later,
in 1650, the Earl of Thanet threatened the Dungeness
lighthouse with destruction, claiming as his own the
land on which it stood, but Cromwell was appealed to in
the matter and promised the petitioners that they should
"not be subjected to y° will of y° Earl of Thannet."
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
57
Sir John Killigrew got a patent in 1619, to erect a
lighthouse on the Lizard Point, although again the
Trinity Brethren entered a strong protest, asserting
that it was not "necessary or convenient to erect a
lighthouse there; but, per contra, inconvenient, having
regard to pirates and enemies, whom it would conduct
to a safe place of landing." In 1661 this lighthouse
was no longer in existence, and in 1751 another light-
house was erected on the Lizard, under a patent
obtained by the Trinity House. In 1679, Sir John
Clayton offered to surrender the four lighthouses he
had built on the northern coast at a cost of £3,000, on
condition that he was permitted to erect one on the
Scilly rocks. This was opposed by the Trinity House.
on the ground that the King had already granted them
a patent to erect such a light, and as in the following
year they set about the work themselves their opposition
did not much matter in this case. On a rock "200ft.
in height, within four miles from the rock called
Bishop," they built their lighthouse, which was full
"60ft. high before y° lanthorn be set up, so that it be
about 70ft. high altogether." All ships passing it,
outward or homeward bound, had to pay, if English,
d. a ton, if foreign, 1d. The first keeper of this light-
house was an individual of a somewhat daring type.
The lighthouse had not been completed two months
when a terrible shipwreck occurred on the very spot,
"Y° Golden Lyon, Virgini ship" breaking itself to
pieces at the very foot of the new tower. The fact was,
the keeper had seen the ship approaching and had pur-
posely extinguished the light, so that when the vessel
was wrecked he was able to "plunder y goodes of y
ship." What punishment befell him for this evil bit
of work is not recorded.
The inhabitants of Cornwall and Devon were not
58
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
very favourably disposed towards the erection of light-
houses in those days, the matter of the toll being con-
sidered a great grievance. Still, our shipping had
grown to be such an important feature of the prosperity
of the nation that its protection became more and more
a necessity, and during the seventeenth century many
of the most dangerous parts of the coast were marked
by lighthouses. There was no more perilous point,
however, than that of the Eddystone rocks, which re-
mained hidden just below the surface of the waves some
fourteen miles to the south-west of Plymouth harbour.
Very many ships had come to grief on those fatal rocks,
and the need for some danger-signal at that point had
long been recognized, but the difficulty of building any
structure at so dangerous a part was so great that it
was not until 1696 that any practical project for
accomplishing the feat was forthcoming. In that year,
a country gentleman named Henry Winstanley pro-
posed to himself the task of erecting the first Eddystone
Lighthouse, and, having obtained the necessary sanc-
tion, set to work on the undertaking. It was a long
and dreary business, for the work could only be carried
on in the summer, and even then the rocks would be
submerged by tempestuous seas for a week or a fort-
night together. During the first summer twelve holes
were bored in the rock, and as many irons were fixed
in them as would serve for the superstructure. The
next summer saw the erection of a solid round pillar
12ft. high and 14ft. in diameter; the third witnessed
the enlargement of the pillar by 2ft. at the base and the
carrying up of the structure to a height of 60ft.
"Being all finished," wrote the engineer, "with the
lantern, and all the rooms that were in it, we ventured
to lodge there soon after midsummer, for the greater
dispatch of the work. But the first night the weather
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
59
came bad, and so continued, that it was eleven days
before any boats could come near us again; and not
being acquainted with the height of the sea's rising,
we were almost drowned with wet, and our provisions
in as bad condition, though we worked day and night.
as much as possible to make shelter for ourselves. In
this storm we lost some of our materials, although we
did what we could to save them; but the boat then re-
turning, we all left the house to be refreshed on shore:
and as soon as the weather did permit we returned and
finished all, and put up the light on the 14th November,
1698; which being so late in the year, it was three
days before Christmas before we had relief to go on
shore again, and were almost at the last extremity for
want of provisions; but, by good Providence, then two
boats came with provisions and the family that were to
take care of the light; and so ended this year's work."
Winstanley, however, did not consider the structure.
complete, so during the fourth year he not only took
measures to strengthen the foundation, but added as
many ornamentations as if it had been intended for a
summer-house. That it was a picturesque object
cannot be doubted; still," a Chinese pagoda, with open
galleries and fantastic projections," was scarcely the
kind of structure one would look for as the best
resistant to the fury of the waters. But Winstanley
was as satisfied with its architectural features as he
was convinced of its strength. It was his boast that
his lighthouse was capable of surviving the fiercest
gale that the elements could send. His dearest wish
was to be permitted to be in it during a violent storm,
to hear the tempest beating furiously against it, and
to feel through all that it was secure and firm in every
joist and beam. With this heroic impulse strong
upon him, he visited the lighthouse during the gloomy
60
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
days of November, 1703, and after having with
difficulty effected a landing, remained, in company
with his workmen and keepers, watching, waiting,
and hoping for the arrival of a storm which should put
his erection to an adequate test. His desire was more
than gratified. On the 26th of November, a gale arose.
and swept across the English Channel with a destructive
force that scattered death and devastation far and near.
Such a terrible storm had not been known within the
memory of man. All through the night the tempest
raged with unabated violence, and the inhabitants of
Plymouth, kept awake by the fearful noises made by
the wind, wondered how it would fare with brave
Winstanley. When the first grey streaks of dawn
appeared, the people ran to the beach and looked
anxiously towards the Eddystone rock. Then, as the
dawn broadened slowly into daylight, and the spot.
became visible, they were horrified to discover that
not a vestige of the lighthouse remained; the whole
edifice had been swept away by the storm, with poor
Winstanley and his workmen, every one of whom
perished.
For three years afterwards the Eddystone reef re-
mained undisturbed. Neither private citizen nor
public authority came forward to continue Winstanley's
noble work. Still, the necessity for a lighthouse at
this dangerous point was shown only too clearly by
the numerous wrecks which occurred there when the
66
light" was no longer visible. The Winchelsea,
man-of-war, went to destruction on those fatal rocks,
and nearly all her crew perished. Other disasters
followed quick and fast. Then the Trinity House
began to move a little, and the Government showed
a slowly awakening sense of duty, and after much
playing at cross-purposes between the two, as of old,
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
61
it was in 1706 determined that a new Eddystone
lighthouse should be forthwith commenced. A ninety-
nine years' lease was granted to one Captain Lovet,
who at once took the enterprise in hand. The
captain does not seem to have had any notions of his
own as to the best course to pursue in regard to the
work of re-construction; nor did he consult any
practical architect or builder on the business; he
simply, in his old-world way, took a fancy to some
suggestions that were made by a Ludgate Hill silk-
mercer, John Rudyerd, and to him entrusted not only
the designing of the new lighthouse, but the entire
superintendence of its erection.
Rudyerd, however, was not by any means in-
competent. He had given the matter much study,
and was prepared with a design greatly superior to
that of Winstanley. Instead of a polygon, he chose
a circle for the outline, and in all things tried to ward
off rather than offer resistance to wind and wave.
Oak timber was largely used in the construction of
the lighthouse, but solidity was imparted by thick
courses of Cornish granite at the base. The tower
was not entirely completed until 1709. It rose to a
height of 92 feet, and consisted of four rooms, one
above the other. The lantern was of octagonal shape,
10 feet 6 inches in diameter, and crowned by a ball of
the diameter of 2 feet 3 inches.
In those days the Eddystone workmen had other
perils than those of storm and tempest to guard
against. England was at war with France, and the
Channel was overrun by privateers. The contractors
had two vessels ready with materials and men to be
by the rock and watch all opportunities of working
that no time be lost in perfecting so useful an under-
taking"; but the crews durst not venture out unless
62
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
a man-of-war was appointed for their protection.
Application was made to the Admiralty on the subject,
when it was pointed out that the men had no cause
for alarm, seeing that "the person that molested those
formerly employed was so severely punished by the
French King, and the workmen captured were sent
back." This reference was to an incident which had
happened while the first Eddystone Lighthouse was
building, when a French privateer had taken prisoners
the workmen engaged upon it and carried them off to
France. On this coming to the knowledge of the
King-the pleasure-loving Louis XIV. it was-he at
once commanded the release of the prisoners, on the
ground that the work they were engaged on was one
for universal good, and that he was at war with
England and not with humanity.
Rudyerd's lighthouse continued to fulfil its benefi-
cent purpose with success until the night of the 2nd
of December, 1755, when, from some unknown cause,
the building caught fire. It had been in flames eight
hours before any help reached the three keepers, who,
half dead with fright, were shielding themselves in a
small cave on the east side of the rock, from the
blazing beams, red-hot iron, and molten lead which
fell from the burning structure. The men were
with difficulty got into a boat and taken ashore.
One
of them immediately disappeared and was never heard
of again; a second died shortly afterwards through
having accidentally swallowed a portion of the molten
lead, a piece weighing seven ounces and five drachms.
having been found in his stomach after his death; as
for the third keeper, nothing is said of him, so it may
be presumed he came to no harm.
Strange to relate, the authorities were at this stage.
impressed by the desirability of at once proceeding with
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
63
the erection of another Eddystone lighthouse. They
saw no reason for delay; they wasted no time in dis-
putation; but in the spring of the following year
entered into a contract with Smeaton to build a light-
tower of more formidable proportions and greater
strength than the two which had been destroyed.
Smeaton first landed on the rock on the 5th of April,
1756, and at once began to arrange for the foundation.
He had the surface of the rock cut into regular hori-
zontal benches, and into these the foundation stones
were carefully dovetailed or notched. On the 12th of
June, 1757, the first stone was laid, weighing two tons
and a quarter. The first course, consisting of four
stones, was finished the next day, and by the 11th of
August the sixth course had been completed, bringing
the erection above the general wash of the tide. After
many difficulties, dangers, and interruptions-it being
impossible to continue the operations during the rough
winter weather-the tower received its last stone, on
which were inscribed the words "Laus Deo," on the
17th of August, 1759. The tower was composed of
forty-six courses of masonry, and rose to a height of
seventy feet; it measured twenty-six feet in diameter
at the level of the first entire course; and the diameter
under the cornice was fifteen feet. The first twelve
feet of the tower formed a solid mass of masonry, and
the stones of which it consisted were united by means
of stone joggles, dovetailed joints, and oaken treenails.
All the floors were arched.
Smeaton superintended all the details of the erection,
and incurred serious dangers at times. On one occa-
sion he nearly lost his life. He and the workmen were
engaged upon the task of fixing the bars to the windows.
“After the boat was gone," he wrote, "and it became
so dark that we could not see any longer to pursue our
64
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
occupations, I ordered a charcoal-fire to be made in
the upper store-room, in one of the iron pots we used
for melting lead, for the purpose of annealing the blank
ends of the bars; and they were made red-hot alto-
gether in the charcoal. Most of the workmen were set
round the fire, and by way of making ourselves com-
fortable, by screening ourselves and the fire from the
wind, the windows were shut; and, as well as I re-
member, the copper cover or hatch put over the man-
hole of the floor of the room where the fire was-the
hatch above being left open for the heated vapour to
ascend. I remember to have looked into the fire
attentively to see that the iron was made hot enough,
but not over-heated; I also remember I felt my head a
very little giddy; but the next thing of which I had
any sensation or idea was finding myself upon the floor
of the room below, half drowned with water. It seems
that, without being further sensible of anything to give
me warning, the effluvia of the charcoal so suddenly
overcame all sensation, that I dropped down upon the
floor; and had not the people hauled me down to the
room below, where they did not spare for cold water to
throw in my face and upon me, I certainly should have
expired upon the spot."
The "light" was first exhibited in the lantern
on the 16th of October, 1759, but such was the
condition of the lighting apparatus that a feeble
illumination from tallow candles was the only guid-
ing light that the mariner was permitted to see
gleaming from this noble erection. Indeed, much as
had been done by Smeaton to make his tower worthy
of its position and of engineering science, his efforts
were greatly discounted by the jobbery under which
the entire lighthouse system of England then suffered.
The lighthouse had been leased and underleased, and
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
65
had got into the hands of unworthy parties, who, re-
gardless of shipwrecks and loss of life, burned the least
expensive illuminant, although many improved lighting
appliances were in existence. But, in 1807, the lease
expired and the Trinity House assumed the control of
the Eddystone Lighthouse, which it has never since.
relinquished. Argand burners were now introduced,
and paraboloidal reflectors of silvered copper, and there
was an end for ever of the "felonious mutton dips."
For more than a hundred and twenty years Smeaton's
lighthouse continued to brave the fury of the waves,
and remained as firm as on the day of its completion.
But, in 1877, it was made known by Sir James N.
Douglass, the engineer to the Trinity Board, in a paper
read by him at the Plymouth meeting of the British
Association, that the building of a new Eddystone
Lighthouse had become necessary. He explained that
the structure itself was as strong as ever, but that the
rock on which it was built, dashed against by Atlantic.
storms for countless thousands of years, had become
undermined, and would ultimately give way altogether.
In the following year, Sir James was commissioned to
commence operations in regard to a new structure, and
he selected as his site what is called the South Rock,
which is so low that it is wholly covered with water till
half ebb tide, and some parts of it are permanently
four feet under low water. The difficulties he had to
contend with were even greater than those which
Smeaton had to encounter. But in July 1878 the
work was begun, and in the spring of 1882 it was
finished. Its height is rather over 170 feet from the
foundation course to the vaue at the top of the lantern,
and the light is 135 feet above high water. In the
erection of this commanding tower all the latest aids.
of science have been employed, and, as it stands, the
F
66
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
present Eddystone Lighthouse may be regarded as the
most commodious and most effective rock lighthouse in
existence. The tower comprises 2,171 stones, con-
taining 63,020 cubic feet, or 4,668 tons of masonry, as
against the 988 tons of Smeaton's tower. Its cost was
£61,500, while Smeaton's cost £40,000.
It has been necessary to break the order of time
somewhat in tracing the history of the four lighthouses
erected on the Eddystone reef. We may now go back
to the eighteenth century for the purpose of taking up
the threads of the general narrative.
When the first Eddystone was built there was hardly
another light to be seen on the whole of the southern
shores; but as commerce increased, and our merchant
navy expanded, a more systematic lighting of our
coasts was demanded. The next important lighthouse
to that of the Eddystone, in point of date, was the
Smalls Lighthouse, off St. David's Head, South Wales,
built by a Mr. Philips, "to serve and save humanity."
The erection was commenced in 1772, a Liverpool
musical instrument maker named Whiteside being
chosen as the architect. It took several years to com-
plete, owing to the perils to which the workmen were
exposed. At one time they were reduced to such ex-
tremities that they were compelled to trust to the
chance of a letter, which they had enclosed in a bottle,
reaching some friendly hand. Being now in a most
dangerous and distressed condition," Whiteside had
written," upon the Smalls, do hereby trust providence
will bring to your hand this, which prayeth for your
immediate assistance to fetch us off the Smalls before
66
the next spring, or we fear we shall perish;
our water near all gone, our fire quite gone, and
our house in a most melancholy manner." This
was dated the 1st February, 1777. It produced
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
67
the desired result, and after that better provision was
made for the hardy sojourners on the Smalls Rock.
When, many years subsequently, this lighthouse was
handed over to the Trinity House, the descendants of
the founder received £15,000 by way of compensation.
Lighthouse farming was a profitable thing in those
days, and even later, for in a report of a Select Com-
mittee of 1834, having reference to the Skerries Light-
house, we find it stated that the lessee or proprietor
had strongly objected to disclose the amount of his
income, and that when the information was at last
wrung from him it was shown that during the seven
years then ended he had been in receipt of an annual
net income from the lighthouse of £12,525. The
present lighthouse on the Smalls was built in 1861,
and is a structure of great beauty and solidity.
Scarcely less interesting than the history of the
Eddystone is the story of the lighthouse on the Bell or
Inchcape Rock, on the coast of Scotland, where so
many vessels were wrecked in olden times, that the
Abbot of Aberbrothwick caused a float to be fixed on
the rock, with a large bell attached to it, so placed that
the motion of the waves kept it always ringing.
Southey's ballad of "Sir Ralph the Rover" is based
on this story. Several warning signals were put up
from time to time on this dangerous spot, but they
were all washed away. In 1806, however, an Act was
passed authorizing the Commissioners of Northern
Lighthouses to erect a lighthouse on the Bell Rock,
and Mr. Robert Stevenson, the eminent lighthouse.
engineer, was entrusted with the work. The erection
was begun in 1807, and finished, after many accidents.
and providential escapes, in 1811. Its height is about
117 feet, the light being shown from an elevation of
93 feet above high-water. The cost of the tower was
F 2
68
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
•
£61,331. It was in this famous lighthouse, which
still stands uninjured by the storms and tempests of
nearly eighty years, that Sir Walter Scott wrote the
oft-quoted lines :—
Far in the bosom of the deep
O'er these wild shelves my watch I keep,
A ruddy gem of changeful light
Bound on the dusky brow of night;
The seaman bids my lustre hail,
And scorns to strike his tim'rous sail."
It would be impossible within our present limits to
relate the history of all the famous lighthouses of more
modern days, nor is it needful, for the story of one ist
very like the story of another, illustrating the same
dangers, the same bravery, the same endurance. Else
we might give an account of the raising of such sturdy
structures as that which gives forth its guiding beams
from the Wolf Rock, off the Land's End; the wild and
lonely tower of the North Unst; the Skerrymore, which
cost over £90,000; the new lighthouse at Bishop
Rock, off Scilly; the Fastnet, off Cape Clear; the
Dhuhearlack, the Chickens Rock, the Needles, and
others. Upon these the best engineering skill of
modern days has been employed, and they are, almost
without exception, works of beauty as well as of im-
pregnable solidity. It should be added that the cost
of keeping up the lighthouses, lightships, and sound
signal stations of the United Kingdom is £353,000
per annum, and that the cost of new works in connec-
tion therewith averages about £75,000 yearly.
Within the last half century the number of light-
houses has been quadrupled. Recent statistics give the
total number of lighthouses in the world as 3,301, made
up as follows: United States, 632; United Kingdom, 556;
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
69
Canada, 451; France, 291; Scandinavia, 207; Spain
and Portugal, 151; Italy, 145; Belgium and Holland,
115; Greece and Turkey, 114; West Indies, 110;
Australia, 103; Russia, 102; Germany, 25.
These thousands of lights, throwing their friendly
rays across the darkness of the seas by night, and
forming welcome landmarks by day, are amongst the
most important agents in the saving of the lives of
those whose business is with the mighty waters.
70
CHAPTER IV,
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES (continued).
In the matter of the fitting up and illumination of our
lighthouses many important improvements have been
made in recent times. We have already indicated the
leading features of the constructive changes effected,
and have made allusion to the more primitive systems.
of illumination; it will now be necessary to say some-
thing regarding the principles of lighting which
modern science has introduced into our lighthouse
organization.
On the beacon towers planted sparsely over the head-
Jands of our coasts in ancient days they used to burn
wood, and at a later period coal was substituted as an
illuminant. But these lights were of a fluctuating
character, and liable to be greatly affected by the
weather. After a time, coal gave way to candles, and
it was with these that our great lighthouses continued
to be lighted until near the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury, when oil superseded candles. Since then gas
and electricity have come to the aid of the lighthouse-
keeper, and the rays which can now be thrown out across
the face of the waters penetrate over many miles of
distance. Oil lamps were in use at Cordouan and
other French lighthouses about 1780, but the lamps
were so unsatisfactory that a return to the older system
was loudly called for. By the adoption of Argand's
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
71
improvement, however, and an arrangement of reflectors
introduced by other inventors, a much better illuminat-
ing power was obtained. At Dieppe, Borda had a small
revolving apparatus of five parabolic reflectors made in
1784, and this method of lighting was speedily adopted
by all the maritime powers. It was known as the
Catoptric System, and was for very many years exclu-
sively employed on the coast of England. Catoptric
lights are of nine separate classes-fixed, revolving
white, revolving red and white, revolving red with two
whites, revolving white with two reds, flashing, inter-
mittent, doubled fixed lights, and double revolving
white lights. We cannot do better than quote Mr.
Alan Stevenson's description of these different varieties,
in a slightly condensed form.
The fixed exhibits a regular and steady appearance,
and is not subject to any change; and the reflectors
employed are smaller than those required for revolving
lights. This is necessary, in order that they may be
ranged round the circular frame, with their axes so
inclined as to admit of their illuminating every point.
of the horizon.
The revolving light is produced by the revolution of
a three or four-sided frame, having large reflectors
grouped on each side, with their axes parallel; and as
the revolution exhibits once a minute, or once in two
minutes, a light gradually increasing to the maximum,
and then just as gradually decreasing to total darkness,
its effect is remarkably impressive.
The revolving red and white is obtained by the revo-
lution of a frame whose different sides present red and
white lights, and exhibit the following succession:-
two white lights after one red, or two red lights after
one white.
The flashing light is effected in the same manner as
3
3
72
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
the revolving, but, owing to a different construction of
the frame, the reflectors on each of the eight sides are
arranged with their rims or faces in one vertical plane,
and their axes in a line inclined to the perpendicular
-a disposition of the mirrors which, together with the
greater quickness of the revolution, showing a flash
once in five seconds of time, produces an impressive
effect, wholly different from that of a revolving light,
and presenting the appearance of an alternate rising
and sinking illumination. The brightest and darkest
periods being but momentary, this light is also charac-
terized by a rapid succession of bright flashes; whence
its name.
The intermittent light is distinguished by bursting
suddenly into view and continuing steady for a short
time, after which it is rapidly eclipsed for half a minute.
This is due to the perpendicular motion of circular
shades in front of the reflectors, by which the light is
alternately revealed and hidden.
The double lights, which are seldom used except
where exists a necessity for a leading line, as a guide.
for taking a channel or avoiding some danger, arc
generally exhibited from two towers, one of which is
higher than the other.
The Catoptric principle has, however, of late years
been confined almost exclusively to revolving lights;
what is known as the Dioptric system having been.
largely adopted for fixed lights. This method is chiefly
associated with the name of Fresnel, whose investiga-
tions on the subject of optical science were attended
with so much success in the early years of the present
century. Fresnel proceeded upon the principles of re-
fraction. He employed lenses to intercept and refract
the rays emitted by the lamp. As subsequently im-
proved, the Fresnel lamp contained four concentric.
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
73
burners, which were protected from the great heat pro-
duced by their own combined flames by a superabundant
supply of oil. A clockwork movement keeps the oil
in a constant overflow at the wicks, the combustion.
being supported by fresh currents of air produced by a
tall chimney-tube. Five and six-wick burners have
been adopted at some lighthouses more recently, the
value of a light given by a six-wick burner being said
to be equal to that of 722 sperm candles. Sir James
Douglass has introduced a seven-wick burner, one advan-
tage of these large burners being that when the weather
is clear some of the inner rings of flame can be turned
down for economy's sake. A six-wick flame presents
a diameter at its broadest part of five inches, and
maintains an average height of six inches.
Oil forms the source of light at the principal portion
of the lighthouses round the British coasts. Up to
1846 the oil employed was that obtained from the sperm
whale, and was very costly. This was superseded, in
the year named, by vegetable oils, but latterly paraffin
and petroleum have come largely into use, their more.
dangerous properties having been to a certain extent
eliminated. Paraffin is less than half the price of
colza (vegetable) oil, moreover, and is an equally
powerful illuminant. Once a year the supply of oil is
replenished, being stored in immense iron cisterns, in
some cases not less than 3,000 gallons requiring to be
provided. A single six-wick burner consumes about.
1,750 gallons per year. Mr. E. Price Edwards, in his
recent work on "Our Sea-Marks," points out the ad-
vantages oil lamps possess over other illuminants.
"Oil can be conveniently transported and safely
stored," he says, "and the certainty and simplicity of
its action are great recommendations. The lamps are
easily manipulated by the keepers, and if paraffin be
74
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
used it is the cheapest kind of illumination available.
At present oil is the only illuminating agent which can
be used at a rock lighthouse. At the Eddystone two-
six-wick burners, one placed about six feet above the
other, are employed, one light only being used for clear
weather, and two lights when the atmosphere is misty
or foggy."
The
Gas was slow in making its way to the lighthouse
lantern. Not before the year 1865 was any practicable
scheme for utilizing this illuminant for lighthouses
put forward. Mr. J. R. Wigham, of Dublin, intro-
duced a special gas-burner in that year, consisting of
five concentric rings of gas jets, the innermost ring
having 28, the next 48, the next 68, the next 88, and
the outermost 108 jets, the diameters of each ring
being respectively 4, 6, 8, 93, and 11 inches.
initial experiment with Mr. Wigham's burner was made
at the Howth Bailey lighthouse, near Dublin, and was
afterwards adopted at several other lighthouses, proving
quite as effective as oil as an illuminant, though not
any cheaper. "It may be beaten in point of cheapness
by mineral oil," writes Dr. Tyndall, "but in point of
handiness, distinctiveness, and power of variability to
meet the changes of the weather, it will maintain its.
superiority over all oils.”
The electric light has also been utilized to some
extent as a lighthouse illuminant. Experiments were
made at the South Foreland lighthouse in 1858 with
Holmes's magneto-electric machine, which, Faraday
maintained, "practically established the fitness and
sufficiency of the magneto-electric light for lighthouse
purposes, as far as its nature and management are con-
cerned." The electric system, however, may still be
considered under its trial as far as regards its adapta-
bility to this use. In 1862 the electric light was placed
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
75
in the Dungeness lighthouse, and continued to burn.
there until 1874, when the old oil light was again re-
sorted to. The lighthouse at Souter point was illumi-
nated with an improved electric light in 1871, and
has ever since shed its brilliance across the treacherous
entrance to the Tyne. In the year following it was
permanently established at the two lighthouses at the
South Foreland; and in 1877 the dynamo-electric
machines introduced by Messrs. Siemens had their
light-producing powers demonstrated at the Lizard
Point lighthouses. It may be that in course of time
the system of electric lighting will supersede all others
for lighthouses, but at present the expense of produc-
tion forms a great drawback; while some authorities are
inclined to think it less generally effective than oil or
gas, notwithstanding its greater brilliance. Mr. Price
says, "The electric light is very beautiful as a light-
house illuminant; there is nothing can compare with
its magnificent effects on a dark night. But opinions
are still divided as to its real value at all times.
Mariners have not yet fully learned how to accommodate
themselves to its dazzling brilliancy, and complain at
times of its bewildering influence; moreover, they are
not yet fully assured as to its superior efficiency in thick
weather; but, on the other hand, who can be more
glad than the weather-tossed seaman at sighting its
glorious light or luminous glare at its extremest range?"
But whatever may be the ultimate practical judgment
of those who are most concerned, it will be generally
agreed that no light has ever equalled it for distinctive-
ness of character or beauty of appearance, and that the
chief complaint which can be made against it is that
under ordinary circumstances it is, if anything, too
good for the purpose. The Board of Trade and the
Trinity House have concerned themselves considerably
76
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
of late with fresh experiments in connection with light-
house illumination, and it is to be hoped that before.
long a system of lighting will have been arrived at
upon which the whole of the lighthouse authorities may
agree.
The provision for enclosing, protecting, and project-
ing the light within the lighthouse tower has received
much attention on the part of men of science during
the past two or three decades. The lantern forms an
enclosure of glass, varying in diameter from two to six
feet, according to the importance of the light. This
glass hive, as it has been called, consists of a dome,
a central belt, and a lower belt; the dome and lower
belt being composed of circular rows of totally reflect-
ing prisms, and the central belt comprising a series of
lenses which gather up all the rays falling upon their
inner surfaces, and divert them, so that they issue in
parallel lines from the other side. This is the arrange-
ment for a fixed light; in the case of a revolving light
the hive is divided into vertical segments, like the sec-
tions of an orange, the incident rays being condensed
so as to yield separate beams. In the same way the
system is varied to meet the requirements of other
descriptions of lights.
The lantern itself is usually of cylindrical form,
surmounted with a dome or conical roof. The best and
stoutest plate glass is used in the glazing, and is over
a quarter of an inch in thickness, for not only has it to
defy the force of the wind and storm, and the attacks
of flying shingle, but, in the darkness of night, the
sea-birds, attracted to the light like so many moths,
dash themselves furiously against the glass, and fall
dead or wounded on the floor of the external gallery.
Having thus briefly sketched what may be termed
the scientific aspects of the lighthouse system, we may
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
77
It
touch upon the more romantic side of it-the lighthouse
service. This service is not one upon which a person
of a frivolous disposition would be likely to enter.
is a service in which many of man's nobler qualities.
are called forth; a service requiring a high appreciation
of, and complete obedience to, duty and discipline;
demanding the exercise of great fortitude, self-denial,
and patience; and not to be accepted without the
strongest sense of responsibility. In the olden time a
lighthouse-keeper was generally regarded as a sort of
sea-hermit, one who loved not his fellow-men, but be-
took himself to the lonely ledges of the ocean from
motives of melancholy seclusion. Stories of dark deeds.
and mysterious tragedies have often been told with
regard to these watchers of the deep; but, for the most
part, the men who have given their lives to the duties.
of the lighthouse tower have been as remarkable for
their fidelity as they have been distinguished for their
bravery.
In no branch of the public service is a more vigilant
supervision exercised than in our lighthouse administra-
tion. The keepers are a specially trained set of men,
and very carefully selected. No man is taken into the
service over the age of twenty-eight, and he is not per-
mitted to take upon himself the actual charge of a
lighthouse until he has spent a year or two in learning
all that there is to learn respecting the feeding, trim-
ming, and management of the various kinds of lamps,
and until he has passed through a course of experience
at several lighthouses. At the end of his term of pro-
bation, if he has proved himself worthy and efficient,
he is promoted to the post of assistant-keeper, and
after a service of several years in this capacity, may
at length find himself appointed to the position of chief
keeper.
78
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
At a rock lighthouse four keepers are the complement,
three being always on duty, while one takes his holiday
on shore. Each keeper has to remain on duty for two
consecutive months at a time, and then he has his
month on shore, thus having four months of rest and
relaxation on land during each year. At least, these
are the prescribed regulations, but sometimes the
weather prevents his going or returning at the stated.
time, and he is compelled to wait the pleasure of the
elements. From sunset till sunrise the lamps have to
be kept burning, bright and clear; no matter how the
tempest may howl around him, or how the waves may
shake the foundations of the tower, that is a duty that
must be performed; it will admit of no neglect, for it
is upon the steady presence of the lighthouse flame
that the storm-tossed mariner has to rest his hope.
That there are long stretches of monotonous existence
for the three guardians of the light, cut off, as they
are, from all contact with the everyday world and its
excitements, there can be no doubt; but even when
the sea is calm and reposeful, when "the stately ships
go on to their havens under the hill" in peaceful secu-
rity, and when the stillness and vacancy of unlimited
space lies unbroken before them, they have their diver-
sions. At low water they may perchance get down to
the rocks for a little fishing, or a seal may put in an
appearance, and invite them to attempt its capture; or
the birds may seek temporary companionship with
them. But these intervals of quietude seldom last
long. As a rule, the position of the lighthouse is one
where the tempest seems to be almost eternal. The
elemental strife is never altogether absent, varying only
in degree from the ordinary churning, dashing, and
leaping of the restless waves to the utmost limit of
destructive fury, when ships are to be seen breaking to
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
79
pieces on the cruel rocks, and the shrieks of the
drowning mingle with the voices of the storm. Then
is the time when the lighthouse-keeper feels the full
terror of his position, and realizes the dignity and
beneficence of his duty. How nobly that duty is some-
times performed, and at what fearful risk, the records
of our lighthouse history abundantly testify. The
labours of the keepers, however, are by no means
restricted to the trimming of the lamps. Daily
weather reports have to be made up, daily accounts
to be kept of the rate of consumption of oil or other
stores, and a constant look-out has to be maintained.
With regard to shore lighthouses, two keepers only
are necessary, who perform continuous duty without
relief. At these stations something like the ordinary
comforts of domestic life can be enjoyed, and as most
of the men at such places are married, and can have
their families with them, they do not feel any of the
privations which attend the life of the occupants of the
more lonely rock towers. The conditions of service
are varied at stations where the electric light or gas is
used, a resident engineer being a necessity in one case,
and a keeper with special knowledge of gas-making
being required in the other. For these special posts
there is a special rate of remuneration; but, in the
ordinary way, a principal keeper receives £72 a year,
and is supplied with uniform clothing, a comfortably-
furnished house, fuel and lights, and all necessary ap-
pliances and stores. But the stern demands of duty
are always before them; from this there can be no de-
parture. The following is amongst the "Regulations
for the Lighthouse Service": "The keepers, both
principal and assistant, are enjoined never to allow any
interests, whether private or otherwise, to interfere with
the discharge of their public duties, the importance of
80
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
which to the safety of navigation cannot be overrated;
and they are cautioned that their retention or promo-
tion in the service depends upon their strict obedience
to orders, and upon their adherence to the rules laid
down for their guidance; on the exercise of constant
habits of cleanliness and good order in their own per-
sons and that of their families, as well as in every part
of the lighthouse establishment and premises; and they
are warned that any breach of good conduct, temper-
ance, or morality, or the use of bad language, will
render them liable to instant dismissal or other punish-
ment, or, on the part of any of their families, to their
exclusion from the Corporation's premises."
The men who have been engaged on this service have
numbered amongst them many of heroic mould, and
in some instances the members of their families have
done deeds of daring that are worthy of being enshrined
with the brightest stories of bravery in our sea-annals.
Who does not remember the story of Grace Darling,
and her splendid achievement of fifty years ago? On
a dark and tempestuous night in September, 1838, the
Hull steamer Forfarshire struck on a hidden reef called
the Harcars, near the Longstone lighthouse, off the
coast of Northumberland, having on board sixty-three
persons, including passengers and crew. The signals
of distress were observed by the occupants of the light-
house, William Darling, and his daughter Grace, but the
sea was in such a fury that the keeper could not possibly
pull his boat through the waves to the ship's assistance.
His daughter, with noble courage, offered to enter the
boat with him. She sprang into the skiff, and in an-
other moment the two were rowing with all their
strength towards the wreck. Their peril was great; at
every instant the waves threatened to engulph them;
but still they toiled through the foam with unflagging
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
81
vigour, and after much difficulty reached the ship and
succeeded in rescuing nine persons, with whom they
contrived to regain the lighthouse. When, a few years
afterwards, Grace Darling was buried in the old chapel
on Holy Island, Wordsworth supplied a fitting tribute
to her memory :—
"The maiden gentle, yet at duty's call
Firm and unflinching, as the lighthouse reared
On the island-rock, her lonely dwelling-place;
Or like the invisible rock itself, that braves,
Age after age, the hostile elements,
As when it guarded holy Cuthbert's cell."
There are not many instances of lighthouse-keepers
having had to face other dangers than those of the
storm, but a strange story is told of an incident that
happened to the keeper of the Ship Shoal Station
lighthouse, on the Gulf of Mexico, in 1886. The
tale will be best told in the words of Third-Assist-
ant-Keeper Leach. He said: "I was third and
Mr. Dunn was principal keeper of the lighthouse.
We had started the first and second assistant-keepers
up the Atchafalaya bayou for provisions. They didn't
come back, and after waiting five days for their return
-the distance was only about fifty miles-we con-
cluded that something serious had happened to them.
The morning of the fifth day, while we were staring
outside, we noticed a boat becalmed to the southward,
and on examination we came to the conclusion that it
was the missing boat belonging to our station. So I
took the dingy and pulled out to her.
On getting
alongside I found in her only one man, and he was a
stranger. I asked him where he was going with our
boat. He said he had bought her of three men near
Morgan city for 100 dollars. I told him our first and
82
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
second assistant-keepers had gone up the bay in her;
that we hadn't seen them since, and that I proposed to
take him to the station. He made no resistance. For
three days we fed and watched him, hearing nothing
from the missing keepers. The fourth night Dunn
was in the watch-room and I lay asleep below in my
own room. I was awakened by a terrible pain in my
head and found myself bleeding and the stranger
standing over me with a hatchet, giving it to me as
fast as he could. I yelled Murder!' jumped up,
called to Dunn to come down and help, and had no
sooner got the words out of my mouth than the
stranger out with a revolver and began firing. Three
balls struck me and I fell in a faint. Dunn in the
meantime had hurried down and armed himself, but
when he got to the foot of the stairway all was quiet
and dark in my room and he could not hear anything.
He crept cautiously into the small room where the
small lamps were kept and past a skylight that caught
the gleam of the big lantern. The stranger was
watching for him and banged at him through my win-
dow, hitting him in the right shoulder. Dunn fired
back into the darkness in the direction of the flash and
the stranger shot him twice more, again in the right
shoulder and in the right side. Dunn fell over, but
got up at once, and just then I came to and called
him. We heard nothing more of the stranger for
some minutes, and then discovered that he had gone
aloft into the watch-room. We barricaded the stair-
way, covered the skylight, and then turned to estimate
damages. I was ready to faint again from loss of
blood. Half my face was gone, just as you see it, and
I had three pistol wounds. Poor Dunn was suffering
principally from the two bullet wounds in his shoulder.
Each of us had to use one left hand in binding up as
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
83
best we could each other's wounds. The next day we
took our prisoner to Morgan City and he was lodged
in gaol.
It should be mentioned that the lighthouse serves a
further purpose than that of showing a light to the
mariner by night. In the daytime these erections are
capable of identification by the shape and colour of the
tower and the nature of their surroundings, and at
night they show a distinctiveness of light which serves
to indicate to the seaman its position. We have
already pointed out the leading varieties of these dis-
tinctive lights, and a mariner is able, with the aid of
his lighthouse chart, to ascertain pretty accurately how
his ship stands when near the coast with relation to
the particular point at which he is aiming, for no two
lights of the same description are placed near to one
another unless they are quite close and intended to be
used together.
In connection with this subject it is necessary that
our lightship service should be particularized. The
special use of lightships is adequately set forth in the
following description, taken from "Our Sea-Marks":-
"It is obviously impossible that lighthouses on the
mainland can in all cases be made serviceable in
directing vessels how to thread their way through the
intricacies of narrow channels running in all direc-
tions, and distant perhaps fifteen, twenty, or thirty
miles from the coast. Something more is necessary to
aid the mariner when he approaches the belt of sea
immediately surrounding our islands; directions must
be more definite, and the marks brought closer to the
points or dangers required to be indicated. To meet
these requirements, lightships or floating lights were
established."
The first lightship was placed at the Nore, at the
G 2
84
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
*
entrance of the Thames, in 1731; and in 1736
another floating light was established on the Dudgeon
Shoal, at the entrance of the Wash. Fifty years.
elapsed before the system was extended, and in 1788
a lightship was moored on the Owers Shoal, off the
South Coast. At Newarp Sand, off the Norfolk Coast,
a floating light was placed in 1790; and in 1795
another was moored to the north-east of the Goodwin
Sands. From that time the number of such lights
has been gradually increased, until now there are some
sixty lightships placed as signals of warning around
the coasts of England and Ireland, though by reason
of the general absence of sandbanks on the Scottish
coasts there are none at all employed in those regions.
The English light-vessels are painted red, the Irish
black; and by day a large wooden globe is displayed
at the masthead, while by night the lantern is hoisted,
which contains a number of Argand lamps and re-
flectors, the lamps employed on different lightships
varying from nine to as many as twenty-four. Only
colza oil is considered safe for lightships, on account
of the constant movement of the vessel. As in the
case of lighthouses proper, the lights are varied so as
to be distinguished from each other by night, and also
from any neighbouring lighthouses. It may be men-
tioned, also, that the question of connecting lightships
with the shore by means of submarine telegraphic
communication has engaged no small amount of atten-
tion, and that this link of interchange will in all likeli-
hood be established before very long.
It used to be no uncommon occurrence for light-
ships to break away from their moorings, but of late
years such accidents have been very few, owing to the
improved methods adopted for securing them. From
210 to 315 fathoms of chain cable made of iron one
THE STORY OF THE LIGHTHOUSES.
85
and a half inches in diameter are supplied to every
lightship, which is connected with a mushroom or
Martin's anchor of two tons weight resting on the sea-
bed. Other methods of mooring are adopted, but this
is the most usual.
The crew of a lightship consists of seven persons—
the master, mate, six seamen, and three lamplighters,
seven of these being on board at a time. Monthly
visits are paid to the lightship by a steamer of the
lighthouse service, exchanging the men and bringing
fresh stores, the supply of which is always abundant.
The master and mate spend alternate months afloat
and ashore, and the rest of the men are relieved in the
same way. Although the lightship service is by no
means a lively occupation, much is done to relieve its
monotony, the men having many duties to perform in
the course of a day and a night, while most of them
follow some handicraft during their spare hours on the
vessel, and for those who enjoy the relaxation of
reading there is always at command a good supply of
books. The building and equipment of a lightship
costs between £2,000 and £3,000, and it takes about
£1,200 per annum to maintain it. The master re-
ceives £80 a year, and the men are paid fifty-five
shillings a month.
The belt of illumination which the lighthouses and
lightships throw around the coasts of all navigable.
seas is one of the best safeguards that the mariner
possesses. It has grown with the advancement of
civilization, and is now of such extent and power that
it is the means of saving thousands of lives every
year. When the mariner comes up from the under-
world, after a long voyage, and approaches his native.
shore in the darkness of night, his first glimpse of the
hospitable light that shines forth from the rocky head-
86
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
land sends a thrill of joy through his frame, and he
murmurs a prayer of gratitude for its welcome, cheer-
ing presence. There are to-day upwards of three
thousand of these beacons of guidance and warning
scattered over the coasts of the world, of which Great
Britain and her dependencies possess no fewer than
1,220.
87
CHAPTER V.
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
Of the minor aids to navigation and securities for the
safety of sea-going lives, beacons, buoys, and signals
form noteworthy features. Lighthouses and lightships
may be regarded as safeguards against the greater
perils of the coast-line; beacons and buoys as the
warnings against the smaller dangers. Thanks to the
effective surveys which have been made in later years,
there is scarcely a rock or a sandbank at any point
of approach over the whole extent of our shores that
does not bear its distinguishing mark.
There are not fewer than 250 beacons on the coasts
of Great Britain. In former times a beacon was always
associated with a light; nowadays it is simply a warn-
ing mark. A large proportion of beacons are stone-
work erections placed at certain points of the land
where it is expedient to indicate particular dangers at
the entrance of harbours and other havens of safety.
Then there are less substantial but equally serviceable
beacon structures, constructed of iron or wood, some
of which assume a cylindrical shape, while others con-
sist of masts, poles, or perches. Each beacon has its
special characteristic which can be easily read by the
mariner, the distinctive mark being displayed at its
summit in the form of a globe, diamond, cross,
triangle, or otherwise. On the Scottish coasts there.
88
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
are several beacons which are lighted up at night, the
best known of these being that which stands at the
entrance of the anchorage in Stornoway Bay, Isle of
Lewis, in the Hebrides. It is a conical beacon of cast
iron, and on its summit a lantern has been fixed, which,
although it contains no actual burning flame, never-
theless throws a welcome gleam of radiance over the
water, serving all the purposes of a lighthouse. It is
one of the advantages of a beacon that it costs little or
nothing to maintain it in efficient working order; the
first expense is, as a rule, the only expense. Nor is
the beacon in Stornoway Bay an exception. The light
that shines from the lantern of this beacon is a reflected
light. On the neighbouring Isle of Lewis there exists.
a lighthouse, and from one of the lower windows of the
tower a condensed beam of light is projected on to a
mirror in the lantern, so placed as to reflect the rays
on to an arrangement of prisms, the effect produced
being that of an actual lamp. A similar light is in
operation at Grangemouth in the river Forth, and at
Ayr in the Firth of Clyde.
The buoy is one of the most familiar of our sea-
marks. There are about 1,000 of these floating danger-
indicators placed round the coasts of the United
Kingdom. They consist of water-tight casks, spars,
or blocks of wood, and are attached to the bottom by
means of ropes or chains. Their object is to reveal to
the mariner the position of hidden dangers. Although
generally made of wood, in some cases sheet iron and
gutta-percha have been used in their construction with
good effect.
They vary in size from six to thirteen feet.
in length, and at one time there existed many of still
larger dimensions, some being as much as twenty feet
long, but they have proved difficult of handling and
have been replaced by smaller ones. Each buoy is
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
89
supposed to tell its own story of what lies beneath.
Hence there are many varieties of buoys. There are
Conical buoys, which present the pointed top of a cone
above the surface of the water, these being always what
are called starboard-hand buoys. There are Can buoys,
showing a flat top above the water, and invariably indi-
cating the port-hand side of the entrance to the
harbour, river, or estuary from the sea. There are
Spherical buoys, having a domed top. These mark
the ends of middle grounds. Then we have the Pillar
buoy, the Bell buoy, the Gas buoy, the Automatic
Sounding buoy, the Spar buoy, each having its special
significance. The Bell buoy, as its name implies,
carries a bell, which gives forth its warning sound day
and night by the heaving and setting of the billows.
There is also a Whistling buoy, which is fitted with an
apparatus that makes a peculiar whistling noise at
certain stages of the tide or sea.
Buoys possess other distinguishing features besides
those of shape. Colour plays an important part in
their serviceability, although the colour varies in
different countries. The entrance to a channel or a
turning point is marked by a spiral buoy, with or with-
out staff and globe, triangle, cage, &c. Single-coloured
can buoys, black or red, mark the starboard side, and
buoys of the same shape and colour, either checkered
or vertically striped with white denote the port side.
Globes are used on buoys on the starboard hand, and
cages on the port. When a middle-ground exists in a
channel, each end of it is marked by a buoy with hori-
zontal white stripes. Wrecks are indicated by green.
buoys. All buoys have their names painted on them
in conspicuous characters. The foregoing are the
regulations concerning buoys in English waters. A
slight variation is observed in Scotland. There, a ship
90
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
coming from seaward leaves the red buoys on the star-
board hand, and the black buoys on the port. Red and
black buoys are placed on detached dangers, and may
be passed on either side.
Many suggestions for improving the buoy service
have been made during recent years, and it is not im-
probable that important changes will be introduced in
these matters at no distant date. One proposal is
that all the buoys round the coast shall be connected
with electric wires, with the object of lighting them
simultaneously by the electric light. Luminous paint
has been tried upon buoys, but with rather disappoint-
ing results. Gas, however, as a buoy-illuminant has
answered fairly well in the few instances where it has
been tried. The body of the buoy is used as a recep-
tacle for compressed gas, and a pipe connects the gas
chamber with a burner enclosed in a small lantern at
the top of the buoy. Several of these buoys have been
employed with admirable effect, and there seems to be
no reason why this project of the lighting of buoys
should not be widely utilized.
Coming to the question of marine signals, we find
ourselves confronted by a wonderfully ingenious system
of communication between one ship and another, or
between a ship and the shore. It is a system that has
been long in reaching maturity, but in its present form
may be considered very complete. Signals were in use
in the early Greek and Persian fleets, and were made.
by means of the sails, certain interpretations being
given to their position and state, whether furled, loosed,
or partially secured. Shields held aloft in various posi-
tions, and bright gleaming fires, were made useful. No
record of a code of signals is to be found in ancient
writings. Night signals were invented about the same
period as day codes. In 1420 Captain General Piero
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
91
Mozenigo, a Venetian, invented a system of flags with
distinction in colours, giving to each galley of the fleet
a pennant and flag. He also established the rule that
a fire on the poop should signify "set mainsail"; two
fires, "both the square sails"; three fires, "all plain
sail"; four fires, "lay in the oars, and make all sail."
Fleet signals, however, were not generally adopted
before the middle of the seventeenth century.
To the Duke of York, afterwards James II., belongs
the honour of first introducing in 1665 a signal code
upon a regular system. The Papal code of 1614 pre-
scribed that a pennant hoisted on the poop indicated
"make sail," and to be dipped once for each sail to be
set. A banner displayed amidships denoted "distress ";
and one held up on the poop meant "form line of
battle." In 1781 a Mr. McArthur, who had been
secretary to Lord Howe, originated a code of thirteen
flags. Each flag was known by a letter and number.
This system was used by Nelson at the Battle of Tra-
falgar when he hoisted the famous motto, "England
expects every man to do his duty."
Every ship has a name, which is distinctly written
on its hull, but as that could not be read at any great
distance, some means has to be devised of indicating
or signalling the name in some other fashion. By an
Act of Parliament, passed about thirty years ago, it
was laid down that every English vessel, large and
small, should bear a number as well as a name, and
should keep to that number as long as its timbers held
together. Indeed, its number lives after it, for after it
has ceased to "plough the main" and been broken up,
no other vessel is allowed to assume the number.
Each number, with the name belonging to it, is re-
corded in a register kept by the Marine Department of
the Board of Trade, or the Registrar of Shipping, and
92
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
to correspond with this there is a code-book printed
with each of these numbers opposite its proper name.
By the aid of this code-book and four flags a captain
can not only tell the name of his ship to a passing
vessel, but indulge in an extended conversation on
other subjects. According to their respective shapes,
colours, and devices, and to the mode in which they
are arranged, the four flags denote the four consonants
NXLT, or KCDP, or SMG N, or QH NR, or
any other among tens of thousands of combinations,
all of which have their easily found interpretation in
the code-book. This code-book is packed with words,
phrases, and sentences. Every word or phrase has a
distinguishing number allotted to it. For example,
0196 is campaign; 0286, commissariat; 0472, famine;
0675, obstruction; 0761, ransom; 0795, rescue; 0813,
retreat; 0916 temperature, and so on. For the purely
conversational part of the code some five or six thou-
sand short sentences are collected, comprising ques-
tions, answers, and remarks of the most useful kind.
Amongst the sentences may be instanced such as the
following: "Ship on fire,"
Ship on fire," "Water-logged and aban-
doned,' Broke the shaft of steam-engine," "Ship in
distress, "Short of provisions," "All hands at the
pumps, "Prepare for a hurricane," "Will you take
us in tow ?" "Driven by stress of weather," "Send
me an anchor and cable immediately," "Out of water
""
can you supply us ?" "Can you accommodate a few
passengers?" Every one of these sentences has its
number and its group of consonants in the code-book,
denoting what flags are to be hoisted; and so of the
thousands of others.
It is in this manner that ships speak with each other
at sea, and although, happily, the speaking is often
a mere diversion, or to satisfy the promptings of
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
93
curiosity, there are times of more serious interchange,
when the passing of these word-symbols from ship to
ship is a matter of life and death. This power of
speech by flags enables a ship to make known to
another vessel its needs and requirements, and often
calls up assistance when it could not be as readily ob-
tained by other means. Without this ability to specify
by signal the special nature of a danger or a necessity,
much time would be wasted and great uncertainty
would prevail. Cases have been known where a barrel
has been run up to the yardarm as a signal for water, a
tablecloth has been displayed as an invitation to dinner,
and kindred pleasantries have been indulged in by the
facetious sailor; but, with the code-book at hand, any
ordinary communication can be passed from ship to
ship with the greatest facility.
By night, when the use of flags is impossible, the
signalling is done by lanterns. Lamps are hung out
with a general observance of the same system, modi-
fied to suit the altered circumstances, a name or sen-
tence expressed by flags in the daytime, would, at
night, be indicated by lamps similarly arranged. Bags,
or pieces of red bunting, are kept at hand to cover one
or more of the lamps so as to provide a permutation of
white and red lights.
In the matter of general signals by night some
regulations were put into force in 1846, and a further
development took place in 1852. In the former year
it was prescribed that all steamers should carry two
lights; and in the latter year a rule was established
for vessels to carry a red light on the port side, and a
green light on the starboard side. In 1861 steamers
were ordered to carry a white masthead light; and in
1864 the international rules were promulgated by which
sailing vessels, steamers, vessels in tow, and pilot
94
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
vessels were made distinguishable by their lights.
These rules were revised in 1880, and additional lights
were provided for vessels in distress, and for vessels.
engaged in different kinds of fishing.
Turning again to the more particular question of the
protection of human life, it is necessary to refer to the
great development which has taken place in recent years
in connection with sound-signalling. In 1873 and
1874 a series of experiments and investigations was
carried out, under the direction of Dr. Tyndall, who
then held the post of scientific adviser to the Trinity
House. The conclusions then arrived at are succinctly.
set forth in Dr. Tyndall's well-known work on "Sound."
It was shown that neither rain, hail, snow or fog has
any sensible power to obstruct sound; from which it
was evident that at those times when a sound signal
might be of especial service, the sound was not likely
to be obstructed in its passage. The real obstructors.
of sound were demonstrated to be wind and acoustic
clouds, the latter having nothing to do with ordinary
clouds, fogs, or haze, but being liable to arise from air
currents differently heated, or from air currents differ-
ently saturated with vapour, they often existing on days
when the atmosphere is visually in a very transparent
condition. It was established that a bright clear day
is not necessarily the best for hearing distant sounds,
and that on a day of dense fog it is more than probable
that no obstruction is offered to the passage of sounds.
Various kinds of instruments are employed as coast.
fog-signals. Bell-signals have long been in use for this
purpose, tradition connecting the famous Inch Cape
rock with a warning sound of this description. "By
east of the Isle of May," says an old writer, "twelve
miles from all land, in the German Ocean, lies a great
hidden rock, called Inch Cape, very dangerous for
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
95
navigators, because it is overflowed every tide. It is
reported in old times upon the saide rock there was a
bell, fixed upon a tree or timber, which rang continually,
being moved by the sea, giving notice to the saylers of
the danger. This bell, or clocke, was put there and
maintained by the Abbot of Aberbrothock; and, being
taken down by a sea-pirate, a year thereafter he
perished upon the same rock, with ship and goodes, in
the righteous judgment of God."
In 1811 a bell signal was erected at Poolberg, in
Ireland; in 1812 there was one placed on the Bell
Rock, in Scotland; and as years went on many others
were fixed at different places. Various improvements.
have latterly been made in the mechanism of these
signals, the ringing being now generally produced by
clockwork, the hammer or clapper alone being moved
by machinery. The bells vary in weight from three to
forty-five hundredweight. For long-distance signalling,
however, bells are not very reliable.
Amongst the fog-signals in use on board ships the
gong is entitled to mention. These instruments are
struck with a padded stick, which stirs the gong into
vigorous vibration, producing a distinctive sound, which
there is no mistaking. Guns are also largely used for
fog-signalling, and form one of the authorized signals
of distress. Formerly, it was the custom to fire the
fog-signal gun every fifteen minutes, but ten minutes.
now form the interval. Whistles and horns are more
in favour, however, to-day as fog-warnings; but the
instrument which is most generally adopted is the
Siren, which is the most powerful of all fog-signals.
The Siren was brought out by Messrs. Brown, of
New York; and in 1874 this apparatus was experi-
mented with in England, at the South Foreland light-
house. It can be sounded either with steam or com-
96
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
pressed air, made to pass through a fixed flat disc,
fitted into the throat of a long cast-iron trumpet, con-
nected with the steam or air-pipe. "This disc has
twelve radial slits, and behind it is a rotating disc, with
twelve similar slits, the rotation being effected by sepa-
rate mechanism." The disc makes 2,400 rotations in
a minute, and as there are twelve coincidences in a
revolution, the number of puffs passing through it per
minute is 28,800. The sound thus generated rises
superior to all local noises. Since 1874 from twenty to
thirty Sirens have been placed on the chief lighthouse
stations on our coasts, and an almost equal number
have been fixed on board lightships.
At first steam only was used for sounding the Siren,
but the method now generally adopted is to sound the
trumpet by compressed air produced by caloric engines,
which is safer and more economical. Various improve-
ments have recently been introduced in the construction.
of this signal, which now forms by far the best sound
signal for use in a fog. A double-siren was patented
by Messrs. Sautter, Lemonnier & Co., of Paris, the
effect of which is to double the sound, producing two
notes in the trumpet instead of one. Sir James N.
Douglass, Mr. Slight, Professor F. H. Holmes, and
others have also invented improved arrangements in
connection with the instrument. The introduction of
the Siren, indeed, marks one of the most effective de-
velopments in the direction of protection that recent
years have given the mariner. By its aid a ship can
continue its voyage through the densest fog in com-
parative safety.
Professor Bell, the inventor of the telephone, has
recently made some very interesting experiments as to
the conductivity of water, and has discovered that if a
ship trails a long wire behind it in the sea, and that
SEA-MARKS AND SIGNALS.
97
wire is attached to a "dynamo" on board the vessel,
an extraordinary amount of electrical action is at once
set up in the waves, producing a current strong enough to
influence a telephone which may happen to come within
that circle. It is said that with a wire five miles long,
giving a diameter of circle of ten miles, those on board
would be informed whenever anything approached
within five miles. Although this idea has not yet been
utilized, there is nothing to prevent its being adopted
with such modifications as further experiment may
suggest. The theory may at all events be accepted as
an indication that science has by no means got to the
end of its usefulness in regard to the protection of the
mariner. As the laureate has it, "all the years invent,"
and the years to come will not be less prolific in de-
vising new safeguards than the years that have fled
have been. The official mind, however, is slow to
grasp fresh developments, and is prone to accept the
latest improvement as final. For instance, it was not
long ago stated that the Board of Trade were not with-
out a hope that "a limit might now be reached in which
the whole of the lighthouse authorities might agree, as
being the limit of illumination, beyond which no prac-
tical advantage could result to the navigator." Well
might Dr. Tyndall castigate the writer of this obtuse
paragraph as one who would like to say to science,
"Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." But
scientific invention never rests, and although in the
sea-marks and signals which we possess to-day we
enjoy a measure of protection that could never have
been dreamt of half a century ago, the probability is
that improvements of no less importance will distinguish
the progress of the next half century.
H
98
CHAPTER VI.
THE LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS.
ENGLAND Occupies the unique position of being the only
country in which the most efficient life-saving organi-
zation is solely supported by voluntary aid. The Royal
National Lifeboat Institution was founded in 1824, and
with its development the history of the lifeboat service.
is closely identified. Lifeboats, of course, were of
earlier origin, but until the foundation of the institu-
tion their usefulness was only co-extensive with indi-
vidual generosity. The credit of inventing the life-
boat belongs to Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder of Long
Acre, London, although a couple of tombstone inscrip-
tions referring to other inventions dispute the fact. In
the parish church of St. Hilda, South Shields, there is
a stone" Sacred to the Memory of William Wouldhave,
who died September 28, 1821, aged 70 years, clerk of
this church, and Inventor of that valuable blessing to
mankind, the Lifeboat"; while another similar record
states that "Mr. Henry Greathead, a shrewd boat-
builder at South Shields, has very generally been
credited with designing and building the first lifeboat.
about the year 1789." As a matter of fact, Lukin, who
had previously written a pamphlet entitled "The In-
vention, Principles, and Construction of Insubmergible
Boats," patented his lifeboat on the 2nd of November,
1785. Its peculiarities were projecting gunwales and
hollow cases, or double sides under them, as well as
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 99
air-tight lockers or enclosures under the thwarts. These
contrivances increased the buoyancy of the boat, and
the air-tight cases under the gunwales, by their weight
when raised above the surface of the sea, and their
resistance when depressed beneath, greatly prevented
rolling. The boat, however, was liable to be disabled
by having the sides staved in. It was launched at
Bamborough, and through the indifference of the Ad-
miralty on the subject of saving life at sea, was the only
lifeboat on the coast for several years.
A disaster which occurred in September, 1789,
aroused public interest in the subject. The ship
Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the Herd
Sands, on the south side of Tynemouth Haven, in the
midst of most tremendous breakers, and all the crew
dropped from the rigging one by one in the presence of
thousands of spectators, not one of whom could be
prevailed upon by any reward to venture out to her
assistance in any boat or cobble of the ordinary con-
struction. On this melancholy occasion the gentlemen
of South Shields called meetings, with the result that
premiums were offered for plans of a boat which should
be the best calculated to brave the dangers of the sea,
particularly of broken water. It was in the competition
thus created that William Wouldhave and Henry
Greathead came upon the scene. Greathead's inven-
tion secured the most favour, and he was instructed to
build a boat at the expense of the committee. This
boat had five thwarts, or seats for rowers, double
banked, to be manned with ten oars. It was cased and
lined with cork, which gave it the buoyancy to float and
be serviceable though so damaged by hard knocks as to
be almost in pieces-an accident, however, which the
softness and elasticity of the cork was well calculated
to prevent. Its efficiency having been demonstrated,
H 2
100
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
the inventor received numerous orders to build life-
boats, and by the year 1804, when the Society of Arts
voted Mr. Greathead their gold medal and fifty guineas,
nearly 300 lives had been saved from vessels wrecked
near the mouth of the Tyne alone. Before the end of
1803 he had built no fewer than 31 boats-5 for Scot-
land, 8 for foreign countries, and 18 for England.
Parliament had previously voted the inventor £1,200,
the Trinity House gave him £105, Lloyd's the same
sum, and the Emperor of Russia made him a present
of a diamond ring.
The interest that had been aroused, however, was
destined in a short time to collapse, and the cause of
the lifeboat did not gain ground, nor did the number
of boats increase to the extent one would have naturally
supposed. The reason probably was the characteristic
suspicion of Englishmen with regard to anything
'new-fangled; added to which were several disasters
to the lifeboats themselves, which led some people to
think that the remedy was worse than the disease; and
it was not until 1822 that the subject of the preserva-
tion of life from shipwreck on our coast was success-
fully championed. Sir William Hillary, Bart., mani-
fested an heroic interest in rescuing life from the rag-
ing sea. He lived on the coast of the Isle of Man,
and established a Sailor's Home at Douglas. During
his life he assisted in saving more than 300 lives, and
succeeded in stirring up public men and the nation.
generally. His efforts were consummated by the
founding, in conjunction with Mr. Thomas Wilson, and
Mr. George Hibbert, both Members of Parliament, of
"The Royal National Institution for the Preservation.
of Life from Shipwreck," the objects of which were to
be attained-(1.) By the stationing of lifeboats, fully
equipped with all necessary gear and means of security
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 101
to those who man them, and with transporting carriages
on which they can be drawn by land to the neighbour-
hood of distant wrecks, and by the erection of suitable
houses in which the same are kept. (2.) By the ap-
pointment of paid coxswains, who have charge of, and
are held responsible for, the good order and efficiency
of the boats, and by a quarterly exercise of the crew of
each boat. (3.) By a liberal remuneration of all those
who risk their lives in going to the aid of wrecked
persons, whether in lifeboats or otherwise, and by
the rewarding with the gold or silver medal of the
institution such persons as encounter great personal
risk in the saving of life. (4.) By the superintendence.
of an honorary committee of residents in each locality,
who on their part undertake to collect locally what
amount they are able of donations towards the first
cost, and of annual contributions towards the permanent.
expenses of their several establishments.
We may profitably examine how this work is, and has
been, carried out, by an analysis of the last Annual
Report of the Institution-that for 1887. It is difficult.
to comprehend the true and realistic character of the
work performed through the agency of the organization
from the plain, simple, and almost prosaic language
of this document. It is an unvarnished statement of
noble work nobly performed, and honest effort heroi-
cally exerted. Including the twenty new lifeboats placed
on the coast in the course of the year, the Institution
possessed at the close of 1886, a fleet of two hundred
and ninety-three lifeboats available for active service.
These were called into requisition and launched on two
hundred and eighty-six occasions, and were in addition.
taken out eight hundred times for inspection and prac-
tice. By their aid, six hundred lives were rescued from
drowning, and thirty-three vessels wrecked or other-
102
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
wise in distress were assisted and saved.
The grand
total of lives saved since the foundation of the Institu-
tion, and for which it has granted rewards, is 32,671.
Thirteen silver medals, thirty-two binocular glasses,
thirty-five votes of thanks on vellum, and £6,630 4s. 11d.
in cash, including grants to the widows and orphans of
lifeboat men drowned on duty, were awarded by the
committee of 1886, for saving life, and a further sum
of £5,285 15s. 3d. was paid to the coxswains and crews
for exercising the boats. The total expenditure for
the year amounted to £47,066 2s. 2d., while only
£43,044 13s. 4d. was received in subscriptions, dona-
tions, and dividends. The demand for the beautiful.
aneroids, supplied by the Institution at one-third the
retail price to fishermen and small coasters, is great;
and there can be no doubt that the use of these valuable
instruments has tended to diminish the loss of life
along the coast.
During the forty years following Greathead's inven-
tion, numerous other lifeboats were introduced or pro-
posed for introduction, but all of them were wanting in
some or other of the requisite qualities, and it was not
until a lamentable accident occurred to one of Great-
head's boats, whereby twenty pilots were drowned, that
inventive genius was effectively stimulated to achieve
further efficiency. The Duke of Northumberland, in
1850, offered a prize for the best model of a lifeboat,
and no fewer than 280 plans and models were sent in
from various parts of the kingdom as well as from.
France, Holland, Germany, and America. About fifty
of the best of these were exhibited at the Great Exhi-
bition of 1851. The examining committee appointed
by his Grace drew up a list of all the good qualities of
a lifeboat, and noted down the rank of each of the 280
plans in reference to each quality; and then a sum-
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 103
mary of these partial results gave an aggregate result
for each boat; which determined the amount of its
claim to the place of honour. Tested in this way, the
prize was awarded to Mr. Beeching, of Yarmouth.
Nevertheless, it was considered that a better boat might
still be produced, and therefore Mr. James Peake,
assistant master shipwright in Her Majesty's Dockyard
at Woolwich, and who was one of the Committee,
designed a boat which comprised many of the features
of the competitive boat; and added others suggested
by his experience. This boat, gradually improved in
later years, constituted the recognized English model;
it was adopted to the exclusion of all others by the
Lifeboat Institution, and many boats on the same
construction were sent to Russia, Prussia, Spain, Por-
tugal and the Colonies.
Mr. Peake's lifeboat is flat in the bottom, and pro-
vided at the ends and sides with air-tight chambers.
Between the outer bottom and what may be called the
floor or deck of the boat there is a space stuffed with
cork and light hard wood. Were a rent therefore made
in the outer covering the vessel would still float. A
heavy iron keel keeps the boat straight, and by a
proper adjustment of parts it is scarcely possible in the
stormiest sea to turn a lifeboat upside down-should
such a thing happen, the keel generally rectifies it.
There have been of course painful exceptions to this,
the most recent being the disasters that befell the
Southport and St. Anne's lifeboats on the night of the
9th December, 1886. Both boats had gone out to the
rescue of the crew of the barque Mexico, of Hamburg,
and both were capsized, and twenty-seven of the twenty-
nine brave fellows who manned them perished. An
inquiry into the cause of the accidents was held by the
Board of Trade in conjunction with the Royal National
104
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
Lifeboat Institution, the report of which was subse-
quently published. It appears that the Southport boat
had reached a position a little ahead of the barque on
her starboard bow, and was about to let go her anchor
to veer down to the wreck when a heavy breaking sea
struck her about four points on the bow, and instantly
capsized her. The anchor at this time was in the act
of being let go, and consequently fell overboard with
about twelve feet of cable, two or three turns of the
inboard part of which were round the bollard, which
turns were probably washed off as soon as ever the boat
capsized. The boat never righted, although there was
evidence that she made several attempts to do so, but
always fell back again. Her failure to right was doubt-
less occasioned by the anchor having been let go, and
also to the number of men holding on round and under
the boat, though (the Special Commissioners found)
"the former of these two causes would probably be
sufficient to account for the casualty, as was proved to
have occurred on previous occasions."
With regard to the fate of the St. Anne's lifeboat,
what happened to it is pure conjecture. She was known
to have proceeded for about 500 yards under oars, and
then to have made sail crossing the Salt House Bank.
There was some evidence to show that two red lights,
and other signals were seen about west-by-north from
Southport, at a distance of two miles, and if these two
red lights were distress signals from the lifeboat she
had probably met with some casualty in that position.
None of her crew, however, survived, and any opinion
as to the cause of the disaster is of necessity hypothe-
tical. The boat was found on the beach on the morning
of the 10th of December, bottom up, and three bodies.
were found hanging on the thwarts with their heads
downwards. In drifting ashore the boat must have
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 105
capsized as soon as she got into shoal water, and it
would then have been impossible for her to right again.
Whether she capsized before this there was no evidence
to show.
It is interesting in this connection to note with.
reference to the self-righting lifeboats which have been
launched on service for the past thirty-two years, there
have been five thousand launches and over twelve
thousand lives have been saved. On these occasions
there were only forty-one capsizes, twenty-three of which
were unattended by any loss of life. In the remaining
eighteen, eighty-eight lives were lost-seventy-six life-
boat men lost represented one in eight hundred and
fifty of the men afloat in the lifeboats on service, and
the capsizes one out of each hundred and twenty
launches on service. In addition to this the boats were
out for exercise fifteen thousand times during the same
period of thirty-two years, with a loss of only eight
lives.
The lifeboat therefore is entitled to be considered a
triumph of naval architecture, while the service under
the auspices of the Institution deserves the world-wide
admiration accorded to it. At all the principal, and a
number of minor ports, a lifeboat is kept ready for use,
and a body of men are prepared to act on emergencies.
The boats are kept in charge of paid coxswains, under
the general superintendence of Local Honorary Com-
mittees of residents in the several localities. Each
boat has its appointed coxswain at a salary of eight
pounds, and an assistant at two pounds a year. The
crew consists, in addition, of a bowman, and as many
boatmen as the boat pulls oars. The members of the
volunteer crews are mostly resident boatmen, fishermen,
or coastguardmen. Anything like unseemly rivalry on
the part of the crews has, of course, to be repressed,
106
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
but it happens occasionally that the usual skilful men
are not to be procured at the moment when the boat's
services are required, some perhaps being ill, others at
sea, or engaged in avocations at a distance; in such
cases the first well-known oarsman who arrives at the
scene of action, and secures a life-belt, has at once his
claim acknowledged to a seat in the boat. It is re-
markable to observe how unflinching and ceaseless has
been the emulation of the men on these occasions, not-
withstanding that it is manifest they will sometimes
have to encounter frightful peril and exposure. On every
occasion of going afloat to save life, the coxswain and
each man of the crew receive alike from the funds of the
Institution (whether successful or not) ten shillings if
by day, and one pound if by night; and four shillings
each for every time of going afloat for exercise. The
rewards for saving life are increased on special occa-
sions when unusual risk or exposure has been incurred.
Besides pecuniary rewards the Society also grants its
gold and silver medals, and thanks inscribed on vellum.
for gallant deeds by lifeboats and other means in saving
life from wrecks along the coast.
With due and proper consideration for the safety of
the crews the committee of the Institution recently
decided to withdraw from their stations on the coast all
self-righting boats that will not pass the new and more
rigid code of tests which experience has shown to be
necessary, and it is satisfactory to know that the watch-
ful enterprise characterizing the practical management
of the organization secures to it the benefit of every
modern improvement in the matter of lifeboats. This
fact was sufficiently demonstrated by the award to the
Institution of the prize of £600 and a gold medal
offered by the International Fisheries Exhibition of
London in 1883 for the best coast lifeboat, and by the
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS.
107
later circumstance that the Inventions Exhibition added
nothing to the most approved life-saving appliances
adopted by the National Institution. The new boats.
distributed to take the place of those withdrawn from
duty or forwarded to strengthen the service at established
stations, are all furnished with the latest improvements
suggested by nautical science. The result of the ex-
perimental trials upon them were satisfactory, and the
coxswains and crews almost unanimously expressed
their satisfaction with the new craft, and their perfect
confidence in their sea-going powers.
One boat-the one sent to St. Anne's after the
disaster already referred to-was returued by the cox-
swain and the committee of the station, and the
occurrence elicited the suggestion of a series of eight
improvements by Mr. J. T. Morris of Broughton, Man-
chester, to which the Times gave special promin-
ence in May, 1887. An outline of Mr. Morris's
proposals must necessarily omit many particulars
material to their appreciation, and incidentally must
omit also a complete statement of their alleged merits.
They relate, however, to problems of importance, which
have been shown as still awaiting solution. Severally
or collectively, Mr. Morris asserted his suggestions are
readily applicable to lifeboats in use. In the first
place, a lifeboat is given, when inverted, an excess of
buoyancy on one side, as a means of increased righting
power on the other. Within the boat on the starboard
side and above the water-line, the capacity of the air
chambers at bow and stern would be enlarged. At the
same time, on the port side, dummy enlargements of
equal weight would be open to the inlet and outlet of
water. Thus it is calculated that the equilibrium, the
symmetry and even wind resistance of the uninverted
boat would be preserved as much as they are at present.
108
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
But in case of the boat being inverted, says the in-
ventor, the one-sided enlargement of air-cases is made
to leave with the inverted keel initially inclined over
the vertical point to a point of more effectual leverage
for righting. The possible effect of the forces of sea.
and storm is here suggestive of doubts, which the in-
ventor met. The sum of his contention is that these
forces can be made subservient to the repair of their
own misdoing. Number two of the series of suggested
improvements is a contrivance to anchor from the keel
instead of the sternhead, transferring the strain from
the highest point of the boat to the lowest, and lessen-
ing the liability to capsize. The third suggestion.
converts from a disadvantage to an advantage the
downward pull of the anchor rope in case of inversion,
so that the boat may be righted by an arrangement
which automatically transfers the pull from the keel to
the side. A pair of submerged bearers or webs hinged.
one on each side the keel, and having each an effective
area of thirty square feet form the fourth suggested
improvement, and the expectation is that top-heaviness
must thus be counteracted and stability increased. But
in case of inversion the bearers or webs, acted on by the
wind, would aid righting. The fifth proposal of Mr.
Morris is a pair of cavity sails, self-inflating, water-
excluding, and storing a large reserve of buoyancy to
lessen the chances of complete inversion. Each sail
would have buoyancy equal to the boat's weight. An
overhead air-case or "cavity canopy" exists for use alter-
nately when the sails are not admissible. The follow-
ing are the seventh and eighth improvements emanating
from the inventor before-mentioned :-An arrangement
applying to the crew as well as to the boat. Rings or
hooks on each life-belt, answering to rings or hooks on
the gunwale of the port side, enable the crew to attach
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 109
themselves instantaneously on that side only of an
inverted boat. Air-cases on the starboard side would
prevent their attaching themselves there. Thus their
weight when supporting themselves out of the water is
excluded from the side where it would oppose the boat's
righting, and is accumulated on the other side, here
again converting a disadvantage to an advantage. The
last suggestion is to prevent the crew being precipitated
from the boat if it capsized, which is thus accomplished.
The proposal is to suspend the thwarts and the crew
upon them, rigidly from a pivoted axle, the length of
the boat, and in the pivot of the axis on which the boat
and canopy must revolve upon inversion. The added
buoyancy from the canopy, says Mr. Morris, lifts that
axis above the thwarts. Mr. Morris calculates that
though the boat might capsize, it would be impossible
to invert the seats or thwarts, these remaining, at all
stages of inversion, some two feet above the water level,
suspended from the pivoted axle.
In addition to the new and improved water ballast
lifeboats which were ultimately sent to Southport and
St. Anne's, the Institution have provided a second life-
boat for the former station, which is kept moored afloat at
the end of the pier. It is a large sailing boat, of the
self-righting type, 40 feet long and 10 feet wide, and is
provided with a sliding keel. The Institution are in-
creasing the number of their water-ballast boats as fast
as their income will allow, and they are also construct-
ing boats with drop keels, which will have greater
stability. Owing to the increased weight of the fittings,
however, and the consequent greater draught of the
boats, they are not adapted for all stations.
The record of the lifeboat service could not be more
appropriately closed than by reproducing an official
letter from the Board of Trade to Sir Edward Birkbeck,
110
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
Bart., M.P., the chairman of the Royal National
Lifeboat Institution. A statement had appeared in
several newspapers to the effect that the Board of Trade
contemplated an inquiry into the efficiency of the service
conducted by the Institution, whereupon the following
communication was addressed to Sir Edward Birkbeck
on behalf of Lord Stanley of Preston, the President of
the Board of Trade.
"In reply to your letter Lord Stanley of Preston
wishes me to inform you that the statement which has
appeared in various newspapers to the effect that the
President of the Board of Trade has promised hist
best consideration to the desirability of holding an
official inquiry into the seaworthiness or otherwise of
the lifeboats of the Lifeboat Institution is without
foundation.
"Lord Stanley is aware that the Institution is giving
the matter its most serious consideration, and he has
offered to place at its disposal any official assistance
that it may require.
"I am to add that representations have been made.
to the Board of Trade as to the desirability of holding
an official inquiry, but as Lord Stanley believes that
the Institution is in full agreement with the Board of
Trade in the matter, he does not think that any occasion
for such an inquiry has arisen."
In the Report of the Institution already quoted, it
is made known that the committee have offered a gold
and silver medal for drawings or models of a mechani-
cally-propelled lifeboat best adapted to meet the con-
ditions under which lifeboats are called upon to
perform their work; also a gold and silver medal for
models or drawings of a propelling power suitable for
the relf-righting boats of the Institution.
An important feature in connection with the life-
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 111
boat service is the development of telegraphic com-
munication with the lightships. In 1885 efforts were
made to connect the sunk lightship off the coast of
Essex with the shore at Walton-on-the-Naze, a distance
of nine miles. The efforts were crowned with success
in the following year; but not until the Telegraph
Construction and Maintenance Company had devoted
their skill and energy to bringing the work to a success-
ful issue. "We look upon the completion of this
work," said the official organ of the National Institu-
tion, "as a very valuable advance in the measures for
saving life from shipwreck, because it causes more
speedy and more exact information respecting the actual
site of any casualty, than it is possible to give by the
present system of guns and rockets, or flags in the
daytime for summoning lifeboats to the assistance of
vessels in distress."
Next to the lifeboat service the rocket and mortar
apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks holds a pro-
minent place as one of the important and successful
means by which shipwrecked persons are rescued on
our shores. Wrecks often occur in positions inacces-
sible to a lifeboat, as, for instance, on a rocky beach,
or at a great distance from lifeboat stations. In such
emergencies the rocket is alone available, and it is
worked by men of the Coastguard, with the help in
some cases of Volunteer Life Brigades and Companies.
To the late Captain Manby the country is mainly
indebted for this life-saving apparatus. When he was
stationed at Yarmouth in the early part of the century,
he devoted much time and labour to the creation and
perfecting of the invention, which, with some improve-
ments in detail, is, as now used, substantially the
same as he left it. Previous to Captain Manby, how-
ever, in 1791, the idea of throwing a rope from a wreck
112
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
to the shore by means of a shell from a mortar had
occurred to Sergeant Bell of the Royal Artillery, and
by a singular coincidence to a Frenchman named
La Fire. Both made successful experiments with their
apparatus. In the same year (1807) that Captain
Manby introduced his mortar, Mr. Trengrouse, of
Helston, in Cornwall, proposed a hand and lead line as
a means of communicating with vessels in distress.
The Board of Trade took over the control and manage-
ment of the rocket apparatus and stations two years
after the death of Captain Manby (Nov. 18th, 1854),
who during his life had the gratification of saving more
than one thousand lives, and of receiving grants in
acknowledgment of the good service rendered by his
invention.
(C
The most important change or development" of
Manby's invention was the substitution of Boxer's
rocket for the mortar and shell used by Manby, which
were liable to many objections. The peculiar charac-
teristic of Colonel Boxer's invention is the combination
of two rockets in one case, one being a continuation of
the other, so that after the first compartment has
carried the machine to its full elevation, the second
gives it an additional impetus, whereby a great increase
of range is obtained. In all cases when the apparatus
is used two men are equipped in life-belts with life-
lines attached, whose duty it is to go into the surf to
rescue any that may have been washed overboard from
the wreck. The apparatus itself is under the charge of
the Coastguard at the different stations, and the chief
officer present has the power to compel owners of horses
to lend them for use in cases of shipwreck, and to order
all persons present to assist in any way he may require.
Unskilled assistance, however, is of little service,
especially at night, a fact sufficiently apparent from a
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUSs. 113
glance at the precise and very minute drill-very much
resembling gun-drill-which it is Considered necessary
to practise in order to secure the working of the
apparatus with rapidity and success. The coastguard
are seldom present in sufficient numbers to act by
themselves, and sometimes wrecks occur simulta-
neously, to more than one of which it would be im-
possible for them to attend. The need of skilled and
organized assistance was never more painfully apparent
than at the wreck at the mouth of the Tyne of the
Stanley, passenger steamship between Aberdeen and
Newcastle, in November 1864, by which twenty-six per-
sons perished after many hours of terrible agony. The
fearful scenes of that night determined some gentlemen
who had been helpless witnesses of them to take care
that there, at least, for the future trained and efficient
help should never be wanting. As a result of the
movement then started the Tynemouth Volunteer Life
Brigade was originated, and it has served as the pattern
for a couple of hundred brigades and companies at
different places along our coasts, whilst it is still
regarded as the chief, as well as parent of all existing
brigades.
The dangers and hardships to which men expose
themselves in working the rocket apparatus are not
equal to those incurred by the crews of lifeboats, but
still they are far from inconsiderable, and in some cases
have proved fatal.
Life-saving services in other countries are generally
very efficient. That of the United States is chief
among the lifeboat societies of other nations, both as
regards the extent of coast embraced, and the amount
of work done. There are several noteworthy points of
difference between it and the service of England. In
the first place, the whole, or nearly the whole of its sup-
I
114
THE ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
port is provided for by regular grants from Congress ;
and, secondly, besides protecting its vast extent of sea-
board, it has to provide for the shores of its great
lakes, or freshwater seas. Moreover, the uninhabited
condition of the American coasts necessitates the con-
stant employment of surfmen for the express purpose
of looking out for vessels in distress and manning the
surf boats. It also necessitates the erection of houses
of refuge, with an adequate commissariat. The history
of the United States Life-Saving Service" dates from
1848, although it was not until 1871 that the present
effective system was organized.
"
In France the "Society for Saving Life from Ship-
wreck" is modelled on the basis of the English system.
It was founded in 1865, and has done and is doing
good and increasing service in the saving of life and
property. In the same year Germany inaugurated a
similar organization, although previous to that time
several private societies for saving life from shipwreck
existed in the chief seaports of the North Sea and
the Baltic. These, however, have been absorbed in the
larger associations, of which the Emperor William is
the chief patron.
Russia, Italy and Spain have each their lifeboat
societies or organizations, formed, more or less, on
the basis of the National Lifeboat Institution of Great
Britain.
There is a difference between the appliances in use
in some foreign countries, and those which have found.
most favour in England. For instance, heavy boats
are unsuitable to the flat shores of the Atlantic coast,
where the boats chiefly in use are surf boats, in-
capable of self-righting, and liable to be swamped.
The Americans, too, prefer the mortar to the rocket in
projecting a line over a stranded vessel, and, in addition
LIFEBOAT SERVICE AND ROCKET APPARATUS. 115
to the travelling life buoy, they use a metallic car-
very much in appearance like a covered boat—which
can hold three or four persons, who enter it by a sort
of manhole, are shut in and drawn ashore in safety,
even though overturned by the surf. The French
boats are principally modelled after the English; but
the gun is preferred to the rocket in connection with
the life-saving apparatus. In Germany the heavy
self-righting and self-emptying boats of England have
been found unsuitable to the thinly-peopled and flat
sandy beaches of the Fatherland, and lighter and
shallower boats have therefore been adopted.
Although England was the pioneer of this humane
service, and led the countries of Europe by a period of
about forty years, yet there are some things in connec-
tion with the preservation of life which she would do
well to copy from our neighbours across the Silver
Streak. The French Society accomplishes much good
indirectly by its influence. It has been instrumental
in bringing about this result, that among the qualifica-
tions for a captain's certificate in the French mercantile
marine a thorough knowledge in detail of the means of
saving life from shipwreck is required. It has also, by
its unremitting labours, extended the usefulness and re-
duced the cost of the gun and rocket apparatus, besides
securing the supply of one of them to every ship in the
French Navy.
I 2
PART II.
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL
VISITATIONS.

PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL
VISITATIONS.
CHAPTER VII.
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
Ir is apart from our purpose to investigate the natural
phenomena by which electricity is engendered in the
atmosphere. Every one is familiar with the clouds of
ominous presage that form the advance-guard of the
thunderstorm-those dark, ragged masses of vapour
which envelope the earth in shadow, and seem the em-
bodiment of rage and fury. Not less familiar is the
rush of hot wind which forces opposing elements into
collision, and startles the lightnings into action. When
once the shafts of flame have been set in motion, how-
ever, it behoves the hapless dweller beneath to bring
into play all the protective resources at his command in
order to ward off the destructive power that lives in
every flash; and, it is some satisfaction to know that
science and invention have not been altogether unsuc-
cessful in coping with this natural visitation.
Lightning is of three kinds-forked, sheet, and
spherical. Forked lightning is the most destructive,
for though its flashes are generally slender white
tongues of flame, these are often divided into three or
120
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
more branches, each one of which is of deadly effect.
Sheet lightning is comparatively harmless, and has
neither the swiftness nor the whiteness of the forked
kind. Spherical lightnings are what are commonly
called thunderbolts, and consist of globes of fire which
descend to earth, and often inflict great damage.
Still
The power of the electric fluid is tremendous, irre-
sistible. It tears trees up by the roots, hurls large
masses of rock hither and thither with the utmost ease,
crumbles roofs and walls to dust, and kills and maims
human beings with instantaneous rapidity.
stranger things are done by it in the working of phy-
sical transformations. In attacking combustible bodies
it sometimes carbonizes or burns them, and in its con-
tact with living creatures often affects the senses or
produces or removes afflictions. A touch of lightning
has frequently deprived persons of sight and hearing,
or stricken them with paralysis or apoplexy; while, on
the other hand, there are instances of defective vitality
being restored by the electric current. It is recorded
that a man named Donaldson, who had been deaf for
twenty years, had his hearing restored by a flash of
lightning; and that a clergyman, hopelessly afflicted
with palsy, was completely cured by an electric shock
which passed through his room in the night-time.
It is only in recent times that the possibility of
coping with the lightnings has been realized. In
ancient times nothing seems to have been done by
way of safeguard, except so far as it could be done by
the avoidance of places and objects especially liable to
electrical assault. The annals of the past are full of
stories of death and disaster from lightning. During
a storm at the village of Chateauneuf les Moustiers, in
the department of the Basses-Alpes, nine people were
killed and eighty-two wounded by lightning in the vil-
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
121
lage church while the service was in progress. In 1769
the electric current made its way into a powder maga-
zine at Brescia, and the explosion destroyed a large por-
tion of the town and killed over three thousand people.
Another time, while an audience of some six hundred
persons were watching a performance in a Venetian
theatre, the lightning cut its way into the place with
such force that it put out the lights, killed several
persons, scorched others, melted earrings and watch-
cases, and wrought destruction in all parts of the house.
Later, the town of Reichenbach was fired by the electric
current, and the inhabitants had the greatest difficulty
in escaping into the country, and a regiment of cavalry
quartered in the town were unable to save any portion
of their baggage. Happily, the instances of wholesale
destruction by lightning are not very numerous, but
cases of individual fatalities are many. Every summer
increases the list, for, much as has been done to bring
the lightnings into subjection, they still find their vic-
tims, and continue their work of destruction. There
is hardly a country churchyard that does not contain
its epitaph to the memory of some worthy soul whose
career was cut short by an electric visitation. One of
the most curious of these tombstone records is to be
found in a graveyard in Donegal, which reads thus :-
"Here are deposited, with a design of mingling them
with the parent earth from which the mortal part came,
a mother who loved her son to the destruction of his
death. She clasped him to her bosom with all the joy
of a parent, the pulse of whose heart beat with maternal
affection; and in the very moment, whilst the gladness
of joy danced in the pupils of the boy's eyes, and the
mother's bosom swelled with transport, Death's arrow,
in a flash of lightning, pierced them both in a vital
part, and totally dissolving the entrails of the son,
122
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
without injuring his skin, and burning to a cinder the
liver of the mother, sent them out of the world at one
and the same moment of time."
Lightning was amongst the most terrible of the old
naval dangers. Ships were often set on fire by it. On
the 4th of August, 1810, the Audacious, while at anchor
off Flushing, had its masts set on fire by lightning,
and was obliged to leave her station and return to Spit-
head. Some years previously, the Lowestoffe was set
on fire in the same way in the Mediterranean, when
two men were killed and several injured. On the
24th of May, 1825, the Bellette, at sea in the West.
Indies, was struck by lightning, having her main-top-
gallant mast and topmast splintered. Five men were
burnt, while thirty-six were struck down when hauling
in the head-brace. The Cambrian was visited in the
same way, on the 22nd of February, 1799, in the
English Channel, when two men were killed and several
hurt, twenty men being struck down on one side of the
deck. While the Thunderer was cruising in latitude
18° N., longitude 79° W., on the 8th of September in
the same year, she was dreadfully injured by lightning,
and the whole of the watch in the maintop were para-
lyzed, it being necessary to lower them by ropes. Four
men were killed, and twenty-four knocked down by
lightning on board the Captain on the 27th of August,
1809; the Repulse was struck on the 13th of April,
1810, off Catalonia, when eight men were killed and
nine injured; seven men were killed in a similar way
on the 12th of August, 1808, on board the Sultan;
and in 1794 the Senata, a Neapolitan ship, was struck,
eight men being killed. Hundreds of other instances
might be cited, but we have said sufficient to show that
under the old order of things the lightning was a
destructive agency that the mariner justly feared.
i
:
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
123
About the middle of the last century Franklin made
his first experiments with the electric current, but
notwithstanding all the honour heaped upon him for
his discovery of the lightning conductor, the invention
did not spread very rapidly in the land of its birth.
Ministers of religion of all denominations, who looked
upon Franklin as a freethinker, denounced his light-
ning-conductor, on the ground that as lightning was
one of the means used by Heaven for punishing the
sins of man, it was impious to attempt to stave off its
natural effects. A Boston clergyman, who appears to
have possessed some little knowledge of science, de-
clared that the accumulation of electricity in the earth,
brought about by lightning-conductors, was the direct
cause of a heavy shock of earthquake, which was felt
in Massachusetts in the summer of 1755. Even to
scientific men the theory that those high rods had been
the cause of the earthquake seemed plausible; but, in
spite of all opposition, Franklin's invention worked its
way into acceptance, slowly but surely, through the
British colonies of North America. Franklin himself,
and his friend Kinnersley, became the apostles of the
new scientific doctrine, and travelled from one part of
the country to another, advocating its adoption, and
examining the effects of lightning upon buildings
which had been injured by it. They gave directions as
to how lightning-rods might be attached to any house
by an ordinary blacksmith or carpenter, with the result.
that a number of defective conductors were erected
that did more harm than good.
Franklin's great triumph was the erection of an im-
proved lightning-conductor on the mansion of his friend
Mr. West, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia. Not
long after it had been completed, an unusually severe
thunderstorm broke over the Quaker city, one of the
124
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
•
flashes of lightning striking the conductor on Mr.
West's house, the electricity passing down into the
earth without doing any more serious damage than
melting the point of the conductor, which was made
of brass. The flash was seen by a crowd of beholders
to strike the point of the conductor, and to re-appear
once more at the junction of the rod with the earth.
From this latter phenomenon Franklin at once sus-
pected that the portion of the earth in which the base
of the rod was inserted was very dry, and thus arrived
at the conclusion that all lightning rods should be
buried so deep as to reach the moist earth. Experience
has abundantly proved that Franklin's inference was
correct. In addition, the melting of the thin brass top
of the rod taught him that lightning-conductors must
be of a certain thickness.
Although the resistance to the introduction of light-
ning-conductors was strong in America, it was nothing
to the storm of opposition which Franklin's great in-
vention encountered in Europe-especially in France.
Much of this opposition, however, was purely personal.
The first conductor set up in England was at Payne's
Hill, by Dr. Watson. Little by little the prejudice
against the invention vanished, and in course of years
it was employed in every city of Europe.
Since those days lightning-conductors have been
very greatly improved. Franklin's were originally
made of iron, for the sake of cheapness; but, as time
went on, and the science of electricity progressed, the
researches of Davy, Antoine Becquerel, Pouillet, and
others, proved that different metals possessed different
powers of conveying electricity. Davy's experiments.
placed silver at the head of the list, copper almost close
to it, and iron very far down indeed. Later investiga-
tions have confirmed Davy's figures within one or two
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
125
per cent., and it is now generally agreed that a copper
rod half an inch thick is just as serviceable as an iron
rod 3 inches thick, hence copper is now in universal
use, being accepted as the best, lightest, and in the
end the cheapest metallic material.
But it took years of scientific effort to bring about
these improvements. From the first, the rigidity of
iron rods militated greatly against their use in the case.
of buildings with complicated outlines. Iron chains.
were proposed, but owing to their want of continuity
were found to be a bad form of conductor. In 1815
Professor Von Yelin, of Munich, recommended brass.
wire ropes, which were for a while extensively employed,
but they were not found to answer, first, because brass
is but a poor conductor; and secondly, because the
ropes were not large enough.
The subject was warmly taken up in France by some
of its leading men of science, after the prejudices which
had been such a thorn in the side of Franklin had dis-
appeared, the French Academy lending the encourage-
ment of its high authority at the suggestion of the
celebrated Gay-Lussac. In 1823, the Academy pub-
lished the first part of the semi-official Instruction sur
les Paratonnerres, which Gay-Lussac edited. A second
part followed in 1855, and another in 1864, both from
the pen of M. Pouillet, the eminent electrician. In
putting forth a translation of this "Instruction," in
1881, Mr. Richard Anderson, F.C.S., who has studied
this subject to more practical purpose than any other
Englishman of our time, drew a few comparisons which
could hardly be considered flattering to our national
pride. "Shall it be said again and again that they
manage things better in France ?'" he asks. He then
goes on to say, "As regards lightning-conductors there.
can be no manner of doubt that they manage things
<
126
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
better on the other side of the Channel than with us" ;
adding, "the French Government are in the constant
habit of consulting the most eminent scientific men, ast
represented in the Academie des Sciences on the sub-
ject of protecting public buildings against the destruc-
tive influences of lightning. There is scarcely an
instance in which a British Government ever did such
a thing. It is true the Houses of Parliament had
lightning-conductors erected upon them, upon some
scientific advice, and at great cost. But all who under-
stand the subject practically agree in saying that it is
very doubtful whether the magnificent pile of buildings
in which our legislators assemble is really-that is,
efficiently-protected. Certain it is that one-half of
our cathedrals, and three-fourths of our churches, have
not even nominal protection. For all that science has
done the Queen might any day be killed in her apart-
ments at Windsor Castle, the Prince of Wales in
Marlborough House, and the Prime Minister in
Downing Street. To see the difference between Eng-
land and France in this respect one has but to cross
the Channel between Dover and Calais. At Dover
there are huge barracks of great length, on the top of
high hills exposed to the full fury of storms sweeping
across the Channel; and the few conductors to be
found upon them at long intervals are certainly not
numerous enough for efficient protection against
lightning. The contrast in this respect in passing
thecoy silver streak' is of the most striking. At
Calais the Hotel de Ville, the highest building in the
Grande Place, literally bristles with lightning-conduc-
tors, and so do all the churches and other chief build-
ings in the town. The same all over France. Without
slavishly imitating our scientific neighbours, we might
yet bestow some of the care they do upon the protec-
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
127
tion of our property as well as our lives against the
terrible effects of the electric force." It is some satis-
faction to be able to supplement this impeachment by
the statement that Mr. Anderson himself was, not long
after this was written, selected to inspect and put in
order the lightning-conductors at the Houses of Parlia-
ment, and that the application of his scientific know-
ledge generally has been of great use in removing or
reducing the force of his original charge that " they
manage these things better in France."
Sir
It is nevertheless undeniable that the British Govern-
ment have been very slow to move in this important
matter. Except as regards the applicability of lightning-
conductors to ships, all has been left to private enter-
prise. Nor even have the scientific bodies of the
country devoted any special attention to the question.
The Royal Society showed a very lukewarm interest in
Franklin's discovery when it was first brought under its
notice; but at that time France was even less in love
with the lightning-conductor than England.
William Snow Harris insisted that it was the duty
of the Government to place lightning-conductors, or
see that they were placed, upon all objects that were
liable to be struck; and more recently Mr. Richard
Anderson has urged upon the English Government
the importance of providing for a periodical inspection
and testing of all such instruments, and there is no
doubt the adoption of such a system-which surely
must be arrived at sooner or later-would be a great
additional safeguard.
So little progress was made in the multiplying of
these protective appliances in the early part of the
century, that the public authorities in some instances.
came to the conclusion that lightning-conductors were
an additional danger rather than a protection. Mr. F.
128 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
McTaggart, a civil engineer in the service of the British
Government, sent on professional duties to Canada
in 1826, openly recommended the pulling down of
all lightning-conductors, for "science," wrote Mr.
McTaggart, "has every cause to dread the thunder
rods of Franklin." In 1838, the Governor-General
and Council of the East India Company ordered the
removal of all the rods from their public buildings,
including the arsenals and powder magazines through-
out India, but the order was recalled not long afterwards
by the authorities in Leadenhall Street, though not
before a large magazine and a corning-house had been
destroyed. Later on, Sir William Snow Harris, at
the request of the Secretary for War, wrote a paper on
the best means of protection for powder magazines and
other stores of war material, and this paper is still
issued from the War Office as one of the Army
Circulars.
The recommendations of the French Academy, in
the first report to architects and others engaged in the
erection of lightning-conductors, was to see that the
pieces of metal of which they were composed were
thoroughly connected in all their parts, and that the
earth end of the rod was buried at a sufficient depth to
be surrounded by damp soil, the necessity for which
had long before been demonstrated by Franklin. In
the later report, of 1854, for which M. Pouillet was
responsible, it was ordered that the iron rod should be
made of greater capacity, that the joints should be as
few as possible, and that they should be soldered
together with tin, so as to secure perfect metallic con-
tinuity.
The copper rope, introduced by Mr. R. S. Newall,
F.R.S., gave a more perfect continuity than had pre-
viously been obtained, and was more easily applied,
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
129
being extremely serviceable for housework, and a great
improvement on the old conductor with its joints and
coupling pieces. For factory chimneys the rope was
until lately usually constructed of forty-nine small
wires, but a seven-wire copper rope has found great
favour since its introduction by Mr. S. Sanderson in
1855, as being less liable to destruction from atmo-
spheric influences. New inventions in connection with
lightning-conductors are frequently brought out, but
ninety-nine per cent. of them are of no practical value.
According to Mr. Anderson, the only real improvement
since the wire rope has been Sanderson's "Solid
Copper Tape Lightning-Conductor, in continuous
lengths, without joints, and of high conductivity
copper." In 1876, Clerk Maxwell suggested to the
British Association the idea (based on Faraday's ex-
periments) of protecting a building from the effects
of lightning by surrounding it with a sort of cage of
rods, or stout wire. Here an "earth" would not be
absolutely required. The suggestion had been made
in a report to the Board of Northern Lights. It is
possible, though not certain, that this form of defence
might be useful against "globe-lightning," against
which ordinary lightning-rods would be of little use.
The subject of applying lightning-conductors to ships.
forms the most interesting story in connection with
this branch of scientific invention. As early as 1784,
M. Le Roy, a Frenchman, had directed his attention
towards the protecting of ships against lightning, and
a detailed account of his plans was published in
'L'Histoire d'Académie des Sciences" for 1790. His
suggestion was to lead a permanent chain of copper
rings along the maintopmast back stay. This chain
"communicated with a point above, and with the water
below, and appears to have been the first conductor
K
130
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
ever applied to a French ship." The rings, however,
were broken in a storm, which caused him to make
some alteration, and to divide the chain into several
parts, forming a line of communication along the
masts, that, although connected, it should not suffer
so much in rough weather, but should be better able
to resist the effects. This method of defying the
lightning was adopted by many French vessels, but
did not get into regular use. In our own country, Dr.
W. Watson, the enthusiastic supporter of Franklin's
discovery, had urged Lord Anson, then First Lord of
the Admiralty, to introduce lightning-conductors on all
men-of-war, and he was asked to send in a design
for a ship's conductor. Unfortunately, Dr. Watson's
knowledge of ships and navigation was not equal to
his knowledge of science, so he produced a rod that
would have been effective enough on land, but which
when subjected to the varying motions of a vessel at
sea did not work very well. Dr. Watson's ship con-
ductor was composed of strips of copper rod, one-fourth
of an inch in diameter, hooked together every few feet
by links, and the whole attached to a hempen line,
hanging from a metal spike at the top of the mast and
falling down into the sea. It was found that in a
storm, when its service was required, it could not be
kept in its place, so the sailors treated it with contempt,
and disposed of the difficulty by throwing the copper-
hempen chain away into some far-away corner of the
ship where it could trouble them no longer. Still the
reports of terrible fatalities from lightning at sea con-
tinued to increase year by year, and the attention of the
authorities could not be diverted from the importance.
of making some special provision for the avoidance or
lessening of these calamities.
But necessity brought forth the inventor who was to
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
131
i
set this matter right. There was a young surgeon at
Plymouth-William Snow Harris-whose mind had
been directed towards the subject as he sat in his cot-
tage overlooking the sea, and talked with his seafaring
friends of the dangers and disasters they had en-
countered through the lightning striking their ships.
He was wanting something to occupy his mind, for his
practice was small enough to leave him an ample mar-
gin of spare time. He had a sympathetic nature, more-
over, and the stories of vessels disabled and lives sacri-
ficed by lightning at sea awoke the desire to do some-
thing for the lessening of these perils. With these
promptings he entered upon his remarkable crusade
against lightning. The battle was a long one, and a
hard one, for the forces arrayed against him were offi-
cialism and prejudice, but he won the good fight in the
end, and made for himself an enduring name amongst
the scientific benefactors of the nineteenth century.
At the outset, Snow Harris made a strong case
out for action by putting on record a heartrending
list of ships that had been damaged by light-
ning in the forty years extending from 1793 to
1832, each instance being based upon official docu-
ments. He showed that in 150 cases, the majority
of them occurring between 1799 and 1815, about a
hundred mainmasts of line-of-battle ships and frigates,
together with an immense quantity of stores, had been
destroyed by lightning. One ship in eight, he set forth,
had been set on fire in some part of the rigging or
sails, and over 200 seamen had been killed or disabled
by these visitations. Beyond this, it was contended
that many ships reported "missing" had been sent to
the bottom through the efforts of lightning-shocks.
Nor were proofs in support of this theory wanting; the
case of the Peacock was referred to, it being clearly
K 2
132 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
shown by the evidence of the log of the Lacædemonian,
that in the summer of 1814, while these two ships were
alongside each other off the coast of Georgia, the
Peacock suddenly disappeared in a storm of lightning,
leaving not a trace behind. The Loup Cerrier man-of-
war was another ship of which there was proof that it
went to the bottom in a thunderstorm off Charlestown
in America. Then there was the story of the fate of
the Resistance to swell the list. This famous ship, of
44 guns, had been struck by lightning in the Straits of
Malacca, when the powder magazine exploded, and the
vessel went to the bottom, only three of the crew being
saved, but for whom, it was remarked, nothing would
have been known of the fate of the ship, which would
have been simply reported as "missing" in the
Admiralty Lists.
The recital of these tales of disasters served to
excite the public mind greatly, and protective measures
were loudly called for. Still the authorities did not
move, although all that was required was the adoption
of an invention already made public. Snow Harris
was not disposed to let the matter rest, however, simply
because of the apathy of the official mind. He next
brought the argument of cost to bear, and John Bull
being generally impressionable on the economical side,
he succeeded better on this tack than the other.
Writing in 1847, Snow Harris laid it down that in
about 120 cases only, the amount of money sunk on
account of masts and other material ruined or destroyed,
could not be set down, on a moderate computation, at
less than £100,000. It was further shown that be-
tween the years 1810 and 1815, no less than thirty-five
sail of the line, thirteen frigates, and ten sloops had
been either disabled or greatly damaged by lightning ;
and that, taking into account every instance in which
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
133
ships of the Royal Navy had suffered from lightning
since 1793, and every expense contingent on the re-
pairs and refit of the ships, the country lost from
£7,000 to £10,000 a year in consequence of damage
done to its Navy by lightning.
When Snow Harris began his agitation, about the
year 1820, the ships of the Royal Navy were virtually
without lightning-conductors. The time was ripe for
action. In November, 1821, he addressed his memor-
able letter to Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Bryan Martin,
K.C.B., Comptroller of the Navy, "On the Effects of
Lightning on Floating Bodies; with an Account of a
new application of Permanent Conductors of Electricity
to the Masts of Ships." After recounting the long list
of disasters to ships from lightning, and referring to
the claims of humanity, inasmuch as "many men had
been deprived of sight or otherwise severely injured;
many struck dead whilst employed in furling sails, and
other naval duties, for want of a protecting point to
which the electric matter would of necessity be deter-
mined;" he proceeded to set forth, in what was a most
elaborate dissertation on the subject, his proposals for
relief. "By observing," he wrote, "the probable
sources and action of atmospheric electricity, we may
conclude, without much liability to become involved in
a speculative hypothesis, that a floating body is en-
dangered by strokes of lightning under the following
circumstances:-(1) An accumulation may take place
in the atmosphere and discharge itself through the
ship into the sea; in this case the highest or nearest
points will be the first struck, and the injury sustained
will be in the circuit which the electric matter has
traversed. (2) The atmosphere may become in an
oppositely electrified state from the former; thereby in-
ducing a discharge from the surface of the earth, in
134
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
which case the lowest points will be the first struck,
and the lightning will ascend along the masts, pro-
ducing similar mischief in its course."
He further explained that "floating bodies are, of
all other artificial elevations on the earth's surface, the
most exposed to such injuries; for, unlike buildings,
which are in a variety of instances protected by the
vicinity of high hills, trees, and the like, whose irregu-
lar forms frequently dissipate electrical accumulations,
they are situate on what may be considered a vast plane,
they themselves affording the only pointed projections;
these extending sometimes nearly 200 feet above its
level into the atmosphere, invite, as it were, the action
of an electrical discharge, without having the means of
palliating its fury." To counteract these dangers, he
proceeded to urge, we had "only to construct for ships
an uninterrupted metallic communication between the
masthead and the water, and we provide the most
effectual means of security against the extensive in-
juries from lightning which so frequently occur at sea.”
His proposal was, therefore, "to apply such a conduc-
tor as may be continuous and direct from the vane
spindle at the masthead to the sea; as may be perma-
nently fixed throughout its whole extent; yet admit of
the motion of one portion of the mast upon another;
shall in no way interfere with the standing or the run-
ning rigging; and in case of removal of any part of
the mast either by accident or design, the continuity
of the remaining part shall still be perfect, determine
the course of the discharge and transmit it securely
into the sea.”
This letter, which was submitted to the public in
pamphlet form, after having done duty at the Ad-
miralty, did not produce any immediate effect, power-
ful and indisputable as were its conclusions.
It was
DEFYING THE LIGHTNING.
135
not until 1839, by which time the agitation had become
too strong to be any longer disregarded, that a Naval
Commission was appointed "to investigate the best
method of applying lightning - conductors to Her
Majesty's ships." A voluminous report followed, after
a considerable interval, the Commission recommending,
though in no very enthusiastic or positive tone, the
trial of Snow Harris's system. The system consisted
in the use of a double set of copper plates overlapping
each other, and let into the mast of a ship in such a
manner that the end of one touched the middle of the
other, insuring perfect metallic continuity. Most of
the vessels of the Navy were supplied with these
conductors after the recommendation of the Naval
Commission.
The Plymouth doctor might not have gained his
point so soon but for the fact of having "friends at
Court." He found a powerful patron in Sir George
Cockburn, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, who was
greatly interested in scientific progress. He had him-
self witnessed the serious effect of lightning upon ships.
under his own command. The Minerva, of which he
was captain at the blockade of Leghorn, in 1796, had
been struck by the electric current; and the same mis-
fortune had happened to two ships of the flotilla under
his command at the reducing of the French island of
Martinique in 1809. At the period of Snow Harris's
agitation, Sir George, retired from the Navy, sat in
Parliament for Portsmouth, and was one of the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty. He was also a
Fellow of the Royal Society, and Snow Harris being a
member of that body, the two were drawn into a friend-
ship which proved of the greatest advantage to the
young surgeon. The enthusiasm of the latter attracted
Sir George, who made a personal study of the subject
136 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
of lightning-conductors, and at every subsequent stage
of the movement was Snow Harris's best advocate.
Even previous to the issuing of the report of the Naval
Commission, Harris was allowed to make experiments
with his system on board several men-of-war. When
the plan was ultimately adopted, the ardent electrician
reaped his reward, receiving at various times consider-
able grants from Government, and having the honour
of knighthood conferred upon him in 1847. While
Sir William Snow Harris's system lasted it was
thoroughly effective, and more than answered the
fullest expectation. Not a single ship of all those
to which his lightning-conductors were applied was
damaged by lightning, although many were struck.
When, however, the "wooden walls "disappeared, and
iron became the material of construction for the ships.
of our Navy, the lightning-conductor was no longer a
necessity, for an iron-built vessel, metal rigged, forms
a conductor in itself, affording more absolute protection
than any metallic rod or rope could do, however high
its conductivity.
But, although there is no longer the need there was
to fight the lightning at sea, we must still continue
our protective efforts against its devastating influence.
on land. There is no need for scientific endeavour to
be relinquished or slackened because the sphere of opera-
tion is not so large as formerly. What is most urgently
system of inspection
required, however, is an official
which shall be equal to the enforcing of the best
appliances for all important buildings throughout the
country. Until this has been accomplished we shall
not have satisfied the reasonable demands of science
and the due regard for public safety.
I
137
CHAPTER VIII.
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
THE ancient and modern history of fire protection is
remarkable and interesting-remarkable from the fact
that notwithstanding that trained firemen existed in
Roman cities two thousand years ago, yet to the present
day it has not been thought worth while for our own
Government to make the complement of them in the
greatest city of the world numerically efficient, and
interesting for the comparisons afforded between the
implements in use in primitive times, and those which
find favour now.
From the ancient Hindu law, the laws of the Romans
and the Greeks, from the Imperial decrees of the Em-
peror Augustus, who wore the purple at the time of the
birth of our Saviour, we gather that the engineers of
those days knew how to make fire pumps with air
vessels and valves, whilst for many centuries the chief
of the fire brigades in many European countries were
priests of the church-their appliances a bell, a
reliquary, and a stoup containing blessed water. The
dwellings indeed all buildings in Great Britain down
to the time of Alfred the Great-were built of timber.
Alfred began to build his palace of brick and stone;
but in the year 1136 the greater part of the city of
London was still built of wood, and the houses were
covered with straw, stubble and the like. Hence it
138 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
happened that when a single house caught fire, the
entire city was endangered. An occurrence of this
sort is on record as having taken place in the first year
of the reign of King Stephen, and to avoid such a
peril in future, the citizens inaugurated stone and
tiled houses. Regulations upon the subject seem first
to have been framed in the reign of Richard I. (1189)
by the Lord Mayor of London and the wardmotes of
the city, who adopted the following rules :-" That all
persons who dwell in great houses within the ward
have a ladder or two ready and prepared to succour
their neighbours in case misadventure should occur
from fire. That all persons who occupy such houses
have in summer time, and especially between the Feast.
of Pentecost and the Feast of St. Bartholomew (Aug.
24), before their doors a barrel full of water for quench-
ing such fire, if it be not a house which has a fountain
of its own. That ten respectable men of the ward,
with the aldermen, provide a strong crook of iron with
a wooden handle, together with two chains, and two
strong cords, and that the handle have a good horn and
loudly sounding. Of persons wandering by night, it
is forbidden that any persons shall be so daring as to
be found wandering about the streets of the city after
the curfew rang out at St. Martin's-le-Grand, and St.
Lawrence, upon pain of being arrested."
The regulations of succeeding years contained similar
ordinances; the night-watch in every town and city
was originated, and throughout this country and the
continent measures more frequent and efficient were
ordained to preserve life and property from fire.
It had long been the custom in continental cities to
place a watchman on the top of a large building or
tower to look out for fires, notice of which was conveyed
by blowing a horn, firing a gun, or ringing a bell. In
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
139
Germany, particularly, was this practice carried out,
two watchmen being posted on each steeple to look out
for fires; and although the necessity for such "look-
outs" has almost entirely disappeared, yet the Obser-
vatory of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade at Southwark
to-day is not an unimportant adjunct to the efficiency
of Captain Shaw's administration.
Paris may be credited with the first penal regula-
lations, having in 1371 enacted that each householder,
under a penalty of ten sous, must place a hogshead of
water at his door. The Ordinance of Worcester, too,
was very stringent on the subject of replacing the
thatched with tiled roofs, and the proclamations
regarding the construction of buildings were very
frequent up to the commencement of the seventeenth
century. At this period more practical efforts were made.
by those in authority at home and abroad to increase the
precautions and supply better means of dealing with fire.
In the middle of the century, if we judge from Lord
Macaulay's History of England, the country narrowly
escaped having a steam fire-engine, which, however,
she was not destined to obtain until getting on to
nearly two hundred years later. Says the historian:
"The Marquis of Worcester had recently observed the
expansive power of moisture rarefied by heat. After
many experiments he had succeeded in constructing a
rude steam engine, which he called a fire waterwork, and
which he pronounced to be an admirable and most
forcible instrument of propulsion. But the Marquis
was suspected to be a madman, and known to be a
Papist. His invention, therefore, found no favourable
reception."
With the history and description of fire-engines,
escapes, and other appliances we shall deal later in the
chapter, preferring at present only to trace the develop-
140
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
ment of earlier regulations into legislative enactment,
the data of which were to a very considerable extent
compiled by the late Mr. Cornelius Walford, and
brought together in his exhaustive Insurance Ency-
clopædia.
The Great Fire of London (referred to in another
chapter) caused to be enacted three important measures:
the first, "An Act for rebuilding the City of London";
secondly, a Proclamation of the King, commanding "all
persons having lodgings within His Majesty's palace at
Whitehall to have so many leather 'Boquetts' as there
were chimneys within their respective lodgings, and that
the same should be kept in readiness upon all occa-
sions"; and thirdly, "An Act for preventing and sup-
pressing of Fires within the City of London and Liber-
ties thereof." Nevertheless, it may fairly be asserted
that for nearly a century there was no practical legis-
lative effort in this direction. To private enterprise
was due, first, the suggestion, and subsequently the
establishment, of anything like a properly organized
scheme of coping with fire. William Ryley and Edward
Mabb petitioned Charles I., but without success, for
leave to establish a system of fire insurance involving
the duty of maintaining a watch, and a supply of
apparatus, with reserves of water in convenient places
for sudden use. Fifty years later, in 1681, the Cor-
poration of London made an abortive attempt to intro-
duce protective measures; but the comical scene, when
occasion required, of the magnificent beadle and his
troop of young leather breeches dragging the parish.
engine to a fire and professing to pump upon the
flames continued to be a grotesque exhibition until
two fire offices established "a great many servants in
livery, with badges, for the purposes of fire protection,"
with the necessary appliances. The system was a
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
141
self-interested one, of course, in the first instance,
seeing that the companies were not bound to take care
of any property in which they were not directly con-
cerned. But the curious part of the matter was that
the companies not long afterwards ceased to feel that
kind of interest, and actually kept up the engines and
brigade men at a loss, until the public authorities took
the duty up. The fire insurance companies began to
regard fire-engines as an essential part of their estab-
lishments, for the less damage was inflicted on the
property for which they had granted policies the less
they would have to pay to the persons insured. They
bought, each company for itself, as many fire-engines
as they pleased, and paid for as many men as they chose
to manage them. When a fire occurred out rushed
these engines, with no paucity of heroic daring on the
part of the men. But then two evils arose. Each
corps cared only for such houses as were insured in one
particular office, and deemed it no matter of duty to
save adjacent property. The other evil was that the
men quarrelled with each other as to precedent claims
for reward, and sometimes fought while the flames were
raging. To lessen, if not remove, these evils was the
purpose of a very useful arrangement made about sixty-
two or sixty-three years ago. The managing director
of the Sun Fire Office proposed that, without interfer-
ing with the independent action of the companies in
other ways, they should place all their fire-engines in
one common stock, to be managed by one superinten-
dent, under a code of laws applicable to all the firemen,
the system to be administered with due impartiality to
all the partners, and paid for out of a common purse,
to which all should contribute. It was a sagacious
suggestion, proper to come from the largest of the
companies; but as some minds move more slowly than
142 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
others, so do some companies fall in more readily than
others with a new and bold proposal. At first the Sun,
the Union, and the Royal Exchange were the only
companies which entered cordially into the scheme.
The Atlas and the Phoenix afterwards joined, and this
limited partnership lasted until 1833.
Fire protection meanwhile was being regarded else-
where as an important subject upon which to legislate,
and enforce regulations. The Scottish Parliament had
passed an enactment so far back as 1698 prohibiting
the erection of buildings in the city of Edinburgh
more than five stories high, and appointing "Fyre
Masters," &c., with special duties. In succeeding
years Edinburgh adopted numerous precautions, and
as a city was destined to supply London with its head
of the Fire-Engine Establishment-the gallant James
Braidwood, who fell bravely at his post at the great
fire in Tooley Street, London, twenty-six years ago.
Glasgow, Liverpool, Exeter, and numerous other cities
were aroused to enthusiasm, with the result that they
achieved efficiency in their services which they now
continue to develop.
The first general measure for providing the means of
fire protection was passed by the English Parliament
in 1830, when it was enacted (2 George IV. c. 27),
amongst other things, "that it shall be lawful for the
said inspectors, and they are hereby required from
time to time, to provide and keep up fire-engines with
pipes, and other utensils proper for the same, for the
use of the parish adopting the provisions of this Act,
and to provide a proper place or places for the keeping
of the same, and to place such engines under the care
of some proper person or persons," &c.
In 1833 the London Fire Brigade Establishment
was founded, and its history has been written by Cap-
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
143
tain Shaw, than whom no expert in one special subject
has given to the world more valuable service in tech-
nical literature. The arrangement of the establish-
ment was peculiar, and may be very briefly described.
Any insurance company might belong to it on paying a
fair quota of the expenses, and, generally speaking,
the companies all joined. Each board of directors
sent one or more delegates to represent it, and the
delegates formed the committee for managing the
system. All the engines and apparatus, floating
engines, and engine-houses belonged to the committee,
and out of the funds provided by the several companies
the committee paid the salaries of the superintendent,
inspectors and firemen. The Metropolis was divided
into districts, convenient as to size and relative
position, and each district had a station where engines
were kept, with firemen always ready to dash out when
their services were needed.
The destruction of the Houses of Parliament by fire
on the 16th of October, 1834, demonstrated that even
the London Fire-Engine Establishment was insufficient
to cope with catastrophes of such magnitude, and a
communication, dated the 9th of December, 1834,
signed by the representatives of the associated offices,
was addressed to the Government, through the Duke of
Wellington, on the subject. It was acknowledged in
February of the following year in a reply containing
the following passage :-"I am not disposed to deny
that there are cases of fire in which arrangements
which you recommend might be productive of bene-
ficial consequences; but nevertheless it appears to me
that in the majority of instances the interference of
Government would be productive of little benefit, while
it might and probably would relax those private and
parochial exertions which have hitherto been made
144
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
A
with so much effect, and so much satisfaction to the
public." The subject thus dropped out of sight for
the moment; nevertheless there were many Acts passed
in succeeding years, having a direct bearing upon regu-
lations in building or otherwise, for the protection of
London and the provinces against fire.
In 1862 a Select Parliamentary Committee was
appointed "To inquire into the existing state of Legis-
lation, and of any existing Arrangements for the Pro-
tection of Life and Property against Fires in the Metro-
polis."
The recommendations of the Committee were, (1)
That a fire brigade be formed, under the superinten-
dence of the Commissioners of Police, on a scheme to
be approved by the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, to form part of the general establishment
of the Metropolitan Police, and that the Acts requiring
parishes to maintain engines be repealed; (2) That
an account of the expenditure of the new Police Fire
Brigade be annually laid before Parliament, together
with the general police account, in such manner that
the special cost of the Brigade may be ascertained;
(3) That the area of the new Fire Brigade arrangements
be confined within the limits of the jurisdiction of the
Metropolitan Board of Works, with the option to other
parishes to be included if within the area of the
Metropolitan Police.
This Committee's report concluded with the follow-
ing statement of opinion :-"No security can be given
by legislation on this important question which would
supersede the necessity for individual care by the occu-
piers of houses against the risk of fire; no precaution
can prevent the occurrence of fires, nor can any public
measures be enacted which could or should prevent.
individuals from suffering losses from those acts of
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
145
carelessness from which fires generally arise; public
measures can only be of real service in arresting the
progress of fires when they occur, and in preventing
the enormous losses which arise from allowing a fire to
attain to any considerable dimensions."
The real object of the promoters of this inquiry was
to shift the burden of the protection of the Metropolis
from the shoulders of the fire offices to those of the
Metropolitan Board of Works, and although they were
not immediately successful, yet the object was after-
wards attained in 1865, by the passing of "An Act for
the Establishment of a Fire Brigade within the Metro-
polis." The Act came into operation on the 1st of
January, 1866.
Another Select Parliamentary Committee was ap-
pointed in 1867, to "inquire into the existing Legis-
lative Provisions for the Protection of Life and Pro-
perty against Fires in the United Kingdom, and as to
the best Means to be adopted for ascertaining the
Causes and preventing the frequency of Fires."
The Committee found there had been numerous Acts
passed affecting the whole kingdom, while there were
also local Acts in many instances making provision
for the preventing and extinguishing of fires. They
recommended a General Building Act for all towns.
and places in the United Kingdom, and, inter alia, an
inquiry into the causes of every fire.
The fire which destroyed the city of Chicago in 1871
led to a good deal of discussion and investigation re-
garding the condition of London. The Times arrived
at the conclusion that there was no great city in
Europe exposed to such risks as London; but con-
cluded a leader thus:-"Happily the Metropolitan
Board of Works seems disposed to maintain an
efficient fire brigade. The difficulty of concentrating
L
146
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
the efforts of the entire staff of that force at a given
spot in time to stop the spread of a fire which has once
seized hold of a street of City warehouses is one
which has not been lost sight of. The Board and
Captain Shaw have been devoting much attention to
the floating engines, and also to the thorough training
of the men. Probably no such climbers can be found
in any other city as the firemen of London. For some
years past no man has been taken into the force who
had not previously been a sailor, and it has been found
that with a shorter drill than any other class sailors
become the best firemen. The powerful and continu-
ous stream of water poured upon a fire from one of
the floating engines makes them extremely powerful
auxiliaries in extinguishing a vast fire. We have four,
and even the United States can boast of nothing like
them."
In 1873 there was introduced into Parliament "A
Bill to make provision for Investigation into the Causes.
and Circumstances of Fires "; but it did not go for-
ward, though the subject of fire protection was again
brought before Parliament in 1876, and a Select Com-
mittee was appointed "to inquire into the Efficiency,
Emoluments, and Finance of the Metropolitan Fire
Brigade; also to inquire into the most efficient Means.
of providing further Security against Loss of Life and
Property by Fire in the Metropolis." Mr. Ritchie,
M.P., in bringing the matter under the notice of the
House of Commons, gave some information on the
subject. The force at that time (1876) numbered only
395 men of all ranks, including the chief officers and
superintendent. The several watches in London
employed 94 men by day and 181 by night, includ-
ing those who were on fire-escape duty, making a total
of 275 for the 24 hours. If they deducted the men
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
147
with the fire-escapes, which numbered 106, it left the
Metropolis, with an area of 120 square miles, to the
protection of 164 men. He would not compare the
old London Fire Brigade with the present one, for its
appliances had been much improved; but the propor-
tion of men to the requirements had diminished.
The fires had increased from 1,338 to 1,559,
or just 17 per cent., the numbers of the houses
and the population had increased 17 per cent., and
they had the number of firemen decreased by 20 per
cent. The Select Committee sat in 1876, and took
very voluminous evidence, and on the 20th of July they
reported the evidence with appendix to the House, re-
commending the re-appointment of the Committee in
the next session. The conclusions at which they arrived,
and which were dated the 17th of July, 1877, were as
follows:-(1.) That the statutory arrangements for the
extinction of fires in the Metropolis, whereby the Fire
Brigade is administered by the Metropolitan Board of
Works, two separate police forces exist side by side,
and the water supply is sectionally furnished by eight
independent companies, are not such as to furnish
adequate protection to life and property; and contrast
unfavourably with provincial systems, where the fire
brigade, water supply, and police are under a single
authority, and that consolidation of management as far
as is practicable is urgently required. (2.) That the
Fire Brigade should be transferred from the Metro-
politan Board to the Commissioner of Police for the
Metropolis, so, however, as to constitute a distinct
branch, to be placed under the immediate command
of a separate Assistant Commissioner, and to be
authorized to act within the City of London as well
as in the Metropolis. (3.) That the members of the
Fire Brigade should be entitled to superannuation on
L 2
148
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
the same terms as those applying to other constables
of the Metropolitan Police Force, liberal provision.
being made for those now serving in the Brigade.
(4.) That the police stations and the fixed points.
should be used as Fire Brigade stations, or as places
where small engines or other appliances should be
deposited, and that all police constables, both of the
Metropolis and the City, should be auxiliary to the
Fire Brigade; but that, as now, each force should be
empowered to act only within its own jurisdiction,
except on a special requisition. (5.) That in lieu of
the limit of one halfpenny on the consolidated rate,
there should be substituted a limit of a penny rate
on the Metropolitan Police District, and that the
amount of the Government contribution be recon-
sidered. (6.) That the contribution from the in-
surance companies be continued at the present rate,
and that a charge should be levied on owners of
uninsured property saved from fire. (7.) That hydrants
should without delay be affixed to main and service
pipes wherever there is a constant supply. (8.) That
the water systems now belonging to the various
companies should be consolidated in the hands of a
public authority, which in dealing with the questions
of constant supply, pressure and pipage, should be
bound to have regard not only to the convenience of
consumers, but also to the requirements of the extinc-
tion of fires. (9.) That no new theatre or large
music-hall in the Metropolis should be finally licensed
until certified that, in respect of position and structure,
it satisfies all due requirements for the protection
against danger from fire, and that the Metropolitan
Board should be the certifying authority. (10.) That
with respect to existing theatres and halls the Metro-
politan Board should have power to call on the pro-
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
149
prietors to remedy such structural defects as appear
to the Board to be the cause of special danger, and to
admit of being remedied by a moderate expenditure,
option being allowed to the proprietor to refer the whole
question to arbitration. (11.) That with a view to the
prevention of danger from fire, the Lord Chamberlain
and the justices should be authorized to make regula-
tions as to the management of theatres and music-
halls under their jurisdictions; that for the purpose
of ascertaining whether such regulations are complied
with provision should be made for the inspection of
these buildings, and that any breach of the regula-
tions should be punishable on summary prosecution.
(12.) That effect should be given by the Legislature
to these recommendations.
The recommendations of this Committee did not
exactly suffer the fate of those of the Committee of
1867, although it was not until ten years after the
Committee had reported that a measure was brought
into the House of Commons. It has not yet been
passed, although interest in it was increased upon the
recurrence of a gigantic fire at Westbourne Grove,
London, on the 6th of August, 1887, when property
was destroyed of the estimated value of half a million
sterling. On the Monday following questions were
asked in the House of Commons, and again on Tues-
day, the 9th of August. The First Lord of the
Treasury was asked whether his attention had been
directed to the large number of fires which had occurred
in the Metropolis on one day previously, whether he
was aware that the pressure on the resources of the
Fire Brigade was almost unparalleled in its severity,
and whether, having regard to the safety of life and
property involved, he would afford facilities for dis-
cussing the Bill? In the congested condition of public
150 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
business, however, the Bill had to be set aside, but
there is every likelihood that most of the recommenda-
tions of the Committee will ultimately be adopted.
Auxiliaries to the larger and older organizations are
the Salvage Corps and the Volunteer Brigades, upon
which even now a large proportion of provincial towns
and agricultural districts have to rely. A succinct
account of the former corps was written a few years
ago by a Yorkshire volunteer fireman, Mr. Henry J.
Barber, and the story of the Volunteer Brigades has
also its special interest. Ten years ago there was a
great awakening among volunteer firemen, and the
publicity afforded to the proceedings of the brigades
stimulated the majority of them to acquire improved
appliances and more dexterity in handling them.
The years 1880 and 1881 were remarkable for Fire
Brigade competitions, and the Associations were at
their best. The number of these gatherings have
increased yearly, and a permanently good effect has
been produced by the revival. Many of the small
towns are now (1887), having regard to their size, and
the number of their fires, as efficiently protected as
London, Liverpool, and Manchester.
Turning now to the history and progress of fire
appliances, we find that from time immemorial
China has been acquainted with manual fire-engines in
some form or other, and it is fair to assume that she
has continued progressive, inasmuch as a year or two
ago she achieved the position of being the only nation
that has introduced the element of personal respon-
sibility in cases of fires.
Ctesibius, an engineer in the city of Alexandria, who
lived 120 years before the commencement of the Chris-
tian era, is, however, credited with the invention of the
first pump, described by Hero of Alexandria as having
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
151
metal cylinders, metallic pistons, spindle valves, with
guards to prevent their opening too far; a gooseneck
formed by a kind of swivel joint-something like a union
or coupling screw, the application of an air vessel;
two pumps forcing the water through one pipe, and one
lever to work both pumps. All these are features
more or less essential to fire-engines in the present
day, though some of them have been claimed as
later inventions; but other mechanical appliances are
requisite to a fire-engine as now understood. Pliny
the elder speaks of water being forced up by pumps and
such-like, "going with the strength of the wind en-
closed." Pliny the younger, probably about A.D. 100,
applied to the Emperor Trajan for authority to establish
a fire brigade, and spoke of a "Sipho," by which water
could be projected to a considerable height; and we
have it on the authority of Ulpian, an eminent Roman
citizen, that there were fire-engines in Rome in A.D.
228. So much, then, for ancient history. Coming
down to the latter part of the sixteenth century, we
find that hand-squirts first made their appearance in
London; but the embryo modern fire-engine, which
originated in Holland, was not known until 1672.
"At this time," says a writer in The Fireman, "the
Low Countries were at the zenith of their com-
mercial prosperity, and five years before a Dutch
fleet had appeared on the Medway, and Holland was
able to contend with England upon equal terms for
the empire of the East, and for the sovereignty of
the seas. The fire department of the capital at this
time was under the direction of two brothers named
Van der Heide. These men were good mechanics, and
had a turn for literature; and they were also in every
sense of the word firemen, and their work in this
capacity deserves lasting recognition. The invention
152
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
with which their name is chiefly identified is that of
flexible delivery and supply hose, which were brought
out, together with engines capable of using it, in the
year we have mentioned. Previously to this the Dutch.
fire-engines were constructed to take water from their
own cisterns, and to discharge it through long copper
swivelling tubes fixed to the outlets. Even these were
a distinct advance upon our English appliances, which
were only hand-squirts, throwing about a quart of water
at a time. The Van der Heiden made both suction
and delivery hose of leather, sewn at the team, and
joined the lengths together with brass couplings."
It would seem, however, that something more effec-
tive than hand-squirts was in
was in use in England
in those days; for, in the Inventions Exhibition.
of 1885, there was an old fire-engine on view, which
was said to have been made in 1575, and was
used as late as 1845 at Dunstable. It was not stated
upon what authority the date of its manufacture was
arrived at. The engine consisted of a long barrel-
shaped body, fixed on a kind of lorry with low
wheels, and the pump, a single action one, was worked
by a lever at both ends. Each lever worked upon a
fulcrum; the levers were raised and depressed simul-
taneously, and moved what was really the ram or
plunger of a large squirt. There were no valves or air
vessels.
Again, Mr. C. F. T. Young, whose book on Fire, Fire-
Engines, &c. (1886), is the only exhaustive work on the
entire subject which has been published, brought toge-
ther quite a host of fugitive facts, which would lead to
the belief that engines were at any rate in promiscuous
use in England anterior to the date of the Van der
Heiden.
Nevertheless, at the most serious conflagration re-
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
153
ported at which engines of any capacity were used,
three were brought into requisition, "presumed by the
authorities to have come from Holland." The fire was
on London Bridge, in 1633, and at a later date it is
recorded that improved manual fire-engines were brought
from Holland by William III. when he landed at
Torbay, so that there is little room to doubt the credit
accorded to the Dutch brothers for the invention.
In 1674 Sir Samuel Morland, the reputed inventor
of the speaking-trumpet, manifested great interest in
the subject of fire-engines, of which, indeed, he became
a maker. He offered engines for sale, ranging in price
from £23 to £48. The first engine with leathern
pipes ever used in this country was brought into requi-
sition at a fire at Southwark, in 1676, when 500 houses
were destroyed, and the old St. Thomas's Hospital
was saved by the new appliances.
Engines continued to be constructed of varying effi-
ciency; air vessels were employed in their manufacture;
and syphons, or attracting engines, for raising water to
extinguish fires; but "it was in the first quarter of the
eighteenth century," writes Mr. Young, "that the manual
engine began to have the attention of observant and
practical men given to its development and improve-
ment, when the results were of a most beneficial and
satisfactory character. By these improvements the
engines were greatly increased in utility and efficiency,
and the special advantages and conveniences to be
gained by the invention and application of flexible hose
were enabled to be fully brought out." It is impossible
to treat such a subject with any degree of detail without
referring to private enterprises, which, like the com-
panies that established a regular protective organiza-
tion, are solely self-interested, and possibly in open
rivalry. Therefore we need make no apology for iden-
154
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
tifying with the commencement of the "development
and improvement" spoken of by Mr. Young, primarily
the firm of Messrs. Merryweather and Sons, of London
and Greenwich. For nearly two hundred years this
firm has been identified with the manufacture of fire
protective and life-saving appliances, as also for a more
limited period, but very largely indeed, have their
rivals, Messrs. Shand and Mason, of London. Combined,
these firms produce the chief fire-engines, escapes, &c.,
of the world, most of the more important engines and
appliances being the inventions of one or other of the
proprietors, whilst they have been concerned in the
bringing forward of many of the contrivances invented
by others.
In 1807 Mr. Hornblower brought out a small port-
able fire-engine, which was a very effective machine,
and could be carried from one part of the house to
another; in 1820 Mr. Michael Rough proposed to
furnish every house with a wheeled machine capable
of containing ten gallons, to be kept full of water
until after sunset. But the great invention, eclipsing
all the rest, was the steam fire-engine of Mr. John
Braithwaite, of London, constructed in 1830. It is a
curious matter of history that though its efficiency
was at once demonstrated-the engine was first requi-
sitioned at a fire at the Argyle Rooms, when the cold.
was so severe that the manuals became frozen and
useless-yet it was several years later before it was
brought into general use. In this matter France,
Russia, Germany, and one or two English provincial
towns forestalled London, in consequence mainly of the
circumstance that Mr. Braidwood, the chief of the London
Fire-Engine Establishment, believed that the supply
of water in the Metropolitan mains was really insuffi-
cient for its requirements. In 1838 Messrs. Bramah
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
155
and Robinson invented the "Swiss Portable Engine,"
which could be carried on the back of one man; and
in 1850 the first steam fire floater was constructed by
Mr. P. Clark, assistant-engineer of the West India.
Docks. Manual floaters had been used on the Thames
by the insurance companies since the latter part of the
eighteenth century.
The International Exhibition of 1851 provided a grand
field day of steam fire-engines in Hyde Park, at which
Marshals Shand and Mason, General Merryweather,
and other steam magnates showed what they could do.
One engine shot forth three hundred gallons of water a
minute; and another sent up a jet to a prodigious
height, showing how useful such a power would be for
application upon a lofty building. In some of the
steam engines such was the arrangement of the boiler
and flues that the water could be raised from the
freezing temperature to the boiling point in ten or
twelve minutes. Then, as now, the attendant genii
had not to wait for steam before they started; the
boilers were filled with water, the fire lighted, they
were galloped away, and upon arriving at the scene of
conflagration the water boiled, and the steam was ready
for using. All the engines, steam and hand, have
their regular quota of apparatus stowed in and around
them-scaling-ladders, canvas sheets, lengths of hose,
lengths of rope, hose-pipes, rose-jets, hooks, saws,
shovels, pole-axes, crowbars, wrenches, &c. Messrs.
Shand and Mason were the first to apply steam power
to the float of the London Fire Brigade, in 1852, and
in consequence of its efficiency they built the original
powerful self-propelling floating steam fire-engine which
is still in daily use for riverside work on the Thames.
The smaller engines are legion, and a great impetus
was given to the use of hand engines by a letter from
156
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
the Earl of Essex to the Times in 1866, in which he
attributed the salvation of Cassiobury, his seat in
Kent, to the prompt use of one of them. In 1862
Mr. Wm. Roberts, of Millwall, constructed the first
self-propelled steam fire-engine ever made in England
or Europe, although one had been built in America in
1840-1 by Mr. Paul Rapsey Hodge, an English engi-
neer. Mr. Roberts' engine travelled along the roads
at the rate of eighteen miles an hour. At the Inter-
national Exhibition in 1873 fire-engines, steam and
manual, formed a very prominent feature; most of the
countries in Europe, as well as the United States,
were competitors. Since then steam fire-engine con-
struction has been greatly improved, but chiefly in
points of detail. In manual fire-engines, the chief
advance has been in regard to the mechanical arrange-
ments for getting the engine into action.
It may here be remarked that in 1887 the London
service comprised 589 men, 45 steamers, 77 manuals,
and 55 engine stations.
The fire escape, which now forms such a material
adjunct to all brigades, has not such an ancient or
voluminous history as the fire-engine. David Marie
patented a fire escape in 1766, and there were several
subsequent improvements, but the first escape of which
we have any details was that of Mr. Davis, in 1809.
It consisted of three ladders, to draw out like a tele-
scope. In 1813 Mr. Young contrived a sort of rope.
ladder, with iron rounds of very flexible construction.
The next invention was in 1816, by Mr. Braby, of
which a pole was the chief characteristic, down which
a chair or cradle would slide, governed by a rope. It
was in 1819 that the foundation of the escape at
present in use in London was invented. Mr. J.
Gregory patented a fire-escape ladder consisting of
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
157
sliding sections placed upon a movable carriage, and
capable of being extended by the successive drawing
out of the separate parts. Some thousands of inven-
tions have followed this, but principally affecting
mechanical detail, and for the last ten years hundreds.
of new designs have been protected at the Patent
Office annually. The test of time has yet to be ap-
plied to all of them, which are mainly for domestic
use, and consist chiefly in complications of ropes,
pulleys, &c. Several varieties of the Fire Brigade
carriage escapes are among the later inventions, and
are those of the firms which have supplied the one in
popular use, and upon which they are improvements
based upon experience.
With the object of saving life from fire an associa-
tion, under the title of the Fire Escape Society, was
founded in 1828, and as a matter of fact, which seems
somewhat incredible, it was a distinctive service so
recently as 1867. Mr. John Hudson, of Cheapside,
London, was the founder. He was struck with the in-
efficiency of the system of parish ladders, which prior
to the earlier period were the only appliances of rescue,
and he agitated for more ample means. In 1836 the
Society was merged in the Royal Society for the Pro-
tection of Life from Fire, the special feature of which
was the provision of fire escapes in London. The
Association existed until 1867, at which date it had
85 fire-escape stations. The escapes had attended 695
fires and saved 78 lives. In August of that year the
plant, &c., passed over to the Metropolitan Board of
Works, under the provisions of the "Fire Brigade Act,
1865."
To attempt to deal with all the subsidiary inventions
for the prevention of fire, protection from fire, or the
simple and ready extinction of the dreaded visitant,
158
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
would be a task of invidiousness, and in fact of too
great magnitude for the compass of the present chapter.
It is not now as it was in 1810. Then the inventor of
a fire-proof cement was such a singular individual that
he actually obtained from Parliament a legal monopoly
for what he called "Tessera " a cement for covering
buildings and protecting them from fire. Now the
heterogeneous mass of concoctions which are patented
year by year are innumerable. The safest and surest
method of preventing fire in all places is extreme
vigilance, no relaxation of regulations, and in taking
advantage of the ordinary precautions. In large estab-
lishments hydrants and mains arranged under the
system which Captain Shaw devised for Christ's Hos-
pital, and which that enthusiastic expert has supervised
in numberless similar instances, is probably the most
effective. Exceptional institutions require exceptional
measures of precaution. As theatres are generally
regarded as being established for the gratification of
the Fire Fiend, a number of special protective appli-
ances have been invented for them, including iron
curtains, automatic sprinklers, and so forth; and,
acting on the terrible lesson of the Exeter calamity of
1887, all authorities possessing control over theatres
in this country have instituted more rigorous regula-
tions than previously prevailed in respect of the facili-
ties of egress from theatres. Mr. Henry Irving has
been to some extent the mouthpiece of managerial
solicitude in this matter, and has designed (on paper)
what would seem to be an almost fireproof theatre.
With respect to the recent invention of automatic
sprinklers, it should be added that they are
equally available for mills and warehouses. They
are fixed in any or all parts of the premises, and
will discharge regular streams of water when the tem-
PROTECTION FROM FIRE.
159
perature rises to a certain height, or the action may
depend upon the turning of a valve. In the case of
theatres the main idea in adopting the sprinklers.
would not be so much to protect the property, but to
check instantly an outbreak when the house is full;
therefore the action should depend upon a fireman.
stationed at the valve for that purpose, because if a fire
were to break out on the stage, and it was requisite to
allow twenty or more seconds to elapse before the metal
was fused, and the water let loose, there would be
a sufficient time to engender a panic, which might
prove as destructive as if there had been no automatic
system in existence.
There have been many other novelties in fire-extin-
guishing machinery invented recently, notably hand
grenades and other chemical contrivances, but inven-
tions relating to extinctions almost entirely consist of
improvements in old appliances.
160
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES.
EVER since, as the legend has it, Prometheus the Titan
stole fire from the chariot of the Sun and brought
it back to earth again, that destructive element has
been the devastator of continents, and the terror of the
human race. With all the resources of civilization,
and in the face of all the inventive genius of the world,
mechanical perfection in saving life from fire is yet far
from being arrived at; and although, compared with
the earliest times, the appliances now at our disposal
are remarkably complete, yet year after year instances
are chronicled where human sacrifices would have been
more appalling, and the loss of treasure more gigantic,
had it not been for the undaunted courage and personal
heroism of men and women, as well as the sagacity of
the canine and even the equine races.
Fires in Anglo-Saxon England were both frequent
and destructive, which is not to be wondered at when
we recall the picture of the country in those days. The
clusters of wooden cabins which nestled in the valleys,
with the great wooden hall, and the wooden church
(sometimes covered with lead, as Glastonbury Abbey,
rebuilt by St. Paulinus), were easy prey for the flames.
Once well alight the whole was doomed, whether it was
the fortified "burgh," the walled-in "ton," or the
"ham," the simple unprotected dwelling of a collection
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 161
of families. Any organized method of saving the
villages from destruction was quite unknown. The
simple peasants were by no means fatalists, who stood
idly by and saw their homes consumed without making
an effort to save them. There are few notices of fires
in Saxon writings in which the efforts put forth by the
people to stop their progress is not mentioned. The
chief reliance, however, was placed upon the miracles.
wrought by the pious bishops and clergy.
Bede has many accounts of these interpositions of
Providence. Here is one of them. The Bishop Ger-
manus (A.D. 429), whilst staying at St. Albans, fell
and broke his leg "by the contrivance of the devil."
Whilst thus detained a 66 fire broke out in a cottage
neighbouring to that in which he was, and having
burned down the other houses, which were thatched
with reed, was carried on by the wind to the dwelling
in which he lay." Under these critical circumstances
Germanus, with considerable obstinacy, refused to be
moved. However, the Fire Fiend respected the
good bishop, and though he ruthlessly destroyed what-
ever the multitude endeavoured to save, in order that
the people might thereby be the more impressed,
"the flame spared the house that gave entertainment
to the holy man, raging about on every side of it,
whilst the house in which he lay appeared untouched."
An almost precisely similar miracle is recorded of
Archbishop Mellitus, in Canterbury, A.D. 619-624.
It was not only the prelates and holy men who had
the power of performing miracles of this kind; the
power was extended to inanimate objects. At the spot
where St. Oswald, King of Northumbria, was killed
(probably situate at Oswestry, or at Winwick in Lan-
cashire), many notable cures were effected by mere
contact with the earth. Some of this earth, carefully
M
162
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
tied up in a linen cloth by "another person of the
British nation," worked wonders in a "certain village."
The "person" arrived there at night, and entered
a house, at which he was hospitably received;
"the
neighbours were feasting at supper; he sat down with
them at the entertainment, hanging the cloth in which
he had brought the earth on a post against the wall.
They sat long at supper and drank hard, with a great
fire in the middle of the room. It happened that the
sparks flew up and caught the top of the house, which,
being made of wattle and thatch, was presently in a
flame," whereupon, in this instance, the guests being
the reverse of pot-valiant, incontinently fled, and left
the house to its fate. The official report, if there had
been one in those days, would have recorded a total
loss, with the exception of the post on which the linen
bundle containing the earth was hung. That remained
entire and untouched, and made the reputation of St.
Oswald's death-place more famous than ever.
•
The village and church of Landisfarne, off the coast
of Northumberland, and a few miles below the mouth of
the Tweed, were burnt by Pruda, King of the Mercians
(A.D. 651), and here again was a wonderful post-
the only thing which the fire left standing entire
and untouched. It was then recollected that a few
years before Bishop Aidass had leaned against the post.
"It happened again, sometime after, that the same
village and church were burned down the second time,
and even then the fire could not touch that post." It
was eventually taken inside the next church “ as a
memorial of the miracle." In the Anglo-Saxon chroni-
cles there are many other records of large fires, notably
of the total destruction of York in 741, Canterbury in
754, and London in 982.
It is somewhat remarkable that a really good com-
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES.
163
plete history of the Great Fire of London has never
been written. Of the numerous contemporary accounts
of the disaster the best is to be found in the Diary of
the all-observant, truthful Pepys. The fire began in
the house of a baker in Pudding Lane, at a distance
of 202 feet-the exact height of the column-to the
eastward of the present Monument, late on the night
of Saturday, or early in the morning of Sunday, the
2nd of September, 1666 (the Gazette of September 3rd,
in its official announcement, says it commenced at two
o'clock on the 2nd), and continued for four days;
during which period it laid waste 400 streets, contain-
ing 13,200 houses, in addition to St. Paul's Cathedral,
and eighty-nine churches. It also destroyed the follow-
ing public buildings: the Custom House, Doctors' Com-
mons, Fleet Prison, Guildhall (partly), Haberdashers'
Hall, Royal Exchange, Zion College, Stationers' Hall,
the north end of London Bridge (slightly), and the
City Gates. Its progress was ultimately stayed by the
blowing up of a number of houses in the direction of
its lines of march. Its ravages extended from the
Tower to the Temple Church, and from the North-East
Gate to Holborn Bridge. This area embraced 436
acres. Out of the twenty-six wards in the City it
destroyed fifteen, "leaving the remainder scorched,
ruinous, and uninhabitable." The total damage re-
sulting from the fire, as estimated by competent
authorities, and including not only the buildings, but
furniture and stock-in-trade, amounted to £10,716,000.
This estimate included the value of St. Paul's Ca-
thedral, which was set down at one-fifth the whole
amount. Pepys, in one of his graphic notes, speaks of
the horrors of the fire:-"Everybody endeavouring to
remove their goods, and flinging them into the river,
or bringing them into lighters that lay off; poor people
M 2
164
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
staying in their houses as long as till the very fire
touched them, and then running into boats, or clamber-
ing from one pair of stairs by the waterside to another.
And among other things, the poor pigeons, I perceive,
were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about the
windows and balconies till they burned their wings and
fell down."
A fire which assumed a real historical importance
occurred one winter's night in February, 1709, at Ep-
worth, in Lincolnshire, and was made the subject of a
somewhat celebrated "centenary picture" more than a
century later. The father of John Wesley occupied
the rectory there, and at the time the founder of
Methodism was but six years of age. He was sleeping
in a room with three of his sisters, his infant brother
Charles, then not two months old, and their nurse.
About midnight his father burst open the door, and
bade the nurse save herself and the children. She
snatched up Charles, and told the rest to follow her,
and escaped. The three girls followed her, but John
was left in the room fast asleep. He woke in a few
moments, and found the room so light that he called
the maid to take him up. As no one answered, he
just put his head out of the curtains, and saw streaks of
fire on the top of the room. He then ran to the door,
but could get no farther, as the flames were roaring
outside. Finding all escape cut off, the boy ran to the
window, and climbed on a chest which stood there.
Meanwhile his father had discovered that John was in
the burning house, and attempted to get up the stairs,
but they were already on fire. Finding all attempts to
save the boy were in vain, he knelt down in the hall
and commended the child to God. Scarcely had he
done so when John was seen at the window.
A man
in the yard proposed to bring a ladder; but another
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 165
answered that there was no time. "Here," he said,
"I will fix myself against the wall; lift a light man
and set him upon my shoulders." They did so. John
was taken out of the window, and just then the whole
roof fell in. When the men brought the rescued boy
to the house where his father was he cried out,
"Come, neighbours, let us kneel down; let us give
thanks to God; he has given me all my eight children;
let the house go; I am rich enough."
St. Paul's Cathedral has, in later years, only nar-
rowly escaped the fate of the earlier structure, and
though Denham, the poet, writing of Wren's master-
piece, says:
"Now shalt thou stand, though sword, or time, or fire,
Or zeal, more fierce than they thy fall conspire,
Secure, while thee, the best of poets sings,
Preserved from ruin by the best of Kings;
yet it was so seriously damaged by fire in 1803 that
the restoration by Mr. Wyatt absorbed the sum of
£42,000; and again in 1829 was it placed in jeopardy.
More recently still, in the month of May, 1884, was
the magnificent pile in great danger; in fact it was
only due to the good order and celerity which distin-
guished the conduct of the London Fire Brigade, under
the most trying circumstances of difficulty and danger,
that the edifice was preserved. A fire occurred in
Paternoster Row, and almost from the first the spec-
tacle was one which, being seen, could never be for-
gotten. A dense, hurrying crowd seemed to spring up
-east, west, north and south, hastening and surging
towards the common centre of the Cathedral Church
of St. Paul. The huge dome and western towers pre-
sented an extraordinary sight. All the south side of
the vast outline appeared as if lost in mist, while the
166 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
north face shone like white marble in a blaze of arti-
ficial light. For a time the excitement was intense,
and the fire remained unsubdued, but the struggle
between fire and water was fought out bravely-water
winning slowly but surely a foregone victory.
There is something very remarkable about the
narrow escapes which many of our noblest edifices
have had from total annihilation by fire. If we look
for the finest specimens of architecture which England
can show we should naturally turn our attention to
three great churches-to Canterbury Cathedral, West-
minster Abbey, and York Minster. Yet it is a
curious and rather uncomfortable reflection that each
one of those splendid structures has been twice on
fire since the commencement of the present century.
Canterbury Cathedral, of whose architectural magnifi-
cence nobody who has visited it needs to be reminded,
was almost burned to the ground about fifteen years
ago. At the bare idea of the danger, which was then
only just averted, a thrill of horror passed through the
country; but thrills of horror are of no practical use
as a fire-extinguishing apparatus, and despite all the
reverence with which " English William's" church
is regarded, the absence of an adequate number of fire-
engines and a proper water supply was as nearly as
possible fatal to the superb edifice on that occasion. It
was found that the same cause was responsible for the
outbreak which afterwards provoked the conflagration in
which a great part of Warwick Castle was consumed.
Workmen had been on the roof, and, with an utter dis-
regard of their surroundings, had been using a brazier
full of lighted coals, or some other easy instrument of
destruction, in close proximity to exposed woodwork.
Perhaps the fire in York Minster, thirty-seven years
ago, was the most destructive which any of these sacred
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 167
·
buildings have suffered in recent times. At that date
the roof of the nave was burnt off, the interior of the
Minster was seriously damaged, and the belfry reduced
to a shell. Still earlier in the century, while labour-
ing under religious hallucination, Jonathan Martin
(brother of John Martin, the artist,) set fire to York
Minster, inflicting damage to the amount of £60,000.
The churches of other countries have in earlier as
well as later times suffered severely from fires, and
unhappily the sacrifice of human life has been too often
very appalling. Probably the most heartrending dis-
aster of the century was the calamity at Santiago on the
evening of the 8th December, 1863. The feast of the
Immaculate Conception was being observed in the
church of La Compania. At half-past six the temple
was crammed to suffocation, and people still clamoured
for admission. The staff of acolytes, who, it was said,
had been busily engaged from two in the afternoon
lighting the endless festoons of lamps, now reached the
precincts of the high altar; all the tapers were safely
lit, and there remained but to ignite a silver crescent
containing paraffin, which had been placed at the foot
of a large image of the Virgin. A careless acolyte, it
seems, mismanaged the lighting of this, and the flame,
rising to an extraordinary height, came in contact with
the muslin and gold draperies round the altar. Quicker
than thought all the contiguous decorations were in
flames. For about one minute-only one minute—
the congregation never moved, "evidently," as one
contemporary chronicler wrote, "in the hopes that the
hand of a merciful God would stay the conflagration.'
But the fire spread rapidly round the building, to
escape from which was to those in the body of the
church an impossibility. The first act of the gentle-
men collected round about the doors and annexes was
168
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
to attempt a passage through the densely packed throng
of ladies into the centre, where many had left their
wives and daughters. This was utterly impossible,
and they had to allow themselves to be carried along in
the stream of living souls that were making towards the
doors. Once arrived in the open air, everybody, instead
of moving away to make room for his neighbour,
endeavoured to re-enter the building in search of some
lost friend or relative. There were many ladies also
about the annexes who, in ignorance of the true state
of affairs, did not rise from their knees as quickly as
they should have done for fear of losing their places,
and the consequence was that those from the centre of
the church pressing on towards the door stumbled over
them; those next behind fell over these last, and in
five minutes great walls, twelve feet high, of fainting,
trampled and dying girls, entangled in each other's
dresses, barricaded the only three exits that the church
possessed, thus excluding from all outward help up-
wards of 1,800 ladies, who now saw themselves face to
face with death. The fire made rapid progress, and
the inside of the great dome was soon enveloped in
flames. Drops of molten lead poured from above on
the heads of the surging multitude, and the flames at
length reached the festoons on which thousands of
paraffin lamps were strung, and snapping the cords
asunder dashed the coloured globes and their contents
on the heads of the people, enveloping them in one
sheet of liquid fire. Crash succeeded crash as the fire
reached each pier, causing each festoon to give way,
while from the crumbling dome above there descended
a rain of firebrands and live cinders, scattering death
and destruction all around. High above the roaring
flames could be heard the piercing cries of agony, until
about eight o'clock the loud and continued wailing
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 169
within the temple became very faint. A few minutes
after that hour a greater part of the roof fell in with a
deafening crash, and then followed the silence of death.
Thus perished in one short hour the flower, the beauty,
the youth and pride of the capital.
Though the utmost order and discipline prevailed
among the police and fire departments they completely
failed in clearing the approaches to the doors of the
church, while no power of water could ever have ex-
tinguished the mass of inflammable matter, such as
gauze, velvet, muslin, tissue, ladies' veils, fans, and
mantillas, saturated with paraffin, and thousands of
pounds of wax from the melting and flaring tapers
that flowed down the steps of the altar.
Feats of great valour and heroism were performed
by many individuals on the spot. Lady Brassey,
writing of the catastrophe, says, "Mr. Long told us
that between seven and eight o'clock in the evening he
was walking with some friends on the Alemeda when
he saw smoke rising in dense volumes from the quarter
of the city where the house in which he resided was
situated. He and his friends ran quickly in the direc-
tion of the fire, giving the alarm as they went; and on
reaching the church they found the doors closely shut,
while fearful screams were issuing from the interior,
and smoke and flames were pouring from the windows.
They got a party of men together accustomed to the
use of the lasso-no difficult task here-and with
them climbed from the neighbouring houses to the top
of the church. Making a hole in the roof, they then
dropped their lassoes over some of the women beneath,
and so dragged them out of the building; but the
number thus saved was necessarily very small, and it
happened too often that many of the poor creatures.
below, in their eagerness to escape, hung on to the legs
170
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
or body of the one they saw lassoed, and by their weight
literally dragged her to pieces. Sometimes even a
lasso broke, and those clinging to it, when almost
within reach of safety, were again precipitated into the
burning mass below." Amongst other incidents, it
may be noticed that Mr. Nelson, the American Ambas-
sador, who was accidentally in the neighbourhood,
hearing the tolling of the great bell, ordered his coach-
man to drive to the spot. On alighting from his car-
riage he rushed to the grand entrance, and arrived in
time to witness the crushing and mangling of thirty
ladies by the crowd from behind. He immediately set
to work, and being joined by others was instrumental
in saving the lives of about fifty young ladies. He
never deserted his post at the threshold of the doors
until the roof had fallen in, when a complete shower
of sparks and cinders seemed to envelope him. He
was carried from the spot with his clothes smouldering,
and every particle of hair on his body singed to the
roots. Two thousand souls were sacrificed in this
horrible conflagration.
Charles VI. of France had a remarkable escape from
being burnt to death in Paris in the year 1393. On
the 29th of January, at a ball which was held in cele-
bration of the marriage ceremonies of one of the
ladies-in-waiting on Queen Isabella of Bavaria, and at
which the King assisted with all his suite, a number
of masked nobility entered disguised as bears, mixing
themselves amongst the assembly of dancers. The
Duke of Orleans endeavouring to identify the King,
who was taking part in this masquerade, approached
them with a lighted torch, and accidentally set fire to
their skin, which was made of a very inflammable
substance. The hall was immediately enveloped in
flames and became the scene of terrible confusion. In
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES.
171
attempting to make an exit many were crushed, cries
being raised to save the King. The Duchess de Berry
saved him from being burnt by wrapping him up in
her dress.
Several hundred years later another ballroom catas-
trophe occurred in the French capital, attended un-
fortunately with more serious results, and at which a
greater monarch than the Sixth Charles was a con-
spicuous figure. After the marriage of the Emperor
Napoleon with the Arch-Duchess Maria Louisa of
Austria, and on their return to Paris in June 1810, the
Austrian Ambassador, the Prince of Schwartzenburg,
gave a ball in honour of the event, at the Austrian
Embassy. The ground floor of the ancient Hôtel de
Montesson which he occupied, in the Rue Chausée
d'Antin, was not large enough to hold the company
invited. The Prince therefore had a superb ballroom
constructed of wood in the garden, with a gallery of
the same material leading to it, the veilings of which
were covered with varnished paper, and ornamented
with paintings. The floors were connected by planks.
of cross timbers to the level of the rooms of the house,
and an immense chandelier was suspended from the
ceiling of the ballroom. Candles were also used in
the illumination of the walls of the gallery and the
ballroom. In the centre of the room was a box re-
served for the Imperial family. This faced the
entrance from the gallery, and there was a private
door close to it for the use of the Emperor and
Empress. The fête commenced with dancing in the
garden, which was splendidly illuminated. The danc-
ing had continued about an hour when a current of
air blew one of the curtains at the entrance to the
wooden gallery across the lighted candles, which had
been fixed too near. In a moment the ceiling of the
172
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
ballroom was in a blaze. The Emperor and Empress.
escaped with ease from the danger by the door which
had been left behind their box. Napoleon made the
carriages draw up, saw the Empress as far as the
Place Louis XV. on the way to St. Cloud, and re-
turned to assist in extinguishing the fire. The flames
had made terrible progress; the chandelier suspended
from the centre of the ballroom fell with a tremendous
crash, and in the hurry and the fright, the crowd
pressing towards the entrance stopped up the passage,
and with this collected weight the floor gave way, and
numberless victims were crushed to death or enveloped
in the flames which burst out on all sides. In a very
short time-a briefer space than it takes to tell the
tale-the temple of gaiety and enchantment was no
more. Meantime Napoleon busied himself in direct-
ing the efforts of those devoted to the work of rescue,
and himself ran terrible risks in snatching from
danger ladies and children who were in a frenzy of
despair. He had just rescued the children of the
Princess of Schwartzenburg, when suddenly Her
Highness, handsome, elegantly dressed, and covered
with diamonds, rushed forward from the smoking
rafters calling out for her little ones. The apparition
vanished as soon as it was seen, and Prince Schwart-
zenburg, deprived of his amiable wife, never recovered
from the effects of his loss.
Paris also has an unenviable reputation for the fires
that have occurred at its places of amusement, and
notably at its Opera Houses. In addition to the five
fires, somewhat exhaustively recorded by Captain Shaw
in his pamphlet on "Fires in Theatres," and
which occurred within a period of 110 years, there was
the lamentable catastrophe of the spring of 1887 at
the Opéra Comique. On the occasion of the fire at
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 173
the Opera House on the 8th of June, 1781, the
public had left the theatre, and the people who
had danced in the last ballet were quietly undress-
ing in their rooms, when on a sudden cries of anguish
resounded on the scene. For the second time in
eighteen years fire was going to devour the Opera. An
ill-timed and unreasonable fit of modesty imperilled the
life of La Guimard. Almost without clothes in the
room where she changed her toilet, she did not dare to
leave, and was on the point of being suffocated, when
a machinist had sufficient presence of mind to roll her
up in the curtains and carry her out. Beaupré killed
himself jumping from the third floor. Castil-Blaze
made a dramatic episode out of the death of little
Vidal. 'Huart, a vigorous dancer and a tall man,
having only two floors to jump, made towards the roof
of a shop, slid into the Cour des Fontaines, and fell
on his feet without hurting himself. His valet, a boy
of fifteen, was at the window, and did not dare to
throw himself out of it. Huart stretched his arms to
him, called him, encouraged him, saying that he was
ready to receive him, and to ward off the blow from
him. Nothing could decide this unfortunate boy, not
even the fire, which soon reached him and burnt him
alive under the eyes of his master." Most of the
dancers took flight by the tops of the neighbouring
houses, jumping from gutter to gutter, and precipitat-
ing themselves into the street.
The fire of 1887 was a most appalling disaster.
It occurred on the night of the 25th of May, and
originated on the stage of the Opéra Comique.
during the performance of Mignon.. The actors en-
deavoured to reassure the audience, but they had
scarcely spoken when the stage seemed enveloped in
flames, and the actors, orchestra, and spectators fled in
174
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
terror. There was a sad death-roll of persons either
burned, suffocated, or crushed to death, and there were
some remarkable instances of escapes. Among those
in the theatre at the time of the disaster were M.
Guibord de Luzinais, senator for the Loire Inférieure,
his wife and daughter, and next them M. Le Cour, a
deputy, his wife and sister-in-law. Just before the
alarm was given, Madame Le Cour, seeing some sparks
fall on the stage, rose from her seat and said to her
husband, "Let us go out quickly, I do not feel well."
M. and Madame Le Cour then went out. They had
scarcely reached the cloak room when a frightful rush
was made. An immense crowd filled the passages,
screaming and pushing each other wildly. Among
them was M. Guibord. His wife fainted, and he seized
her in his arms and carried her to the verandah, where
he found his family, and a number of ladies, who had
sought shelter there. They were all wildly screaming
for help.
The crowd outside cried to them to wait,
and they would all be saved.
At last a fireman came with a
to be too short. A rope was then thrown, by which
M. Guibord was able to save his wife and daughter,
and other persons, and he was the last to come down
the rope himself. There have been many theatres
destroyed by fire in England-indeed, the list is far
too long to recapitulate here-but the most serious of
all these disasters was the one that occurred at Exeter
in September, 1887, when not less than 150 lives were
lost, under circumstances only too well remembered.
Assistance was at hand.
ladder, but it was found
Another great fire in Paris, which was remarkable
for the great pluck and daring of the firemen, was
that which occurred on the 9th of March, 1881, at
the Magasin du Printemps, near St. Lazare Station.
When the first hand-engines arrived, the flames had
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 175
been raging for more than an hour, and their violence
was so great that the pumps were not only unable to
arrest them, but were scarcely sufficient to preserve the
neighbouring houses. It was not till two hours and a
quarter after the fire broke out that the steam fire-
engines arrived. The firemen, assisted by the military,
worked nobly, utterly regardless of personal danger.
Three hours after the arrival of the men, four had
been grievously wounded. One man, named Havard,
fell from the first floor into a mass of burning wood
and carpets. His comrades rushed after him, and at
the risk of their lives, and with much damage to their
own persons, dragged him out. His clothes were
blazing on him, and could not be removed without
taking off all his skin. To comfort him his colonel
assured him that he had won the red ribbon, and that
it would be given to him. The poor fellow, however,
died in a few moments. There were no fewer than
twenty-six firemen more
occasion.
or less wounded on this
America-always notable for its "big" things-
is remarkable for the most gigantic fires. From
the time of the Negro Plot in 1741, when the first.
great fires occurred in New York city, to the present
day, the catalogue of such catastrophes in the New
World has exceeded in extent and horror the record of
any other portion of the civilized globe. Whole cities
have been destroyed, and it is truthfully recorded of
the American firemen, as in fact it may with equal
truth be asserted of the English brigades, that the
perils to which they are frequently subjected, and the
courage with which they are faced, are scarcely in-
ferior to the dangers met with, and the courage evinced,
by brave soldiers on the field of battle. If statistics.
were carefully compiled it would be seen that the loss of
"
176 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
life and personal injuries sustained by the trained corps
that day and night guard the principal cities of England
and America from fire, would probably more nearly ap-
proach the proportion usually killed and wounded in active
military campaigns than we could easily believe. They
are a noble though a small army, and they often per-
form heroic deeds that merit a higher reward than the
praise bestowed by the chronicler who records the story.
This inherent heroism has often been manifested by
men and women unconnected with the organized
brigades. During the year 1803, when flakes from what
is known as the "Timber Yard Fire" in New York,
were blown on to St. Paul's Church steeple, despair
was depicted on every countenance, for the wind was
high, and as the steeple took fire the whole city was
threatened with destruction. But a gallant sailor came
forward, and volunteered to climb the lightning-rod,
taking with him a cord, which he made fast at one
end, and let it down to the ground. A bucket
was then tied to it, and being filled with water, and a
tin cup placed in it, was hoisted up to the noble fellow,
who, holding on a column with one hand, used the tin
pot with the other to cast on water. He thus ex-
tinguished the fire in the highest part of the steeple,
and saved the city. What was the hero's name?
Similar daring was exhibited in 1811 when Mr.
McCormick saved the lower part of New York by
climbing a church steeple, and extinguishing a fire by
cutting off the burning parts with an axe. The burn-
ing of the City Hotel, New York, on the 24th of April,
1833, was rendered notable chiefly for the lives saved
by Chief Engineer Wenman. Soon after it was known
that the roof was on fire eleven persons went up to ren-
der assistance, and while they were engaged in arrest-
ing the progress of the flames, the greater part of the
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 177
ceiling of the upper story fell, and cut off their retreat.
Wenman, with an axe, cut away the skylight, and a
fireman beneath was enabled with the assistance of a
flag-staff to send up the end of a drag rope. Wenman
commenced lowering down his companions, and after
all of them had been relieved, he was enabled to descend
himself, sadly wounded and burnt, and only just in time
to escape from the collapse of the building, which
immediately followed. At a fire on the 18th of Novem-
ber, 1848, the flames communicated to several small
wooden buildings in the rear of Seventy-Eighth Street,
occupied by poor families. Women were running in
every direction seeking their children, and children
were seeking their parents. One woman, supposing
her child was still in her burning dwelling, with the
frenzy of despair rushed into the house and ascended
the stairs to the second story, but the heat was so great
that she was forced hastily to retreat. The child had
been left, but a fireman shortly appeared at the window,
bearing in his arms the object of the distracted
mother's search. In a moment more the baby was in
the arms of its mother, who shrieked with joy, and in
an ecstasy of wild delight fell upon her knees and
called down the blessing of Heaven on the deliverer of
her babe. Two years after this incident an affecting
episode was witnessed at a fire in Hayne Street, New
York. The broken and crumbling masonry, the heavy
beams, and unwieldy pieces of iron-work had buried
many of the firemen, including a youth but fifteen
years of age, by name Samuel J. Tindale. Young
Tindale was discovered, on the removal of some of the
débris, lying upon his back, his head, trunk, and one
arm comparatively uninjured, his right arm and lower
limbs wedged fast, one leg held immovable by a heavy
bar of iron. Upon him lay large masses of bricks,
N
178 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
timber, and other material, while the iron bar, heated
by the fire beneath, burnt the flesh off that leg till the
bone was bared. But the little hero did not complain.
Streams of water were thrown upon him until he was
in danger of being suffocated. He not only cheered.
the men who were endeavouring to extricate him, but
spoke encouragingly to his unfortunate fellow victims
close by. He was taken out of the ruins ultimately,
but the poor boy was past all human aid, and his brave.
spirit departed four hours after his release.
What, however, is recorded as the noblest act of
heroism in the annals of the Fire Department of New
York, was performed on the 17th of March, 1852.
A fire in a paper-hanging store cut off the retreat of
some men, women, and children who lodged in the
third storey, and whose cries for deliverance were very
piteous. A ladder brought from a neighbouring paint
shop enabled two men to escape; but as its top was
several feet below the windows of the third storey, the
women and children were unable to reach it. James
R. Mount immediately obtained a barrel, caused the
ladder to be lifted and set upon it, and mounted the
frail structure "raised upon a tottering base," and by
an effort almost superhuman rescued two adult females.
and two children. When the feat was accomplished
Mount fainted, and was taken home. This gallant
fireman subsequently rescued several persons under
similar circumstances in 1860. On the day that
Barnum's Museum was burned (July 13, 1865), a fire
consumed several houses in the vegetable gardens which
then abounded in Bloomingdale. During its progress
a woman with a child in her arms appeared at an upper
window, and appealed for help. No "hook and ladder”
company had yet arrived, and there was no time to get
a ladder, but several of the firemen hastily adopted a
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 179
unique and successful method of rescue. One of them
climbed up the front of the building by the windows
until he reached the room in which the woman stood.
Another, held by a comrade, stood in the window below.
Two others stationed themselves in the window on the
lower floor. Others still in front of the burning build-
ing held a bed upon which the woman and child might
fall. The child was safely passed down from one to
the other. Then with more difficulty the woman was
lowered to the ground in similar style.
American hotels are among the class of "dangerous
structures" which are regarded as being especially sub-
ject to destruction by fire, and of the numerous disasters
of the kind during many years, probably the burning
of the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, was the most terribly
unique. The fire broke out at half-past one o'clock,
in the morning of the 11th of April, 1877, and in a
few minutes the windows on the top floors began to
swarm with men, women, and children, shrieking
piteously for aid, which it seemed almost impossible to
give them. Several were rescued by ladders on one side
of the hotel, but on the other the windows were out
of reach, for the building was six stories high. The
density of the smoke in the hall drove back many of
those who tried to reach the windows by which
they might have escaped, and others wildly threw
themselves out of other windows to certain death be-
neath. Men and women, fainting and raving, were
lifted on to the ladders, and carried down in their night
clothes in the strong arms of the gallant firemen. The
Skinner fire escape was instrumental in saving some,
and the happy thought of placing ladders on the two-
storey balcony on the north side, too, was the means of
saving a few of the people in the upper stories. Mr.
Peter Blow, a son of the ex-Minister to Brazil, was one
N 2
180 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
of these. He was sleeping in a room on the sixth
floor when the fire broke out; he rushed to a window,
from which he dropped, sustaining a broken arm. Two
other men dropped from a third storey window, and
were instantly killed. Five women were rescued from
the sixth storey on the Fourth Street side by the fire-
men, who ascended the ladders and threw ropes to the
half-crazed creatures. Several inmates tore up the
bedding, and in this way escaped. Miss Kate Claxton,
who was lodged in the third storey, had returned from
the theatre but a short time when the fire broke out,
and had not gone to sleep. With great presence of
mind, and profiting by a previous experience she had
had of fire, she wrapped her head and face in wet
towels, and walked and rolled downstairs into the
street and to safety. Perhaps the most touching inci-
dent of the fire was the escape and subsequent fate of
Mr. Felix William Munster, formerly M.P. for Mallow.
He and his bride, to whom he had been married only
three months, were returning from their honeymoon in
the south, and were staying at the hotel on the night
of the fire. Their rooms were on the fifth floor.
Alarmed by the noise outside, and realizing their posi-
tion, they hastily dressed themselves and attempted to
escape by the halls. The smoke stifled and blinded
them, and they were forced to return to their room.
There seemed to be no hope for them, and Mr. Munster
proposed that they should die together by a revolver
rather than be burnt to death. At this moment the
door was burst in by a fireman, who seized Mrs.
Munster, and rushed with her through the halls; Mr.
Munster followed, and both escaped. Subsequently,
Mr. Munster, in company with a Mr. O'Donovan, visited
the fire, and recalled the scene of death and suffering.
Mr. Munster seemed to be greatly depressed, and re-
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 181
turning home shot himself. Amongst the many per-
sons who had distinguished themselves by their gallant
efforts to save life during this fire was a "gentleman
gambler," Mr. Charles Tienan. He was dealing the
cards not a stone's throw from the hotel when he heard
the cry of "Fire!" Dropping the cards he elbowed hist
way through the crowd in front of the burning struc-
ture. The shrieks of the women were more than he
could bear, and springing almost into the flames, he
rescued first one helpless woman and then another. He
was terribly burned, but the screams still continued,
and he plunged once more into the fiery furnace, only
to meet his own death.
As a final instance of a wonderful escape in New
York, may be given one that occurred early in 1882.
A portly man was imprisoned by fire and smoke in the
fifth story, and there were no ordinary means of reach-
ing him. The adjoining house was smaller, its roof
reaching about half way between the fourth and fifth
storey windows of the burning structure. A fireman
reached this roof with a small ladder, but he found it
impossible to get to the fifth floor. He, however, put
the short ladder on the window sill of the fourth floor,
and held it flat against the building, so that it would
reach the storey above, and on this support the man.
whose life was endangered descended. The men were
now together, but not out of danger. The ladder was
next put with one leg on the sill but aslant, so that it
would reach over to the adjoining house. Held in this
position by the fireman at one end and volunteer as-
sistants at the other, it formed a very dangerous, but
as it proved successful, means of escape for the man
whose life was in peril. The fireman was now left
alone, but escaped by the same path, trusting entirely
to the grip of the men at the top of the ladder. All
182 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
this was done at a height of thirty or forty feet from
the stone sidewalk, in the midst of the excitement.
attending a great fire.
Nothing has ever occurred in England to vie in
magnitude with the fires of America since the Great
Fire, already alluded to; but the chronicles of our fire
brigades bristle with tales of escapes equally wonderful,
and rescues none the less heroic than those already
enumerated. The Royal Society for the Protection of
Life from Fire, by its periodical rewards for bravery, has
stimulated courage and daring in the work of rescue.
Firemen, police constables, labourers, and women have
all been included in the recipients of the Society's
awards.
On the 11th of June, 1876, a fire took place in the
Mile End Road, London, and when Fireman William
Rhymes arrived at the place the building was en-
veloped in flames. Placing his escape at the second
floor windows, he ascended, and carried down two
children, one being a cripple. He reascended and
enabled three other persons to escape from the burning
building. In the same month, a civilian and a police
constable rescued as many as seven persons from a
burning house at Stepney. George Lee, of the Metro-
politan Fire Brigade, died on the 17th of August, 1876,
in consequence of severe injuries received at a fire in
Clerkenwell. Lee was a fire-escape attendant, and
having rescued a person from the burning building,
re-entered the second floor of the house, and in extreme
peril succeeded in bringing out of the fire a young
woman, herself severely burnt. He reached his escape
so exhausted that he had to be taken off the ladder,
and after severe suffering expired. On the 18th of
October, 1877, a disastrous fire broke out in a back
room of one of the poor lodging-houses in Hol-
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES.
183
born. The alarm was first given to Policeman Gos-
comb, who immediately took steps to rescue the inmates.
—a task of great personal danger, owing to the rapidity
with which the flames spread. Having sent for the
engines and the fire escape, Goscomb proceeded to the
second floor, where he found a woman and her daughter,
suffering from rheumatic fever and completely bed-
ridden. These he succeeded in saving, and then
directed his attention to the other inhabitants of the
house, who by this time were in a state of the utmost
distraction and alarm. Placing a long ladder against
the third floor front window, the constable gallantly
mounted it, and having passed the first and second
floor windows rescued an old woman who was all but
suffocated, and then returned for her husband, who
had been completely paralyzed for some years, and was
unable to help himself. Small wonder that when Gos-
comb again reached the ground with the difficult burden.
of the aged and infirm husband, he was greeted with
hearty cheers. Another fire in Holborn nearly three
years later was the occasion of an exciting scene. Just
as the engine was preparing for action the figure of a
woman was seen at an upper window of the burning
house, and her rescue was left to the unaided exertions
of the fire officials. Room was made for the fire
escape, and the firemen mounted the ladder amid a
blinding column of smoke and a sheet of lurid flame.
One by one seven children who were in the burning
chamber were handed down, and last, the patient,
terrified mother was brought safely to the ground.
Then the men, having risked their lives in the service
of their master, the public, unconcernedly took a turn
at the less dangerous duties of their calling, and
another fireman was told off to crawl up a chimney of a
neighbouring house to turn off the gas at the meter at
184 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
the top of the burning building, at the hazard of being
blown to atoms! These are ordinary incidents in the
lives of our commonplace heroes, who would not be ac-
cused of vanity if they took for their motto that of the
Chevalier Bayard, "Without fear and without reproach."
Royalty on one occasion decorated a fire hero. At
the conclusion of the Wimbledon Rifle Meeting of 1880,
and just before the distribution of prizes, the Princess
of Wales pinned to the breast of Captain G. Fred
Harris the order of St. John of Jerusalem, awarded
him for saving lives at a fire in Dublin. The fire took
place on the 19th of September, 1877, in Charlemont
Street, and Captain Harris rescued five persons, besides
removing, alone and unaided, at still further risk, a
quantity of paraffin oil from the premises, and so pre-
venting the fire spreading to the adjacent house, which
was a female orphanage.
The destruction of the Southhall Lunatic Asylum, on
the 14th of August, 1883, was a terrible scene, and
taxed the efforts of the firemen very sorely. Ladders
were procured to rescue the inmates. Some of them
resisted being taken out of their rooms, and it was
only by the exercise of force that they were rescued
alive. One patient, an elderly female, proved exceed-
ingly obstinate-so obstinate that even when she had
been placed on the ladder she clambered back over the
window-sill into the room. By dint of the most
courageous efforts all the inmates were got out safely
except the proprietor and his son, two patients and
the cook.
A singularly striking instance of fidelity to duty,
and of presence of mind, under circumstances which
destroy all self-possession in many men, was given
during a fatal fire which took place in London on the
24th of April, 1885. The shop of an oilman took fire
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 185
in the early morning, and in consequence of the in-
flammable nature of the stock, the fire burned most
fiercely. The proprietor, his wife, and a little boy all
perished in the flames; but a nursemaid, Alice Ayres,
who was in charge of three little girls, and who could
easily have saved herself alone, with some difficulty
threw out of the window a feather bed, and threw each
of the little girls into it, finally jumping herself, but
not till the heat and the smoke had so confused her
brain that she missed the bed, and dislocated her spine
on the pavement. She died in Guy's Hospital; but
her heroism is perpetuated in the monument erected
over her grave. A few months afterwards a young
girl named Mary Ann Charles imperilled her life by
dashing into a burning house at Bermondsey, and
rescuing a little baby which had in the hurry and
excitement been left behind by its parents. On the
19th of August in the same year a fire occurred in
Rochdale which excited a great deal of public interest
and generosity on account of the bravery of a fireman
and his dog. The scene of the fire was a hosier's
shop, and it was discovered about two o'clock in the
morning. Some of the inmates were enabled to escape
by the doors and windows; but two children remained.
in one of the bedrooms, and there was apparently no
chance of saving them. Fireman Cragg, however,
ascended the stairs, and guided by the moaning of his
retriever dog, he groped his way to a bed on which one.
child was lying nearly suffocated. The fireman took
the child down the stairs, but became overpowered by
the smoke and fell down about half a dozen steps.
He, however, retained his hold of the child until he
had placed him in safety, and bravely returned to
rescue a boy who was seen at the window sill. He
brought him down with difficulty, and then the noble
186
PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
fellow, notwithstanding acute suffering from injuries,
resolved to risk something to save his dog. He went
upstairs for the third time and found the dog lying
quite helpless in the bedroom. The humane fireman
took the bulky creature into his arms and conveyed
him safely to the ground.
The remarkable instinct shown by Fireman Cragg's
retriever recalls a few incidents in connection with fire-
dogs. One of the boldest and bravest of the London
Fire-Escape men, who saved nearly one hundred men,
women and children from the flames, had a wonderful
and faithful companion in his dog "Bill." Samuel
Wood and "Bill" are writ of in song, and their
memory is green in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel,
where for so many years the two heroes sojourned
together. Around Bill's neck the inhabitants of
Whitechapel placed a silver collar in token of his
valuable service during the nine years that he had
filled the important post of the Fire Escape Dog. Bill,
like his master, had to be very wakeful, and at his
post of duty during the whole of the night. In the
day he slept by his master's bed. He knew the time
to get to his post, and when the escape was wheeled
out of the Whitechapel churchyard at nine o'clock the
dog was promptly on the spot. At an alarm of fire
Bill would bark furiously, and Wood had no occasion
to sound his rattle as the police round and near knew
the bark well. In dark nights the lantern had to be
lighted, and Bill would at once seize it and run on in
front of his master. When the ladder was erected
Bill was at the top ere Wood had got half way, and the
sagacious brute used to jump into the rooms, and amid
thick smoke and the approaching flames would run
from room to room, helping his master to find and
bring out the inmates. On one occasion the fire burned
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 187
so rapidly, and the smoke in the room became so dense,
that Wood and another man were unable to find their
way out. They feared that escape was now hopeless;
but Bill seemed to comprehend the danger, and began
to bark. Half suffocated, Wood and his comrade,
knowing this to be the signal "Follow me," at once
crawled after him, and in a few moments they reached
the window. Another useful dog was Bob." When-
ever the fire-bell rang at the old Southwark Fire Brigade
station, none was in a greater hurry to be off than Bob.
He ran before the engine and cleared the way, and
would run up ladders, jump through windows, and
enter dangerous rooms more quickly than any of the
firemen. Bob was quite a gallant. He rescued a cat
from the flames in one instance, and carried pussy very
carefully to a place of safety. In another case of fire
in the Westminster Road, the firemen thought that all
the inmates had been got out of the house; but Bob
knew better. He kept barking and scratching at a
small door, and in spite of being ordered away by the
firemen persisted in his barking. "There's some
reason why Bob makes this ado," said one of the
Brigade, "let's break open the door."
This was
accordingly done, when the astonished firemen found
a little child, who but for Bob would have been burnt
to death. Dogs unattached to any brigade have some-
times been known to exhibit a very accurate acquaint-
ance with the dangers of fire, and much cleverness and
devotion in overcoming them. Mr. J. E. Walter, the
master of the train service of the Louisville and Nash-
ville Railroad owned a valuable Newfoundland. His
little daughter was very fond of the animal, and some
time in 1886 the girl was left in a room alone by a
large fire in the grate. She went too near the blaze,
when the dog went to her and began to pull her away
188 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
by catching her clothing in his teeth. The two com-
panions played about the room for some time until the
little girl grew tired and sleepy and lay down in front
of the grate. The dog, it is supposed, pulled at her
clothes for some time, but could not arouse her. He
then hurried to her mother's room, and, began to act
strangely by rubbing against her hand, and catching
her dress, pulling her towards the door. She caressed
him and told him to go away and find Nellie. He
made a strange, whining noise with his mouth, and
then slowly walked back to where the little one was
sleeping, unconscious of her great danger. The dog
made another attempt to rouse her and failed. He
then crouched down beside her between her and the
fire, taking care to protect her well. Mr. Walter
entered the room a few minutes later and found the
dog in this position, whining and crying while the hair
was being singed from his back. A writer in The
Fireman records that Mr. W. F. Bond, proprietor of
the Badger State House of Waterloo, Wisconsin, has
a dog-fireman, if such a thing lives. The animal
persistently puts out the lighted cigar ends thrown down
by gentlemen," and never fails to put out a coal of fire
when it falls upon the floor." Once the hotel was
saved from destruction by the commotion he created
when he found a fire too big for him to manage.
""
Many are the authenticated anecdotes about fire-
horses. "Our Brice was a celebrated and sagacious
horse attached to the Manchester Fire Brigade, whilst
a New York Company had a horse which knew the
stations on which the company performed duty.
Whenever the gong sounded an alarm he ran to his
place and snapped his polesnap to a ring in a strap for
that purpose. Upon the sounding of the gong for
other stations striking more than two blows, if the
HISTORIC FIRES AND WONDERFUL RESCUES. 189
""
man on house patrol did not stop him he would pull
the bunk-room gong, and as the men came tumbling
downstairs he would neigh with satisfaction at having
turned them out of their beds. "Toner was the
name of a noted fire-horse in Chicago. He was always
on the alert, and seemed to know as much about the
business as the firemen themselves. He needed no
urging on with the engine, he strained every nerve,
and had worked out eight other horses in the same
number of years. There was something touching in
Toner's death. When the alarm came in he bounded
to his place and was impatient to be off. Once in the
street, he shook his handsome head and broke into his
regular gait. Faster and faster flew the hose carriage.
ahead of them, its lamps swaying and jolting as they
rolled along. As he saw the glare of the fire he re-
doubled his efforts until the steamer seemed scarcely
to touch the pavement. Nearer and nearer they drew
to the fire and finally pulled up at the hydrant. Toner
answered every command, every touch on the lines,
until the steamer was in place, and then giving a sort
of sigh, dropped dead in the harness. Horses having
once done duty in the fire service rarely lose afterwards
the impressions made upon them during their fire-
brigade career. A horse which had become aged in the
service was taken to an auctioneer to be disposed of.
The old nag passed through several hands, and at
length became the property of a "refuse" cartman,
who by chance went to the engine-house one day to
cart off the garbage. Cart and all had been backed up
to the pit in rear of the building, when suddenly the
gong sounded an alarm. At once all the old instinct
of the animal stirred in him. The worn-out hack felt
the fire of years before, and away he dashed, carrying
with him a section of the stairway, and almost smash-
190 PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL VISITATIONS.
ing to pieces the engine that was in his way. A milk-
man once bought one of these horses, and found him
a very docile and well-behaved animal. One day the
owner was serving a customer when the engines came
thundering along. The peaceable and sedate brute
heard the rumble and could not contain himself. The
first glimpse he caught of an engine sent him wild, and
away he tore with waggon and milk cases clattering
behind him. It was a long run for the owner, but he
never caught sight of the runaway until he reached the
fire and saw the horse there, quietly standing in the
full glare of the flames.
PART III.
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
THE
RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
CHAPTER X.
THE INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE.
MECHANICAL invention has effaced the quietude of
ancient days from the lives of the people, and by
multiplying the processes of material production has
brought within the command of the humblest articles
and commodities which during the long centuries when
hand labour ruled our industries were beyond the reach
of even the highest. The change has been rapid and
marvellous. In little more than a century the world
has passed from a semi-pastoral condition of existence.
to a state of restless activity and high-pressure which is
typical of the pantings of steam and the whirlings of
wheels which have on all sides encompassed us. Such
a revolution could not possibly be effected without evil
results as well as good, but the balance has clearly
been on the side of the better influences, for, much as
old-fashioned people, who have not moved with the
times, may deprecate the turmoil and excitement of
modern mechanical methods, they themselves would
not like to relinquish the benefits which machinery has
0
194
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
conferred upon them. Besides, the more serious dis-
advantages of the system of production and motion.
which in the first rush of the steam era were allowed
to develop have for the most part been removed, and it
is probable that the millions who gain their livelihood
amidst the clatter and buzz of looms and spindles, or
the flashings of flame and the clangour of hammers,
enjoy, all things considered, brighter lives than did the
workers in the handicrafts of the olden time. The
terrors which attended the factory system when greedy
cotton-lords and worsted-princes were uncontrolled in
their tyrannies, and were allowed to make their for-
tunes at the cost of human suffering, have long been
minimized by legislative interference; in the same way,
the dangers that once beset these toilers from unpro-
tected machines have been to a great extent guarded
against; and, altogether, this large body of workers
may be said to have realized as much of the dignity
and independence of labour as is consistent with the
ordinary conditions of industrial service. Then, apart
from these considerations, there are the broader issues
involved in the effects which our various mechanical
developments have had upon society generally, increas-
ing the avenues of approach from the lower levels of
existence to the higher, and giving opportunities which
otherwise would have been unknown, of winning wealth
by skill, ingenuity, and energy. Machinery has caused
the old lines of demarcation between class and class,
between the multitude and the aristocracy, the many
and the few, to merge one in the other, until it is diffi-
cult to say where the commercial link begins or ends.
Machinery has converted England into an industrial
El Dorado, far richer in prizes for the adventurous and
enterprising than any of the lands of golden dream
which proved so great an attraction to the gallant
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE. 195
spirits who ventured forth over southern seas in the
early days of maritime discovery.
Travelling on sea and land has been rendered so easy
by mechanical invention that time and space have no
longer to be reckoned with as of old. On sea, science
has done much for the mariner, but machinery has done
more. The sailor certainly has at hand a score of
scientific appliances of exquisite accuracy. He has the
leads which sound the depths whilst his ship speeds
along fast as a gale of wind can blow her; chronome-
ters of incomparable excellence; sextants which leave
the imagination nothing more to invent in their way.
But without the steam pumps, the steam windlasses
and the machinery aloft, the vessel would be no better
off than those of Anson's squadron, or one of Pizarro's
galleons. The subject of steam navigation, from a
mechanical point of view, is not easily exhausted. Our
American cousins claim to have been the first, with the
side-wheel steamer Savannah in 1819, to have accom-
plished the journey across the Atlantic. Previous to
1818, in fact, there were few who possessed the courage
necessary to take an ocean trip of very great extent in
steamers that had been built for inland purposes. The
time had arrived, however, when river steamers in
America had ceased to be a curiosity, and the sea-
that great highway of all nations-invited the atten-
tion of inventors to its vast domain. The voyage of
Stevens's vessel, the Phoenix, from Hoboken to Phila-
delphia, is spoken of as the first ocean trip in the
world's history. Shortly after this, a number of vessels
were built and ran regularly as packets in the coast
trade both in America and Great Britain. The Savannah
had been intended for a sailing vessel, but at the sug-
gestion of Captain Moses Rogers she was bought by a
company and fitted with a steam engine and paddle-
o 2
196
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
wheels, which" folded up like a fan, so that they could
be disconnected and hauled on deck when not in use, as
in case of a storm or when they were short of fuel.”
On the 26th of May, 1819, she started from Savannah
for Liverpool under the command of Captain Rogers.
She began the voyage with seventy-five tons of coal and
twenty-five cords of wood, and the passage was made
in twenty-six days-eight under sail and eighteen by
steam.
As is almost always the case with enterprises requir-
ing a very large capital to develop them successfully, the
process of development was slow with the early trans-
atlantic steamship lines, and nothing was done in this
direction until nearly half a score years had elapsed
from the time of the voyage of the Savannah. The
trade of the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam with
the West Indies as early as 1820 had become very im-
portant, and the merchants of these two cities were
frequently discussing the subject of their losses by the
wreck of vessels engaged in this trade. The voyage of
the Savannah, her speed and seaworthy qualities, were
often referred to, but nothing was done towards an ex-
periment in ocean steam navigation until 1827, when a
company was formed and an order given to a ship-
builder on the Clyde for a steamer of three hundred
tons, with an engine of one hundred horse-power. This
vessel was called the Curaçoa, and it steamed out of
the harbour of Amsterdam, bound for Curaçoa, in
August 1829. She arrived at the latter port after a
voyage free from accidents of a serious nature, and
afterwards made a number of other trips, but on
account of the imperfection of her steam machinery it
was necessary to carry and consume so much fuel that
she was pronounced a failure, and was discontinued in
this service in 1831.
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE. 197
The third transatlantic steamer was the Royal
William, built at Quebec and taken to Montreal, where
she was provided with side lever marine engines. She
also was a failure on account of the large quantity of
fuel required, which consumed all the profit on the small
amount of freight and few passengers she was capable
of carrying.
Lapse of time, and the simultaneous development of
commercial enterprise, rendered a more rapid and safer
system for propelling vessels necessary in order to keep
pace with the changes that were continually occurring
in all the great industries of the world. The introduc-
tion of steam upon river vessels, and the almost mar-
vellous changes that had occurred within a few years
by its introduction for propelling land carriages, seemed
to stimulate the energy of both inventors and capitalists
in Europe and America. Hitherto, transatlantic steamers
had been of small tonnage; larger ones were necessary,
and with improved machinery. Money was equally
necessary, but this was raised, and eventually the
British Queen, 2,400 tons, made the run from London
to New York in July, 1839, in fourteen and a half days.
Since that date oceans have been bridged in all direc-
tions by steamships, and the progress made in their
invention, and their effect upon modern life, have not
been less remarkable than that occasioned by the extra-
ordinary development of railways.
Machinery, in its more exclusive province, hast
exercised an undoubted influence for the general
good, though its first introduction created serious
disturbance. It was feared that the working man
would be annihilated. The greater part, however,
of the cancelling of labour," as it was called,
eventually worked for the benefit of the labourer.
Those who thought their occupation taken from them,
66
198
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
and who, in the first outburst of alarm, broke into
riot and destroyed machines, were in fact quarrel-
ling with a power that was to do infinitely more.
than any other for the elevation of their class. The
cost of production was cheapened by machinery, but
the more valuable and complicated the machine, the
more delicate was the trust reposed in the person by
whom it was worked; the more carefully was he
selected, and the better he was paid. Depressed
markets forced the manufacturer to cheapen the cost
of production, and he did so by placing additional
mechanical power under the care of his workmen.
Still, in doing so, he had to exercise double care in
the choice of able and trustworthy servants, and had
to make a considerable addition to their wages. No
doubt a temporary lessening of the number of hands.
employed at the lowest rate of wages was the imme-
diate result, but a permanent demand for improved
labour at an improved price was established. Produc-
tion having been cheapened, the price of the article
produced continued to be low, and by the lowering of
price there was obtained an increase of demand, which
very soon brought up to the old scale the number of
men occupied in the business of producing. Thus
there was work for the old number of hands, and
usually for some new hands too, while there remained
the fact that an improved class of workmen was in-
stituted that so many men, who might otherwise
have remained near the bottom, went up a step or two
higher in the social scale. This is as certainly the
case when cheapness has been obtained by improve-
ment of machinery, as when it has been obtained by a
direct call for improved labour. Nor was this the
only benefit to the working man. A better kind of
labour being produced, prosperity was increased and
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE.
199
rendered more durable to the workman as well as to
the master. The latter, recognizing the fact that skill
was all the more necessary in the men he employed,
became reluctant even in times of depression to dis-
perse his staff. Mere hand labour could be picked up
in the street, but a man who had secured the service of
skilled labour exactly suited to his wants, would endure
much inconvenience rather than run the risk of losing
its assistance. The more valuable the machinery, too,
the more important it became that the capital repre-
sented by it should not be left altogether idle; that
what was meant for an investment should not be trans-
formed into a debt-a class of property upon which
interest is paid instead of made. As to the general
effect on labour of the increased use of machinery, it
may appropriately be mentioned that, in 1792, it cost
a shilling with the machinery then used to make a
pound of yarn; fifty years later, the cost was only
twopence. Of the one sum the labourer received as
wages fivepence-halfpenny on every pound of material;
of the other, he received only a penny, and yet in the
former period the weekly wages were four shillings and
fourpence, and in the latter eight shillings and eight-
pence, earned chiefly in each case by women and chil-
dren. The cost of production, of course, has still
further lessened with the development of machinery,
and wages at the same time have risen.
As evidence of this we may take especially the lace
manufacture. The lace knitter upon the pillow can
weave perhaps five meshes in a minute, and can make
a square yard of plain lace in six hundred hours.
Early in the present century the plain lace-making
machines at Nottingham, then a yard wide, made a
thousand meshes in a minute, or a square yard in two
hours. What formerly took so many hundred hours to
200
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY
make is accomplished now in less than five minutes,
and the result has not been the destruction, but the
creation of livelihoods. In the first ten years of the
nineteenth century the finished prices of plain net were.
sold at more pounds per yard than pence to-day. When
lace was a luxury, which but few people could afford,
there were high profits obtained, doubtless, by a very
few producers, but later, when it became a distinct
article of consumption, it caused the distribution of
millions of pounds in wages to two or three hundred
thousand people. The rate of wages on both plain and
fancy lace machines rose rapidly, and who, then, shall
regret that the use of the lace pillow, or any other
manual work that consisted merely of incessantly
repeating the same action, has been superseded by
mechanical contrivance ?
Machinery has also worked remarkable revolutions
in connection with our food supplies. Agriculture has
benefited very largely from the inventive genius that
has contrived to supplant cumbersome, and rough-and-
ready methods, with precise and scientific mechanical
processes. There are tools and machines for breaking
up and stirring the ground; machines for sowing seed,
from the hand dibble to the drill, in all its varieties,
dry and with water, with chemical manure and without,
in lines and broadcast, for the flat and the ridge, for
plains and for steep hills. There are dozens of different
kinds of corn-reaping machines, and an endless variety
of contrivances moved by hand, by horse-power, and by
steam, for thrashing out, collecting, cleaning, and sort-
ing every kind of seed crop. There are endless inven-
tions for feeding cattle and manufacturing meat. Our
modern demands for meat cannot be satisfied by mere
grass and hay, or roots, or corn, or lentils, in their
natural state-they are sliced, pulped, and steamed in
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE.
201
half a dozen different ways. Machinery splits beans,
crushes oats, grinds corn, and in every possible manner
is designed to save the time, the teeth and the digestion
of meat-making animals. Elaborate inventions are
now utilized in most agricultural districts, which,
figuratively speaking, take in sheaves of corn at one
end, and deliver it as grain in sacks, cleaned, weighed,
and ready for market at the other. Half a century ago,
before railroads opened up cheap conveyance, and
trained skilled mechanics had developed the tools for
making machinery, with rare exceptions the agricultural
implements were made either on the farm or at the
nearest blacksmith's shop. Now, and in fact since.
1843, when a thrashing machine was a great curiosity,
the application of steam to the varied uses of the farmer
and cultivator of the land is, and has been, little short
of marvellous.
In the last five-and-twenty years the progress of
mechanical science has been specially rapid. True, we
had about 1860, besides the ocean steamships, including
the Great Eastern, still the giant of the tribe, a com-
plete system of machinery for cotton and textile fabrics;
the steam hammer, Armstrong's accumulator, and types
of all machine tools; there had been one attempt to
lay an Atlantic cable; the Suez Canal was in course of
construction; if not perfected, the Bessemer process
was in use; and we had monster ironclads and rifled
ordnance. But the subsequent period was prolific of
the telephone, the incandescent electric light, the
dynamo, and the secondary battery, the gas engine, the
sewing machine. The last-named invention, though
little calculated to attract notice, in its influence on the
welfare and appearance of all grades of society, yields
in importance to few, if any, previous mechanical in-
ventions. And yet it has not diminished the demand
202
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
for labour in the making of clothes or boots. Like
other machines that are called "self-acting," it requires
a directing mind to turn it to the best advantage for its
owner. A self-acting mule may be worked by a young
person at a few shillings a week; but it is found better
worth while to place it under the superintendence of a
more experienced workmau and to pay him double the
wages. It is just as true in machine labour as in
handicraft, that the high-priced English workman is, so
to speak, a cheaper article than the low-priced labourer
of other countries. Not many years ago an Austrian
cotton manufacturer declared that with the newest and
best English machinery thirteen hours a day of labour
from the Austrian hands does not produce more than
would be turned off by the same number of men in
Lancashire in little more than half a dozen hours.
Manufacturers in other Continental countries bear
similar witness. In the Crimea it was found that it
would be cheaper to take out highly-paid English
labourers than employ Croats living on the spot at six-
pence a day. At the celebrated Brussels Conference
the evidence was overwhelming that, notwithstanding
the high wages of English artisans, labour was as cheap
in England as in any other country.
Every advance in the use of machinery therefore
creates well-paid service, and increases the number of
comparatively affluent working men. "I cannot," said
a successful manufacturer, "afford to work my machine
with a horse that costs less than thirty pounds, or eats
less than eighteen pounds of oats a day." As it is
with horses, so it is with men. With every develop-
ment of machinery comes a demand for better labour,
and the offering of better pay. With it comes also in-
crease of production, and a necessary widening of the
whole field of labour and of the resources of the working
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON MODERN LIFE.
203
class—a cheapening of the product, and consequently
a more extended, a more certain, and less fitful demand,
a lessening of that fluctuation in the labour market
which makes the well-being of the workman insecure.
Great, then, proves to have been the mistake of the
poor fellows who half a century ago dragged out
machines and burnt them in the market places, and in
the streets of provincial towns!
204
CHAPTER XI.
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES.
THE extraordinary developments of the multitudinous
industries of modern times have necessitated, under all
governments, and upon frequent occasions, special inter-
ference for the protection of the artisan from the mani-
fold and peculiar dangers that surround the practical
carrying on of any branch of trade or manufacture.
Unfortunately, employers of labour have not always
been as solicitous as they might have been for the
safety of their employés, and to this circumstance must
be attributed the fact that the State has been so often
compelled to interfere by numerous preventive legisla-
tive enactments, reaching the climax in the consoli-
dated Act of 1878, with which the name of Viscount
Cross will ever be nobly associated. We are indebted
to a foreigner, Ernest Elder Von Plener, the First Secre-
tary to the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian
Embassy in London, for the first History of English
Factory Legislation. The work appeared nearly fifteen.
years ago—at a time when more than ordinary value was
attached to it, on account, as the Right Hon. A. J.
Mundella wrote, of the fact that in almost all countries
where manufacturing was practised on an extensive.
scale, and where the social and educational condition of
the people was an object of public solicitude, steps.
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 205
were being taken to adopt and extend the principles
adopted here.
It was owing to the fact that the great development
of our industries towards the end of the eighteenth
century was unaccompanied by any State regulation or
supervision which led to gross universal neglect of the
commonest precautions for the preservation of the health
and lives of the workers, that the Health and Morals
Act was passed in 1802. This measure was known as
the elder Sir Robert Peel's Act, and it originated out
of the practice of apprenticeship adopted by poor-law
overseers in regard to children whom they despatched
from their care to the rising hives of industry in the
north. Like Oliver Twist, the workhouse children were
despised and uncared for by the poor-law officials, who
were ever ready to transfer them from their care to what
was then the white slavery of the manufacturing dis-
tricts. The little ones were worked day and night, and
there are on record instances of cases where one gang
of apprentice-children, when exhausted, went to rest in
the beds still warm of those who were coming on to
work. Epidemics were the consequence of such over-
crowding, and this and other circumstances conduced to
the passing of the Act. It was singularly simple in
construction. It began by requiring factories to be
well whitewashed twice a year, and a sufficient number
of windows to be provided to supply fresh air. Every
master was required, by one clause, to furnish each of
his apprentices with one new suit of clothes yearly; and
the apprentices were to be instructed in reading, writing
and arithmetic. The hours of working were limited to
twelve daily, night work was prohibited, with certain
exceptions, and apartments for males and females were
to be kept distinct. Not more than two were to sleep
in one bed; the rooms were to be washed with quick-
206
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
lime and water twice every year, and the observance of
the Sabbath Day was insisted upon in the measure, which
may be regarded as the beginning of all Factory Legis-
lation. The apprentices were to be instructed in the
principles of the Christian religion for one hour a day
at least on every Sunday, by some duly appointed
person, and before any apprentice had attained his
eighteenth year he was to be carried to the Parish
Church to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
The point of interest about this Act, which, strangely
enough, remains to this day unrepealed, is the fact that
it applied directly only to legal apprentices, who being,
as Professor Stanley Jevons called them, "industrial
slaves,” indubitably needed the protection of the law.
This first effort by no means eradicated the evils it
sought to remedy. The large increase of factories.
created additional evils, and Parliament soon became
cognizant of the fact that great numbers of children
were being overworked, and injured physically, men-
tally, and morally, because they did not enjoy the pro-
tection designed by the Act of George III. cap. 73. A
Parliamentary inquiry was rendered imperative, as it
was shown that hosts of juveniles residing near fac-
tories were working in them without becoming ap-
prentices, and consequently had none of the advantages
secured to the legally bound. Parents were almost as
grasping and careless of the children's health as the
masters, and evidence under this head before a Select
Committee of the House of Commons in 1816, led to
the passing three years later of the second Factory
Act-59 George III. cap. 66. Cotton mills, however,
were the only factories comprehended in this measure,
which provided that the age at which children could be
admitted to such mills should be limited to nine years of
age and upwards. Between the ages of nine and sixteen
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 207
children were not allowed to work more than twelve
hours a day, exclusive of meal-times, and night work
was again prohibited. In 1825 further restrictions
were imposed upon labour by the act of Sir John Cam
Hobhouse. Children under sixteen were especially
protected, and a half, or rather a quarter holiday was
provided on Saturdays. The work on that day was not
to exceed nine hours in length, to be completed be-
tween five in the morning and half-past four in the
afternoon. Meal hours were carefully provided, and
labour of any kind during such hours was absolutely
prohibited. For the first time a register of children
was now required, and the signature of the parents or
guardians of a child to the statement of age was to
exempt employers from penalty in case of falsity.
Powers were given to magistrates; but no justice
interested in cotton mills was allowed to adjudicate
under the Act.
Troublesome times followed the last-mentioned Bill.
The political crisis of which the Reform Bill was the
ultimate result occurred; trades unions, too, were
active; and then began that strong agitation for the
amelioration of the condition of the factory worker,
which brought forth the energetic and sympathetic ad-
vocacy of such men as John Fielden, Nathaniel Gould,
and Richard Oastler, the Factory King, as he was sub-
sequently called. The key-note of the agitation was
struck by Oastler in his memorable letter to the Leeds
Mercury, of the 29th of September, 1830-a letter
which went through the land like a mighty cry of
anguish, and stirred the hearts of men to the deepest
indignation. "Let truth speak out," he wrote, "ap-
palling as the statement may appear. The fact is true,
thousands of our fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects,
both male and female, the miserable inhabitants of a
208
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
Yorkshire town, are this very moment existing in a
state of slavery more horrid than are the victims of
that hellish system, colonial slavery. These innocent
creatures drawl out, unpitied, their short but miserable
existence in a place famed for its profession of religious
zeal, whose inhabitants are ever foremost in professing
temperance' and reformation,' and are striving to
outrun their neighbours in missionary exertions, and
would fain send the Bible to the farthest corner of the
globe; ay, in the very place where the anti-slavery
fever rages most furiously, her apparent charity is not
more admired on earth than her real cruelty is abhorred
in heaven. The very streets which receive the drop-
pings of an Anti-Slavery Society' are every morning
wet by the tears of innocent victims at the accursed.
shrine of avarice, who are compelled, not by the cart-
whip of the negro slave-driver, but by the dread of the
equally appalling thong or strap of the overlooker, to
hasten, half-dressed, but not half fed, to those maga-
zines of British infantile slavery-the worsted mills in
the town and neighbourhood of Bradford! Thousands
of little children, both male and female, but principally
female, from seven to fourteen years of age, are daily
compelled to labour from six o'clock in the morning to
seven in the evening, with only-Britons, blush while
you read it!—with only thirty minutes allowed for eat-
ing and recreation. Poor infants! ye are indeed sacri-
ficed at the shrine of avarice, without even the solace
of the negro slave; ye are no more than he is free
agents; ye are compelled to work as long as the neces-
sity of your needy parents may require, or the cold-
blooded avarice of your worse than barbarian masters
may demand!" Much more in the same strain fol-
lowed.
Richard Oastler succeeded in mingling the factory
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 209
question with the more purely political controversy of
Reform in a manner which led to the general clamour
for the restriction of non-adult labour in factories. The
Conservatives and county party supported the Ten
Hours' Movement, whilst manufacturers for the most
part keenly supported the Reform Bill. Recent legis-
lation had not affected the wool industries, and the
sufferings of overworked children appealed powerfully
to the public. The result, after much debate, was the
passing of Lord Althorpe's Act in 1833-an Act which
was the most remarkable advance in legislation of this
character to that period. Its intention was the regula-
tion of the labour of children and young persons, who
were not apprentices, in the mills and factories of the
United Kingdom. Mr. J. R. Lakeman, H.M. Senior
Metropolitan Inspector of Factories, points out in his
handbook, "Health in the Workshop," that the tight-
ening of the law is first perceived in this Bill, inas-
much as night work was abolished for all under
eighteen years of age, and those under eighteen could
only be employed for twelve hours per day, whilst the
employment of children under nine was prohibited, but
those between the ages of eleven and thirteen were per-
mitted to work for eight hours a day. It also forbad
the employment of a child in more than one mill in
any one day, a practice which it was found had defeated
the whole intentions of the former Act; and so as to
check the system and to regulate the employment of
children according to law, which, for the want of
properly appointed officers, was not done, a number of
inspectors were appointed to see that the provisions of
the Act were carried out, as the justices had proved.
but inefficient executors of previous legislation. The
Act made no provision on some subjects which had been
dealt with in other measures. The protection of morals,
P
210
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
the teaching of religion, and the clothing of appren-
tices were ignored; in fact the more practical view of
the real wants of the operatives was entertained, inas-
much as the cruelty of parents and employers arose
as a mountain of iniquity to be levelled before any
moral or religious law could be valued. Mr. Lakeman
describes the situation at this time. Children were
taken from their beds in early morning, carried asleep
on their fathers' backs, put into the mill to work, and
so brought home at night to be replaced on the bed
until five o'clock on the following morning. The half-
time system originated from these circumstances, and
it was owing to the suggestion of Mr. Edwin Chadwick
that all factory children henceforth were compelled to
attend school, and receive something in the shape of
education. Thus a system grew which was afterwards
held to be the "sheet anchor of hope" in securing to
the whole juvenile population of the North nothing
short of the full advantage of the first righteous Act
which fed and educated, and afforded proper time for
relaxation and for meals to the whole of the children
at work; and so that no master should frustrate the
intention of the law, it was enacted that no child
should be found on the premises for more than his nine
hours, and parents, the chief offenders, then were liable
to punishment if their children were in any way
illegally employed with their knowledge, and the ser-
vants of mill occupiers were also made responsible for
any illegal act done by them.
Ten years' experience, and the development of public
opinion, pioneered by Richard Oastler, Lord Ashley
(afterwards Lord Shaftesbury), John Fielden, and
others, brought forward a more advanced measure in
protection of the factory operative from the iniquities
of slave-driving employers, and cruel and incon-
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 211
siderate parents. Lord Ashley won by long and
arduous agitation two victories over the govern-
ment in the House of Commons, in favour of a ten
hours' limit to the labour of women and children,
and at last Sir Robert Peel agreed to accept a twelve
hours' limit, and the amended Bill of Lord Ashley
became law. Its provisions were that the working
hours of children under thirteen should be diminished
to six and a half hours a day; that the time during
which they were to be under daily instruction in schools.
should be extended from two to two and a half hours
in winter, and three hours in summer; that the
labour of persons between thirteen and eighteen, and
of adult women (now first brought under the Factory
Act) should be limited to twelve hours a day; that a
certificate of baptism should be produced, if demanded,
to prove that the child was really of the age required
by the law; that the amount of the fines imposed by
the violation of the law should be diminished, but that
they should be inflicted for each person improperly
worked, instead of for each offence, which might
include several persons. The Act required that notice
should be given whenever a new factory was com-
menced; certifying surgeons were appointed to ex-
amine as to the health and physical fitness of the
young before it was lawful to employ them; cleanliness,
as in former Acts, was to be confined to lime-washing
and painting the walls, ceilings, and passages; workers
in wet flax spinning mills were to be protected from
steam and hot water, through which the flax was spun ;
mill gearing was not to be cleaned when in motion by
any child or young person; all dangerous gearing was
to be securely fenced for the protection of children,
young persons, and females-a provision for the first
time introduced into factory legislation, and an evidence
P 2
212
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
that steam and water power were being more exten-
sively used; whilst machines were run at more dan-
gerous and higher speed, in consequence of the pro-
gress of invention.
A remarkable omission in this Act was that it ex-
cluded men from the protective provisions, a circum-
stance which naturally necessitated additional legisla-
tion afterwards. Accidents had been numerous; more
than a hundred deaths occurred in a brief period from
preventable occurrences, and they made up the appal-
ling aggregate of nearly twelve thousand such accidents
in the history of factories and workshops. These few
thousands of catastrophes, a caustic writer of the period
remarked, were the results of the administrative kind-
ness so abundant in this country. They were all the
fruits of mercy. A man was limewashing the ceiling
of an engine room, he was seized by a horizontal shaft
and killed immediately. A boy was brushing the dust
from such a ceiling, before whitewashing, he had a
cloth over his head to keep the dirt from falling
on him; by that cloth the engine seized and held
him to administer chastisement with rods of iron. A
youth, while talking, thoughtlessly took hold of a
strap that hung over a shaft; his hand was wrenched
off at the wrist. A man climbed to the top of his
machine to put the strap on the drum; he wore a
smock, which the shaft caught; both of his arms
were then torn out of the shoulder joints, both legs
were broken, and his head was severely bruised; in
the end, of course, he died. What he suffered was
all suffered in mercy. He was rent asunder, not per-
haps for his own good, but as a sacrifice to the com-
mercial prosperity of Great Britain, for these accidents
arose in this way. By the Act last mentioned, it was
expressly enacted that all parts of mill gearing should
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 213
be securely fenced. There were no ifs and buts in
the Act itself; but these were allowed to step in and
limit its powers in preventing accidents out of a merci-
ful respect, not for the blood of the operatives but for
gold of the millowners. It was strongly represented that
to fence those parts of the machinery that were higher
than the heads of workmen—more than seven feet
above the ground-would be to incur an expense wholly
unnecessary.
Kind-hearted interpreters of the law,
therefore, agreed with millowners that seven feet of
fencing should be held sufficient. The results of this
imperfect legislation were the disasters already alluded
to-disasters due to that good-natured determination
not to carry out the full measures of protection, but to
consider that quite sufficient was done if the boxing-off
of machinery were made compulsory in each room to
the height of seven feet from the floor. Neglect as to
the rest, it was said, could lead to no accidents, or at
any rate only to a few, that would really not be worth
much cost of prevention. As kings do no wrong so
machines never stop, and what great harm was done if
A, putting on a strap to a driving pulley, was caught by
the legs and whirled round at the rate of ninety revolu-
tions a minute?-what if B, adjusting gear, had one
arm and two thighs broken, an elbow dislocated, and a
temple cracked ?—what if C, picking some cotton from
the lathe straps, became entangled, had an arm torn off,
and was dashed up and down, now against the floor,
and now against the ceiling ?—what if D, sewing a
belt, were dragged up by the neckerchief, and bruised
by steam power as if he were oats?-what if the boy
E, holding a belt which the master had been sewing,
were suddenly snapped up by it, whirled round a
hundred and twenty times in a minute, and at each
revolution knocked against the railing till his bones were
214
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
almost reduced to powder ?-what if F, oiling a shaft,
were first caught by the neckerchief, then by his clothes,
have his lungs broken, his arm crushed, and his body
torn ?—what if G, packing yarn into a cart, and stretch-
ing out his hand from a corner of the cart, were blown
across a horizontal shaft, were caught up, partly dis-
membered and thrown down a corpse ?-what if H,
caught by a strap, died of a broken backbone, and J
died crushed against a beam in the ceiling, and little
K, carrying waste tow from one part to another, were
caught up by it and had his throat cut, and L died after
one arm had been torn off and his feet crushed, and
M died of a fractured skull, and N died with his left
leg and right arm wrenched from their sockets, and O,
not killed, had the hair of his head torn away, and
P were scalped and slain, and Q beaten to death against
the joist of the ceiling, and R, coming down a ladder,
were caught by his wrapper and bruised, broken and
torn till he were dead? and what if all the rest of the
alphabet were killed, and destroyed in ways as horrible?
Every case here instanced, and many others, happened
between the brief period that elapsed from the passing
of Lord Ashley's Bill to the enactment of the great Ten
Hours' Bill in 1847.
In the interval, when it became evident that, in addi-
tion to a large list of most serious accidents, there were
so many lives sacrificed annually to save millowners a
little trouble and expense, a circular was issued by the
factory inspectors, expressing their determination to
enforce the whole Factory Act to the utmost, and so to
compel every shaft of machinery, at whatever cost, and of
whatever kind, to be fenced off. A deputation of manu-
facturers waited upon the Government, and the Home
Office was induced to make some concession. For in-
stance, manufacturers were absolved from the necessity
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 215
of absolutely boxing up all their machines, and they
were required only to use the precautions that occurred
to them for the prevention of accidents. Machinery
was allowed to be adjusted only when the shafts were
not in motion; ceilings whitewashed only when all the
machinery was standing still; and men working near
shafts had to wear tight-fitting dresses, &c.
The extension of the Factory Acts to hitherto unpro-
tected industries had occupied the attention of philan-
thropists for some time, and the Ten Hours' Bill com-
prehended persons employed in all processes incident
to the manufacture of cotton, wool, hair, silk, flax,
jute, hemp, or tow, separately or mixed together, or
mixed with any other material, or any fabric made
thereof, with the exception of factories used solely for
the manufacture of lace, hats, or paper, or solely for
bleaching, dyeing, printing, or calendering. The legal
working day was now limited to between six in the
morning, and six in the evening, with an hour and a half
for meals, having a maximum of ten and a half hours
for work. Any person simply found on the premises
of a factory was to be deemed at work. A Saturday
half holiday after two o'clock was securely provided
for, and the general construction of the Act showed
plainly that it had been conceived in a spirit to make
evasion impossible, and to afford real and undoubted
protection to the millions of men, women and children
employed in the manufacturing industries of this
country. This Bill, moreover, was the basis of those
subsequent measures which have done so much to
lighten the lot of the toiler, and promote his welfare
and the happiness and education of his offspring.
A further advance in Factory legislation was made
in 1867. In this year a couple of measures (the
Factory Act Extension Act, and the Workshops Regu-
216
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
lation Act) brought almost all establishments to be
called manufactories under supervision. The number
of sub-inspectors was increased, and a distinction in
method of enforcing the two Acts afforded a profitable
comparison between the merits of localized and cen-
tralized management. The Workshops Act was to be
enforced by local authorities; but, as many town
councils decided not to interfere with trade, whilst
others silently ignored the Act, it was obviously a
failure in numerous instances. Further legislation
remedied this in 1871, by transferring the working of
the Act from the local to the central authority. The
Factories (Health of Women) Act followed in 1874,
and in 1878 was passed the measure spoken of at the
opening of the chapter. The changes effected by the
latter were not great; its chief purpose was to make
the law clear, consistent, and concise. Nevertheless,
Professor Jevons had a difficulty in summarizing its.
provisions, which are contained in four principal parts
and six schedules. The first part contains the general
law relating to factories and workshops, treating, in a
succession of sanitary provisions, the safety of em-
ployés, their employment and meal hours, holidays,
the education of children, certificates of fitness, and
notice and investigation of accidents. The second part
is in greater detail, and provides specially for par-
ticular classes of factories and workshops as regards
health and general safety and protection. It includes.
special restrictions of employment, special exceptions.
regarding Jews, meal hours, overtime, night work,
domestic employment, &c.
The machinery of administration is provided by the
third part of the Act, such as the appointment of
inspectors, certifying surgeons, the regulation of clocks,
the provision of registers, enforcement of penalties,
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 217
and legal procedure. Part IV. settles the difficult
question of definition of terms, the mode of applica-
tion of the Act to Scotland and Ireland, and specifies
some minor exceptions. It also finally repeals sixteen
previous Factory Acts and a few sections of other Acts.
The schedules of the Bill give in detail the occupations
which are subject to certain special restrictions or ex-
ceptions. 'Such, however," says Professor Jevons,
"are the complications of this remarkable code of law-
the mere table of contents filling eight pages and the
text sixty-five-that anything approaching to a com-
mentary upon its effects would fill a large volume."
It must suffice to say that the general assumption of
the Act is that labour in textile factories involves a
more severe strain than that in non-textile factories
and workshops, while the longest period for which a
young person or woman may be employed in textile
labour without an interval for meals is four and a half
hours, the corresponding limit for other labour is five
hours. Textile factories are defined in one section as
premises in which steam, water, or other mechanical
power is used in manufacturing cotton, wool, hair, silk,
flax, &c., not including bleach, print, and various other
kinds of works. The description of non-textile fac-
tories occupies a long schedule, and workshops are
practically any place not being factories where manu-
facture is carried on. The hours of work seem to be
in no case absolutely fixed, but on five days a week are
either to begin not before six o'clock in the morning
and end not later than six at night (in workshops not
later than nine o'clock at night), or else not begin.
before seven in the morning and finish not later than
seven o'clock P.M. Work must end on Saturdays in
textile factories at or before two o'clock, and in other
factories and workshops at or before four o'clock.
The
218
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
meal-times shall amount to not less than two hours a
day in the textile factories, and one hour and a half in
other places of work, except on Saturday, when half an
hour only may be allowed. The general result is a
working week of fifty-six and a half hours in textile
factories, and sixty in non-textile factories and work-
shops, subject to holiday and other exceptions. The
employment of children in any factory or workshop is
absolutely prohibited under the age of ten years-a
rule, by the way, extended to industry generally by the
late Mr. Forster's Education Act. Under sixteen years
of age a certificate of fitness for factory labour is
imperative, and children are only to be worked on the
half-time system. Sunday labour is prohibited on the
part of all children, young persons, and women, except-
ing Jews, for whom special regulations are laid down.
Particular trades, moreover, have innumerable excep-
tions and relaxations, as in the case of manual labour
being carried on at home at irregular intervals; the
work of straw-plaiting, pillow lace-making, and glove-
making, when carried on in a private house. And the
Secretary of State is empowered to extend such exemp-
tion to other light, healthy handicrafts. The terms
employed in the Act do not include male persons above
the age of eighteen, except in sections relating to
safety and sanitary precautions, so that it follows that
men are allowed to work, as they like, day or night.
Further exceptions allow overtime up to nine or ten
o'clock at night, when fruit has to be suddenly pre-
served, or railway guides bound at the end of the
month, or Christmas presents rapidly pushed forward,
When
or some similar press of work undertaken.
water mills are liable to be stopped by drought or flood,
a certain amount of overtime may be granted by the
Secretary of State to make up the loss.
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 219
The Secretary of State has exercised his power fre-
quently under several sections to afford additional
relaxations under such circumstances as printing offices
engaged in printing newspapers or other urgent publi-
cations on Saturday; or workshops in which clothes
are made. Hosiery and woollen factories have also
received special official attention.
The piecemeal method of factory legislation which
ultimately led up to the Act here summarized had
been adopted in regard to a variety of trades and
occupations, in all of which there was more or less
danger. Special trades were singled out for special
legislation, and in this way many of the working
classes were protected while others were neglected.
To get an idea of the dangers to which numberless.
artisans were exposed, we may refer again to Mr.
Lakeman's contributions to the literature of the Health
Exhibition. In his chapter on "Sanitation," he
traces the history of its improvement in regard to
factories and workshops. The first real sanitary clause
was introduced into the Bill of 1864, which requires
cleanliness in every factory and workshop. Now, this
enactment applies to every factory and workshop in
the kingdom-at first it referred only to half a dozen.
trades. Government inspectors are entrusted with
the removal of violations of the law in this particular,
and it is satisfactory to know that much success has
attended their efforts. In times not long gone by, the
textile factories were by no means the well-appointed
places of to-day. Machinery had reached no degree
of development, labour was irregular, and all the
conditions of factory life were foreign to the conditions.
that now exist. Steam factories, however, appeared
upon the scene, and consideration for the workers
continued to be lost sight of in the march of com-
r.
220
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
mercial progress. Continual labour by day and night
in the hot and ill-ventilated places of business seemed
to create a distinct race, so far as physique and
condition were concerned. High temperatures, want
of ventilation, no escape for dust or atomic fibrous.
matter, no proper closet arrangements, were the chief
ills existing; there was no loftiness in the rooms, and
in the carding and blowing departments there was a
lack of any appliances for carrying off dust and im-
purities. Poisonous gas from cesspools created diseases
which the operatives took to their homes, and
altogether the race was in a fair way towards a rapid
decline. The picture Mr. Lakeman gives of "then"
and "now" in the manufacturing centres is in-
structive and gratifying. In the cotton mill to-day
we find self-acting machinery, the carding machine
covered in, the willowing machine also covered in,
fans used for blowing off the dust which the willowing
scatters over the floor and throughout the room.
Progression has equally marked the extension of the
worsted and woollen industries. The old wretched
places of half a century ago have disappeared, magnifi-
cent structures have been reared, machinery of the most
approved pattern has been set up, the temperature is
normal, and the sanitation good. In flax mills the
improvement has not been so great, for under no
system of ventilation can a perfect withdrawal of fibre
and dust be effected. The process of "heckling" is
very dusty and injurious; workers cannot avoid
swallowing impurities, and during first employment
in this department vomiting and nausea supervene.
Machinery in the drawing and roving process being
sometimes laid in one room, the working together of a
large number of people, mostly young, is necessitated,
to the detriment of health. The preparation of tow,
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 221
which is the short coarse fibre produced from flax
during its cleansing, is a dangerous occupation, and
although women engaged in it have been advised
to wear respirators provided for their use, yet they
prefer to work without them. In the wet spinning
process there is danger to the health of workers, which,
as already pointed out, was realized by the Factory
Act of 1884, which laid down special sanitary pre-
cautions with regard to the children and young persons
employed in it. Chest complaints, and a peculiar
"flax fever" are the dangers of this branch of
industry, and ten years ago three-fifths of those who
died in this trade were carried off by diseases of the
respiratory organs. The average life of a carder then,
according to the statistics to which we refer, and which
are those of a factory-certifying surgeon, was 45.7
years, with a period of employment of 16.8 years;
that of a preparer 28.7 years; of dressers 16.6 years
of employment. In the manufacture of jute—the
process being practically the same as those of flax-
there is, however, a sanitary safeguard. The jute is
saturated with oil to render the fibre flexible, and thus
the danger is modified. More recent improvements
in machinery, and the energies of owners of extensive.
works directed to the preservation of the health of
their workers have, however, achieved the desirable.
consummation of ridding both wet and dry flax
spinning concerns of most of the very serious evils
which once characterized them; and have furnished
the conclusive evidence upon which Her Majesty's
inspectors dwell with satisfaction, that in our textile
factories great improvements have been made in the
essentials to comfort in employment, and in the
promotion of the means whereby health may be
secured the crooked leg or the distorted spine as
222
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
the result of factory labour has disappeared for ever,
the period of pale and haggard faces of children has
given way to one of ruddy and joyful countenances.
The mirthful spirit on dismissal from school is
absorbed in play, and happiness now largely enters
into the existence of a factory half-timer."
Pottery manufacture was one branch of industry in
which the danger to health was seriously great. The
high rate of mortality in Staffordshire was simply
appalling, and the reports spoke of dull and cadaverous
countenances, paralysis, consumption, and a host of
nervous diseases originating in or aggravated by the
processes of scouring and ground-laying, in the sifting
rooms, and in the hot houses, which were rooms
within rooms closely confined, and in every respect
most unhealthy. Succeeding generations of potters
were reported to become. more dwarfed and less
robust; they represented a degenerated population,
physically and morally, and continued to develop the
degeneracy by employment under conditions foreign to
any law of health. When the factory inspector came
upon the scene in 1864 he found in the potteries an
immense field for the exercise of his powers. The
consequences of the greater restriction imposed by
him were gradual improvements in the places of work,
and in the physical tone of the operative. Within
three years it was reported that "a marked feature in
the trade history of the year was the erection of
new and improved manufactories, and an extended
introduction of machinery, more particularly in the
clay-making department, together with the means of
preventing the inhalation of dust, thereby lightening
labour and adding to the physical improvement of
both young and old."
•
The manufacture of lucifer matches was fraught
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 223
with extreme danger under the old system. The
labour was chiefly that of children, young persons
and women, with a few men, and the manufacture
originated out of the discovery, in the year 1833, of a
way of applying phosphorus to the match itself. In
consequence of the absence of any general knowledge
of the nature of the employment and its effect upon
the health of those engaged in it there was not much
attention aroused, until years afterwards medical
science was attracted to it by a Vienna surgeon who
had traced to this occupation that painful and loath-
some disease-necrosis of the jaw. Dr. Letheby
delivered a lecture at the London Hospital on the
subject, and legislation at length stepped in. By its
combination with modern discoveries and appliances,
the industry, which has risen to vast proportions, has
been transformed from one of a deadly tendency to a
harmless occupation. The lucifer match maker no
longer complains of aches and pains, nor are his jaws
diseased.
In the innumerable divisions of labour comprised
in the metal trades there were originally all the
unhealthy surroundings that it was possible could
characterize any business, and the victims were largely
females and young people. The processes of chain
and bolt making, japanning and finishing, screwbolt
forging, block and key making, gun making, the
rolling of iron, and all the kindred trades, involve
excessive labour, and the regulations under which they
have been placed have not effected any great change
in the condition of the employed. The night employ-
ment of children has been stopped; overtime in
domestic workshops by children has been discontinued;
tool grinders have been provided with fans, so that
dust, grit and metal particles are carried off; the
224
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
ventilation in button and pen works, and burnishing,
has been effectually dealt with, and overcrowding
reduced. In those occupations which are classed as
being injurious to health, care is now taken, and has
been for years, to bring before manufacturers the
defects or evils which are found to be hindrances to
the health of workers and to suggest remedies. While
lead works, type-founding, chemical manure works,
vitriol manufacture, drug grinding, tin-plate works,
glass, silvering of mirrors by the old mercurial process,
cardboard enamelling, paper colouring, bronzing, and
employment in salt mines, are enumerated as occupa-
tions dangerous to health by reason of the processes
carried on, those that are not so injurious on that
account, but are rendered unhealthy for want of space.
and ventilation, are stated to be, letterpress printing
offices, bookbinding, tobacco and cigar making, en-
velope making, and many industries such as the
making of ostrich feathers, artificial flowers, fancy
boxes, frilling and goffering, boot and shoe making,
millinery costume making, fur sewing for caps, and
stitching of waste dyed fur skins, and tailoring.
Before leaving the sanitary aspect of Industrial
Dangers brief allusion should be made to one of
the chief causes for the Factory Act of 1883. The
measure referred to legislated especially for white lead
works and bakehouses. The danger to health, how-
ever, was obviously much greater on account of the
insanitary condition of the latter than the absence of
adequate restrictions upon the former. In 1881 a
report on the condition of the London bakehouses
made a deep impression. The finding of dirt, filth,
open sinks and closets, the roosting of fowls over a
trough, the keeping of rabbits in bakehouses, the over-
running of cesspools into them, so horrified people that
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 225
legislation was demanded, with the result that it was
enacted (1) That no water-closet, earth-closet, privy,
or ash-pit, shall be within or communicate directly with
bakehouses; (2) Any cistern for supplying water to the
bakehouse shall be separate and distinct from any cistern.
supplying water to a water-closet; (3) No drain or pipe
for carrying off fæcal or sewage matter shall have an
opening within the bakehouse. And the medical officers
of health have power of entry and inspection and of
taking legal proceedings.
Manufacturers, who were animated at first, as we
have seen, by considerations for their own material
gain, to the total disregard of the safety of their work-
people, have in recent years, partly through Parlia-
mentary compulsion, and partly on account of the de-
velopment of more cordial relations between employers
and employed, been more solicitous in adopting mea-
sures for the preservation of the lives and limbs of their
operatives. Factory workers, too, in addition to the
protection afforded them by the Factory Act of 1878,
have been enabled, by the Employers' Liability Act, to
recover substantial damages for personal injury in case
of an employer's neglect of ordinary precautions for the
protection of his workpeople.
Accidents in this connection may be divided into
three classes-those which happen by contact with
mill-gearing when in motion; those which are the
result of contact with machinery other than gearing,
and to which operatives are exposed; and those that
occur through carelessness, or from some fault of the
worker. As far as law can effect a decrease in the
number of accidents by establishing checks, and en-
forcing conformity to regulations, it has done so, and
Her Majesty's Inspectors have always evinced the
greatest anxiety to diminish the fatalities, and minor
Q
226
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
casualties which may come under the category of “ pre-
ventable" occurrences. It has been a task of consider-
able difficulty to devise safeguards in the numerous
industries carried on under all sorts of conditions, and
rapidly undergoing change. One difficulty is that men
become so familiar with ever present danger that they
never fear it. Women have been mutilated by inatten-
tion to the matter of appropriate costume for the factory,
while men have sacrificed themselves in large numbers
to the insensate folly of cleaning moving machinery.
Children have been killed owing to unfenced machinery,
upon which subject the report of the Children's Em-
ployment Commission (1862) is painfully interesting.
The relative proportion of accidents was pointed out
some time ago to have been largest in flax factories; a
circumstance accounted for from there being a greater
proportion of females, young persons, and children-
"the least heedful class of operatives "-employed in
them than in either the cotton, woollen, worsted, or
silk industries. A large number of the accidents re-
ported annually to the inspectors are the result of the
victims actually playing with machinery in motion,
and wantonly placing in jeopardy their lives and limbs
in mere bravado.
Since the passing of the Employers' Liability Act
there has been a sensible diminution in the number of
preventable accidents, although there will always con-
tinue to be met with in the returns records of reckless
operatives who have suffered injury by ignoring the
safeguards adopted in their interests. An association
of textile manufacturers, after the passing of the Act
in question, issued a code of instruction which is
now largely observed, particularly in the North. These
instructions run thus: "For the safety of persons.
employed in these works the following bye-laws must
INDUSTRIAL DANGERS AND PREVENTIVE APPLIANCES. 227
be strictly observed (1) A workman shall not use a
machine or plant in which he knows there is a de-
fect, if such use is likely to occasion personal injury.
(2) No person shall attempt to clean machinery
when in motion. (3) Safety guards shall be properly
fixed on every machine before it is set in motion, and
such guards shall not be removed whilst it is at work.
(4) Driving straps shall not be put on or taken off by
any one except the person specially appointed for that
purpose. (5) Boys or other young persons shall in no
case be allowed to oil machinery, and no machine shall
be oiled when working if there is danger in so doing.
(6) Hoists shall not be worked by any one but those
employed for that purpose. (7) A workman shall see.
that any notice or information required by the Em-
ployers' Liability Act to be given to him is entered
in a book kept for that purpose.
دو
In these days the precautionary measures adopted
are perhaps as general and efficient as could well have
been hoped for. Employers of labour, as a rule, realize
the paramount duty of protecting those in their service,
and it would be but a small return for this care on the
master's part for the workpeople to avoid as far as
possible contributing by heedlessness or recklessness to
swell the list of casualties annually compiled in the
department of the Home Office.
Q 2
228
CHAPTER XII.
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
NOT even those who go down to the sea in ships, nor
the brave fellows who with such conspicuous heroism
fight the Fire-fiend on land, nor yet the myriads who
toil in the colossal factories of the world and run dan-
gerous risks among machinery, encounter greater and
more serious dangers than the army of men who daily
descend to the bowels of the earth to gather the "black
diamonds," and the mineral wealth which have so con-
duced to the prosperity of England.
Mining in England is the excavation and the win-
ning of geological deposits by subterranean labour,
and we are enabled annually by the system of super-
vision adopted by Government to arrive at interesting
statistics under this head. The general public know
little of the extent of underground operations, and are
apt to look upon the hosts of workers upon the world's
surface as the maximum of its inhabitants. But the
last official summary supplied to the Home Office shows
that during the year 1886 the aggregate number of
persons employed in and about the whole of the mines
in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
amounted to considerably more than half a million.
The great majority are occupied in coal mines, although
in these islands iron as well as coal is one of the leading
products of the earth. The proportion of coal and iron
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
229
to the total of the mineral output in the same period
was ninety-four per cent. In the balance there was
included, of gold ore, one and a half hundredweight,
and under six tons of silver.
There are in the United Kingdom some twenty prin-
cipal coal districts, which have been divided as to their
characteristics into three descriptions:-The first, those
forming complete basins, such as the South Wales
region; the second, those having only one arm of the
basin visible, as in the North of England; and the
third, those of irregular formation, such as are found
in South Staffordshire or the Black Country. From
these districts half the coal production of the world is
won, and it is in this winning that life is daily jeopard-
ized, and often sacrificed to an appalling degree.
Since the general adoption of coal as a fuel in London
in 1400 (although it was not in common use in England
until two hundred years later) coal-mining has been
an operation of considerable risk. In the first instance
rude inventions were the only instruments to minimize
the danger, whilst later, scientific development and
legislative interference have combined to reduce as much
as possible underground risks.
As light was the first essential in working the sub-
terranean coal-beds, the story of the safety lamp has
the most romantic interest in any history of under-
ground dangers. And, singularly enough, the lamps
most approved to-day are practically the same in out-
ward appearance as the first that were invented. That
subsequent inventions have not annihilated their pre-
decessors, so far as efficiency is concerned, is sufficiently
evident from the fact that in the Coal Mines, &c.
Regulation Bill introduced into Parliament in 1887,
and the object of which is the consolidation and amend-
ment of previous measures, contains the explicit
230
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
The
assertion that "It has not been considered advisable to
throw on the Government the responsibility of prescrib-
ing or authorizing any particular kind of lamp.
clause further states on the subject that it has been
shown by numerous experiments that lamps formerly
reputed to be safe are not safe when meeting gaseous
air in rapid currents such as are generated by the
modern system of improved ventilation. Here, then,
is still scope for the illimitable development of the
inventor's genius.
Sir Humphry Davy may be credited with the intro-
duction of the first safety lamp that was generally, or
rather extensively, employed, although Dr. Clanny of
Sunderland, and George Stephenson, were contempo-
raries in the designing of some contrivance for safely
lighting coal mines infested with fire-damp. While
Davy was making chemical examination of various
specimens of that gaseous product, Stephenson was
engine-wright at the Killingworth colliery, near New-
castle, and was bothering his practical head about
devising some kind of lamp which would not prove
dangerous. Terrible explosions which had taken place
had spurred the ingenuity of "Geordy," and in the month
of August, 1815, he made a sketch, which culminated
in the production of a lamp in the following October.
This, however, was twice improved by Stephenson, and
at the end of November what was at once called famil-
iarly by the miners at Killingworth the "Geordy " lamp
came into use there. During the time that Stephen-
son was arriving at his consummation, Sir Humphry
Davy was pursuing a more orthodox scientific course.
Having found that carburetted hydrogen required an
admixture of a large quantity of atmospheric air to
render it explosive, he proceeded with his experiments
and ascertained that explosions of inflammable gases.
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
231
are incapable of being passed through long narrow
metallic tubes. This principle of security was ob-
tained by diminishing their length and diameter at the
same time, and likewise by diminishing their length and
increasing their number, so that a great number of
small apertures would not pass explosion when their
depth was equal to their diameter. Sieves and wire
gauze were brought into the experiments, and the
scientific inventor found that if a piece of wire gauze
was held over the flame of a lamp, or of coal gas, it
prevented the flame from passing; he found also that
a flame confined in a cylinder of wire gauze did not
explode even a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, but
that the gases burnt in it with great vivacity. The
operation of the wire gauze in preventing the commu-
nication of flame is thus explained. Flame is gaseous
matter so intensely heated as to be luminous. When
the flame comes in contact with wire gauze it loses so
much heat, in consequence of the conducting power of
the metal, that it is cooled down below the point at
which gaseous matter can remain luminous, and con-
sequently the flame of the gaseous matter burning
within the lamp is incapable of passing through it so
as to set fire to and explode the mixture of fire-damp.
This cooling power is exerted even through the wire
gauze.
Such then was the origin of the safety lamp, the
merits and defects of which, however, formed a subject
for many committees of inquiry. During the Session
of Parliament of 1835 a Committee was appointed to
inquire into the Accidents in Mines, and before this.
tribunal the efficiency of the lamp was both maintained
and impugned. In 1839, too, a great explosion near
Sunderland re-opened the subject. A South Shields.
Committee was formed, and the members devoted three
232
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
years to the collecting of evidence relating to the causes
of colliery explosions. One of the results at which
they arrived was, that the safety lamp might in some
circumstances be a source of danger rather than
security, if it induced a neglect of measures for venti-
lating mines. The management of the ventilating
branch of colliery work is of course one of the most
important matters. It involves the supply of fresh air
to the men working in the pit, as well as the removal
of the inflammable gases; but subsequent committees
to those alluded to came to the conclusion that any
safety lamp "would render useful service, provided
care be taken in the using." The locking of safety
lamps so as to render them incapable of being opened
by the miners when at work is one point which has
given play to a large amount of ingenuity; but all the
devices have the defect of only being efficacious when
the miners are not provided with matches or other
means of obtaining a light. A great proportion of the
accidents—probably the whole number caused by ex-
plosions—may be considered to be preventable; and
that this is a fact may be fairly assumed from the cir-
cumstance of the death-rate in different mines varying
considerably according to the precaution taken in each.
This, at all events, was the opinion of Mr. H. W.
Porter, B.A., in his observations some years ago on the
Reports of the Registrar-General.
Many kinds of lamps have been devised since the
trio alluded to. The Smith lamp was a modification of
the Stephenson, and admitted the air through the wire
gauze, as well as through the perforations in the metal
plate, and other arrangements were adopted for pre-
venting the stoppage of the perforation by dust and
oil, an evil which was a characteristic of the prede-
The Upton and Roberts lamp, the Martin,
cessor.
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
233
I
the Ayre, the Muessler, the Lemielle, and the White-
head, were all developments of what was until a year
or two ago considered absolutely indispensable to the
miner. How far the electric lighting of mines may go
in reducing the necessity of safety lamps, or of the
large numbers in use, remains to be seen. Practical
men continued to engage in controversy and experiment
on the subject, and a year has not passed down to the
present time during which one or more inventions have
not been put forward. Elsian's, a Belgian lamp, was
among the earlier ones, and its recommendation was
the emission of more light than was usually obtained;
Fyfe's was something like Clanny's, but had a double
gauze at the top instead of single; Watson's combined
an apparatus to lock it in such a way that a miner could
not open it until it needed trimming; Henderson's
had a double glass cylinder, having water between to
cool the outer glass; Botys' was a Belgian lamp with
gauze and glass; whilst Martyn Roberts's had a con-
trivance for extinguishing the flame if the lamp should
be broken. Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney discovered that
by using dull iron wire in the construction of the lamp
much of the light was lost; therefore lamps were im-
mediately brought out with the wire gauze electro-
silvered.
The diversity of opinion continued in the production
of further modifications. In 1867 Higgs's adaptation of
the Davy appeared, and in 1871 the Plimsoll lamp
was introduced. The latter has at its base an air
chamber, shaped like a truncated cone, the upper rim
of which closely surrounds the wick; the bulk of the
cone is occupied by an iron reservoir, which leaves a
space of only one-eighth of an inch between it and the
inner wall of the cone; air is admitted to this cham-
ber through minute orifices in a metal plate and passes
234
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
through the narrow space to the wick; there is no wire
gauze to dim the light, the flame being surrounded
merely by a cylinder of thick glass. The object of this
arrangement is so to limit the admission of fire-damp
that the quantity entering shall be too small to break
the glass by explosion; flame cannot communicate to
the exterior because it would be cooled down by the
metal walls of the narrow air chamber; while an ex-
plosion inside would at once extinguish the flame and
prevent the lamp from becoming red hot. If the air
in the mine is in a dangerous state, communication
with the interior of the lamp is cut off, pure air from a
separate chamber is admitted, and the flame necessarily
goes out when this is exhausted.
Dr. Irvine, of Glasgow, invented in 1872 what has
been described as a "Singing lamp." He pointed out
that when an explosive mixture of air and fire-damp is
ignited under a wire gauze surface, and a tube or a
chimney is placed over the flame, a musical sound is
heard, the pitch of which varies with the size of the
flame and of the chimney. Two forms of lamp, one
for viewers and one for miners, were constructed, the
lamp giving audible warning that the air in the mine
has become dangerous.
In succeeding inventions the main endeavour has
been to frustrate the carelessness, and almost criminal
thoughtlessness, of miners, who open the wire-gauze
door of a lamp for the purpose of obtaining more
light, or even of lighting their pipes. One of the most
favourite devices is a combination of the wick-holder
with the locking-bolt, so that the latter cannot be with-
drawn without lowering the wick and extinguishing the
flame. Another method consists in the use of a lead
rivet, uniting the two parts of the lamp, impressed
with a seal which cannot be removed without defacing
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
235
the device. A more perfect method, however, is that
adopted by Bidder, where the locking-bolt is magnetized,
and held in place by a force which can only be overcome
by the application of heavy and powerful steel magnets,
which are kept in the lamp cabin at the pit bottom,
from which the lamps are served out lighted to the
miners at the commencement of the shift, and are
collected before they return to the surface.
Of the more recent safety lamps deserving of mention
are Col. Shakespeare's (light extinguished by opening),
which was exhibited at the Royal Institution in May,
1879; Messrs. Fleuss & Foster's, approved in January,
1884; and that of Mr. Patterson, of Victoria House,
Low Fell, Gateshead, brought out since Midsummer,
1887. The special features of Mr. Patterson's lamp
are that it is light, very simple, has few working parts,
gives a good light, and will automatically close or shut
off the admissions of all air and gas as soon as it is
placed in an explosive mixture.
Earlier in this chapter we spoke of the progress in
regard to the application of electricity to coal mines,
and the probable supercession of the conventional lamp
by one illuminated by the electric light. The idea is
not a new one; it was broached by a Frenchman five-
and-twenty years ago. M. Benoit devised an electric
lamp, where the light was obtained from the discharge
in a Geissler vacuum tube. The lamp consisted of
a box containing a galvanic battery, comprising two
Bunsen cells, and a small induction coil with connect-
ing wires which conveyed the current to the lamp.
The Bunsen cells might be conveniently replaced by a
single bottle-shaped bichromate battery. The invention
was exhibited in Paris on the 8th September, 1862;
but its cost and complication necessarily limited its
use. Mr. J. W. Swan, however, the English elec-
236
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
trician, has recently developed the idea, and has to
some extent overcome the complications and expensive-
ness of the Frenchman's lamp. Mr. Swan exhibited
his to the British Association at their last meeting at
Birmingham, and it consists of a small Swan incandes-
cent lamp, together with a secondary battery to supply
the electricity enclosed in a suitable box. The lamp
serves to indicate also the presence of fire-damp. An
electric light fire-damp alarm is one of the latest con-
trivances under this head. It is the invention of
Messrs. Walter Emmott and W. Ackroyd, and, like
the Swan appliance, has been tested and approved.
Another source of danger to the miner is the in-
crease of gas that may take place in consequence of
the presence of coal dust; and this point has been the
subject of much investigation, especially by Galloway,
who found that an explosion may be produced by
ignited particles of coal dust through the agency of a
safety lamp, which under ordinary circumstances would
be perfectly trustworthy. At Blanzy, in France, several
notable and fatal explosions have been traced to the
firing of coal dust from the flame of a shot, even in
cases where no fire-damp was present in the workings.
A well-known mining engineer brought into notice in
1886 the successful use of watering the floors of deep
mines to allay the dust, and thus prevent explosion.
A slight dampness, such as prevails in shallow mines
at all times, is in his words sufficient to lay the dust
effectively; and the systematic watering of deep mines
has been introduced in many places. The water can
either be brought into the galleries by tanks or by
pipes from a reservoir above ground. The water not
only purifies the air, but robs it of the inflammable
coal dust.
As it has been found by the scientists who have
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
237
given attention to the matter, that nearly all the serious.
casualties have arisen when great depression of the
barometer has been observed, so by no means the least
important preventive appliance is ventilation. The
quantity of air required for a large colliery depends
upon the number of men employed, as for actual respi-
ration it is stated that from 100 to 200 cubic feet per
minute should be allowed. In fiery mines, however, a
very much larger amount should be provided, in order
to dilute the gas to a point of safety. Even with the
best arrangements a dangerous increase in the amount
of gas is not unfrequent from the sudden release of
stored-up masses of coal, which, overpowering the
ventilation, produce magazines of explosive material
ready for ignition, when brought in contact with the
flame of a lamp or the blast of a shot. The manage-
ment of such places requires therefore the most con-
stant vigilance on the part of the workmen, especially
in the examination of the working places that have
been standing empty during the night in which gases
may have accumulated, to see that they are properly
cleared before the new shift commences. Furnace and
machine ventilation are systems in vogue, and it is
effected by carrying through the workings a large
volume of air, which is kept continually moving in the
same direction, descending from the surface by one or
more shafts known as intake or downcast shafts, and
leaving the mine by a return or upcast shaft.
The terrible accidents at the Oaks and "Talk o' th'
Hill" Collieries in 1866, may be taken as typical of
the special danger under a sudden fall of the barometer.
There had been a disaster of appalling severity at the
first-named pit twenty years before, when out of one
hundred workmen seventy perished; but the explosion
on the 12th December, 1866, was unparalleled in the
238
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
history of such calamities. About six o'clock in the
morning the whole of the hewers, boys, and drivers,
numbering about 370, went down the shaft to com-
mence their daily labour. They continued in the
workings till twenty minutes past one in the afternoon,
when the banksman was alarmed by the sound of an
explosion in the pit, and a tempestuous rush of air
and soot up the shaft. One of the cages and the rope
to which it was attached were considerably damaged by
the explosion; but, in the face of those obstacles, no
time was lost by the authorities in descending the pit.
At the bottom of the workings immediately adjoining
the shaft eighteen men, seriously injured but still
living, were discovered, and at once conveyed to the
surface, where they were promptly attended to. Be-
tween thirty and forty bodies had been brought up
when a second explosion occurred the following morn-
ing, causing the death of a company of twenty-eight
searchers, who had gallantly volunteered to enter the
workings. As the second explosion not only destroyed
any hope that might exist of recovering men alive from
the workings, but made renewed descent almost im-
possible, the distracted relatives, who till then had
crowded round the pit, were gently removed to places
of greater safety. About five o'clock on the morning
of the 14th, the signal bell was heard to ring, giving
indications that some one was alive at the bottom of
the shaft. Mr. Marriott, who was in attendance, and
Mr. Embleton, junior, resolved once more to brave the
perils of the pit, and on descending found Samuel
Brown, one of the explorers of the previous day.
When the cage came to the surface, the excitement
was of the most intense description. Brown, though
weak, was quite conscious, and able to give an account
of his experiences. He had wandered about the north
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
239
incline for a long distance, falling over the mangled
corpses of those slain by the blast. At last he found
his way to the shaft, and pulled the signal. He was
of opinion there was no other living being in the pit.
As explosion after explosion continued to take place,
the consulting engineers resolved upon extinguishing
the fire raging through the workings by filling up the
shaft, an undertaking only accomplished after pro-
tracted and perilous labour. The total number who
perished was put down at 340; eighty-six were re-
covered from the pit, eighteen of whom were alive,
though six of these died soon after being brought to the
surface.
While the public mind was excited by the Oaks
calamity, another colliery disaster of great magnitude
occurred in the Potteries at the pit known as "Talk
o' th' Hill." About 200 men and boys were at work
in the pit when the explosion took place at noon on the
13th of December. Shaft No. 1, leading to the work-
ings, was much damaged; but No. 2 was in working
order, and down this crowds of eager volunteers
hastened to search the pit. Their efforts were attended
with considerable success. Fifty in a short time were
sent alive to the surface, and throughout the afternoon
twos and threes were frequently brought up in the
cage, to the relief of distracted households. Still the
loss was considerable, and but for the overwhelming
catastrophe at Barnsley would have engaged the public
mind as among the most calamitous events in the
annals of colliery disasters. The deaths amounted to
eighty-five.
The most terrible accidents of the same kind within
previous years, if not within living memory, were those
at the Lundhill and Hartley Collieries. In the former,
which happened in 1857, the number of victims was
240
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
189; in the latter, which happened in January, 1862,
the number was 209.
all
The opinion now gained ground that from
examination into the circumstances of the colliery
explosions of previous years it would appear that
familiarity with danger induces carelessness, and the
report of the Official Inquiry into the two last-named
was awaited with interest. In the course of the pro-
ceedings it was stated that on the 10th of December
the mercury stood at 30-40; on the 11th there was a
fall of nearly one inch, and that fall continued till the
13th. After repeated adjournments the following ver-
dicts were arrived at: In the "Talk o' th' Hill" disaster,
that the deaths had resulted from "accident"; that
there was no positive evidence to show how the acci-
dent occurred; that there was an accumulation of gas
in the lower workings, in consequence of the upsetting
of a train in the doorway; that this gas was exploded
by the unlawful exposure of a naked light by a collier;
that if the rules made by the managers had been ob-
served by their subordinates, the explosion might not
have happened; that culpable neglect was shown by
Rawson and Lawson in violating the rules which had
been framed for the protection of life and property;
that Nicholls should adopt some means whereby the
observations of rules should be more strictly enforced,
and that Government should appoint additional in-
spectors. In the Oaks case the decision was that
Richard Hunt and others were killed by an explosion
of gas at the Oaks Colliery, but that there was no
evidence to show how it ignited. The jury added,
"that they thought it was unnecessary to make
special recommendations respecting the working of
mines, as Government was then collecting infor-
mation with a view to a better protection of life;
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
241
but they considered more strict inspection desir-
able."
This was an allusion to the action that was being
taken by Government, which ultimately culminated in
the Coal Mines Regulation Act of 1872, which is
administered by inspectors. Among the chief pro-
visions of the Act were the following:-(1) Females
and boys under ten are not allowed to work under-
ground; (2) Boys between ten and twelve are not
allowed to work except in thin mines; (3) No boy
under twelve to drive a gin-horse, or under eighteen a
steam-engine; (4) Wages not to be paid at public-
houses; (5) Working of mines by a single shaft pro-
hibited; (6) Managers to be certificated as competent.
by a Board of Examiners; (7) Annual return of coal
wrought to be made to Inspectors; (8) Notices of acci-
dent to be sent to Inspector; (9) Openings of aban-
doned workings to be fenced; (10) Plans to be kept up
to within six months of date; (11) Plans of abandoned
mines to be deposited with Home Office; (12) General
rules for the safety of miners in fiery mines, manage-
ment of ventilation, safety lamps, and gunpowder,
protection against accidents in shafts and levels, &c.;
and, (13) Power to frame special rules, subject to
approval of the Secretary of State.
Other "accidents" have, however, rendered further
legislation necessary, and, in consequence, the Coal
Mines, &c., Regulation Bill of 1887, backed by Mr.
Secretary Matthews and Mr. Stuart-Wortley, was
framed and passed. It consolidates previous measures.
and adds a few more technical restrictions.
In the very year following the awful lesson of the
Staffordshire pit, about 178 lives were lost, on the 8th
of November, at Ferndale Colliery, Rhonnda Valley,
near Cardiff, owing to naked lights. Staffordshire was
R
242
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
:
again the scene of a disaster, attributable to careless-
ness, at the Black Lake Colliery, on the 25th of
January, 1872. At Morley, near Dewsbury and Leeds,
thirty-four deaths were also caused on the 7th of
October in that year, owing to "great carelessness and
bad discipline," and in the following month twenty-two
colliers were drowned through the influx of water into
an old working at Pelsall Hall, Walsall. Gross ignor-
ance or culpable carelessness" was responsible for an
explosion by which fifty-four were killed at Astly pit,
Dukinfield, near Manchester, on the 14th of April,
1874; twenty-three were killed on the 20th of Novem-
ber at Rawmarsh Colliery, near Rotherham, through
naked lights.
66
The following year was the occasion of the Swaithe
Main disaster, near Barnsley. Like so many of these
occurrences, it happened in the month of December,
and in the same week no fewer than three other colliery
explosions took place, making the total mortality within
the seven days upwards of 200 men and boys, 140 of
whom were killed in the first-named calamity. The
year 1877 was remarkable for several features in con-
nection with the mining casualties of that period.
Heroism in the face of exceptional and extreme danger
is a characteristic of our race, and never has it been
more abundantly manifested than in the attempts to
aid the subterranean workers when entombed by explo-
sion, overtaken by after-damp, or when locked in by an
ever-increasing flood of water cutting off their approach
to the shaft. But the occurrence at the Tynewydd Pit, in
the Rhonnda Valley, is a romance unique in the history
of coal-mining. On the 11th of April, just as the
day's work was over, and the men were already begin-
ning to make their way towards the shaft to be raised
to the surface, they were terrified by a rush of roaring
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
243
waters. The narrow roadways of the pit suddenly
became rushing streams, the water surging in, as one
of the escaped men described, "like a rough sea dash-
ing upon a stony beach." Many forced their way
through the flood to the bottom of the shaft; and when
they had been raised to the surface it was found when
the muster roll was called that fourteen (men and boys)
were missing. An exploring party immediately de-
scended, and found that though the shaft itself was
clear the workings were full. Every roadway leading
from that central point to the remote parts of the pit
was full of water to the crown of the arch. It was at
once concluded that all those who had not escaped were
drowned; but while the exploring party were consult-
ing some faint knockings were heard, and it was con-
jectured that the men, who were thus proved to be alive,
were behind a wall of coal some thirty feet thick. A
vigorous effort was at once begun to cut through the
wall, and was seconded by the imprisoned men them-
selves. The work was continued all night, and next
day the courageous rescuers and the imprisoned miners
were able just to hear each other's voices. A hole was
made into the stall or heading in which the men had
been shut up. They were eagerly pressing forward;
but such was the density of the air in their prison,
forced in as it was by the pressure of the water behind,
that as soon as the rock was pierced it broke out,
thrusting one of the men into the hole through which
he was about to escape, and inflicting such injuries
that he died. Four other men were, however, rescued
and brought to the bank. But nine men were still
missing. Anxious search and listening revealed no
sign of them till the afternoon of the second day,
when a faint knocking was heard; but it was estimated
that between the immured colliers and the farthest
R 2
244
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
point which it was possible for the explorers to reach
there were 300 yards of narrow archway filled with
water to the crown. Pumping with powerful engines
was resorted to. Toiling night and day did not seem
to affect the level at all. An attempt was then made
to reach the poor prisoners by divers; but they could
do nothing but convey some little refreshment to their
tomb and encourage them. The resolution to cut
through the coal was taken on Monday afternoon, the
16th, five days after the disaster. There were forty
yards to cut, and it was feared that a repetition of
what had occurred at the previous rescue might kill
both prisoners and rescuers. Undaunted, however, the
latter worked away as before, night and day. On
Friday afternoon two brave fellows, Abraham Todd and
Isaac Pride, were the last to cut the coal. The latter
struck the hole through the last blow by which the men
were liberated.
Todd jumped in, as he said afterwards.
in his own words: "Then I asked them, 'Where are
you?' for I had no light, the managers having refused
to give us lamps. George Jenkins then came on to
me and caught hold of me, and I then felt his arms
round my neck, and he kissed me repeatedly. When
he left me Moses Powell did the same. I asked where
the other men were, and they replied 'Behind.' I then
called my butty, Isaac Pride, to come in, which he did.
I then went to where John Thomas was, and I caught
hold of him. He was sitting down on a lump of coal,
apparently lifeless, with his head hanging down. I
said to him, 'John, don't you know me?' and he said,
'Yes,' and that was all I heard them speak." A small
quantity of dirty water and a little grease, which
dropped from the box containing the candles, was all
the sustenance the prisoners had. The Queen conferred
upon the noble band of rescuers the Albert Medal, an
THE PERILS OF THE MINE.
245
honour never before bestowed for other than gallantry
in saving life at sea.
On the 11th of October, at King Pit, Pemberton,
near Wigan, an explosion resulted in the loss of thirty-
three lives. Exploring parties were prevented pene-
trating the workings by the after-damp, although the
manager, Mr. Watkin, a certificated manager, Mr.
Cook, and one of the underlookers lost their lives by
heroically attempting to do so. An explosion at High
Blantyre, near Glasgow, in the same month, resulted
in the death of 200 miners; but this terrible total was
exceeded by the Ebbw Vale calamity, near Newport
(Mon.), on the 11th of September, 1878. The cause
of this accident, like that in so many cases, will never
be known; but the victims numbered 268. Risca,
also in Monmouthshire, was the scene of an explosion
in 1880, at which there were 120 deaths, whilst at the
Seaham Pit, near Durham, in September of the same.
year, 170 lost their lives.
It would appear that the various legislative efforts,
and the general improvements in the strictness with
which regulations are enforced, combined with the better
scientific apparatus, and increased technical know-
ledge in the management of mines, have all conduced
to the reduction in the number of accidents, and a
decrease in the loss of life. A summary of official
figures shows that, during the year 1886, the aggregate
number of persons employed in and about the whole of
the mines in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland amounted to 561,676. Of these 520,632 were
employed under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, and
41,044 under the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act.
The total number of fatal accidents was 866, and the total
number of deaths occasioned thereby 1,214, showing
a decrease compared with the total of the previous year
246
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
of 51 in the number, and an increase of 216 in the
number of lives lost. This report also shows that, on
an average during the year, there was one fatal accident
to every 648 persons employed. The proportion of fatal
accidents to the number of persons employed is lower
than the average of the last ten years, and the death-
rate is also lower.
247
CHAPTER XIII.
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
TRAVEL dangers have altered their character as our
methods of locomotion have undergone development.
Anterior to the railway era the risks attending pro-
gression from place to place were mainly those caused
by imperfect roads, although the liability to personal
attack by lawless adventurers had also to be taken into
serious account. In some countries the latter danger
still remains a painful reality, for, while brigandage
survives as a terror to travellers in certain parts of
Eastern and Southern Europe, and while railway trains.
are open to the sudden onslaughts of robber gangs in
the Western regions of America, it cannot be said that
this element of risk has altogether disappeared. Con-
fining ourselves to our own country, however, we may
look upon the highwayman as an extinct species. He
was a picturesque villain, and gave many a touch of
melodrama and romance to the slow-paced life and
motion of our forefathers, but he found his occupation
gone when the iron horse whistled his way through the
length and breadth of the land; and the garotter and
footpad of our later time hardly come even into the
remotest comparison with him. The moral character
of Claude Duval was probably not one whit better than
that of Bill Sikes; still we are now so far removed
from him that we can afford to regard him with less
248
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
abhorrence than we regard the latter. The dangers of
travel by land, apart from railway travelling, are not
now, it must be admitted, very great; in the crowded
thoroughfares of our large cities and towns, where
conveyances of every description thread their way in
and out amidst the throng of people, accidents and
fatalities are of frequent occurrence; but out on the
high roads between town and town there is little to
fear in the way of mishap; bad roads are very few,
road vehicles are of good construction, and bad driving
is not common. The risks of the rail, therefore, are
the only land travel risks which assume any particular
importance in these days, and the danger in this direc-
tion has been so much reduced of late years that, to
use the words of Mr. Bright, a railway carriage would
seem to be to-day about the safest place in the world.
Never a year passes, it is true, that there is not some
railway accident to record, in which there has been
great loss of life; but when it is considered that over
600,000,000 of passengers are conveyed over the lines
of the United Kingdom every year, the percentage of
fatalities is exceedingly small. In fact, the Annual
Report for 1886 on the Railways of the United King-
dom goes far to support the view that a man's life is
rarely in less peril than when he is travelling by rail.
The figures show that the chances against a pas-
senger being killed by causes beyond his own control,
while making an average railway journey, are just one
hundred and eight millions to one, and against his
being injured, either slightly or seriously, one million
four hundred thousand to one. It will be an interesting
task to trace the growth of the various safeguards and
appliances by which this condition of affairs has been
brought about, and to describe the present working of
the railway system.
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
249
First of all, we may take a bird's-eye view of the
old coaching days, and the roads over which the nu-
merous conveyances had then to travel. Of the latter
Macaulay has given an interesting picture, while of the
former Mr. Stanley Harris, Lord William Lennox,
Mr. James Hissey, and other stagers, have written
with graphic effect. A more recent writer, too, in the
English Illustrated Magazine, has portrayed some-
thing of the old dangers, difficulties, romances, and
excitements of the road. He refers to the first stage-
coach journey from the famous "Bell Savage on Lud-
gate Hill in London." It was the "Flying Machine,"
that made it from the metropolis to Bath, and it was
in that portion of the seventeenth century when "wood-
cocks were killed in Regent Street, in which bears.
danced and bulls were baited in Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in which the dead cats and dogs of Westminster were
shot into St. James's Square." No wonder, under
these circumstances, that coach-riding was not a bed
of roses, for the roads were in as dangerous a condi-
tion as they could well be. Long before the Flying
Machine had cleared the metropolis-the metropolis.
which knew Chelsea as a quiet country village with a
thousand inhabitants, Marylebone as a space where
cattle fed, and sportsmen wandered-the six inside.
passengers had been twice nearly upset and shaken out
of their seven senses; and it had scarcely begun its
creeping passage over Hounslow Heath when it was
stopped abruptly, and the six inside passengers had
their six purses taken away" by the great highwayman
already mentioned. The French page of the Duke of
Richmond was then in the height of his fame, which
considerably outshone that of any knight of the road
who succeeded him. The dashing Augustin King,
educated at Cambridge, and hung at Colchester; the
250
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
66
great William Nevison, whose name still haunts the
hamlets of the Northern moors, hung at York; the
magnanimous Bliss, hung at Salisbury; the Brothers
Weston, the Peaces of the last century, who frequented
the best society at Winchelsea, and robbed in the sur-
rounding country, hung at Tyburn-a cultured pair,
whose lives were pleasant, and in death they were not
divided-none of them, not even Turpin himself, the
Turpin whose ride to York has been labelled by
Macaulay a myth, seem to have attained to what
Mr. W. Outram Tristram describes as
"that high
standard of elegant rascality displayed by this importa-
tion from France." Claude Duval, after his death,
was the subject of some "Memoirs," from which the
following extract may serve to demonstrate that
elegant rascality" of which Mr. Tristram speaks :-
He, with his Squadron, overtakes a Coach which they
had set over Night, having Intelligence of a Booty of
four hundred pounds in it. In the Coach was a Knight,
his Lady, and only one serving maid, who, perceiving
five Horsemen making up to them, presently imagined
that they were beset; and they were confirmed in this
Apprehension by seeing them whisper to one another,
and ride backwards and forwards. The Lady, to show
that she was not afraid, takes a flageolet out of her
pocket and plays. Du Vall takes the hint, plays also
upon a flageolet of his own, and in this Posture he
rides up to the Coach side. "Sir," says he to the
Person in the Coach, "your Lady plays excellently,
and I doubt not but that she dances as well. Will
you please to walk out of the Coach and let me have
the Honour to dance one Currant with her upon the
Heath?" 'Sir," said the Person in the Coach, "I
dare not deny anything to one of your Quality and good
Mind. You seem a Gentleman, and your request is
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
251
very reasonable.”
Which said, the Lacquey opens
the Boot, out comes the Knight, Du Vall leaps lightly
off his horse and hands the Lady out of the Coach.
They danced, and here it was that Du Vall performed
Marvels; the best master in London, except those that
are French, not being able to show such footing as he
did in his great French Riding Boots. The Dancing
being over (there being no violin, Du Vall sang the
Currant himself) he waits on the Lady to her Coach.
As the Knight was going in says Du Vall to him,
"Sir, you have forgot to pay the Musick." "No, I
have not," replies the Knight; and putting his Hand
under the seat of the Coach, pulls out a Hundred
Pounds in a Bag and delivers it to him, which Du Vall
took with a very good grace, and courteously answered,
Sir, you are liberal, and shall have no cause to repent
your being so; this Liberality of yours shall excuse
you the other Three Hundred Pounds," and, giving the
word that if he met with any more of the Crew he
might pass undisturbed, he civilly takes his leave of
him. He manifested his agility of body by lightly
dismounting off his horse, and with Ease and Freedom
getting up again, when he took his leave; his excellent
Deportment by his incomparable Dancing and his
graceful manner of taking the Hundred Pounds.
CC
The state of the roads in the seventeenth and eigh-
teenth centuries was as dangerous to life and limb as
the ruffianly tribe of highwaymen were to the purse
and valuables. In early spring and winter especially
the roads must have been terrible. So late as 1797
Middleton, in his survey of Middlesex, speaking of the
Oxford road at Uxbridge, observes that during the
whole of the winter there was only one passable track
on it, and that was less than six feet wide, and was
eight inches deep in fluid sludge. All the rest of the
252
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
road was from a foot to eighteen inches deep in adhe-
sive mud! Earlier, the roads were chiefly remarkable
for larger quantities of adhesive mud; and there is
small wonder that the first Flying Machine, like all its
successors on the roads, whether North, West, East,
or South, was very frequently stuck fast, and required
numerous carthorses and other extraneous help to pull
it on firm land again.
Omnibuses were a means of locomotion which grew
up contemporaneously with stage coaches, and before
regular passenger trains. The first omnibus which
plied successfully in this country was started in London,
and its journey was between the Bank of England and
the "Yorkshire Stingo," at Paddington.
Mr. George
Shillibeer was the pioneer of the venture, which was
inaugurated in June, 1829. His omnibus occasioned
much annoyance to the proprietors of the old-fashioned
stage coaches, with whose slow and unpunctual journeys
the public were soon weary, when a contrast both in
cheapness and accommodation was afforded them.
Mr. Shillibeer next started omnibuses from Paddington.
to the Bank, and these took the route of the other
great artery of London, west to east, viz., Oxford
Street, Holborn, and Cheapside; a third line was
commenced from Greenwich to the West End of
London; and a fourth and last was traversed by a
diligence between Brighton and London. The original
coach proprietors at this time found that they must
either compete with Shillibeer or give up business
wholly. They decided on the former expedient, and
ultimately ruined Shillibeer. They built superior and
lighter omnibuses than those he had introduced;
nevertheless, they were enormously heavy, and weighed
more when empty than our modern vehicles do when
full. They were drawn by three horses abreast; the
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
253
conductors displayed themselves in velvet caps and
jackets, and one notable auxiliary towards the comfort
and entertainment of travellers was a library of books
within the omnibuses. Soon after Shillibeer's failure
omnibuses became general, and with this increase of
public accommodation commenced a system of dis-
graceful competition, which for years made our legal
courts the scenes of success or failure equally dis-
graceful, filled the Law Reports with cases, and led to
the enactment of those various Parliamentary Bills.
which, from the Act 4 William IV. to the most recent
regulations enforced under municipal authority, have
at last succeeded in modifying the original evils, and
mitigating the dangers to passengers which were a
consequence of the competition. It is singular to
reflect in this connection that the earlier Acts betray,
by their mere wording, a recognition by Parliament of
the competitive evil. A proprietor of some note after
Shillibeer, named Bray, who commenced running omni-
buses in London, indicted the whole of the original
proprietors at the Central Criminal Court for conspiracy.
They were found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of
nearly £1,000. At length, after a large amount of
legal warfare, and the loss of immense sums of money,
most of the old and new proprietary of that particular
line of road coalesced and established what was the
foundation of the largest metropolitan omnibus com-
pany. Until a larger coalition of interests took place,
however, the opposing proprietaries and their servants.
constantly took the law into their own hands, and in-
describable scenes of confusion, furious driving, injury
to the horses and carriages, and the arrest of both con-
ductors and drivers on false or petty charges, and
often while in the very act of duty, varied more or less
the early days of omnibus history. With the wise
254
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
combination of opposing interests and between hostile
parties may be reckoned the beginning of those im-
provements which up to the present day have carried
on this extraordinary branch of metropolitan locomo-
tion, and as omnibuses increased their circle so did
London stretch out its breadth and length.
But it is the railway system that has caused the
most startling developments of the past half century.
And it is somewhat remarkable, in considering the
immense passenger traffic of to-day, that railways were
not originally designed for anything but goods traffic.
The earliest railways that were worked by locomotive
engines were constructed in the North of England and
in Wales. The first of these-the Stockton and
Darlington Railway-was projected by Mr. Edward
Pease, and constructed by George Stephenson. It
was designed entirely for the conveyance of minerals,
and without any idea of embracing passenger traffic as
well. The second important line the Liverpool and
Manchester-was also designed to carry goods and
mineral traffic, passengers being a subordinate con-
sideration. The combination of the locomotive and
the rails, or what we now call the "permanent way,"
proved the immense economy that was practicable in
the transport of heavy materials, and may be said to
have thereby revolutionized the great mineral trade of
the country, yet it was not for some time after the
invention of the locomotive that it was used upon
the railways which had long been constructed. Mr.
Clement E. Stretton, in his interesting work on "Safe
Railway Working," completely demolishes the popular
impression that railways came suddenly into existence
as a complete system at the time when the Liverpool
and Manchester line was opened in 1830. The rail-
ways of the present day are, he points out, the out-
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
255
ran.
growth of the wonderful development of the ancient
tramways. The discovery that a horse could draw a
much greater load upon a hard level surface than upon
an ordinary road led to the introduction of "stone
tracks," which consisted of long narrow flagstones
placed in parallel lines, upon which the cart wheels
More than two hundred and fifty years ago a
Mr. Beaumont introduced the "wooden way" to
facilitate the conveyance of coal from the Newcastle
collieries to the docks, and he also introduced four-
wheeled waggons in the place of the ordinary carts.
Of this invention it is mentioned, in the "Life of Lord
Keeper North," "that the carriage is so easy that
one horse will draw down four or five caldrons of coal,
and is an immense benefit to the coal merchants." Mr.
Stretton enters minutely into the ancient and modern
character of "permanent ways"; and it may not be out
of place, in our task of briefly tracing the growth of the
railway system generally, to give an outline of what he
somewhat technically elaborates. In course of time
the "wooden ways" were so much worn by the waggon
wheels that, instead of entirely replacing the old ones,
new planks were nailed upon them. This plan was
subsequently followed by the system of "plating" the
wooden tracks with sheet iron, or by nailing iron plates
or bars upon them-hence the designation of "plate-
ways," and of the men employed to lay them down as
platelayers." The reverse effect was then experienced
-the iron plates wore out the wooden waggon wheels,
with the result that about the year 1753 cast iron
wheels were introduced. Between this time and the
dawn of the nineteenth century the improvements in
railroads were numerous. One of the greatest of them.
was introduced on a line at Loughborough, in Leicester-
shire, by Mr. William Jessop, who abandoned the flat
66
256
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
wheels and flanged rails, and introduced iron rails with
a flat top, and wheels with a flange cast upon the tyre.
Tramways began to be numerous, and inventors ap-
peared rapidly with some new contrivance to render
them more efficient for the accomplishment of their
work. A tramroad was constructed from Wandsworth
to Croydon in 1801, in regard to which Sir Richard
Phillips wrote: "I found delight in witnessing at
Wandsworth the economy of horse labour of the iron
railway, and thought such lines should be extended
from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Holyhead, Mil-
ford, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Dover and Portsmouth."
But, generally speaking, the idea that railways should
be laid over the country was considered at that time to
be perfectly absurd, and it is a very hackneyed story of
the way in which the suggestion of utilizing railways
for passengers was received, even among the august
and far-seeing gentlemen who then occupied St.
Stephen's in the capacity of senators. George Stephen-
son was to the fore as an inventor long antecedent to
the Stockton and Darlington era. He was, however,
made engineer of that railway scheme, which may be
regarded as the legitimate pioneer of the gigantic
system of the present day, and in 1818 application
was made to Parliament for its approval. Twice the
Bill was rejected, but it passed in 1821, and on the
27th of September the line was opened. Even at that
time it was not intended to work the line with locomo-
tives, and some fixed engines and ropes were provided,
but the locomotive was not long in demonstrating its
superiority over all other systems. Stephenson was
also appointed engineer to the Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway, which was opened to the public on
the 15th September, 1830, and it was some little time
before the opening that the question as to locomotive

LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
257
versus fixed engines and ropes had to be decided by the
directors. Notwithstanding reports and opinions, the
directors did not feel able to come to a decision, when
one of their number proposed "That a reward be
publicly offered for the most likely mode of effecting
their object." It was accordingly resolved, on the 20th
of April, 1829, to offer a premium of £500 for the best
locomotive engine, subject to eight conditions as to
weight, load, pressure of steam, price, &c. The
month of October was fixed for the trial, and the
"running ground" was on the Manchester side of
Rainhill Bridge, and the following engines were
entered for the prize:-The Rocket, the Novelty, the
Sans Pareil, and the Perseverance. The respective
makers were George Stephenson; Braithwaite and
Erickson; Hackworth; Burstall. The trial lasted
from the 8th to the 14th of the month, when the
Rocket was adjudicated to be the best engine, and as
it had performed all the conditions and stipulations
required by the Company, Stephenson obtained the
£500. Thus the Rainhill trials of 1829 settled the
locomotive question, and led to the introduction of
railways throughout the world. The impetus then
given to construction was nothing short of marvellous,
for in twenty years there were in operation in different
parts of the globe a total length of 18,656 miles of
railway, on which a capital of £368,567,000 had been
actually expended. Besides this, there were, at the
same epoch, in process of construction a further extent
of 7,829 miles, the cost of which when completed
would be £146,750,000. Thus within the period of a
quarter of a century 26,485 miles of railway had been
constructed; or, to better realize the aggregate, we may
say a greater length than would completely surround
the globe, at an involved outlay of five hundred.
S
02

258
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
millions sterling. To accomplish this stupendous
work in the time, human industry must have appro-
priated out of its annual savings twenty million
pounds for twenty-five successive years. Now, in
the United Kingdom alone, the number of miles of
railway open is nearly twenty thousand, while the
capital paid up and raised amounts to more than eight
hundred millions sterling.
Probably there could not be much legitimate surprise
manifested at the occurrence of accidents in the earliest
period of passenger trains, but it was an unfortunate
circumstance that the very opening of what was termed
the Grand British Experimental Railway, in 1830, was
darkened by a fatal accident to Mr. W. Huskisson, M.P.
From that time to this catastrophes have been frequent,
although there is some satisfaction in contemplating
that different devices (more elaborately dealt with in
the next chapter) have reduced almost to a minimum
the danger to the passenger freights which are ever
and anon being sent with extraordinary speed from one
point of the compass to another. Trains running off
the line were responsible for the first railway disasters,
among which were those at Great Corby, in December,
1836; Cuckfield, on the London and Brighton line, in
October, 1841; and at Sonninghill cutting, near Reading,
on the 24th of December in the same year. It was in
1842 that the first very serious disaster happened, and
it was at Versailles. The carriages took fire, and the
passengers being locked in, over fifty lives were lost.
Experiences of this sort have since been repeated both
at home and abroad. In 1868 the accident at Abergele
occurred, and in that instance there were trucks carry-
ing petroleum, which, by some inadvertence, were
allowed to become detached from the engine which was
drawing them, and ran down hill at a rapid pace until
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
259
they met the Irish mail advancing in the opposite
direction on the same line of rails. The crash was, of
course, tremendous; but before those who were un-
injured in the front of the train could descend from
their damaged carriages the petroleum caught light by
the engine fire, and all the fore part of the train was
enveloped in a fiery mantle. It was thought that most
of the passengers in the carriages had escaped, as few
cries of help were heard, and those soon ceased. When,
however, the flames were subdued the horrifying fact
was revealed that thirty-three human beings had per-
ished-many of them suffocated as they sat bolt-upright
in their seats. This accident directly arose through
the uncoupling of the runaway trucks from their engine,
and the Government Report dealt severely with the
practice on some railway lines of allowing rules formed
for the protection of passengers to be habitually broken.
Again, in 1887, was this cause of danger to the travelling
public brought to mind by an appalling accident which
occurred in Canada to an excursion train travelling
between Port Stanley on Lake Erie and St. Thomas,
a town about ten miles distant from the Lake. In all
its elements the accident appeared to be as simple as
it could be. An excursion train loaded with passengers
was returning from the shores of Lake Erie when it
reached a spot where another set of lines crossed the
main track. This spot was in the heart of the city of
St. Thomas, just as the main lines of the great English
companies still run through on a level crossing the
High Street of the city of Lincoln. By some blunder,
a freight or luggage train was allowed to cross over in
front of the passenger train, and before it had got clear
of the main lines the latter had dashed into it, cutting
it in halves. The first two cars of the excursion train
were smashed, and no doubt many deaths would have
s 2
260
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
been recorded if this had been the only extent of the
accident. But the luggage train was carrying tanks
full of petroleum, whose highly inflammable nature
need scarcely be explained. These tanks were burst.
open, and in a few minutes the oil caught fire, and the
whole of the front portion of the train was enveloped
in a sheet of roaring flame. Efforts were made to rescue
the wounded who were lying in the wreck, but before
help could reach them the flames had enveloped them.
and done their worst. It is impossible to conceive of
any disaster which can exceed in horror a scene of this
kind. Willing hands are always ready to pull the in-
jured from the mass of splintered woodwork when a
railway accident occurs, but when the site of a collision
becomes in a few minutes an inferno of flame, the best
endeavours of rescuers are useless. The terrible nature
of such an event consists in the fact that nothing can
be done, and that the fire advances remorselessly on
the men, women, and children who are lying crushed
under the débris. It is not astonishing that the "
is rent with cries of agony"; indeed, the scene is
agonizing enough even to the onlookers. The amount
of oil which broke loose in the St. Thomas catastrophe
must have been very considerable, as the flames at one
time actually threatened the town itself.
Incidents of this kind, or rather accidents, have given
rise frequently to the consideration and discussion of
the problem of how far we can be protected from their
recurrence. In spite of all that has been written and
spoken on the question, there are not many of our rail-
way companies that have established, or that are likely
to establish, the system of separate rails for goods traffic.
Petroleum is known to be as dangerous as gunpowder,
so that by law a license is necessary for keeping it in
large quantities, and without such license not more than
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
261
forty gallons may be stored within fifty yards of a
dwelling-house or warehouse. The Abergele accident,
as we have seen, took place in 1868, and in 1871
Parliament decided that wherever petroleum was carried
by land, the vessel containing it should be labelled
with the name of the substance, and the words "Highly
inflammable," and with the names of the consignor and
consignee. The fact, however, that an inflammable oil,
exuding a death-dealing vapour, is so labelled, would
not protect the public from the consequences if a
repetition of the Abergele or Canadian accidents were
to occur. Not much consolation can be derived from
the circumstance that carriages in England are warmed.
by a different system to that which exists in America,
and that no fire is to be found about our trains except
in the locomotive furnace itself. In the first place, the
most recent calamity of the character to which we at
present allude, like the Abergele disaster, occurred in
the very height of the summer, when it was as hot in
London, Ontario, as in London, England, and when,
therefore, no such thing as a fire for warming the
atmosphere is at all necessary. Then it should be
remembered that any light of the smallest and feeblest
description is enough to set fire to the fumes of petro-
leum released from the tank in which the substance is
being conveyed-and there must be lights in railway
trains to illuminate in tunnels and at night time.
When an accident occurs the glass which protects these
lamps is shattered, and the flames are therefore free to
come into contact with any floating vapour in the
neighbourhood. There is, therefore, not much doubt
that this special danger still exists in England. We
are still liable to have a passenger train coming into
collision with a luggage train on which explosive oil is
conveyed, and the lamps at the top of our carriages or
262
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
the engine furnace are quite capable of setting fire to
the oil, and enveloping the whole train as at Abergele.
It is, of course, impossible to guard altogether against
this peril, except by banishing the oil tanks altogether
from the lines. The use of electricity would make the
danger much less; but even supposing we reach a
period when no lights which could set inflammable oils
on fire are carried in any passenger carriage, there is
still the engine fire, which can hardly be done away
with, and which by itself may produce the dreaded
catastrophe.
As the railway system grew, and when the perma-
nent ways became safer and more efficient, collisions
became the principal danger of railway travelling, and
these arose from a variety of causes. In October, 1845,
the Leeds Commissioner of Bankruptcy was killed in
a collision, which a coroner's inquest declared to be
due to "indistinctness of the tail lights, owing to the
fog, but chiefly from the gross negligence and reckless-
ness of the engineer, Wheatley," against whom the
jury returned a verdict of manslaughter. The next
year, in the eastern counties, a collision is recorded to
have arisen from mismanagement on the part of the
company's officers, who had removed the experienced
signalman from a station, which was very badly placed,
leaving it in charge of a boy, and from their having
permitted an engine-fitter to take charge of the train as
engine-driver, in which responsible station they some-
times employ their mechanical engineers, and without
taking proper care that they have received the regula-
tions laid down for their guidance. It appeared that
some of the servants on the line had never seen the
regulations at all." There is a curious analogy
between this event the coroner's court returned a
verdict "that the accident had arisen from the reckless
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
263
driving of William Clare "-and that accident which
saddened the last day of the 1887 Doncaster race meet-
ing. Twenty-four people were killed at Hexthorpe, and
fifty more grievously injured, because two men charged
with the conduct of an important passenger train, at
a time when the line was burdened with an extraordi-
nary excess of traffic, had not taken the trouble to read
the special regulations which had been furnished for
the occasion, nor had looked out for the special signals
that had been appointed for that particular day. This,
of course, is the most severe way of condensing the
facts relating to a collision which in English railway
history had not many equals in the shape of casualties.
There is another standpoint from which to view the
Doncaster collision, and that is one which is at once.
derogatory to the higher officials, whom coroners'
courts do not seem to be able to reach, nor yet who
trouble much about the obvious lessons of such catas-
trophes. Under the block system (a system explained
in the succeeding chapter) it should be impossible for
a train to run into the one before it, and the fewness
of such accidents since the system came into general
use proves its value. Why, then, was it suspended
between Hexthorpe and Doncaster when there was an
extra press of traffic? Simply in order that the extra
traffic might be more expeditiously worked. More
trains can be conducted over a given space of line in a
given time by hand-signalling than by the block system,
and consequently on the St. Leger and Cup days the
railway authorities were in the habit of sacrificing
safety to speed. It does not matter that in regard to
this particular accident under notice the companies.
had taken every precaution in the way of giving notice
of the intended suspension of the block system to the
employés concerned; they had no right to suspend a
264
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
J
scientific safeguard of such efficiency for the purpose of
increasing dividends or facilitating the rate of locomo-
tion. In all such cases, however, the final blame falls
upon the employés, and in this instance the driver
and fireman were visited with a similar verdict to that
we have referred to of more than forty years before.
Nevertheless, there are few unprejudiced observers who
will disagree with the opinion of that experienced and
eminently practical engineer, Mr. Robert Stannard,
when he wrote upon this phase of the Hexthorpe
calamity, that "much pity and some excuse should be
made for these poor fellows, remembering that it was
their first blunder, and in the interests of a body of
men who have served me faithfully for over forty years
I must say that in this late disaster it is my opinion.
that the railway authorities were quite to blame, inas-
much as at times of extra pressure of traffic, such as
occurred during the race week at Doncaster, it should
be made a point by the officials to read over to the
drivers any fresh and suddenly-conceived alterations
that may be needed. Nothing of the kind was done in
this case, and, I imagine, not even thought of."
The catalogue of railway disasters in this country
presents many distressing features, illustrating in some
instances the most culpable negligence of proper pre-
cautions, and in others the impossibility of always
preventing such occurrences. At Dixonfold, on the
Lancashire and Yorkshire line, on the 4th of March,
1853, while a train was proceeding at the rate of from
forty to fifty miles an hour, one of the driving wheels
of the engine broke short off, and the engine and three
of the carriages were hurled off the rails, with the
most terrible results. Seven persons were killed and
many injured. Here again the driver was found guilty
of manslaughter, on the ground that he had driven at an
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
265
undue speed, and the coroner's jury condemned the con-
dition of the railway engines and the management of the
company. Numerous other railway accidents happened
from 1853 to 1857, by which many lives were sacrificed.
A cow crossing the rails at Attleborough, in Warwick-
shire, on the 10th of May, 1858, threw a train off the
line, causing three deaths. On the 23rd of August of
the same year, a Sunday-school excursion train on the
Oxford and Wolverhampton Railway, carrying over
2,000 persons of both sexes, met with a lamentable
accident. The train had been divided, and one engine
was attached to each division, instead of having one in
front and one in the rear of the whole. Both portions
of the train proceeded safely as far as Round Oak
Station, situate on a steep incline, when a coupling
broke, and eighteen rear carriages of the first portion
ran back into the second, causing the death of fourteen
people. After a protracted investigation the jury con-
demned the whole arrangements of the company, and
a verdict of manslaughter" was recorded against the
guard, though in the course of the inquiry it appeared
that one probable reason of the non-efficiency of the
brake was that the compartment of the carriage in
which the machine was managed was so crowded with
children that there was great difficulty in handling it.
Six persons were killed at Tottenham by an accident
caused by the breaking of an engine-wheel, on the
20th of February, 1860; 23 persons were killed, and
176 injured, in the Clayton Tunnel accident, on the
London and Brighton line, in August, 1861; 16 were
killed and 320 injured in the following month at
Kentish Town; and on the 30th of May, 1863, 4 pas-
sengers were killed and 30 injured by the explosion of
a locomotive boiler, near Streatham, on the London
and Brighton line, through attempting too great a
"
266
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
speed.
Some carriages of a train were upset near
Lynn, on the 3rd of August, 1863, through a bullock
straying on to the line, 5 persons being killed. Inse-
cure rails caused two serious accidents in June, 1865;
one on a branch of the Great Western near Rednal,
when 13 people were killed and 40 injured; and the
other near Staplehurst, on the South-Eastern, in which
10 were killed and 50 injured. It was in the last-named
accident that Charles Dickens happened to be, and he
subsequently wrote a thrilling narrative of the unfortu
nate affair. The breaking of axles and tires has been
another fruitful source of disaster. On the 25th Feb-
ruary, 1867, a carriage axle belonging to a goods train
on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway broke, causing
a collision with another goods train, and the firing of
5 tons of gunpowder, though, fortunately, with only
the loss of 2 lives. A similar cause led to the sad
collision at Newark, on the 21st June, 1870, by which
19 deaths occurred. In December of the same year a
tire broke on a Great Northern train at Bell Bar, near
Hatfield, when the break and carriages were overturned,
and 8 lives lost. Four persons met their deaths on the
8th May, 1873, by the breaking of an engine axle,
near Shrewsbury; and in the following month 2 people
were killed by the breaking of an engine tire on the
Midland line near Higham. The terrible disaster at
Shipton, near Oxford, on the Great Western line, on
the 24th December, 1874, by which 34 lives were
sacrificed, and about 70 injured, was caused by the
breaking of a carriage tire. One of the most serious
of recent accidents of this nature was that which
occurred near Penistone, on the Manchester, Sheffield,
and Lincolnshire Railway, on the 16th July, 1884.
The express from Manchester, running at the rate of
50 miles an hour, was hurled to destruction by the
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
267
sudden snapping of the right-hand axle-bar of the
engine. The engine, tender, and horse-box left the
line, ploughing up the road for about 400 yards; and
the rest of the train, consisting of 7 composite car-
riages, were thrown over the embankment, 30 feet
high, and overturned, three being reduced to splinters.
Nineteen passengers were killed on the spot, 6 died
subsequently, and more than 50 suffered severe in-
juries. By far the largest number of accidents are
caused by the giving way of axles or tires; in 1885
there were 377 failures of axles, and 920 failures of
tires.
Collisions caused by defective signalling are, happily,
a less numerous class of accident than in the earlier
years of the railway system, and might be fewer still
by the legislative enforcement of the absolute block
system on all lines. Occasional instances occur of
accidents by the failure of brake apparatus, but since.
the general adoption of automatic continuous brakes
accidents of this kind are much fewer. A terrible
disaster took place on the 13th of January, 1882, in
the suburbs of New York, in consequence of the dis-
arrangement of the air brake attached to a train
returning from Albany to the capital, conveying many
members of the legislature. The train was unable to
proceed, and the brakesman ran back along the line to
signal a local train which was known to be following;
but he had not gone many yards before the local train
swept round a curve at full speed, and dashed clean
through the rear car of the first train. Other cars
were overturned, and the stoves set fire to the wreck.
Several passengers were burned to death within sight,
hearing, and touch of the horrified bystanders, who
were only able to pile snow upon the burning masses.
A tragic incident of this catastrophe was the death of
268
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
Senator Wagner, the inventor of the parlour-cars
known by his name. He started back to see that the
red danger signals were properly displayed, and liter-
ally walked into the jaws of death. A year later an
equally horrible accident happened on the Southern
Pacific line to a train which had left San Francisco for
New York. The train had stopped on the summit of
the Sierra Nevada, but from some unexplained cause.
began to run back, and in a few seconds the impetus
was so strong that the brakes were unable to hold it,
and it ran on down the steep declivity for five miles,
when it broke from the rails and was precipitated with
a tremendous crash over the embankment, fifteen feet
high. The whole train, except two cars, which ran on
a couple of miles farther, fell in a heap and took fire.
Some thirty lives were lost in this terrible accident.
Many minor accidents have occurred in this country
through the failure of brake power.
Another prolific source of disaster on railways-
especially in America-has been the failure of bridges.
The saddest calamity of this description in the annals
of British railways was that which occurred on the
28th of December, 1879, at Tay Bridge, when a pas-
senger train and a large portion of the bridge were
blown into the river, over seventy lives being sacrificed.
A long official inquiry followed, it being the following
July before the report of the Court of Inquiry was pub-
lished, when the opinion was expressed that the bridge
had been badly designed, badly constructed, and badly
maintained, and that its downfall was due to inherent
defects, which sooner or later must have proved fatal.
On the 17th of June, 1880, a goods train on the Here-
ford, Hay, and Brecon Railway was precipitated into
the river Wye through the giving way of a bridge as
the train was crossing. The engine-driver was killed.
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
269
On the Morelos Railway, in Mexico, on the 25th of
June, 1881, the supports of a bridge over a mountain
gorge gave way, and a troop-train fell into the abyss,
a cargo of alcohol catching fire and exploding, thirteen
officers and 125 men being killed or burnt to death.
By the breakdown of a bridge over the Drave, near
Eggey, in Hungary, on the 25th of September, 1882,
a train fell through into the river, causing the deaths
of twenty-five persons. On the 27th of November,
1882, a train from Macduff to Aberdeen, passing over
a bridge across the Turriff turnpike, fell partially
through by the giving way of the bridge, five lives
being lost.
Upwards of a hundred persons were
killed by the collapse of a railway bridge over which
a train was passing across the Alendia River, on the
Ciudad Real line, on the 26th of April, 1884, the
engine and carriages falling into the water twenty-five
feet below. On the 2nd of July in the same year, at
a place called Cunningham, near St. Louis, the railway
bridge over the river fell in while a train was passing
over it, and the engine and six cars were hurled into
the river beneath, a distance of forty feet, resulting in
the loss of fifteen lives. It would indeed require
many pages to simply catalogue the long list of similar
disasters which have occurred in the United States, for
it is only within the last few years that any attempt
has been made in America to construct railway bridges
on anything like principles of solidity and security.
Collisions are the most serious of all railway acci-
dents, and often arise from mistakes made by signal-
men or pointsmen ; but where the block system prevails.
there is a double protection, and the number of acci-
dents of this nature is, it is satisfactory to know,
gradually diminishing as that system receives exten-
sion. But with all our increased precautions the list.
270
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
of fatalities even in the most favourable year is very
large. According to the report presented to the Board
of Trade for the year ending 31st of December, 1885,
there were no fewer than 957 persons killed, and 3,467
injured on railways during that year, as against 1,134
killed and 4,100 injured in 1884. The following sum-
mary of accidents, compiled by Mr. Stretton, gives a
classification of the various kinds of accidents which
make up the total for 1885:-35 collisions between
passenger trains or parts thereof; 53 collisions be-
tween passenger trains and goods trains; 22 collisions
between goods trains or parts thereof; 65 cases of
passenger trains or parts thereof leaving the rails; 9
cases of goods trains or parts thereof leaving the rails;
11 cases of trains travelling in the wrong direction
through facing points; 14 cases of trains running into
stations at too high a speed; 126 cases of trains
running over cattle; 48 instances of trains running
through gates at level crossings; 377 failures of axles;
3 failures of brake apparatus; 6 failures of couplings;
920 failures of tires; 1 failure of a wheel; 3 failures
of ropes used in working inclines; 2 failures of
bridges; 287 broken rails; 9 cases of flooding of per-
manent way; 8 slips in cuttings or embankments; 10
fires in trains.
Other accidents occurring on railway premises
during 1885 brought the totals up to 997 persons
killed and 7,022 injured. The total for 1886 was 989
killed and 7,407 injured.
The accidents to trains,
rolling-stock, and the permanent way resulted, in
1886, in 8 passengers being killed and 615 being
injured; 4 railway servants being killed and 81 injured
from the same causes. There were 103 collisions in
all in that year, though these contributed but slightly
to the grand totals of the railway bills of mortality.
LAND TRAVEL AND ITS RISKS.
271
There are other causes that, like sickness in war, make
the larger part of the account of loss. Of persons not
in the employ of the companies no fewer than 505 were
killed and 914 injured from these other causes. The
worst sufferers are, however, the railway servants, as
many as 421 of these unfortunate employés being
killed and 1,929 injured in one class of accidents alone.
The weakest point in the existing system of precau-
tions is the neglect which is shown in regard to the
lives of the men in the service of the various com-
panies. It is in such matters as loading, unloading
and shunting that the greater number of these casual-
ties happen.
272
CHAPTER XIV.
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
BEFORE proceeding to describe what the railway com-
panies have done towards protecting passengers by their
lines from accident it will be well to set forth what the
best authorities consider to be the requirements neces-
sary to obtain the greatest amount of security consistent
with expeditious travelling. This cannot probably be
done better than by summarizing the suggestions for
safe railway working made by the Amalgamated Society
of Railway Servants of the United Kingdom in the
month of January, 1886. These suggestions are twenty-
three in number, and run as follows:-1. It goes with-
out saying that bridges, tunnels, stations, permanent
way, and works must be properly constructed and effi-
ciently maintained. 2. All railways ought to be worked
on the absolute block system, strictly carried out,
so that no two trains of any kind shall ever be in one
section at one time. 3. The block and interlocking
systems should be electrically combined and controlled,
so that the safety of a block section shall be under the
control of two signalmen. 4. The block working at
all junctions should be arranged so that no two trains
which can foul each other at the points and crossings
shall ever be allowed to approach a junction at one and
the same time. All sidings and goods lines joining
main lines should be provided with properly interlocked
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
273
safety points. 5. Efficient signals should be employed,
and the posts ought always to be placed upon the left-
hand side of the line to which they refer. At large
stations and junctions short arms or discs should be
provided for controlling shunting operations, in order
to avoid that most dangerous but common practice,
hand-signalling. 6. One code of block system regula-
tions, and one pattern of signal, should be adopted
throughout the kingdom. All distant signals of the
old-fashioned disc or board pattern should be at once
replaced by the usual "swallow-tail" arm. A red
light should be the only danger signal. The practice.
of using purple or other lights is highly dangerous.
7. Facing points ought to be avoided as far as possible.
All facing points, and points leading to main lines,
ought to be provided with a locking bar and bolt, and
properly interlocked with the signals and with the elec-
tric apparatus. 8. At all junctions not only should
the levers be locked in the box, but an actual lock
should be placed upon the arm itself at the top of the
signal post; and in every case where electric repeaters.
are used they should work from the arm itself, not
from the rod in the usual way. 9. All passenger
trains ought to be provided with an efficient automatic
continuous brake, having brake blocks upon the wheels
of the engine, tender, and every vehicle throughout
the train, and fulfilling the five conditions laid down by
the Board of Trade, August 30th, 1877, and highly
approved by the society. To avoid the present danger-
ous practice of brake-power being cut off and rendered
useless by the introduction of an unfitted vehicle, it
ought to be the law that one company shall not be
allowed to send vehicles over the line of another com-
pany unless such said vehicle is provided with the same
form of continuous brake as that used by such foreign
T
274
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
company. 10. All goods engines should be fitted with
brakes upon their wheels, and those occasionally re-
quired for passenger traffic should have continuous
brakes. On lines having heavy inclines goods and
mineral trains should have two guards' vans and two
guards. 11. Tank engines should not run with the
coal bunker in front; they should be turned, like a
tender engine, and always run chimney first. Tank
engines should never be run at express speed, as they
are unsafe at such speed. 12. All passenger trains
should be fitted with efficient means of communication
with the driver and guards. Passengers should be
able to reach it without putting their hands outside the
window. The present cord system is unreliable, and
the plan of having no communication on trains which.
stop every twenty miles is very risky to the public.
13. All passenger platforms should be raised to the
standard height, and all carriages fitted with a high
continuous footboard, to avoid persons falling between
platforms and trains. 14. The crank or driving axles
of locomotive engines should be taken out after they
have run a certain mileage. What the mileage limit
should be ought to be at once decided by the companies.
and the Board of Trade. The society consider 200,000
miles for iron and 180,000 miles for steel a very rea-
sonable and safe suggestion for full consideration.
15. All tires should be fastened to their wheels, so that
if they break they cannot fly off. 16. All curves of ten
chains' radius and under should be provided with check
rails. 17. At all important junctions, to avoid the up
main line being crossed by the down branch, or vice
versa, it is very advisable that the branch line be
carried over a bridge and brought down to the main
line level, as done at Finsbury Park and a few other
junctions. 18. All waggons should be fitted with a
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
275
coupling, so that waggons could be coupled or un-
coupled without a man having to go between the
vehicles. 19. Overwork on railways is highly danger -
ous, and ought to be abolished. Ten hours a day is
plenty, and proper time for rest.ought to be allowed
between each term of duty. Eight hours of signal-box
work, considering its importance, should be enough;
and at very large and busy junctions six hours at a
stretch is as much as should be required. 20. Com-
panies' rule-books should be revised, and all rules not
intended to be carried out should be removed. 21. Un-
punctuality of trains is a great cause of accidents.
When an important passenger train is running late the
working time-table is rendered useless, as none of the
trains booked to shunt at various sidings do so, but
proceed to some other siding, and are therefore unable
to work as booked. When it is found, day after day,
that certain trains do not keep time, the time-table
should be properly altered in accordance with the actual
running or time necessary. 22. In case of fogs, great
care ought to be taken that the fog signalmen are sent
out early enough; but it is to be hoped that at no very
distant date one of the various mechanical appliances
will be adopted in place of fogmen. 23. All inclines
should be provided with "catch points" to prevent
vehicles running away.
If we compare these various suggestions with the
existing condition of things on railways, we shall arrive
at some idea of the manner in which the dangers of
railway travelling have been met. As regards the con-
struction of the lines and the maintenance of the per-
manent way, little need be said. In the early days of
railways, engineers were much exercised in the matter
of the selection of the most suitable form of rails. At
first error was made by a too great rigidity of perma-
T 2
276
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
nent way, but it was gradually made apparent that a
certain elasticity was necessary to be given to it to
ensure a thoroughly successful running. Stone blocks.
were largely in use in place of wooden sleepers, for the
first twenty years of railway traffic; cast-iron was also
largely experimented with in this connection, but here
again the rigidity was too great, and in course of time
the arrangement of rails, sleepers, "chairs," and
road-bed now in general use came to be adopted, steel
rails superseding iron, and other well-known improve-
ments having been effected, one of the latest being a
steel permanent way designed by Mr. F. W. Webb,
and now in course of trial on several lines with good
results so far.
We now come to what may be considered the most
important part of the system of protection which has
been slowly built up in connection with our railway
organization, and that is the system of signalling.
The story of the gradual development of this system,
from the first primitive hand-signal regulations to the
present elaborate block system arrangement, would be
too long a story to give here; it must suffice, therefore,
that we attempt to describe what the block system,
which has been so largely adopted and must necessarily
come to be universally used, really means.
So far back as the year 1843, Sir W. Fothergill
Cooke practically applied this system, based on the
principles of the needle telegraph, in the Queen Street
Tunnel, Glasgow; to him, therefore, may be credited
the invention of this great protective organization. The
next application of the principle was made by Mr.
Edwin Clark, who adopted what is called the permis-
sive block system on the London and North-Western
Railway, which consisted in checking the speed of the
following train if it trenched too closely upon its pre-
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
277
decessor. This, however, did not give absolute security.
Mr. C. V. Walker made another step in advance on the
South-Eastern Railway, by introducing a bell-signal
system; and still later Mr. W. H. Preece, for many
years chief electrician on the South-Western Railway,
worked out a system of visual signals, which were
placed in the signal-box, and gave an absolute reflex of
what occurred outside, and, in some cases, out of the
signalman's sight. Mr. Preece's system was first in-
troduced on the South-Western Railway, at Exeter, in
1860. The apparatus by which the signalling was
carried on was a beautiful combination of electrical and
mechanical principles. It supplied, first, a communi-
cation between two stations by which notice of the
approach, progress, and departure of trains and their
character was given; secondly, it afforded a "danger "
and "all clear" signal for protecting and guiding the
trains on each line of rails; thirdly, it gave the signal-
man at one station the sole and complete control over
the signal at the other station, and rendered it impos-
sible for him to interfere with or alter the signal in his
own box; fourthly, it ensured the proper acknowledg-
ment of every signal, and that the acknowledgment
should not only imply the due receipt of the signal
sent, but that it had been properly understood and
properly acted upon; fifthly, that the apparatus em-
ployed should be unaffected by those atmospheric and
cosmical causes which were so injurious to telegraphs
generally; and, lastly, it provided that any derangement
of the apparatus, or accidental delivery of a false
signal, either by the signalman himself or by the
mechanical interruptions to which wires are liable,
should at once indicate danger and produce safety.
From the time of the introduction of Mr. Preece's
system, the development of the block system of sig-
278
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
nalling was very rapid, and at the present time, out of
18,338 miles of line in the United Kingdom, there are
14,639 miles worked on the absolute block system,
leaving a balance of 3,317 miles which are still worked
upon insecure principles.
What is understood by the block system is the abso-
lute preservation of a definite space between the trains
running on a line of railway, so that each train is pro-
tected from the one immediately following it by this
interval. It has been objected that the term "block
system is not strictly correct, and that it should have
been " space" system. The practice of the system
depends for its success upon the degree of perfection to
which the apparatus used in carrying it out has been
brought, the simplicity of the operations its working
involves, the exactness of the rules and regulations.
devised for its working, and the efficiency of the disci-
pline prevailing. There are several systems of block
working in operation, but after the serious accident at
Canonbury Tunnel caused by the conflict of two differ-
ent codes, the leading companies saw the advantage of
adopting a more uniform system, and this came into
use towards the end of 1884. For the purposes of the
block system the line is divided into sections, varying
in length from a few chains to four or five miles, ac-
cording to the amount of traffic that has to be passed
over it. A signal-box is placed at the end of each
section, and is provided with electric bells and block
telegraph instruments for working the traffic in each
direction. Each signal-box is further provided with "Up"
and "Down," "Distant," "Home," and "Starting'
signals, and "Lie By" or shunting sidings are con-
structed at such places as it is found necessary to allow
a fast or important train to pass a slow train. Following
Mr. Stretton's description of the method of signalling,
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
279
it
may be explained that on the approach of a train to
signal-box A, the signalman there will call the attention
of the signalman at B, and then give the proper "Is
line clear?" bell and dial signals. The signalman at
B, after having ascertained that the line is clear for the
train to run upon, must repeat the signals; and when
he has received the necessary intimation from A that
he has repeated the dial-signal correctly, which intima-
tion must not be given by A until the bell-signal has
also been correctly repeated, he must peg the needle to
"Line clear." The train may then be despatched from
A. As soon as the train has passed A, the signalman
there must call the attention of, and give the bell-
signal "Train entering section, " to B, and the signal-
man at B must acknowledge the signal and unpeg the
needle. The signalman at A must then give to B the
proper “Train entering section" dial-signal, and when
the signalman at B has acknowledged that signal and
received the necessary intimation from A that his
acknowledgment is correct, he must peg the needle to
"Train on line," and then call the attention of, and
give the "Is line clear?" signal to C. As soon as the
train has passed B, it must be signalled, as above
directed, to C, and the signalman C must in like
manner call the attention of, and forward the "Is line
clear?" signals to D, and so on throughout the block
system. If the second train should arrive at a signal-
box before the preceding one has been signalled as
"Out of section," it must be brought to a stand and
detained at the starting-signal until such time as the
section ahead is clear.
In 1856 the system of the Interlocking of Points
and Signals was invented by Mr. Saxby. Previous to
that time-points were worked by levers in the ground,
and were perfectly independent of the signals, and it
280
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
frequently happened that signals were lowered when
points were in the wrong position. By Mr. Saxby's
invention the point and signal levers were brought
together and interlocked so that it was impossible for
an "all right" signal to be given which was not in
accordance with the position of the point-levers; and
successful steps have been more recently adopted for
combining the block and interlocking systems; it is
unnecessary, however, to go further into the details of the
signal system, the establishment of the block system
leaving little to be desired in the way of protective
measures of this kind. The adoption of the system
has involved the various companies in a great outlay,
the sum of £750,000 having been spent by the London
and North-Western Railway Company alone upon the
construction of block signals and stations, up to the
end of 1877; but the companies have been more than
compensated for this expenditure by the saving effected
in avoidance of the more serious loss which would
probably have been entailed by accidents that would
have resulted if the old system had been continued.
Trains moving under the block system have their way
prepared before them, and their passage carefully
guarded behind them, reducing the element of human
fallibility to a minimum.
Passing over the question of the pattern of signals,
the colours of lights, and the matter of facing-points,
we now come to the next most important consideration
in railway safeguards-that of brakes. Progress in
this direction was for many years very slow. Hand
brakes upon tenders and guards' vans were considered
sufficient for a long time; then came mechanical and
non-automatic continuous brakes, which were slow in
action, and were liable to fail at any moment. Self-
acting brakes were the next great step in advance, and
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
281
in their later developments every engine, tender, and
car to which these are applied carries its own store of
brake-power ready for instant use, so that if every
coupling in the train were to be broken, each vehicle
would stop itself. Under the direction of the Royal
Commission on Railway Accidents, a series of brake
trials took place at Newark, in June, 1875, the follow-
ing companies taking part in the trials:-The Midland
with the Westinghouse Automatic Brake; the Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire with the Fay; the London and
North-Western with the Clark and Webb; the Great
Northern with the Smith Vacuum; the Caledonian with
the Steel McInnes; the London, Brighton, and South
Coast with the Westinghouse Vacuum; the Midland
again with a Barker Hydraulic; and the Lancashire
and Yorkshire again with a Fay and a North-Eastern
engine. Out of these trials the Westinghouse Auto-
matic came first; the Fay and North-Eastern engine
second; and the Clark and Webb third. Numerous
other experiments followed, and continuous brakes
were soon largely adopted; and so important was the
question that in 1879 Parliament required the companies
to make returns as to these matters. Since then each
half-year's statistics show an increasing amount of
brake-power in use. In 1880 only thirty-six per cent.
of our railway carriages had been fitted with continuous
brakes, and only seven per cent. of them had brakes of
a kind considered as efficient by the Board of Trade.
At the present time eighty-six per cent. of carriages
are fitted with continuous brakes, although thirty-two
per cent. of these do not meet all the requirements of
the Board of Trade. The brakes which satisfy these
conditions are the Westinghouse Automatic, the Auto-
matic Vacuum, the Steel McInnes, and the Automatic
Friction. The two first-named, however, appear to be
282
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
the real competitors. The Brighton line, the North-
Eastern, the Great Eastern, the Caledonian, and the
North British rely on the Westinghouse; the Great
Western, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the London
and South-Western, and the Midland patronize the
Automatic Vacuum. The Midland has seventy-eight
per cent. of its vehicles fitted with the Automatic
Vacuum, five per cent. with the Westinghouse, and four
with Smith's Vacuum. This last-named brake is
returned as only complying with some of the require-
ments of the Board of Trade. It is the brake in use
on the Great Northern Railway, on most of the South-
Eastern stock, on the Metropolitan line, on the Cheshire
lines, and by several Irish railway companies. It is
not self-acting. Certain East Coast joint stock is
returned by the Great Northern Company as fitted
with both Vacuum and Westinghouse brakes. The
London and North-Western adheres to the Clark and
Webb's, and the brake known simply as the Vacuum.
The entire stock of the Metropolitan District Company
is fitted with the Westinghouse non-automatic, or air-
pressure brake. The London, Chatham, and Dover
appear to have only ten per cent. of their vehicles fitted
with continuous brakes, mostly the Westinghouse.
The authority previously quoted summarizes the
qualities of the two leading brake inventions with con-
siderable clearness. The action of the Westinghouse,
or pressure system, it is explained, is based upon the
use of compressed air, or pressure greater than the
15 lbs. of the atmosphere; whereas the vacuum system
is applied by the force of the atmosphere acting upon
one side of a piston, from the opposite side of which
about 12 lbs. of the atmospheric pressure has been
purposely drawn out or removed. The Westinghouse.
brake is continuous throughout the train, and is oper-
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
283
ated by compressed air stored in a main reservoir on
the engine, and in small reservoirs, one upon each
engine, tender, and carriage, all connected by a pipe
running the length of the train. There is also on each
vehicle a triple valve and brake-cyclinder, with pistons
connected to the brake-levers. Maintaining the pres-
sure in the brake-pipe keeps the brakes off; but letting
the air escape from the brake-pipe, purposely or acci-
dentally, instantly applies the brakes, by allowing air
to pass from the small reservoirs into the brake-cylin-
ders. The automatic vacuum brake is worked by at-
mospheric pressure of about twenty-four inches of mer-
cury, or 12 lbs. per square inch. This partial vacuum
is obtained by means of a steam-worked ejector fixed
upon the engine, and supplied with steam from the
locomotive boiler. The action of the ejector is in-
ductive, the effect of the steam jet being to draw out
the air from the train-pipe and all vessels in connection
therewith. Beneath each vehicle in the train is fixed a
cylinder, which is in communication with the train-
pipe. When the steam is turned through the ejector
all these cylinders are emptied of their contents; but
when from any cause, whether the accidental division
of the train or the intentional act of the driver or
guard, air is admitted to the train-pipe, a small ball-
valve is caused by the rush of air to change its posi-
tion, by doing which the passage from the train-pipe to
one side of the piston is closed, whilst the other side
is left open to the train-pipe. The piston is thus out
of equilibrium, and the unbalanced pressure upon its
under side forces it up, and brings the brake blocks
to bear upon the wheels. When it is desired to
release the brakes the air-inlet valves are closed, and
the ejector being set to work again, draws out the air
from the train-pipe and cylinders. As soon as the
284
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
pressure on the under side of the piston is reduced to
an equality with that on the top side, the ball-valve
opens the top side passage to the train-pipe, and the
two sides of the piston being in equilibrium, the brakes
fall off the wheels by their own weight and the weight
of the descending piston. Hence, in running, a
vacuum is maintained throughout all the pipes and
cylinders by means of the ejector, and the brakes are
applied by destroying the vacuum on one side only of
the brake pistons.
Notwithstanding all these safeguards, however, the
casualties on railways are more numerous and more
serious each year than necessary. Among those of
1886 which gave rise to official inquiries were twenty-
five collisions which were classed as having occurred
"within fixed signals," at stations or sidings, and which
resulted in the loss of two passengers and one servant
of the company killed, and 256 passengers and thirty
servants injured. Eight of these casualties were re-
ported to be mainly due to mistakes of signalmen in
block-working, arising from forgetfulness or want of
care. Two others were due to the combined mistakes
of signalmen and engine-drivers; six arose mainly from
want of care on the part of engine-drivers running
their trains at too high a speed, or not having them
under proper control, or not keeping a proper look-out
for signals. It is fair to drivers and guards to note that
some of these accidents occurred under very trying cir-
cumstances in densely foggy weather, for instance, or
during heavy snowstorms, which caused the breakdown
of the telegraph wires, and the suspension of the block
system of working. With regard to the inefficiency of
the system of fog-signalling at present in use, Major
General Hutchinson has from time to time strongly
advocated the adoption by the railway companies of
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
285
some uniform mechanical or electric device. Numerous
schemes have been suggested, but so far an absolutely
reliable working of the signal has not been sufficiently
assured in any one of them to lead to its adoption.
There is, besides, a serious difficulty in the way. This
arises from the fact that, owing to the, considerable.
interchange of traffic, joint action on the part of the
railway companies becomes absolutely necessary. If,
for example, the Great Northern Railway Company
decided to adopt any special system, then a certain
number of the locomotives belonging to each of the
eleven or twelve companies that have running powers.
on sections of the line would have to be fitted with the
same apparatus as that chosen; and if other trunk lines
were to choose different systems, it might even be
necessary for the same locomotive to be furnished with
appliances for two or three methods of signalling. It
seems probable, however, that unanimous action on the
part of the companies may be secured, for towards the
close of 1887 Sir Edward Watkin took steps for the
formation of a committee of representative railway men
for the express purpose of agreeing on the selection of
a system. Besides this question of unanimity, there
is the difficulty of the initial cost, which would have to
be incurred in the general adoption of any new system ;
and in these days of depression in trade, with dimin-
ished traffic resulting therefrom, it is no easy matter
for railway directors to sanction a large expenditure,
even upon improvements in the mode of operating such
traffic. The introduction of the block system was
opposed at first because of the great cost implied by its
adoption; yet at the present time, as we have seen,
there is no single company of importance which does
not consider it essential for the safe conduct of traffic,
and which does not regard the outlay as one of their
286
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
wisest investments. The expense attendant on the
introduction of an efficient method of fog-signalling
would, however, be insignificant compared with that
involved on adopting the block system; and even this
initial cost would be saved in a short time, when regard
is had to the sums now spent in doing the work imper-
fectly. It has been stated on good authority that the
cost of a single night's fog-signalling on the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway may be estimated at £500; and
to this may be added the inconvenience of collecting
the platelayers and getting them to their stations at a
moment's notice, either for a few minutes or for hours
together. In regarding the economical side of the
question, the loss sustained by accidents arising from
the inefficiency of the present system must be taken
into account. There was a notable illustration of this
in the Hornsey accident, which is said to have cost the
company £30,000 in compensation for loss of life,
injuries, legal charges, and damages to rolling-stock.
At the inquiry into the cause of the accident the engine-
driver said, "Although the fog was very bad, there
were no fogmen out at all," and the station-master
explained that "the fog came on so suddenly that he
had not time to send out the plate layers before the
accident occurred."
The frequency of accidents to individuals in getting
in and out of railway carriages has rendered obvious
the necessity for continuous footboards, which are only
thoroughly efficient when they are level with the plat-
form. There is a large proportion of the travelling
public who are either too impulsive or too headstrong
to observe regulations laid down for their protection,
and it is necessary to adopt every mechanical contriv-
ance that is calculated to preserve them from their
folly. Entering and alighting from trains in motion
RAILWAY PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.
287
are some of the commonest faults, and the continuous
footboard has often saved offenders from fatal conse-
quences. Other appliances designed for the protection
as well as the comfort of passengers are the communi-
cating cord, and the elaborate system of lighting the
trains.
With regard to the latter subject, the disaster which
happened to a train at Wannsee, near Berlin, in June,
1887, called attention to a new kind of accident, which
is as instructive as it was without precedent. Trains
have often been burnt. In the United States, indeed,
burning is the necessary complement of almost every
collision, in consequence of the stoves which heat the
carriages being overturned; but at Wannsee the con-
flagration was caused neither by stoves nor oil, but by
gas. One excursion train ran into the last carriage of
another which happened to be lit with gas. The shock
burst the gas-bag, and in a moment the carriage was a
mass of flames, with the result that three persons were
quickly consumed, and seven others severely burned.
There is no particular reason why this disaster might
not be repeated in England at any time, unless the
railway companies endeavour to make such changes in
their lighting arrangements as may prevent an accident
from being necessarily a holocaust.
Upon the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway for
some time several of the express trains have been
lighted with electricity, while in America the electric light
and a steam-heating arrangement have been adopted
on several lines. There is, however, still plenty of
room for a good deal of invention in the matter of
lighting, inasmuch as at present the use of the electric
light is very expensive. Storage batteries are objec-
tionable, besides being expensive, on account of the
dead weight to be carried by the train, but there are at
288
THE RISKS OF TRAVEL AND INDUSTRY.
least two other systems which promise to be successful.
In one of these, small dynamos are driven direct from
the axles, and in the other the dynamo is mounted on
the locomotive, and driven by a small engine supplied
with steam from the boiler. In the latter case con-
nections have to be made whenever the locomotive is
separated from the train, as must be the case on long
journeys; and in the former, the current ceases and
with it the light, whenever the train stops.
In a
matter of this kind it is obvious that the system
which is found to be most certain in working will
be adopted, just as eventually we look forward to a
general establishment of every safeguard which may
minimize the danger of travelling behind the iron
horse.
PART IV.
MAN AT STRIFE.
U
MAN AT STRIFE.
CHAPTER XV.
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
"THE exercise of violence under sovereign command,"
which constitutes war, has indeed an ancient history.
The first warlike king, we are told, was Osymand-
yas, who conquered Bactria more than two thou-
sand years before Christ, and it has been computed
that since his initiative venture there have been
sacrificed by belligerent countries considerably more
than seven billions of human beings. And in all war-
fare, probably more in modern conflicts than in primi-
tive times, results have to a large degree been governed
by chances," which neither science nor the develop-
ment of modern modes of warfare could have con-
trolled. We are well aware that the science of war
includes many different branches; that there are so
many necessary reflections to be made, so many causes
and circumstances to be brought together, that it is
only by a continual application, grounded upon the love
of his duty, and an inclination to his profession, that
any man can attain to success in it.
We know, too,
that to march an army into every sort of country,
whether open, woody, or mountainous; to know how
U 2
292
MAN AT STRIFE.
to form a camp in all those countries with which a
general must be well acquainted in order to do it with
security; to make a proper disposition for a battle,
whether with a view to the posture of an enemy, or to
the situation of the country; to be capable of making
a good retreat on a proper occasion; to direct the
forages without fatiguing or exposing the troops; to
send out detachments with precaution; to conduct the
convoys in safety; to know how to canton an army,
are all great ends in military science. To the perfec-
tion in these things of our English military and naval
heroes we owe much of our supremacy on land and sea.
Nevertheless, many of the decisive battles of history
have been governed by events which depended in a
manner upon chance, that troublesome element which
will always be liable to crop up so long as what Eras-
mus called “the malady of princes" is the arbiter of
international differences.
Medieval warfare has not received so much attention
from the historian as the military system which may
be said to have replaced it in the fourteenth century,
and which, with various modifications, has prevailed to
the present time, and in which the foot-soldiers consti-
tute, as in the Roman legions, the chief element. But
there were great captains and highly-disciplined and
formidable armies before then. The battle of Hast-
ings, and the subsequent reign of William the Con-
queror, naturally form the first mighty landmark in
English history; then come the exploits of Richard
Cœur de Lion, who was the most brilliant and accom-
plished soldier of his age. Afterwards were the wars
of the Scottish Independence, and through the next
five hundred years there was a continuity in military
organization, the essential part of which has been the
performance of the greater part of the real work in
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
293
war by infantry, to which arm the cavalry and artillery
have been, with some exceptions, merely auxiliary. Mr.
R. H. Clinton, in his valuable book "Crécy to Assye,"
gives a very interesting chapter upon the army reor-
ganization that was accomplished. Under the feudal
system, the feudal militia were organized, and every
freeman, by a statute enacted in the reign of Edward
III., became familiar with the use of arms, while the
force available for offensive purposes consisted of the
Military Tenants of the Crown, who, with their vassals,
were obliged to attend the King in war for a term of
forty days in each year. This period of embodiment,
however, was quite inadequate for a continental war,
from the time occupied in crossing and returning, and
the English sovereigns therefore accepted pecuniary
aid in lieu of personal services, which enabled them
to engage archers, light-armed infantry, and light
cavalry, from among their subjects or foreigners.
Nothing in the nature of a standing army existed at
this time. Up to Edward III., Mr. Clinton tells us,
the strength of the offensive force lay in the cavalry,
whether heavy or light, and "as little value was set on
the infantry, the archers, and billmen as on the arti-
ficers (masons, smiths, tentmakers, &c.), who were
generally obtained by impressment.'" The heavy-
armed cavalry consisted of the barons and their knightly
retainers. Plate-mail had superseded to a great extent.
chain-mail, and horses as well as men were covered
with defensive armour. Helmet, breast and back
plates, greaves, and gauntlets loaded the warrior, while
his charger was covered with plates, or chain-mail on
the neck, breast, and haunches, and masked with a
chanfron, from which an iron spike projected in the
middle of the forehead. Each mounted soldier had
a sword and a long lance, and sometimes a heavy
294
MAN AT STRIFE.
mace, which was slung from the saddle-bow. The
writer already quoted describes the "flower of the foot"
to be "the archers, who were sturdy yeomen equipped
with a long bow of yew, a sheaf of twenty-four aspen
arrows (which were feathered from the wing of a goose
or peacock), and for side-arms-to be used when his
missiles were exhausted-a sword or a short battle-axe,
or a murderous brownbill." They wore a buckler,
steel head-dress, and they had some portions of their
clothing strengthened with mail. The rest of the foot-
soldiers were light infantry, armed with long knives,
and furnished with skull-caps, quilted jackets, and iron
gloves.
Edward III. inaugurated a new custom. He created
troops by indenture; a proper rate of pay was fixed
for the archer who volunteered into the service, and as
the remuneration exceeded that of the artisan the
services of a sufficient number of men were easily
enlisted. Officers were available from the existing
knights, and thus a drilled army, approximating to the
modern model-" a mass of men skilled in the use of
military weapons, and taught to act in concert, was
created; an army in which the bowmen, the fore-
runners of the musketeers and riflemen of modern
times, were to take the most important part."
course of time the introduction of firearms demolished
archery as a chief factor in subsequent battles.
In
Rude cannon of brass and iron, and huge machines
like the ancient catapults, were requisitioned after the
use of gunpowder became in any degree understood,
and with these implements besiegers used to batter the
gates and walls of a city with great masses of stone.
Progress in the improvement of firearms was, however,
slow, due possibly to a conservative military prejudice
founded on the fact that all the great victories had
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
295
been won by the bow. Even to the close of the six-
teenth century the bow continued to be the weapon of
a considerable portion of the soldiers. Firearms had
been served out to the militia, and had been used by
them for some years, and pistols had been adopted by
the French cavalry in 1544; but they had not yet come
into use among the English, and hand mortars and
grenades were still a novelty in the infantry. This
was the condition of things at the time of the Spanish
Armada. Subsequently the development of firearms
was very rapid, and it is the idea of some economists,
which statistics seem to prove, that their progress and
universal use rendered battles less sanguinary.
During the second half of the present century more
murderous science has been bestowed on warfare than
ever before. The chief feature of military history for
twenty years of the period was the vast improvements
effected in firearms. We passed, by successive stages,
from smooth bore muskets of short range, inaccurate
firing and slow loading, to rifles of long range, great
accuracy, and rapid firing. In artillery the advance
was proportionate, and yet the result has been that the
proportion of killed and wounded was far greater with
the old-fashioned weapons than it is in the present day.
A few facts are sufficient to demonstrate this. At the
battle of Talavera, in 1809, the loss in killed and
wounded was one-eighth of those engaged; at Auster-
litz, in 1805, it was one-seventh; at Malplaquet, in
1709, at Prague, in 1759, and at Jena, in 1806, it was
one-sixth. At Friedland and Waterloo, in 1807 and
1815 respectively, the loss was one-fifth; at Marengo,
in 1800, one-fourth. At Salamanca, in 1812, out of
90,000 combatants 30,000 were killed and wounded.
In the same year, at Borodino, 25,000 out of 80,000
fell on the two sides. At Leipsic, in 1813, the
296
MAN AT STRIFE.
French sustained a loss of one-third of their total
effective force; at Preussich-Eylau, in 1807, 55,000
were killed and wounded out of a combined total of
160,000 combatants, giving a loss of more than one-
third; while at Zorndorf, in 1758, the most murderous.
battle which history records in modern times, out of
82,000 Russian and Prussian troops engaged, 32,800
were stretched upon the field at the close of the day.
Now let us come to the contrast. The first great
battle in which rifled firearms were used was that of
Solferino, in 1859, and when the war broke out it was
confidently predicted that the effects of the new weapon.
would be frightful; but the loss actually fell to one-
eleventh of those engaged. At Königgrätz, where, in
addition to rifled weapons, one side was armed with
breechloaders, the actual loss was further diminished
to one-fifteenth. Finally, we may take the Franco-
Prussian war, in which the proportions were-Worth,
one-eleventh; Gravelotte, one-twelfth; and Sedan,
one-tenth. This was the war, too, in which the death-
dealing mitraileuse was brought into action. Statistics.
such as these may doubtless surprise many who not
unnaturally have imagined that improved weapons en-
tailed increased slaughter. Battles are still sanguinary,
of course; but they are much less so than they were,
and not a tithe so ferocious.
Another point of view from which it is evident that
the soldier's life is more jealously guarded now, is the
great social feature of the present-day pace. Every-
thing goes ahead, and armies conform to the rapid
order of things. Military operations and results which
used to occupy years are now compressed into months,
or even weeks. The war of 1859 was declared by
Austria on April 26; the first action, Montebello, was
fought on May 19th, and the war was finished at Solferino
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
297
on July 24th. In 1866 the Prussians virtually declared
war by crossing the Austrian frontier on June 23rd, and
in seven weeks the latter power was forced to come to
terms at the very gates of her capital. Prussia received
the French declaration of war on July 19th, 1870. On
the 2nd of September France's last army in the field
was destroyed at Sedan, and the last shots were fired
on February 2nd, 1871. Here then we have at once,
as a writer in Fraser's Magazine pointed out five years
later, an immense saving of life. The long delays, which
meant for the soldiers exposure to the weather and to
sickness; the defective communications, entailing in-
sufficient food; the slowly dragging campaign, with all
its privations and hardships-all these fertile sources.
of disease and death have vanished, and are vanish-
ing. It is true that the French soldiers, both in and
out of Metz, suffered terribly from want of proper
food and supplies, but their administration was bad,
and the very magnitude of their defects will prevent a
repetition of them.
To pause, for comparison, we may take one or two
instances from the wars of the first Napoleon. What
was the state of his army during the invasion of
Russia in 1812, and before meeting the enemy other-
wise than in small skirmishes ?-" From the want
of magazines and the impossibility of conveying an
adequate supply of provisions for so immense a host,
disorders of every kind had accumulated in a fright-
ful manner on the flanks and rear of the army.
Neither bread nor spirits could be had; the flesh of
overdriven animals and bad water constituted the sole
subsistence of the soldiers, and before a great part
of the army had even seen the enemy, it had under-
gone a loss greater than might have been expected
from the most bloody campaign. When the stragglers
298
MAN AT STRIFE.
:
and sick were added to the killed and wounded the
total reached 100,000." Again Massena entered
Portugal in October, 1810; spent weeks and weeks in
futile examination of the lines of Torres Vedras, and
recrossed into Spain on the 3rd of April, 1811,
"having lost 30,000 men by want, sickness, and the
sword." As the only action of any importance that
occurred during the retreat was that of Barossa, at
which the French loss was under one thousand, it does
not require much calculation to estimate the propor-
tion of mortality due to "want and sickness." Such
protracted neglect and suffering would be impossible
now.
It is not merely on the battle-field, either, that the
soldier's risk is now diminished, but throughout the
whole campaign. Railways afford a more adequate
supply of medical and other necessaries to the front,
and a more rapid transfer of the sick and wounded to
the permanent hospitals. Explosive bullets are for-
bidden. The International Military Commission, which
in November, 1868, signed the Declaration of St.
Petersburg, demonstrated the length to which the spirit
of mitigating the horrors of war had extended. This
spirit, evinced so far back as 1759, when Admiral
Conflans told his captains not to use shells, but only
les armes généralement employées par les nations
policées, was emphasized by the Declaration, that not
only renounced the use of any projectile which was ex-
plosible, or charged with inflammable matter, and was
of a less weight than 400 grammes; but also laid
down as a general principle that the sole object of war
being to place hors de combat the largest possible
number of the enemy's troops, the use of weapons the
peculiarity of which was merely to increase mortality
and suffering was contrary to humanity. The Con-
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
299
ference at Brussels in 1874 was a further attempt to-
wards the mitigation of the "rigours of warfare," but
unfortunately it closed without important results.
The tendency of modern warfare would appear to be
towards establishing a result to be decisive for the war
in which it occurs. Thus, the struggle should be
fought at or near the frontier, and should be final, for
national superiority emphatically demonstrated cannot
be gainsaid or set aside. Austria, in 1866, saw and
accepted the inevitable in time to save herself, and had
France done the same in 1870, at least humanity
would have been the better served. The only effect
of her protracted resistance was to place her more and
more at the mercy of the conqueror, and to prolong
almost indefinitely that period for a renewal of the
struggle and of revenge, for which it is generally pre-
sumed she is waiting.
We may now turn to that movement, the adoption
of the principle of which would avoid any sacrifice of
life in warfare-viz., the movement for the promotion
of permanent and universal peace. After the long
agony of the Continental war had been brought to an
end by the peace of 1816, the country had enjoyed
comparative rest for many years in its foreign relations.
There was a distinct growth of pacific sentiments in
Europe, until after the accession of the Whigs (which
was at first deemed an additional guarantee for peace),
when a change in our foreign policy brought about wars
and rumours of wars. An increase of taxes was asked
for to enable Government to reorganize the militia, and
considerably to increase the armaments, and a commu-
nity of philanthropists, notably members of the Society
of Friends, felt themselves bound to resist such pro-
posals. In addition to the Peace Society, then in
existence, the National Defences Committee was formed,
300
MAN AT STRIFE.
expressly for the purpose of evoking public feeling
against the measures of the Government, with the
result that the Militia Bill was withdrawn. Having
achieved this immediate object, the friends of peace.
began another movement of a more definite nature.
They had frequently memorialized our own and other
governments in favour of arbitration, and Mr. Cobden,
towards the close of 1848, gave notice of his intention
to propose during the following Session an address to
Her Majesty praying that she would direct the Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs to enter into commu-
nication with Foreign Powers inviting them to concur
in treaties binding the respective parties, in the event
of future misunderstanding, which could not be arranged
amicably, to refer the matter in dispute to the decision
of arbitration. Arbitration was accordingly launched
as a plank of a political platform on the sea of public
opinion; and when Mr. Cobden's motion came to a
division, seventy-nine votes were recorded in its favour.
Encouraged by their success, the peace advocates got
up an International Peace Congress, which was held at
Brussels in 1848, and in which the moving spirits were
Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. Elihu Burritt, who had dis-
tinguished himself in America by his writings on
peace, and M. Auguste Visschers, who subsequently
acquired a European reputation as a savant and phi-
lanthropist. This was the first of that series of Peace
Congresses which have since been held in different
centres of Europe, the object of which was not to
proclaim the advent of a millennium of universal
peace, as it was the pleasure of many opponents to
represent. They sprung," says Mr. Henry Richard
in his Memoirs of Joseph Sturge, "from a precisely
opposite conviction, the conviction that unless some
measures were taken by governments and peoples,
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
301
!
during the lucid interval of comparative European
peace they were then enjoying, to provide some other
means than the sword for the adjustment of national
differences, and to reduce the standing armaments
which were growing with such ominous rapidity during
peace, there was the most imminent danger that Europe
would ere long be again dragged into the vortex of war.
They met, not to indulge in premature and sentimental
felicitations on the extinction of the evil, but to stimu-
late each other to labour in their respective countries,
and according to the measure of their influence and
ability, in support of taking such precautions as might
lessen the probability of its recurrence. To this end
they recommended that arbitration treaties should be
formed between nations; that the principle of non-
intervention should be universally adopted; that govern-
ments should come to an understanding for a mutual
and simultaneous reduction of their armaments; that
all encouragement should be given to the improvement
of international communication, the extension of postal
reform, the adoption of the same standard of weights,
measures, and coinage; that those engaged in the
education of youth, ministers of religion, and con-
ductors of the public press, should be exhorted to use
their influence to eradicate from the minds of men
those political prejudices and hereditary hatreds-
hatreds which have so often been the cause of war, and
to diffuse sentiments of peace and goodwill among the
people."
The outbreak of the Russian war, however, in 1854,
paralyzed for a time the efforts of the peace party,
although some of them, nothing daunted, and with a
heroism of purpose by no means worthy the odium that
in some quarters was heaped upon them, determined to
wait upon the Emperor of Russia in the interests of
302
MAN AT STRIFE.
peace. Mr. Sturge, Mr. Henry Pease, and Mr. Robert
Charleton were the gentlemen who went on the mission
-who quitted their families to undertake a long and
hazardous journey to those regions "where winter bar-
ricades the realm of frost." Their intention was
laudable, although it failed in accomplishment. They
were assailed by violent criticism on their return, and
from Mr. Kinglake's History it would appear that
although the Emperor had treated them with the
utmost consideration, and listened to their representa-
tions with something akin to sympathy, yet this feeling
afterwards changed into a frenzy of anger against the
Friends for having deceived him. Mr. Henry Richard.
disputes the accuracy of the historian of the Crimea
in this particular, or at all events doubts it, citing in
opposition to it the fact that after the death of the
Emperor, the Empress Dowager, who worshipped the
memory of her husband, on more than one occasion, in
interviews with members of the Society of Friends,
referred to the mission of Mr. Sturge and his compan-
ions in a very different tone from what might have been
expected had she been aware that the remembrance of
it had driven the Emperor to the transport of wrath
described by Mr. Kinglake.
When the ill-starred war was over, after there had
been left those half million of British, French and
Russian men in the Crimea, the representatives of the
Great Powers met to settle the terms of peace. The
friends of peace again stepped forward. They felt it
was a matter of great importance that the principle of
stipulated arbitration, for which they had been so long
contending, should, if possible, be recognized in the
new Treaty, and so become a part, as it were, of the
international law of Europe. Lord Palmerston received
a deputation from the Peace Congress Committee on
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
303
the subject; but while acknowledging that "associa-
tions like those there represented, though he could not
go with them to the full extent, must yet have great
influence on the general opinion of mankind, and
greatly dispose men to prefer the solid advantages of
peace to the more dazzling results of war," his lordship
gave little encouragement to the deputation. Notwith-
standing this rebuff, the peace party managed through
Lord Clarendon to get their representations placed
before the Congress of plenipotentiaries sitting in Paris,
where a resolution was ultimately passed recognizing
the duty of having recourse to arbitration-not indeed
in the binding form which the memorialists had ventured
to recommend, but still in a form sufficiently distinct
and emphatic to give to the great principle the full
sanction of that august assembly. It may be of addi-
tional interest to add the full text of the protocol :—
"The plenipotentiaries do not hesitate to express in
the name of their governments the wish that States
between which any serious misunderstanding may arise,
should before appealing to arms have recourse, so far
as circumstances might allow, to the good offices of a
friendly power. The plenipotentiaries hope that the
governments not represented at the Congress will unite
in the sentiment which has inspired the wish recorded
in the present protocol." This happy innovation, as
Lord Clarendon called the protocol, was subsequently
referred to by numerous statesmen. Mr. Gladstone
spoke of the proposal to submit international differences
to arbitration as a very great triumph-" a powerful
engine in behalf of civilization and humanity "—and
one which "asserted the supremacy of reason, of
justice, of humanity and religion." Lord Derby re-
ferred to it as the "principle which, to its endless.
honour, was embodied in the protocols by the Confer-
·
304
MAN AT STRIFE.
ence of Paris"; and the Earl of Malmesbury looked
upon this act of the Conference as one of the most
important to civilization and to the peace of Europe,
"because it recognized and established the immortal
truth that time, by giving place for reason to operate, is
as much a preventive as a healer of hostilities."
The peace party did not relax their energies and
their efforts; they started newspapers to advance their
principles, and the more prominent of them personally
enforced their arguments at many of the courts of
Europe with great success.
The more recent progress of international arbitration
has been described by Mr. Henry Richard in two
papers he read at the conferences of the Association for
the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations at
Cologne, and from these we gather some interesting
facts relating to the prevention of hostilities, and ap-
propriate to the present chapter. Since the Alabama
case was disposed of by the Tribunal of Geneva, there
have been numerous instances of the amicable settle-
ment of international differences in the manner sug-
gested by the early members of the peace party. The
celebrated Mixed Commission which was to inquire into
all outstanding claims made by subjects of Great
Britain upon the Government of the United States,
and vice versú, had no fewer than 478 claims on the
part of the former, and nineteen on the part of the
latter, to investigate, and they accomplished their task
in a manner that elicited encomiums from the Times,
which has not always written very favourably of arbi-
tration. That journal added that “ we have now dis-
covered how justice can be meted out to individuals,
and a difficulty permanently removed without the
whole nation being burdened with immeasurable con-
sequences.' In 1874, a question that had been in
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
305
long dispute between England and Portugal, as to the
possession of Delagoa Bay and the surrounding ter-
ritory on the East coast of Africa, was referred to the
arbitration of the President of the French Republic.
In July, 1875, Marshal MacMahon assigned the dis-
puted territory to Portugal, and the British Govern-
ment and nation acquiesced almost without a mur-
mur. For many years there had been a dispute be-
tween Switzerland and Italy on the question respecting
the frontier near Peschiaro, and the two governments.
referred their difference to the Hon. P. Marsh, the
United States Minister at Rome, who pronounced in
favour of Italy, Switzerland cheerfully accepting the
decision. The same principle was successfully applied
in regard to disputed boundary between the territories
of Persia and Afghanistan, and what is known as the
Seistan Arbitration arrested a possible war between the
Shah of Persia and the Ameer of Cabul. Sir Thomas
Wade, our British Minister at Pekin, was the arbiter
some years ago in a serious quarrel, which threatened
at one time to involve fighting between China and
Japan, countries which subsequently enlisted the
mediation of the late President Grant relative to
the sovereignty of the Islands of Loo Choo. The
Emperor of Russia acted in the capacity of arbitrator
in a dispute in which Japan was again implicated, but
this time with Peru; and in the year 1879 Spain and
the United States enlisted the services of the Italian
Ambassador at Washington to adjudicate between the
two governments in reference to certain claims of
indemnity put forward by American citizens in Cuba
for injuries alleged to have been suffered during the
Civil War in that island. Afterwards came the Arbi-
tration of the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Fishery Com-
mission between Great Britain and the United States.
X
306
MAN AT STRIFE.
The award was in favour of Great Britain so far as two
of the Commissioners were concerned, who adjudged
the United States to pay five million dollars, or about
a million sterling, to the Canadian fishermen. Mr.
Kellog, the United States Commissioner, objected to
this finding, and the United States might have refused
to be bound by it, yet instead, as Mr. Richard says, of
"discrediting the principle of arbitration," they sub-
mitted to the award and paid the money. Arbitration,
though the British, Italian, and United States govern-
ments offered to act, was refused in the dispute between
Chili and Peru, with the result that a miserable war
was carried on with aggravated barbarity, and to the
desolation of South America. The bitter lesson,
happily, was not lost upon Chili, for some years later
she signed a Convention with Columbia to submit
to arbitration all questions in dispute between the
two Republics. The offices of the French Court
of Cassation were obtained in determining what was
known as the Nicaragua dispute, and Great Britain and
Nicaragua settled a long-standing controversy in like.
manner half a dozen years ago. The dispute between
Chili and the Argentine Republic, as to frontier
boundary, was settled by arbitration about the same
time, and the principle is developing as the improved
spirit of diplomacy is growing among nations and
governments.
One of the latest instances of the growing tendency
to settle disputes amicably on the lines of the Protocol.
No. 23 of the Paris Conference is the appointment of
the new Fisheries Commission, which was announced
in the House of Commons almost at the end of the
Session of 1887. The Commission was charged with
the settlement of the disputes between this country,
the United States, and Canada.
THE CHANCES OF WAR.
307
It should also be mentioned that the London Peace
Society, in furtherance of the objects of which we have
given an outline, is trying to effect "a permanent Arbi-
tration Treaty between the United States and England."
Two hundred members of the House of Commons
memorialized the Government of Washington in its
favour, and Mr. William Jones, the Secretary of the
society, arrived in America in the early part of Septem-
ber, 1887, upon his peaceful mission. He was forti-
fied by a letter from another veteran pioneer in the
same cause, Mr. John Bright, who, speaking of the
projected treaty, said: "The project is a reasonable
one, and discussion on both sides may bring it about.
I think, if the Government of the States were willing,
and were in any way to signify their willingness, to
become a party to such a treaty, there is a force of good
men with us to induce our Government to consent to it.
If this can be done, it will be a grand step forward in
the world's march, and would be followed, at some not
distant time, by some other nations willing to escape
from the sore burden of these military armaments. You
will doubtless see many intelligent and leading men in
the States, and will learn something of their feelings
on this matter. They may receive you as a trustworthy
representative of the moral and peace-loving people in
England, and I hope your interviews may do some-
thing in the direction that you and I so greatly desire.
I find that nearly 200 members of the House of Com-
mons are addressing a memorial to the Government at
Washington to suggest an Arbitration Treaty such as
I have described. More, far more I hope, than this
number will be ready to urge the acceptance of such a
treaty upon our Government if the action at Washing-
ton should meet with any favour and success. Eng-
land and the States will remain two nations, but I
X 2
808
MAN AT STRIFE.
would have them always regarded by themselves as
one people. An arbitration treaty honestly made and
adhered to would tend much to this blessed result."
Who can estimate the lives that have been spared,
and the amount of treasure saved the wide world over,
by the earnest, self-sacrificing efforts of the noble army
of apostles of peace who, in season and out of season,
have striven to make their humane principles the
adopted guides to international controversy ? They
have accomplished much, though we are still a long
way off the day when strong nations shall beat their
"swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks," and abandon war for ever.
309
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
How far we are from that consummation hinted at, in
the foregoing chapter, and imagined and vividly de-
picted by Wiertz upon one of his canvases in the
celebrated gallery at Brussels, when the Angel of
Peace shall break the "last cannon"; or from the
realization of Pope's ideal of Peace extending her olive
wand o'er the world, are problems which the present
generation at least is not likely to solve. To-day, when
a faint breath of diplomatic discord is sufficient to set
Europe and the world on the tiptoe of expectancy of
actual conflict, it does indeed appear as though the
olive branch of the poet and of the philanthropist were
destined to wither in the chill blasts of reality.
suggestions of Grotius, Kant, Stuart-Mill, and hosts of
successors, to form an International Tribunal for the
settlement of international differences are set at naught
upon the least pretence, and forgotten until the record
of some new bloody struggle makes the world shudder
and wish that it "had not been."
The
The world still remains faithful to its old traditions.
The only difference is that wars may be more quickly
terminated than formerly. However, it is said that all
mitigations of the laws and usages of war point to the
noble ideal of the lovers of mankind-a perpetual
peace. One of the greatest of these mitigations is the
310
MAN AT STRIFE.
spirit of humanity to man, encouraged and developed
by the Military and Civil Ambulance Systems. One
writer on the subject, to whom we subsequently refer,
says that ambulance aid, and the good it can bestow
upon humanity, remains still almost undeveloped; that
though there is a growing spirit of humanity abroad,
and an intense desire to lessen as far as possible the
bitterness of human suffering, yet there is an ignorance
of the method of doing it. In ambulance work he sees.
one method, whether it be upon the battle-field or in
the more peaceful emergencies of life.
It is the ambulance work and equipment under
military organization that we shall consider first. The
prosecution of the work has been greatly aided by the
result of the Conference of Geneva which sat in 1864.
The delegates had certainly a good precedent in the
Treaty of 1759 between France and Prussia, when so
finished a soldier as Frederick the Great recognized
the distinction between combatant and non-combatant.
The following European Convention was signed on
August 22nd, 1864-(1) The ambulances and military
hospitals to be neutral, and protected while they con-
tain sick or wounded men. (2) All persons attached
to the hospitals and ambulances to be protected as long
as they pursue their avocations; and (3) may even
after the occupation of the ground by the enemy con-
tinue to perform their functions unmolested.
(4) The
matériel of military hospitals shall be subject to the
laws of war, but ambulances under similar circum-
stances to continue in possession of their matériel.
(5) Inhabitants of the country assisting the wounded
shall be respected and remain free, and be favoured in
various ways. (6) Sick and wounded soldiers to be
received without distinction of nationality. (7) A red
cross flag, corresponding in both camps, to be placed.
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
311
with the national flag over all hospitals and depôts.
(8) The execution of the present Convention to be
regulated by the Commanders-in-Chief of the belligerent
armies. (9) The Protocol to remain open for future
adhesions. (10) The Convention to be ratified at
Berne within four months.
To Frenchmen, with the approval and assistance of
the first Napoleon, is due the initiation of the Ambu-
lance system. Baron Larrey, just before the com-
mencement of the eighteenth century (in 1792), intro-
duced his ambulances volantes, or flying field hospitals.
These were light carriages capable of moving about from
place to place with remarkable expedition. They were
like the flying artillery of the time. Adapted not only for
affording all that was necessary in the shape of surgical
help, they were constructed to remove the wounded
with celerity out of reach of the fighting. The troops
were delighted with Larrey's conception, consequently
it rose in great favour, and was ere long brought to a
high condition of perfection. A necessary adjunct to
Larrey's transport conveyances was the corps of bran-
cardiers, or stretcher-bearers, introduced almost simul-
taneously by another French army surgeon, Baron
Percy. The brancardiers were a number of soldiers
trained and thoroughly equipped. for the duty of col-
lecting the wounded while the battle was in progress,
and carrying them on stretchers away from the line of
fighting to the stations where Larrey's means of surgi-
cal aid and assistance were provided. Conjointly the
two systems became necessary auxiliaries in the French
army.
Notwithstanding the development in the efficiency of
the ambulance service of other countries, who possibly
found increased attention to this branch of organization
necessary on account of being more frequently pressed
312
MAN AT STRIFE.
with wars, the British army was found in a lamentable
state under this as well as under every other head in
the Crimea. It was not from want of warning, for the
experiences of the Peninsular war, and the subsequent
writings of Peninsular surgeons, were enough to have
prevented the melancholy exhibition of callous neglect
of our wounded. A complete scheme of an ambulance
establishment was actually formulated by one of the
Peninsular surgeons (Millingen) at the close of that
campaign, to avoid in future contests any repetition of
the unnecessary suffering; but it was passed over, and
ultimately ignored. Thus when the Crimean war broke
out we were still without an ambulance corps, or an
ambulance establishment of matériel. Hastily a corps
of military pensioners was raised; but what could en-
feebled constitutions and infirmity do in the face of the
difficulties to be encountered? A civilian corps was
substituted, but the ignorance of its members of
military discipline and habits foredoomed it to failure.
The sick transport vehicles were likewise inefficient,
and not alone was Lord Raglan, after the battle of the
Alma, embarrassed for the means of dealing with his
poor suffering men-the conveyance of them down to
the beach for shipment to the military hospitals at
Scutari was a work of delay and misery to all con-
cerned. The same was experienced at Sebastopol, and,
in fact, throughout the contest.
The French arrange-
ments, on the other hand, were excellent; their am-
bulances at least were comfortable, and their invalids
were transported to the beach with ease and safety.
At last we profited by experience, and after 1856 a
trained Army Hospital Corps was founded, and much of
the ambulance equipment revised. There was at first
one impediment in the way of perfecting such a branch
of the service, and that was the costliness of its mainte-
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
313
nance in times of peace; but to a great extent this has
been overcome by the organization under the existing
régime, which is very lucidly explained by Surgeon-
Major J. G. H. Evatt, who, besides making a very valu-
able contribution on the subject of Ambulance Organi-
zation; Equipment and Transport, to the literature of
the International Health Exhibition of 1884, delivered
a lecture there, in which he described the rules that now
govern military arrangements for the purpose of giving
ambulance-aid in war time. An English army corps,
he explained, is the largest organized unit of the entire
body of the English army, and it consists of 36,000
men, 12,900 horses, and 90 pieces of artillery, besides
about 1,400 carts and waggons. That organization
is broken up into smaller parts-a first division, a
second division, and a third division of infantry; a
cavalry brigade and artillery-that is to say, a body of
troops, artillery and engineers, which is called the
Corps Troops. Those divisions and brigades are again
broken up into minor units, consisting of infantry
battalions, cavalry regiments, and batteries; and in
those divisions there are twelve units-viz., six regi-
ments of infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and four
batteries of artillery. There is also a company of
engineers. In the division of the corps artillery there
are thirty guns, which are divided into five batteries,
and there are two companies of sappers and miners.
This is an English army corps as it stands in battle
array. The ambulance arrangements are governed, and
the sick and wounded cared for in this way:-With
every battalion, or regiment, or battery is posted a
medical officer, who has with him from two to four
men per company who are trained in ambulance drill.
When a man is shot down in battle, these men are on
the spot to immediately attend to him, stop the bleed-
314
MAN AT STRIFE.
ing, and put on the first rough dressing. The victim
is then removed from the range of fire, and comes
under the jurisdiction of the Bearer Ambulance Com-
pany. These companies consist of about 200 soldiers
of the Army Hospital Corps, and eight medical officers,
who form a distinctly new unit in military organiza-
tion." Owing to the absence of this organization in
the Crimean war, Surgeon-Major Evatt points out, great
suffering occurred among the troops-in fact, down to
the era of the Franco-German war the arrangements in
the army for affording aid to the wounded were very
defective indeed. The only arrangements which existed
were battalion arrangements, or simply the regimental
surgeon and his men.
The Bearer Company have in their charge plenty
of surgical instruments, all the necessary appliances,
cooking apparatus, and plenty of covering; they have
their own transport, so that they can move forward with
the army, or backward if necessary. With the com-
pany the wounded are left; with them they get their
wounds first thoroughly dressed; they are fed, and in
serious cases are passed back to the field hospitals. In
the Crimean campaign, and in fact until within the
last few years, we had no proper military field hospitals
organized. These hospitals advance at varying dis-
tances with the army, leaving a base hospital to which
the injured soldier is ultimately sent if he does not
recover sufficiently to go again to the front. From the
base hospital he is transferred to the regularly fitted
hospital ship, and passed on home to Netley, Woolwich,
Portsmouth, or one of the other great army hospitals.
in England.
Such is the Army Ambulance Organization system,
which, however, appears to be still very deficient in
strength. An examination of the matériel of the
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
315
1
Ambulance service, and even that carried by the indi-
vidual soldiers in war time, affords considerable interest.
Every medical officer carries a case of instruments in a
pouch worn over the left shoulder. Every battalion
and battery has its "Field Companion "a small port-
able medicine case containing compressed drugs, re-
storatives, bandages, and the materials needed in first
dressings. What is called the "Surgical Havresac,"
containing bandages, restoratives, a simple dressing-
case, and tourniquets, is a necessary equipment of the
Bearer Companies, who also carry water bottles. In
Continental armies knapsacks with contents very similar
to those of our Field Companion are much used, and
special saddle-bags are provided for the cavalry, con-
taining similar matériel. Our fighting soldiers, or at
any rate a large proportion of them, carry a bandage
and some dressing.
lie upon.
In all ambulance aid the stretcher is one great
essential, and, as in other details of equipment, Surgeon-
Major Evatt gives some interesting particulars of them.
The stretcher used in the Crimea consisted of two side-
poles kept apart, when open, by two iron rods called
traverses, and a canvas sheet for the wounded man to
When the traverses were unhooked the poles
came together, and could be rolled up in the canvas.
There were no legs, and consequently, if it were neces-
sary to deposit it, the patient ceased for the time being
to have the rest it otherwise afforded. As is the case
with nearly every description of appliance connected
with the preservation or the saving of human life, so
with stretchers-the invention of them has known no
bounds. It must suffice to mention that Surgeon-
Major Faris was the inventor of the present regulation
army stretcher. It is solidly built, and consists of two
side-poles of ash, brown canvas bottom, a pillow, two
316
MAN AT STRIFE.
self-locking traverses, which lock under the stretcher and
keep it open. There are four wheels of lignum vitæ, on
which the stretcher rolls into the ambulance waggon,
and which act as legs when used as a camp-bedstead, a
use to which all army stretchers are liable. To aid
the bearer, it has two leather slings, one at either end,
which the bearers put over their necks like a milkman's
yoke, and so relieve their arms of part of the weight.
The dhoolie, a closed-in litter, is a commodious means
of carriage, and has formed the staple sick transport
in all our Eastern wars. The approved dhoolie is the
design of Surgeon-Major Bourke, of the Army Medical
Department. In the Affghan campaign the dandy—a
cot slung from pole to pole-was used for the same
purpose as the stretcher. Wheel-stretchers are included
in the military equipment; but, of course, are not so
frequently of use as they are for civil purposes, on
account of the broken and irregular ground over which
battles have to be fought. Good mule equipment has
been necessary for our various wars, and pack animals
are used to carry medicine panniers, which are con-
trived so that when opened out they form an operation-
table. For the carriage of wounded two different mule
equipments are used, viz., cacolets, and the mule litter
-the latter a slung couch, carried on either side of a
mule, and supports a person at full length. In the
last Egyptian war horses were utilized for this purpose;
and if cavalry horses were trained, it has been suggested
that numerous cacolets and litters should be carried
by each regiment. Camel dhoolies are other methods
of transport.
Those vehicles which are regularly drawn by horses
are the surgery waggons of the Bearer Company, the
pharmacy waggon of the Field Hospital, the equipment
waggon of the Field Hospital, the kitchen waggon of
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
317
the Field Hospital, the water-cart of the Bearer Com-
pany and Field Hospital, the laundry waggon of the
Field Hospital, and the electric light waggon of the
Field Hospital.
Railways have played an important ambulance part.
in the wars of recent years. Baron Larrey was the
first to suggest contrivances to be adopted upon rail-
ways, and in 1860 Dr. Gwilt, of the Prussian service,
invented a system of hammocks; but to the United
States belongs the most efficient development of the
adaptability of trains for use in time of war.
It is a more difficult matter to separate the voluntary
ambulance and hospital assistance afforded to the
American army from that which the Establishment
itself provides than is the case with any other country,
inasmuch as nearly the whole of the assistance of this
description in the war for the Union was voluntary.
The commencement of the contest found the Union
totally unprepared. Since the War of Independence.
America had turned her thoughts almost exclusively to
internal affairs, and in time of peace a force of 12,000
or 15,000 men was found sufficient, and the medical
wants of the troops seem to have been satisfactorily
provided from the bureau at Washington. It became
therefore necessary to create almost out of nothing a
sufficient force, with all the usual appendages, and how
America accomplished the task may be told as one of
the prodigies of a self-governing people. During the
early days of the war, the almost total want of phy-
sicians, hospital attendants, and all hospital articles,
raised terror and confusion, not only in the army, but
among the whole people. Voluntary contributions had
been employed to equip for the field the 75,000 men
for whom the President had first called. If willing
and hearty self-sacrifice were shown by those who
318
MAN AT STRIFE.
rushed to arms in the spring of 1861, they were no less
to be found in those who remained behind. Within ten
days of the President's call, public meetings had been
held in nearly every loyal town, and everywhere war
funds had been organized by the patriotism of the in-
habitants. Contributions had also to be raised for
sanitary purposes.
Before the civil war had continued two years, the
head of the sanitary department had several times been
changed, and yet the arrangements were not adequate.
At length a man who, by his energetic character, the
practical experience he had collected during his former
services with the regular army, and the confidence re-
posed in him by the Minister of War, seemed to be
eminently qualified for the task-assumed the control
of this department and carried out the necessary
reforms. Under his direction, during the last two
years of the war, when upwards of a million com-
batants were under arms in defence of the Union, the
sanitary arrangements of the army were not found
wanting. When we consider the enormous number of
men placed hors de combat in the great battles (at
Gettysburg, the wounded alone were reckoned at
30,000), we may form some idea of the scale on which
it was necessary to form an adequate system of relief.
During the last year of the war the number of army
surgeons elected amounted to not less than 500; be-
sides these, 2,000 civil surgeons were employed in the
service of the troops in the field and in the hospitals.
Every sick or wounded man from the moment he
entered the hospital or the battle-field till the day of
his recovery ceased to be a member of the active army,
and the sanitary corps alone was responsible for him.
At the beginning of the contest the Union did not
possess a single large military hospital throughout the
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
319
land; during the continuance of the war 195 large
hospitals alone were erected, offering in all accommo-
dation for 195,000 men. If the arrangement of these
hospitals, with their admirable ventilation, their heating
apparatus, and their constant supply of fresh water,
was worthy of all commendation, the transport system
by the railroads and great rivers was no wise inferior.
On the eve of battle forty railway waggons stood at
certain stations in readiness to start. Each waggon,
containing from thirty-five to forty men lying down,
was in itself a moveable hospital, supplied with kitchen,
provision, pharmacy, and medical attendance, and was
so constructed that the motion of the train at full speed
might be as little felt as possible. When the transport
was by water, steamers were employed, either built ex-
pressly or fitted up as hospital ships. According to the
official report of the 8th of September, 1863, there
died of the army of the United States, during the first
year of the war, 67.6 men per thousand. One million
and fifty-eight thousand soldiers were stated to have
been in the hospitals of the Union during the four
years of the contest; of these only eight per cent. had
died. Truly no country has equalled America in the
care of its own soldiers-a fact which received peculiar
emphasis when an Act was passed in March, 1864,
entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of
Ambulances in the United States."
The system became naturalized in Germany in 1850,
when it was first wholly adopted by Austria. Every
company consisted of thirty-two soldiers, who were
provided with poles with which two men might form
a litter to bear the wounded from the field. About 200
sanitary soldiers, exclusive of officers, would be allotted
to a force of 25,000 men. They would be furnished
with three or four ambulances and three field hospitals.
320
MAN AT STRIFE.
Of this corps 180 men would be engaged in the field
and in the ambulances, the remainder in the hospitals.
Thus in hospitals designed for 500 sick and wounded,
there would not be more than twenty sanitary soldiers
employed. Compared with this an old Prussian regu-
lation of the year 1753 contrasts favourably, by which
one man and one woman were allotted to every ten
sick men in hospital. But how would it fare with the
soldier on the battle-field? According to the losses in
modern warfare, an army of 25,000 men would suffer
a diminution in its strength of twelve per cent. Of
these 3,000 one-third might be reckoned as killed,
and two-thirds as wounded. At the utmost 180 sani-
tary soldiers were to be relied upon for the service of
the 2,000 wounded, who have to be sought in distant
parts of the field, and borne under circumstances of
the greatest difficulty and danger to the ambulances
lying away from the fire. And if the greater part of
those in need of immediate assistance could be carried
from the field, the ambulances would be far too few in
number to contain them. Later Prussian regulations,
however, supplied an army corps with three principal,
and three light field hospitals, and a company of 120
men was attached to each moveable hospital. Every
battalion, division or regiment of cavalry possessed one
staff and one assistant-surgeon, and to each company or
squadron a hospital assistant was allotted. By a regu-
lation of the 11th of January, 1866, hospital assistants
were allowed to retain both the rank and pay of under
officers, and had the prospect of becoming hospital
inspectors. But although the Prussian sanitary system
sufficed for the Schleswig-Holstein campaign of 1864,
it fell far short in the subsequent war with Bohemia.
In most of the quickly erected hospitals at Königgrätz
there was a want of almost everything. Near the
THE MILITARY AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
321
battle-field the wounded soldier looked in vain for
shelter, and there was nothing like an adequate supply
of conveyances. Yet everything on wheels that could
be found, or improvised, or spared by the army, was
used for transport purposes, and the interior of every
house round about that offered a safe shelter had been
appropriated by the sanitary service. The roads were
crammed with transport waggons, filled with officers.
and soldiers in every stage of suffering. From the
heat and the want of water the wounds soon assumed
a terrible character, and surgical aid was everywhere
wanting. The scene was indescribable; and yet if
the Prussian sanitary arrangements were wanting,
those of Austria were far more inefficient. Dr. Julius
Naundorff afterwards recorded the events of the
campaign with especial reference to this lamentable
feature, and his warnings and comments were not lost
upon the Prussian army, as was sufficiently evident in
the war of 1870. The German army now has com-
panies of bearers, distinguished by a particular uni-
form, whose duty is to gather the wounded during
battles, and to carry them to the dressing and field
hospital stations. Each of these bearer columns con-
sists of a military staff of officers for discipline and
direction, non-commissioned officers, buglers, and a
large number of bearers; a special medical staff, with
assistants and dressers; a transport staff of non-com-
missioned officers and drivers, with a certain number
of stretchers, wheeled stretcher supports, sick trans-
port waggons, and store waggons for the carriage and
instruments, dressings, and other necessary materials.
Separate establishments exist for the field hospitals.
In addition, auxiliary sick bearers are provided for
service on the occasion of battles, corresponding to that
of the British army.
Y
322
MAN AT STRIFE.
The systems in other European armies are very
similar, although experts say that in no country is
the ambulance system as perfect as it should be, or
as complete and efficient as the principles of humani-
tarianism demands.
323
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
WITHOUT disparaging the fame of M. Henri Dunant,
to whom is undoubtedly due the origination of the
noble humane Society of the Red Cross, we owe to the
ministering influence of woman the blessings which
have relieved the agony of the soldier's wounds, brought
peace to his soul while his body was in the midst of
carnage, and brightened the last moments of those who
during the last thirty years have been sacrificed in war.
Florence Nightingale was the first great pioneer who
set forth from England and her beautiful home at
Embly in Hampshire, in response to the heartrending
cry of distress from the East that pierced England's
heart soon after the commencement of hostilities with
Russia. Our wounded soldiers were huddled together,
languishing on their rough beds, destitute of attention,
comfort, and of the necessary remedies which an ordi-
nary Sanitary department might have been expected
to have had available—“ crushed by the cold unfeeling
iron heel of Routine, and by the heavy murderous hand.
of Mismanagement." The scene which M. Dunant
witnessed at Solferino a few years later had been pre-
viously enacted among the troops whom Florence
Nightingale went out to succour. Among the thou-
sands of wounded soldiers, were hundreds who for
lack of refreshment were fast yielding to hunger and
thirst, and weariness; hundreds whose lives were to be
Y 2
324
MAN AT STRIFE.
saved by a little water and a morsel of bread, but
who cried for either in vain; and hundreds more who,
still breathing, awaited the medical aid which was so
terribly deficient.
The expedition headed by our heroine consisted of a
band of thirty-seven nurses, many of them, like herself,
volunteers from the higher ranks of life-ladies accus-
tomed to luxury and ease, yet not unaccustomed to tend
the suffering and the dying in the hospitals at home-
and including twelve nuns from the Convent at Nor-
wood, under charge of their Superioress, an Irish lady.
They started for their destination on Tuesday the 24th
of October, 1854, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Brace-
bridge, his wife and a courier. On the 5th of No-
vember, the dauntless party arrived at Constantinople,
and the whole company were soon established in the
Barrack Hospital of Scutari. There was another hos-
pital at Scutari, the General Hospital, and both had
been given over by the Turks to the English for the
accommodation of the sick and wounded. On realizing
to-day the state of things which met the little band of
ministering angels in this place-the "silver city" on
the Bosphorus-as soon as they arrived, we marvel they
did not repent their journey on the very threshold of
their errand of mercy. The condition of the hospitals
was horrible. Neglect, mismanagement and disease
had combined to render the scene one of inconceivable
hideousness. Fever and cholera were rampant; medi-
cal aid was scarce, and food was scarcer. "Out of the
four wards committed to my charge," says one of the
nurses writing home, "eleven men died in the night,
simply from exhaustion, which, humanly speaking, might
have been stopped could I have laid my hands upon
such nourishment as I know they ought to have had."
Bad as Miss Nightingale found the state of things in
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
325
¡
!
regard to medicine, medical attendance and food, it
was not worse than the arrangements in regard to
hospital clothing. But for the supplies provided by
the voluntary fund at home, most of the invalids must
have been without underclothing, and been condemned
to wear the filthy rags which they had brought from
the Crimea.
The training Miss Nightingale had received as hos-
pital nurse, and the natural instinct to overcome diffi-
culties with which she was liberally endowed, rapidly
effected a revolution in the condition of things. She
educed comparative order out of chaos, with little con-
fusion, and at the same time managed to cheer and
solace the afflicted ones in both hospitals.
She was
ubiquitous at the bedside of the wounded soldier,
stanching his wound and soothing his pain, in the
laundry, and in the kitchen, she was ever active. For
long after her arrival she was the real purveyor of
the hospitals, and but for her many a poor fellow
must have died. In one of the letters from Mr.
Macdonald, who was compelled to return to England
from failing health, he says-"Wherever there is
disease in its most dangerous form, and the hand
of the spoiler distressingly nigh, there is that in-
comparable woman sure to be seen; her benignant.
presence is an influence for good and comfort,
even amid the struggles of expiring nature. She
is a ministering angel,' without any exaggeration,
in these hospitals; and as her slender form glides
quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow's face
softens with gratitude at the sight of her. When all
the medical officers have retired for the night, and
silence and darkness have settled on those miles o
prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little
lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds. The
326
MAN AT STRIFE.
popular instinct was not mistaken which, when she set
out from England on her mission of mercy, hailed her
as a heroine: I trust she may not earn her title to a
higher though sadder appellation. No one who has
observed her fragile figure, and delicate health, can
avoid misgivings lest these should fail. With the
heart of a true woman, and the manner of a lady, ac-
complished and refined beyond most of her sex, she
combines a surprising calmness of judgment, and
promptitude and decision of character. I confidently
assert that, but for Miss Nightingale, the people of
England would scarcely, with all their solicitude, have
been spared the additional pang of knowing-which they
must have done sooner or later that their soldiers,
even in hospital, had found scanty refuge and relief
from the unparalleled miseries with which this war has
hitherto been attended."
Meantime disease continued its ravages; frost-bite
appeared among the men in its most aggravated form,
fever raged destructively, and in less than a month
swept away no fewer than seven surgeons, leaving eight
more and three of the nurses dangerously ill. Eight
nurses were despatched to Balaklava, and under all
these circumstances it is difficult to speak too highly
of the brave and noble-souled woman left to struggle
against such mighty odds. "She would speak to one,'
said a poor fellow writing home at this time, "and nod
and smile to many more; but she couldn't do it to all,
you know. We lay there by hundreds; but we could kiss
her shadow as it fell and lay our heads on the pillow
again, content."
99.
Miss Nightingale left Scutari, where most of her
work had been accomplished, and arrived in Balaklava
to inspect its hospitals on May 4th, 1855. Her
capacity for vigorous organization here was inter
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
327
rupted by an attack of Crimean fever, which pros-
trated her for some time. On recovery she returned
to Scutari, and ultimately, after the accomplishment
of her mission, to her other home in England-Lea
Hurst, Derbyshire-where she arrived on Friday, the
15th of August, 1856.
Florence Nightingale's example found followers in
the opponent's camp. The Grand Duchess Helena
collected about three hundred ladies from St. Peters-
burg, who devoted themselves to the care of the sick
and wounded, and received the blessings of thousands
of Russian soldiers. These ladies formed themselves
into a society, which outlived the war, and promoted
and maintained numerous civil hospitals. Besides this
society, the Widows of Mercy of St. Petersburg and
Moscow acted a noble part in the Crimea.
The experiences, as we have said, of the Crimea
were repeated when the War of Lombardy broke out
in 1859; but balm for the wounded soldiers of the
future was to spring from the bloody field of Solferino.
The battle lasted fifteen hours, and was fought with
terrible fierceness. More than three hundred thousand.
combatants were engaged on a line of five leagues, and
it is related, as the immediate result of that 24th of
June, that the killed and wounded in the Austrian and
Franco-Sardinian armies comprised three field mar-
shals, nine generals, 1,560 officers, and about 40,000
under-officers and men. Two months afterwards, in
the three armies together, 40,000 men succumbed to
sickness and defective sanitary arrangements. A
Geneva gentleman, moved by the noblest instincts of
philanthropy, hastened to the reeking plains of Italy
for the purpose of rendering to the wounded what
assistance might be in his power. He published, in
November, 1862, "Un Souvenir de Solferino," and all
328
MAN AT STRIFE.
who read that terrible chronicle of the horrors of war,
shared M. Dunant's enthusiasm in developing the
idea there foreshadowed. A public meeting was held
in Geneva-the town from which the humanitarian
European Convention was destined afterwards to
emanate on the 9th of February, 1863, a date from
which may be reckoned the origin of the Red Cross.
At this time the official promoters, who were five mem-
bers of the Société Genevoise d'Utilité Publique, were
unaware of the remarkable achievements of the Sanitary
Commission of the United States during the War of the
Union.
We have already indicated what was the condition
of the American army at that period in the matter of
Sanitary arrangements. The women in the States, as
n England during the Crimean war, were the first to
move to supply the needs of medical aid, and the requi-
sites for nursing the wounded in sickness. On each side,
at the outbreak of the war, the women connected them-
selves with the great work of healing and solace. They
began their work of mercy by filling churches, school-
rooms, and the large houses of many wealthy persons,
with lint scrapers, cutters, folders, and packers of the
linen they gave to the use of the wounded. Then they
organized themselves, first in New York, into a
Woman's Central Association of Relief, which con-
tained the germs of the Sanitary Commission. Like
bodies were formed elsewhere, and advice was sought
from men of experience. They were advised to ascer-
tain what Government could and would do in the
direction to which their work tended, then to work
with it, and by their own liberality of gifts and labour
supplement its unavoidable shortcomings. The clergy-
man of New York who was foremost in giving his
counsel, the Rev. Doctor Bellows, accompanied by three
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
329
of the chief physicians of New York-Drs. Van Buren,
Harris, and Harsin-went, therefore, in deputation to
Washington for conferences with the Secretary of War.
They represented not only the Woman's Central Asso-
ciation, but also the Advisory Committee of the Boards
of Physicians and Surgeons of the New York Hospitals,
and the New York Medical Association for furnishing
hospital supplies in aid of the army. The three bodies
were all acting harmoniously together in turning to the
best account the free gifts from the City and State of
New York, designed in aid of the comfort and security
of the troops. They petitioned for more rigour in in-
spection of volunteers, that unsuitable persons might
not be sent to certain death in the army; the Woman's
Association was about to send for service in the general
hospitals of the army one hundred picked and trained
female nurses, and they asked that the War Depart-
ment should be content to receive on wages, during
actual duty, as many of such nurses as the exigencies
of the campaign might require.
the appointment of a Sanitary
President Lincoln scoffed at as
military coach." This memorial was coldly received;
but the four delegates sketched out a plan of the Com-
mission they asked for, and after a note in recommenda-
tion of the scheme from Dr. R. C. Wood, the acting
surgeon-general in the United States Army, reluctant
consent was given in a document, of which the last
paragraph thus expressed the official contempt it
excited: "The Commission will exist until the Secre-
tary of War shall otherwise direct, unless sooner dis-
solved by its own action."
They suggested also
Commission, which
(C a fifth wheel to the
History, however, offers its tribute to the gigantic
Commission which received official recognition in such
disparaging terms. Its object and business may be
330
MAN AT STRIFE.
(2) To
thus briefly summarized:-(1) To collect supplies
through its branches all over the country.
found and support soldiers' homes, where shelter, food,
and medical care were furnished to disabled soldiers.
At one period the eight homes of Washington, Cincin-
nati, Cairo, Louisville, Nashville, Columbus, Cleveland,
and New Orleans are stated to have given food and
lodging to 23,000 men every twenty-four hours. There
were also several "Lodges" or homes on a smaller
scale, where the soldier, enfeebled but not disabled,
might obtain rest and medical treatment until he could.
rejoin his regiment, or from whence, if necessary, he
might be transferred to hospital. (3) To keep a
hospital directory, by which the whereabouts of disabled
men might be ascertained by their friends and relatives.
This was corrected every day, and bureaux of informa-
tion were established in the large towns. To obtain
the necessary knowledge, agents of the Commission
were to be found in every military camp and hospital.
When in full force twenty thousand dollars a year were
expended in the maintenance of this branch. (4) To
carry out a system of hospital inspection, sixty of the
most skilful surgeons and physicians were at one time
employed, and 70,000 beds were visited. (5) To find
means of transport for sick. The transports of the
regular service, as well as the hospitals, were also in-
spected by the delegates of the Commission. (6) To
maintain a regular battle-field service independent of
the army sanitary system, homes were established at the
chief halting-places on the line of march, where sick or
disabled soldiers might find rest and medical attendance.
One of the most difficult labours of the Commission
was to induce the multitude of local soldiers' aid
societies which had arisen to come in under the wider
and more comprehensive organization. One by one,
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
331
:
however, the work of woman's love that strove to follow
the particular fortunes of brothers and friends, was
gathered into the sole great national effort projected to
secure the well-being of the army and detect the more
unwholesome blots upon its discipline wherever they
might be. Associate members were enrolled, and the
printing press was set to work to spread a knowledge
of the requirements of the army. Sanitary agitation
was not allowed to flag, and every imaginable effort
was embraced under the Sanitary Commission. Central
depôts for districts were arranged; the Commission.
sent Sanitary inspectors to camps and camp hospitals,
and accomplished the reorganization of the Medical
Department of the army, with which hitherto the Com-
mission had been somewhat at loggerheads. Dr. W.
A. Hammond, who was Assistant Surgeon-General,
and who was friendly towards the Commission, was
promoted to the post of Surgeon-General, and with its
own man in authority, the Sanitary Commission had its
way made very straight. Dr. Hammond revised his
list of subordinates with a bold hand, got rid of the
obstructive and incompetent men, and honestly sought
the best help in organization of hospitals, the founda-
tion of an army medical school, and so forth. Before
the Civil War, the United States army rivalled the
Austrians in exclusiveness and firm adherence to
routine; and who can tell what harrowing tales of
pestilence and suffering might not have been heard,
but for the victory thus won on behalf of woman's work
in the time of peril?
The work of this Commission deserves even further
recognition. After every great battle it despatched a
voluntary contribution of necessaries in addition to the
provision made by the Medical Department of the army.
Thus, after the second battle of Bull's Run-when
332
MAN AT STRIFE.
General Pope's army, with a loss of sixteen thousand
in killed and wounded, was in retreat-the Confeder-
ates captured forty-three waggon loads of drugs and
medicines which were at the disposal of the army; and
at Centreville, on the road from Bull's Run to Wash-
ington, the Commission's agent served out to the
wounded, who came fainting in by hundreds, hot
beef-tea, soup and bread and stimulants-gathered
them into ambulances or hospitals-and otherwise
helped them on to Washington. The Commission
always extended such help alike to friend or foe, and
when, at the battle of Gettysburg, a waggon load of the
Commission's stores was captured, with three of its
agents, the secretary of the Commission asked for and
obtained from the Confederate authorities their release,
on the ground that they were non-combatants, and that
throughout the war "the Sanitary Commission had
never made any distinction in its benevolence between
friend and foe." The labourers of the Commission
worked under fire in the field relief corps that trolled up
their light waggons with stores, bandages, or other aid
to the surgeons wherever men fell fastest, and after the
battle they hunted indefatigably for the straggling
wounded. A distinct department of special relief
organized by the Commission was that for the care of
the sick among newly-arrived regiments; for providing
temporary and gratuitous shelter and food to the soldier
honourably discharged, while he was waiting in any
city for his papers and his pay; for helping the
helpless soldier in every conceivable way, by acting as
his unpaid agent or attorney, for protecting him against
sharpers, or getting him railway tickets at reduced rates.
Finally, the Commission charged itself with the duty
of seeing that every soldier was decently buried, with a
headstone over his grave.
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
333
The fund by which all this was accomplished was, as
we have said, voluntary. The people of California sent,
in one sum, the gold of their soil to the value of one
hundred thousand pounds sterling. Sanitary fairs in
different cities produced fabulous sums, notably that of
Brooklyn, which contributed four hundred thousand
dollars, and that of New York, the proceeds at which
exceeded a million dollars. In short, the voluntary
contributions from a people oppressed with the ter-
rible expenses of a prolonged campaign, reached the
enormous total of over seventy million dollars.
The Geneva Committee, being at the time ignorant
of all this, were somewhat perplexed about details,
which otherwise might not have caused them any
trouble or misgiving. However, they summoned a
General Conference, which assembled at Geneva on the
26th of October, 1863, to consider the best means of
lessening the evils attendant upon war. The Confer-
ence was held under the presidency of General Dufour,
and among those present were the King of Holland, the
Grand Duke of Baden, and representatives of England,
France, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony, the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hanover, and Sweden. The
first meetings did not result in the formation of any
volunteer corps for the attendance upon the sick and
wounded, nor was any other practical good obtained.
But in the following year the Conference re-assembled
under more favourable auspices. The circular of in-
vitation, dated June 6th, 1864, was issued from the
French Government in particular. It was addressed
by the Conseil Fédéral to no less than forty States.
From Turkey, Greece, and Mexico answers were re-
ceived before the final sitting, expressing regret that
they could not this time participate in the Conference.
The German Bund displayed its usual want of promp-
334
MAN AT STRIFE.
titude; no answers were received from Hanover and
Brazil; while Austria, Bavaria, and the Papal States
made no secret of their disinclination to take any part in
the proceedings. The representative of Russia arrived
too late; four other States-Great Britain, America,
Saxony, and Sweden-sent representatives, but with-
out investing them with necessary powers, reserv-
ing to themselves the right of joining at a later period
any Convention that might be framed. The formation of
volunteer sanitary corps was not this time discussed.
It was assumed that they would generally be welcome
wherever they appeared; but it seems also to have been
understood that several of the greater military Powers
would have declined to give their adhesion, had the
institution of such corps formed one of the stipulations.
Finally, the Convention, an abstract of which is given
in the preceding chapter, was signed, and thus we have
the proclamation of the absolute neutrality of the
wounded soldier and of the Sanitary Department; not
for the first time in history though, as we noted in the
last chapter in the case of the Franco-Prussian Treaty
of 1759, and, much more recently, in the American
War of Secession. Moreover, there is a Society which
claims to have exercised the general principles of neu-
trality long before the plenipotentiaries met at Geneva,
viz., the Prussian Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the
foremost and most ancient of the voluntary societies
of Europe for the relief of the sick and wounded.
Red Cross Societies exist now all over Europe, and
beyond it, although they do not enjoy official inter-
national recognition. The central committee at Geneva
has no official status. Nevertheless, the organizations
have achieved a great deal; they have supplied for the
sick and wounded a very large amount of assistance,
both in personnel and matériel. They have been the
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
335
great, and in many instances the only, channel for the
flow of spontaneous charity, which, to a very great
extent, has stimulated the medical services of armies
themselves. Surgeon-Major Evatt sets forth the out-
line of the organization as follows:-" At Geneva there
is an International Committee keeping up communica-
tion with all the National Societies, and publishing a
paper quarterly as a circulating agent between the
different countries. In each country there is but a
single Red Cross Committee representing the whole
national organization. In some countries there is
distinct official connection between the societies and
the military authorities, in others this is not the case.
Money is collected, ambulance provided, and nurses
collected and trained, and the agents of the Red Cross,
during each campaign, hasten to the scene of action,
and endeavour to give what aid they can by money,
men, and advice.”
The modern Protestant Society of the Knights of
St. John of Jerusalem, although adopting, in common
with the Red Cross Society, the sign of the red cross
on a white ground, is not allied to the latter. It took
its rise in Germany during the so-called religious wars,
and in the Danish campaign of twenty years ago won
its laurels. Hospitals well supplied with civil surgeons.
and attendants were erected out of the funds of the
Order in Altona and Flensburg, and field hospitals in
Nübel and Western Satrap. Large contributions in
money flowed into their treasury, whilst medicines,
food, and every article of which they stood in need
were sent from the farthest ends of Germany. But
the knights were not wholly dependent upon these
contributions, because they devote themselves in peace.
to collect what may be necessary for their next cam-
paign a circumstance which accounted for their
336
MAN AT STRIFE.
efficiency in the conflict of seventeen years ago. On
the battle-fields in 1870 the knights were everywhere
to be found, regardless of the fire around them, exer-
cising with devotion the duties of their office towards
friend and foe. The Maltese Knightly Order of
Germany is the Roman Catholic division of the same
Order; and, with regard to other foreign Orders, Surgeon-
Major Evatt gives a list in his Health Exhibition
Handbook. From it we gather that an Austrian Order
-the Deutsche Ritter-has long been in the field,
from mediæval times and before the Red Cross move-
ment. It has a distinct agreement with the State as
to its duties, its ambulance waggons, and its matériel.
It divides its war-work in a definite manner with the
Austrian Red Cross Society. A wealthy military Order
furnishes complete trains of railway ambulance, trans-
port, and field matériel, providing also surgeons and
attendants, whilst the knights themselves also take the
field. Dr. Baron Mundy had the organization of its
railway ambulance trains, which are the most complete
in Europe. In Italy and Spain the Knights of St.
John are active, working in the latter case in conjunc-
tion with the Red Cross Society of Spain. The presi-
dent of the International Committee at Geneva is Gus-
tave Moynier, whose history of "The Red Cross" has
been translated into English by Mr. John Furley; and
there is a Central German Committee at Berlin, while
there are allied societies in England, America, France,
Italy, Belgium, Baden, Bavaria, Russia, Greece, Hol-
land, Saxony, Switzerland, &c.
At the time of the war of 1864, in the Elbe Duchies,
the Red Cross Society had not been thoroughly organ-
ized, the Conference of Geneva had hardly closed, and
the Prussian and the Wurtemburg Societies were the
only associations emanating from the Conference which
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
337
were at all in the position to go into the battle-field.
Nevertheless, much zeal and devotion were shown on
behalf of the wounded, and the efforts were only the
forerunners of more remarkable work in wars to come.
The war of 1866 in Austria, Italy and Germany found
the societies much better prepared, although, owing to
there being no amalgamation of provincial committees,
the organizations could not put forth their fullest
power. Germany was the most conspicuous for the
adequacy of its societies, towards which money was
lavishly subscribed. The arrangements were as perfect
as those we have described as existing in America a
year or two earlier. In Berlin and the provinces
buildings were appropriated for the reception of hetero-
geneous stores, and at one time no fewer than two
hundred paid employés, assisted by volunteers and two
hundred and fifty ladies, acted as sorters and packers at
the Central Depôt. The railways carried the material.
anywhere according to requirements, and it is on record
that one train, composed of twenty-six waggons, carried
one hundred tons of articles, valued at £12,000. Re-
freshment stations were established on the passage of
the convoys of wounded. At the station of Pardubitz,
which was one of the most frequented, from six to
eight hundred men were fed and had their wounds
dressed daily during two whole months, and as many
as three hundred found a lodging there each night.
In spite of the ravages of cholera, and the consequent
complication of the work, the Committees struggled
bravely and successfully to accomplish the objects of
their organization, and they were enabled to do this by
the flow of charity which had never before been so
abundant in any European conflict.
The great war of 1870-71 was, however, the occasion
upon which the Red Cross was to justify its exist-
Z
338
MAN AT STRIFE.
ence. M. Moynier points out that at this time the
societies were in a better position than before to meet
"acts of violence with those of charity." Besides,
among other circumstances which had contributed to
their development and increased efficiency, the Great
Exhibition at Paris, and the two International Con-
ferences at Paris and Berlin, had considerably aided
in this direction. The first at which the Red Cross
had displayed its material had aroused the ingenuity of
inventors, while the Conference had established close
relations between the different committees. Germany in
this campaign was better organized than ever. At the
very first signal of war more than 2,000 committees arose
at all points of the country, and their network covered
the land in all directions. Again the wave of generosity
brought myriads of necessary articles, from camp fur-
niture to tobacco, and boundless wealth to scatter
broadcast in the noble work of the Red Cross. The
receipts of the Central German Committee alone
amounted to £2,800,000. Notwithstanding the very
elaborate organization for the relief of the sick and
wounded, both of the armies of the Red Cross and
kindred societies, including the National Aid Society in
London, yet it fell short of perfection. The terrible
carnage of Wörth and Forbach strewed the ground with
myriads, and at Sulz the wounded remained for three
days absolutely deserted on the battle-field, and exposed
to cold and hunger. There was no fault in this as was
the case in the Crimea-it was an unparalleled dis-
aster, with which even a hitherto unexampled volun-
tary effort fell short of dealing. There were hundreds
at Saarbrück lying with shattered bones upon the
roughest and hardest of straw mattresses, mere bags.
stuffed with straw and hastily made. A thousand
pounds from the London Society to the late Dr.
і
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
339
66
Humphry Sandwith, who was on the spot, replaced
these mattresses with comfortable beds. Imagine,"
wrote the English emissary, "if you can, how much
attendance you would require if, like poor Hans Wolf,
a ball had shattered the fingers of your right hand,
and had passed through your left forearm! and there
are several cases like his. The Sisters of Charity,
God bless them! are indefatigable; but there are not
enough of them. But what a sweet and blessed sight
it is to see these gentle beings diligently tending the
poor mutilated men lying in ghastly rows in these long
corridors! See with what a delicate touch that sweet
Sister cleanses the intensely irritable stump of the poor
fellow whose leg was amputated ten days ago! His
countenance is full of anxiety; the least pressure on a
certain corner is agony; the dropping of water even is
irritating. Well, at last the dressing is over, and her
breathes freely, and forgets not to thank the dear
Sister; but his eyes are more eloquent than his tongue;
he looks his thanks and kisses her hand, ere she leaves
him, with childlike affection."
France, on the other hand, was in a lamentably de-
ficient state of organization, so far as its Red Cross.
Societies were concerned, when the war broke out.
Although founded in 1864, the French Society had
neither personnel, matériel, nor money; but, with an
abundance of resource, the Paris Committee sur-
mounted its difficulties, aided by a generous flow
of charitable help. Seventeen field ambulances were
equipped in a month, and were sent to Sedan;
in Paris, fixed ambulances were established in the
railway stations to receive the wounded from the
battle-fields. The approach of the siege of Paris
perplexed the Committee, but they were equal to
emergencies, and after the armistice was signed
z 2
340
MAN AT STRIFE.
they removed and tended 19,000 of their wounded
soldiers.
In this war the neutral aid societies who took an
active part under the Red Cross were-England, who
alone disbursed £300,000, and sent 1,200 cases of
stores; Luxemburg, Norway, Russia, Austria, the
Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Belgium,
Sweden, and Switzerland.
During the twenty months' contest between the Slav
and Turk, in 1876-8, the responsibility of affording
relief was forced on five different societies, viz., those
of Servia, Montenegro, Roumania, Russia and Turkey,
aided from the societies of neutral countries. In
connection with the latter assistance, and the help
from London, M. Moynier writes: The scruples.
which retarded the action of central committees, during
the first period of the war, in no degree checked that
of London. It came to an understanding with the
Committee of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and
hastened to show itself on the theatre of the Turko-
Servian war. In an incredibly short space of time, it
established a hospital of one hundred and fifty beds at
Belgrade, it despatched field ambulances to the Servian
army, and provided carriages and a floating hospital
for the conveyance of the wounded. On the Turkish
side, we find it at Nisch, Sofia, and Scutari in Albania,
directing hospitals which it had created there; at the
head-quarters at Alexinatz, it was represented by an
ambulance, where the doctors initiated their Ottoman
confrères in the use of chloroform, and it was to be
found wherever suffering was apparent. At the close
of the year 1876 it had spent 270,000 francs (£10,800),
and hardly then anticipated that fresh troubles would
soon put its energy to new proofs. When Russia
marched against its old enemy, the English at once
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
341
came to the front and forwarded relief on relief to the
East. They began by freighting a steam vessel, which
was despatched to the Black Sea with a cargo of
hospital necessaries, valued at 175,000 francs (£7,000),
accompanied by five surgeons. Turks and Russians
received their share of this help, which in its applica-
tion assumed various forms. When the vessel had
discharged the cargo it was devoted to hospital work,
and to the transport of the wounded, the material.
which was not required for immediate use having been
stored in two depôts at Constantinople and Varna;
flying hospitals circulated in Europe and in Asia, aid
was distributed in Roumania and Montenegro, and
hospitals also in full work were to be found at many
points on the Danube and the Black Sea. It would
have been difficult for foreigners to do more, and we
can only admire the generosity, the energy, and the
administrative ability which the English Red Cross
Society displayed during the sad period."
Before leaving the warlike history of the Red Cross
to trace its progress and record its work in the "piping
times of peace," it should be stated that the National
Aid societies have frequently realized the duty of facing
enemies more or less savage and barbarous, who, as
M. Moynier remarks, "might not regard the law of
nations in the same manner as the Geneva Convention
does." The Russian Red Cross had made several in-
cursions towards the East. In 1873 it accompanied
the Expeditionary Corps against Khiva, and at the
end of 1880 it penetrated the country of Akhals-
Tékkés, on the confines of Persia. In Malay, at the
other extremity of Asia, the Dutch in 1873 displayed
an activity equal to that of the Russians in Turkestan.
England of late years has had conflicts in Asia and in
Africa; but her Red Cross Society has not done any-
342
MAN AT STRIFE.
thing very remarkable there. It was absent from the
Ashantee war in 1873, and also from the battle-fields
of Afghanistan in 1878 and 1879. In the latter year,
however, it appeared in Natal on the occasion of the
expedition against the Zulus. On the other hand, in
1880 and 1881, during the hostilities against the
Boers in the Transvaal, and against the Basutos, it
was inactive. The Dutch was the only Red Cross
Society which took the field at this time. The Red
Cross Society of France accompanied the French ex-
peditions to the south of Algeria and Tunis in 1881,
and a final incident mentioned in Moynier's book is
one which occurred during the war of 1879-81 in
South America between Chili on the one side and
Bolivia and Peru, where a National Association repre-
sented the Red Cross, and that only came into exist-
ence after the struggle commenced, and it disappeared
from the scene before the critical moment when Lima
was captured.
When we turn to the "civil or peace ambulance
arrangements," we have again to yield the palm to the
New World for superiority and efficiency of system.
It is remarkable, yet characteristic withal, that when
America was aroused to her deficiency at the com-
mencement of the civil war, she remedied the deficiency
immediately, and, when the war was over, elaborated
and perfected her ambulance system in the great cities
and towns of her vast continent. The contrast between
America and at least two European countries is pecu-
liar. The system originated in France in the Napoleonic
wars, yet when their most critical conflict came they
were totally unprepared to render the humane services
which civilization dictates. England had had ample
experience of her own shortcomings in this respect in
the Peninsular war, yet was found in the Crimea want-
ing in the simplest auxiliaries of aid and succour for the
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS.
343
wounded heroes of her battle-fields. Neither France
nor England, nor in fact any European country, has
adopted officially any ambulance scheme adequate to
the every-day occurrences in the streets of the large
towns. There are municipal ambulances, certainly,
for the transport of infectious cases from their homes
to the small-pox and fever hospitals; but where are
the ambulance carriages and other appliances for use
in cases of street accidents, drunkenness, apoplectic
seizures, and the hosts of other sudden ills that flesh
is heir to?
To the St. John Ambulance Association, which is an
offshoot of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, is due
the highest meed of praise for endeavouring to remedy
our defects. The Association during the last few years
has done much to popularize ambulance work and first
aid to the injured by the classes it has organized in all
parts of the country, and the machinery it has dis-
tributed.
In London an ambulance service is at work provided
by voluntary contributions, and its sick transport
carriages, hand ambulances, and other appliances are
placed in public positions, and are available for the
emergencies to which we have alluded; but in the
localities where they are most needed-in the mining
and manufacturing districts-such organizations are
few and far between.
2
There is an abundance of apparatus, and all that is
needed to make this branch of life-saving as complete
in all its parts as some others with which we have
dealt, is to bring the work within the recognized
régime of central municipal authorities, and make
voluntary aid supplementary, instead of the Alpha and
Omega to efforts which are being more and more
recognized as belonging to the category of duty, rather
than of charity.

344
CHAPTER XVIII.
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
THE science of weapons has always advanced. Early
in history, rough flakes of stone were used for tools and
weapons; later arms and instruments were composed
of copper, perhaps hardened with tin, and the Jews.
appear to have had swords, daggers, spears, javelins,
bows, arrows, and slings. Axes or maces were also
used by them as weapons of war. Herodotus describes
the weapons used by most of the different nations which
formed the great army of Xerxes, and amongst these the
Medes and Persians had short spears, bows, arrows made
of reeds, and daggers. The Assyrians, besides spears
and daggers, had wooden clubs knotted with iron; the
Bactrians and Parthians bows made of reeds, and short
spears; the Arabians had bows, large, flexible and
curved at the ends; the Ethiopians bows made from
the spath of the palm, four cubits, or six feet long;
their arrows were short, and pointed with sharp stones
instead of iron; they had spears headed with the sharp
horns of the dorcas, and knotted clubs. The spears of
the Libyans were hardened at the end by fire. The
Paphlagonians, Phrygians, and Thracians had spears,
javelins, and daggers. In the Persian army we find
they had chariots armed with scythes; and although it
is not to the present purpose to go into the history of
all the weapons of warfare, yet, as in the earliest times.
the weapons of personal defence formed the aggregate

WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
345
arms in war, it is not inappropriate to make allusions
to some of them.
There was no very wide field for ingenuity in con-
nection with clubs and similar weapons, consequently
among nations very far removed from each other there
was no great variety. In the matter of knives, swords,
and daggers, however, every species and form have
been tried, and had their term of popularity. Great
care and skill have been employed in the construction
of the blades of swords and daggers, many men having
obtained fortune and eminence merely in consequence
of some minute advantage to which they had attained
in the formation of these weapons. At that period of
our history when men cased themselves in armour it
was of paramount importance that swords should be
made of better stuff than the corkscrew bayonets of
recent War Office renown; besides, efficiency was pro-
moted by the rivalry that existed between the armourer
on the one hand and the sword maker on the other.
The sword is an old and favourite weapon. The first
swords were glaives and falchions of brass, and to these
succeeded the broad curved scimitar of Asia, and the
short, straight, double-edged sword with which the
Romans conquered the world. The latter weapon,
called a Spanish blade, and forged at Toledo, was long
the national weapon of Castile. Our riflemen bore a
weapon nearly similar. While the East adhered to
crooked blades, to those wonderful Damascus sabres that
were said to cut metal like cloth, to the tulwars of
India, and the scimitar of the Saracens, the West ran
into the opposite extreme, and for centuries the long
straight two-handed sword was in fashion. Some of
these tremendous blades, which were used on horseback
and on foot, were five feet long, not reckoning the
handle. They could not be unsheathed without pulling
346
MAN AT STRIFE.
the sword over the shoulder, and weighed above twenty
pounds. The Tyrolese mountaineers used them against
the French and Bavarians in Hofer's struggle against
Napoleon, and some of the Highlanders in 1715 still
retained the true claymore, which always required two
hands. Then came the age of short weapons, of walk-
ing-stick rapiers, of small swords, court swords, and other
mere toys, whilst about the end of the last century the
cavalry of the British army were armed with a scimitar,
curved like a hoop, and incapable of giving point
under any circumstances. The French invented the
sword bayonet; we followed suit, with the result that
our swords are well enough shaped, although under
recent experience they have shown a tendency to
"double up."
(6
Spears, javelins, and assegais are weapons of personal
safety as well as of offensive warfare in certain coun-
tries, and the general construction of them is the same.
To an iron, bone, or hardwood end, there is attached
a haft of light, straight wood, the two being tightly
bound together, the iron or bone being usually let in to
the wood. The heavy end barely exceeds one-fourth of
the whole length of the weapon, which amounts to about
six or seven feet. The Kaffirs on the frontier of the
Cape Colony are the most expert in the throwing of the
assegai―a weapon constructed as follows: A straight
piece of stick about five feet long and half an inch thick
at the butt end is selected, and rounded with a knife;
a piece of iron about two feet long is then welded into
the shape of a spearhead, and the end that is to enter.
the wood is heated to a red heat, and in this state is
allowed to burn into the wooden haft, or handle; thus,
it enters the wood without splitting it, a condition
difficult to obtain by any other means. In order to
secure the iron and wood more firmly together the
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
347
Kaffir procures the sinews of a freshly-killed animal,
and whilst these are wet he wraps them and fastens
them tightly round the wood, over the part in
which the iron has been burned, then when these
sinews become dry, they contract, and thus hold
firmly the wood and iron. Another and a very
ingenious plan for keeping the wood and iron toge-
ther is to take a piece of skin, of about four or five
inches, from the tail of a calf. The skin is taken off
so that it remains in the shape of a small tube, which
is slipped over the small wooden end of the assegai and
worked up until it encases that part of the handle in
which is the iron. The most skilful among the tribes
can throw an assegai nearly one hundred yards, and, as
we have been made painfully conscious during our Zulu
experiences, they are almost certain to transfix their
objects at forty or fifty yards. Some of the spear-
throwing savages have adopted a plan by means of
which they can obtain an additional range to their
spears--they have, in fact, adopted the sling principle,
which increases their range by one-half.
But one of the most ingenious and original of
savage weapons is the boomerang, used by the Aus-
tralian native. It is formed of very hard wood, and is
somewhat in the shape of an arm bent nearly at right
angles. It is flattish, and sharper at one edge than
the other. The Australian, it is said, forms his boom-
erang in the rough by placing his heels together and
turning his toes out, so that his feet are at right angles
to each other; he then traces out the two sides of a
square from toe to toe, and this gives the rough outline
for his weapon, the great peculiarity of which is that if
it misses the object aimed at, it will, when skilfully
thrown, return through the air to the place from whence
it was cast, and thus re-supply its owner with his
348
MAN AT STRIFE.
weapon. It is said that the boomerang inflicts most
serious wounds, and that even large animals are over-
come by its force. The blow-pipe is another highly-
developed weapon in savage countries. It resembles
the pea-shooter, is twelve or fourteen feet in length,
and from it poisoned arrows are blown to a distance of
a hundred yards. The most celebrated of the tribes.
among whom the use of this weapon prevailed were
those in the northern portion of South America, and
they long preferred their native weapon to the rough
guns which, earlier than other tribes, they might have
procured from civilized traders. The blow-pipe, or
tube, is made out of a reed of singular growth indige-
nous to the country. The reed is carefully inserted
within a bamboo tube, and the pith is pushed out,
leaving a perfectly smooth passage for the arrows, which
are about the size of a lady's knitting-needle. Some
wild cotton is fastened to the end of the arrow, and
the poison, a thick and glutinous substance, is laid on
at the point. A strong pair of lungs and some skill
are requisite to send the arrow with its full force; but
even a weak person would be astonished at the force with
which his arrow is propelled by a slight puff of breath.
Poisoned arrows were most common in those countries
where poisonous snakes abounded, a circumstance lead-
ing to the surmise that as the savage derived some of
his poison from the poison bags of the venomous
snakes, the idea of using poison occurred to him in con-
sequence of observing the effect produced upon animals
by the bite of a snake.
Throughout the world almost every nation either
uses or has used the bow and arrow, and no country in
the world was formerly more famed than England for
producing skilful bowmen. The catapult and balista
were to bows, arrows, and slings what our heaviest
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
349
guns are to the rifles; they were the heavy artillery of
the period-ponderous machines, requiring enormous
power to move them. The introduction of gunpowder
revolutionized not only the weapons of war, but entirely
changed the character of the defensive weapons neces-
sary on occasion for self-protection and defence, in
various parts of the world. The most prominent of
the personal weapons was the pistol, which, improved
into the revolver, now occupies the pre-eminent posi-
tion. According to Sir James Turner, the pistol was
invented at Pistoja in Tuscany, by Camillo Vitelli.
The German cavalry gave such an ascendency to the
pistol as to occasion in France, and subsequently in
England, the disuse of lances. In the time of
Henry II. the horsemen who were armed with pistols.
were called pistoliers, and Mary, Queen of England,
issued regulations about the same time, and of a
similar character to the ordinance of Henry II. of
France, with respect to the weapon. But the gradual
improvement of the invention, from the ponderous
hand-gun to the instrument of more convenient size,
brought it into general use, apart from military expe-
diency. The "revolving" addition to the weapon fol-
lowed; and though it was very imperfect and dangerous.
to the user, yet it was not until comparatively recent
times that anything like safety in its use and efficiency in
the results were achieved. This was accomplished by
Colonel Colt, who, living in the United States, recognized
the peculiar want of efficient arms in a country whose
inhabitants were constantly moving onward towards
new settlements, where the pioneers were required to
protect themselves and families by their personal
prowess, frequently against fearful inequality of num-
bers, from the attacks of the aboriginal Indians, whose
mode of warfare could only be coped with by rapid and
350
MAN AT STRIFE.
repeated firing. Thus the Colonel was led to try his
skill in the production of a kind of gun or pistol
which could be fired rapidly many times in succession.
He was but partially acquainted with what had been
done in Europe, and he spent much time in trying
plans which had already been found in the Old World
to be valueless. At length he produced his celebrated
revolver. The general principle of the invention can
readily be understood. In a double-barrelled, or a four-
barrelled, or a six-barrelled pistol there were formerly
two, or four, or six barrels, each bullet having a barrel
to itself; but in the revolver there is only one barrel,
through which all the bullets pass in rapid succession.
There is a revolving cylinder, with six chambers or re-
ceptacles, each of which is brought by the revolution
successively in a right line with the barrel. The rotat-
ing of the cylinder is effected by a self-acting lever, to
which motion is given by the act of drawing back the
trigger. Each little chamber is separately loaded, and
when all are loaded the weapon is ready for firing.
Each chamber, when its charge is fired, being in a
right line with the barrel, the bullet passes through the
latter as in an ordinary pistol, and the cylinder then
traverses one-sixth of a circle to attain the requisite
position for firing another chamber. In September,
1850, the American Senate passed a resolution re-
questing the Secretary at War to obtain the opinion of
officers in the army concerning the weapon; the secre-
tary appointed a committee, and this committee pub-
lished a report. It appears there were four kinds of
revolving pistols in America by four different inventors,
but nearly all the officers awarded the palm of supe-
riority to Colt's.
It was about the year 1840 that Colonel Colt sur-
mounted the difficulties of his task, and produced an
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
351
efficient weapon, which gradually came into use in the
United States army-first by the Mexican ranger
troops, and then by the mounted riflemen. The value
of the revolver was demonstrated in the hand-to-hand
conflicts which were of frequent occurrence on the
Texan frontier with the Prairie Indians.
"Those
prairie tribes ride with boldness and wonderful skill,
and are perhaps unsurpassed as irregular cavalry.
They are so dexterous in the use of the bow that a
single Indian at full speed is capable of keeping an
arrow constantly in the air between himself and the
enemy. Therefore, to encounter such an expert
antagonist with any certainty of doing execution,
requires an impetuous charge, skilful horsemanship,
and a rapid discharge of shots, such as can only be
delivered with Colt's six-shooters. They are the only
weapons which have enabled the experienced frontier
man to defeat the mountain Indian in his own peculiar
mode of warfare; in those encounters, which, though
soon over, require a steady nerve, the greatest possible
precision and celerity of movement, there is no time to
reload firearms, even were it possible to do so, and
manage your horse in the midst of a quick and wily
enemy, ever on the watch, and ready to lance the first
man who may lose the least control of his animal."
Colonel Colt manufactured his invention, and sent a
collection to the Great Exhibition in 1851. They at
once attracted the attention of English military men ;
for, although our shooters had before known something
of revolvers, the American had unquestionably the
merit of establishing the invention on a firm basis.
After the Exhibition was over, Colonel Colt established
a manufactory in London, and maintained the marvel-
lous reputation his ingenuity achieved him. There
have, of course, been numerous improvements since
352
MAN AT STRIFE.
the original Colt's revolver, and there are legions of
different classes of the weapon in use, the latest being
a diminutive instrument of terrible power, which can
be grasped wholly within the hand so as to be out of
sight, and yet fired by the inward pressure of the
thumb joint.
The revolver adopted in the English
army was Adams's, which exceeded in efficiency all
previous inventions.
In weapons which may be regarded as of a more
domestic character are life-preservers, the shilelagh,
burglar-alarms, locks, bolts, bars, &c., all of which
have no small position among the numerous con-
trivances to protect the safety of person and property.
The life-preservers are familiar instruments, at all
events in the police force, and they have stood the test
of experience very well, although it is not at all un-
likely that an additional arm of self-defence in the
shape of the revolver will ultimately be conceded to a
class of men whose lives, particularly in large cities,
are jeopardized more than those of any other section of
civilians. Burglar-alarms have been patented galore, and
range from the simple detonating explosive cap, which
can be affixed with slight difficulty to doors and windows
on retiring for the night, to the elaborate system in-
vented by Dr. Taussig of Prague in 1887. This
system, as a whole, serves the purpose of giving fire
alarms, as well as warning of burglaries. In the
scheme there are in different parts of a given area
central stations covering the defined district. The
residences, offices, warehouses, or shops of such per-
sons who pay an annual subscription are fitted up with
a transmitting instrument placed in electrical com-
munication with the central station of their district.
So far the arrangements are similar to that between
the telephone companies and their subscribers, although
.
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
353
the object to be achieved is very different. The
attendants at the receiving stations do not place the
subscriber signalling to them in communication with
any other subscriber, but at once signal to the police or
fire-engine station, as the case requires, nearest to the
establishment from which the signal or message has
been received. Nor is it necessary for the subscriber
himself to signal, for, if absent, the fire or the burglar
indicates both their presence and locality, because the
transmitting apparatus is also automatic. All that is
necessary in this case is for the subscriber to switch on
his apparatus to the main line when he leaves his house.
or place of business, and to switch it off when he
returns. In the case of a residence the apparatus may
always remain switched on, so that should a robber
effect an entrance either by night or day the fact would
be instantly communicated. The transmitting appara-
tus is contained in a case about two feet high, one foot
wide, and six inches deep, and is connected with a
small battery, and the main wire to the central station.
The upper half of the case contains the automatic
apparatus, which consists of a clockwork arrangement,
and an electro-magnet. A weight is suspended from
the clockwork mechanism, and hangs in the lower half
of the case, and after a given number of signals have
been transmitted, this weight, which has now run
down, presses a button, which causes a bell to ring.
This indicates that the clockwork must be wound up
before any more automatic signals can be given, and
the bell remains ringing until the apparatus has been
wound up.
In the lower part of the case is also a
Morse key and telephone, thus affording two more
means of communication, the whole three being
capable of being worked on one wire. This apparatus
is attachable to the main entrance door, or any other
A A
354
MAN AT STRIFE.
door, window, or place desired. Some credit, perhaps,
should be given to the burglar for acuteness in know-
ing that he is dealing with electricity, and that if he
severs the wires he will remain undetected. He would,
however, find himself mistaken, for, on cutting the
wires, he would at once announce his presence to those
on duty at the central station. At this latter is a signal
bell and a Morse recorder, on the riband of which is a
printed message sent by the transmitter indicating the
nature of the call and the house from which it pro-
ceeds. The system was first adopted in Prague,
Vienna, and Gratz, where its success induced its more
extensive adoption in other parts of Europe.
With regard to the subject of locks and bolts, it is
impossible to enumerate the wonderful and minute
inventions of some of the leading lock manufacturers;
although, as a matter of fact, Edgar Allan Poe's
theory, that no human contrivance could baffle human
ingenuity, is borne out, to a certain extent, in the history
of lock-making and lock-picking. No sooner had a
lock appeared guaranteed to defy the picker than some
one came forward and picked it; and of those who so
came forward perhaps the most accomplished was Mr.
Hobbs, the relation of one or two of whose exploits will
add romance to the subject. Mr. Hobbs came to
London as an exhibitor, to the Great Exhibition. He
had crossed the "herring pond" at a time when the
favourite lock was the letter lock, which had arrived at
such a state of perfection that complete reliance was
placed upon it. Forward, however, came Mr. Hobbs,
with the declaration that not a lock had yet been
made in England that could not be easily picked.
In consequence of this challenge he was invited to
visit a lock factory, where one of the infallible letter
locks was put into his hands, and while its advan-
WEAPONS OF PERSONAL SAFETY.
355
tages were being descanted on-its entire independence.
of a key or other separate instrument-the length of
time it would take to put it through its millions of
permutations—and the consequent utter impossibility
of getting it open by any illegitimate means short of
wrenching or sawing its parts asunder, Mr. Hobbs was
turning the instrument about in an apparently uncon-
cerned manner, with his fingers, and in a few minutes
from the time he first had possession of it, to the
great amazement and consternation of those who were
sounding its praises, he showed them the lock open in
his hand. If a miracle had happened they could not
have been more astonished." The almost universal
faith in the letter lock was thus shaken, whereupon the
tumbler lock (Chubb's patent) supplanted it. The
ingenious American lock-picker said he would pick a
Chubb's lock on the door of a strong room in the City,
and in presence of Messrs. Chubb. He accomplished
the task he set himself in twenty-five minutes, and
locked it again in seven.
In Piccadilly there had been hanging in a shop
window for some time a padlock, and over it a notice
offering a reward to any one who would make an instru-
ment to pick it. Mr. Hobbs undertook to open the
lock, and a formal agreement was entered into between
him and Messrs. Bramah, the proprietors. The lock
was to be enclosed between two pieces of wood, and
secured to a wall so that the key-hole and the hasps
should be accessible; the true key was to be sealed up
until the operator had either picked the lock or given
up his task.
When not at work Mr. Hobbs was to
cover the keyhole with an iron band secured by him-
self. He was allowed thirty days. Mr. George Rennie,
Professor Cowper, and Dr. Black were the arbitrators.
After fifty-one hours' work, spread over sixteen days, the
A A 2
356
MAN AT STRIFE.
American accomplished his object, and shot the bolt of
the lock backwards and forwards in the presence of the
arbitrators, thus having won the reward of two hundred
guineas. He was beaten, nevertheless, by the patent
of Mr. Cotterill, of Birmingham, who challenged him
to open it. He undertook to do it in twenty-four
hours, but gave it up at the end of twelve, and acknow-
ledged, when he afterwards examined the inside of
the lock, that "A man might work at it a lifetime and
not overcome it." This was the first demonstration
that locks could be made which it is impossible to
pick, and which may fairly be received as absolutely
burglar-proof. Locks can be picked, whenever the
parts of them which come in contact with the key are
affected by any pressure applied to the bolt, or to that
portion of the lock by which the bolt is withdrawn, in
such manner as to indicate the points of resistance to
the withdrawal of the bolt. The knowledge of this
has naturally led to the remarkable complications of
locks, bolts, and bars of recent years, which have ren-
dered the art of the locksmith one of the most efficient
in combating the efforts of those whose profession it is
to learn and adopt every device to acquire other people's
property, and who do not hesitate to take human life
in their endeavours.
CC
What have been called the natural defences of man
-his fists-are not in the present day the effective
weapons they used to be in the days of what, to be
technical, we must denominate the P.R. Boxing should
certainly be a part of the curriculum of a boy's educa-
tion, because the exercise of the arms of self-
preservation with which nature has endowed us, would
doubtless have a tendency to mitigate the dangers
consequent upon the too impetuous use of invented
instruments more deadly and inhuman, the results of
which have to be regretted when remedy is out of reach.
PART V.
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
CHAPTER XIX.
GREAT EPIDEMICS, AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN MET.
To the noble army of workers who have made the
preservation of life their study and profession, from
Hippocrates downwards, we can only make incidental
allusion in these pages. The science of medicine has
a long, illustrious, and complicated history, presenting
a steady record of progress and development, and
affording many examples of striking individual achieve-
ments. It is necessary, however, that we should
restrict our survey of the subject to its broader and
more general aspects, leaving matters of special detail
and discovery to those who deal with them with tech-
nical purpose and method. Particular diseases have
their particular remedies, though the remedies of
to-day are not the remedies of the past. Time was
when the art of medicine was an odd mingling of
superstition and error, theory and metaphysics. Indeed,
until the fifteenth century the practice of medicine
rested in the hands of the clergy to a great extent, and
the only medical work of any consequence was Kymer's
"Dietary for the Preservation of Health," in which the
360
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
familiar recommendations touching exercise, the bath,
and diet, handed down from Aristotle, are the only
principles set forth. But as years went on, and the
teaching of experiment came to be valued more than
theories and dissertations, great strides were made.
in medical knowledge. The philosophy of Bacon's
"Novum Organum," the discoveries of Harvey, and
the general adoption of new ideas, and the weeding
out of ancient prejudice, cleared the way for the growth
of a purer scientific practice, and bore fruit in more
recent times in the eminent contributions to medical
science with which the names of Jenner, Simpson,
Pasteur and others are associated. These things
belong to the records of medicine and surgery, but,
important as their bearing is upon the question of life-
preservation, and much as they have conduced to the
lessening of the dangers of disease, we must not linger
over them. Our present concern is with the wonderful,
yet gradual, revolution which the last few centuries
have effected in the science of sanitation, by which the
ordinary conditions of existence have been greatly
improved, and the liability to epidemic visitations has
been materially reduced.
The "good old times" were more picturesque than
healthy, more rude than comfortable. Pleasant enough
(in pictures) are the narrow streets of gloomy houses in
which our town ancestors of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries lived, but "the healthy breath of morn
must have had considerable difficulty in getting into
them. Pretty enough, too, from the artist's point of
view, are the heavy architectural outlines, the quaint
projections, the small windows, and the low roofs that
characterized those dwellings, but the reality, with the
accompaniment of open drains and evil odours, would
hardly be so attractive. It was an easy way of getting
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
361
!
rid of trouble and responsibility to believe that disease
was a sign of Divine wrath, and not the result of cer-
tain fixed physical laws. But such was the case, and
it was not until the medical inefficiency of superstitious.
observances and the vanity of fastings and penances
had been demonstrated with painful repetition, that
the predisposing causes of epidemics began to be
seriously dealt with. Little, however, was capable of
being accomplished while the public continued steeped
in ignorance, while charlatanism and quackery pre-
vailed, and while in the highest quarters and the
lowest such barbaric belief survived as was excmplified
in the Royal Touch for King's Evil, a custom that
existed from the time of Edward the Confessor to the
days of Queen Anne. Thus it is that sanitary science
is almost entirely the creation of the present century.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the sanitary
condition of all large towns must have been deplorable.
The poor were huddled together in miserable hovels,
and had to content themselves with but scanty and
unwholesome food. Whenever an epidemic drifted
over from the East, it found all the conditions favour-
able to its reception and dissemination.
One of the most terrible pestilences of mediæval
times was the Black Death, which fell with such
desolating force upon Europe about the middle of the
fourteenth century. It is said to have broken out in
China in 1334, and to have appeared in Constantinople
in 1347, making its way thither by the caravans from
Central Asia. In the following year it reached Italy,
and wrought such havoc in the "sunny south" that
one-half the population fell a sacrifice to its fury. The
story of its ravages in Florence forms a gloomy prelude
to the lively pages of Boccaccio's "Decameron." Pope
Clement VI. shut himself up in his palace-fortress at
362
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Avignon, and burned great fires night and day; he
also consecrated the river Rhone, that bodies might be
thrown into the river without delay, the churchyards
being too full to hold any more. It was not until the
last day of May, 1349, that the pestilence made its
appearance in England. In London alone 100,000
souls were carried off by this fearful scourge, and in
other parts of the country the loss of life was propor-
tionately great. According to Stow, there was a stone
cross in the "Spittle Croft, outside West Smithfield
Bars," in his time, which bore an inscription recording
the fact that 50,000 corpses were buried therein and in
the adjoining crypt, and it was not until the London
churchyards were full that the Spittle Croft was used.
It was estimated that not less than 25,000,000 deaths
occurred in Europe from the Black Death. The
symptoms of the disease were various. The boils
or tumours common to the Eastern plague were fre-
quently seen, but the chief features were a black tongue
and black spots over the body. There was also bleed-
ing of the nose, or spitting of blood; and inflammation
of the lungs often supervened. The second day generally
proved fatal, so rapid was the course of the disease.
The medical science of the day was powerless to cope
with the epidemic; the remedies suggested by super-
stition were those mostly resorted to. During the
fourteenth century the Black Death spread itself seven-
teen times over the length and breadth of Europe, and
the only effective safeguard that was adopted was the
isolation system proposed by Bernardo, in 1379, when,
from motives of selfishness rather than of public good,
he suggested that every person stricken with the plague
should be removed from the city into the fields, and
there left to die or live, and that those removing and
attending upon them should remain isolated ten days
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
363
before being permitted to re-enter the city gates. This
led the Venetians to establish lazarettes on islands
some distance from the city, and as the disease returned
from time to time this method was adopted and modi-
fied elsewhere until houses for the reception of the sick.
or the suspected were established at a distance from all
large towns. The ignorance and helplessness of the
people generally under this visitation of the Black
Death is evidenced by the extraordinary religious
manias which it called forth. The most famous
organization of the period was that of the Order of
Flagellants, the members of which body, under the
belief that their sins had called down the vengeance of
Heaven, formed themselves into vast processions and
passed through the streets, armed with scourges, with
which they lashed themselves and each other until the
“blood gushed out." Morning and evening was this
penance repeated, but still the Black Death was not
removed. It is some satisfaction to know, however,
that the Order of the Flagellants did not succeed very
well in England. A band of Flagellants came over
from Germany, and lacerated themselves in public in
the streets of London, but the English refused to see.
any true propitiation in this method of meeting disease,
so the self-scourgers had to depart without making a
single convert.
The epidemic called St. Vitus's Dance broke out in
Germany in 1387, and spread through Belgium and
Holland with great rapidity, but did not reach England
until towards the close of the century. Happily it was
not very fatal in its consequences. Attention was first
drawn to it at Aix-la-Chapelle, when a number of
persons, male and female, were seen "dancing in
circles hand-in-hand for hours together, until they fell
to the ground in a state of complete exhaustion."
364
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
This disease got its name from the fact that "the
parties so troubled were wont to go to St. Vitus for
help; and after they had danced there awhile they
were certainly freed." There is no record of the
epidemic having reappeared in anything like the same
serious form in Europe at any subsequent date,
although the disease in its milder symptoms is by no
means uncommon.
Another great epidemic of the Middle Ages was the
Sweating Sickness, which first showed itself amongst
Henry Tudor's soldiers in 1485, after his landing at
Milford Haven, and quickly spread to London, where
it continued to rage with terrible effect for more than
three months. Its course was more rapid even than
that of the Black Death, not more than three hours
elapsing in many instances between the first seizure
and death. Its visitations to this country were in the
years 1485, 1506, 1517, and 1551. It was noticeable
that the sufferers were usually men between the age
of thirty and forty, and that the healthiest and
strongest were the first to be attacked. The symptoms
were a sudden sweat, accompanied by faintness and
drowsiness; and "those who were taken with full
stomachs perished immediately." Medical aid seemed
of little avail. Dr. Caius, in his "Boke of Counseill,"
recommended a facilitating of the sweating; but,
according to Holinshed, the only hopeful remedy was
for the patient to be "kept close with moderate air,
and drink posset ale or such like for thirty hours,
and then the danger was passed." Many thousands
perished at each visitation of this epidemic. It raged
with equal violence in England, France, Germany,
Russia, Norway, and Sweden.
The epidemic the most terrible in its associations,
the most frequent in its visitations, and the most fatal
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
365
6
in its effects, as far as this country is concerned, is
what was known as the plague. No one has been able
to diagnose this disease properly. In fact, the nearest
approach to a description of it is that "a poison, the
elements of which defy all chemical analysis, is ab-
sorbed in the blood, and in a short time changes its
composition and the condition of the tissues." Sir
Thomas Watson has nothing more to say of it than
that "
as I have never seen, and never hope to see it;
and as, with Cullen, I think it unfit for a person who
has never seen the disease to attempt its peculiar
history,' I shall not presume to offer you any obser-
vations in detail." Be that as it may, the plague has
been the epidemic most frequently known in England,
although it has not visited these shores since 1665.
From 430 to 1665 it was never absent for a very long
period. At the earlier date the mortality is said to
have been so great that the survivors were hardly
numerous enough to bury the dead. Thousands died
of the plague in London in 962, and we have informa-
tion of visitations in 1094, 1111, 1361, 1407, and
1471. In 1478 there was another outbreak, of such a
serious nature that more people perished by it than had
fallen in the sanguinary wars of the preceding fifteen
years. In 1499 Henry VII. and his Court removed
to Calais to avoid a disastrous visitation of that year.
Then, coming down to the seventeenth century, the
record becomes more serious. In 1603-4 its ravages
were so fearful that 30,578 persons fell victims to it in
the metropolis alone; in 1625 the capital again felt the
terrors of this scourge, 35,417 persons dying from it.
in the city. It reappeared in 1630, after which there
was a period of respite; but in December, 1664, the
Great Plague broke out, being imported into London
in some goods from Holland, and first appearing in a
366
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
house in Long Acre, where four persons died. Nearly
three hundred years had elapsed since the Black Death,
and still neither the authorities nor the medical faculty
were prepared to cope with the disease. Sanitary
science was so little understood that the pestilence was
allowed to spread without any effectual measures of
prevention being adopted. The epidemic continued
its course all through the winter and spring, and
when the hot days of summer came grew still more
virulent. The King and Court fled to Salisbury in
July, Monk, Duke of Albemarle, being left, as it were,
in command of London. All human concerns, except
the one horrible business of battling with the plague
and dealing with its victims, were neglected. Upon
the door of every house where the disease had shown
itself was inscribed a red cross, with the words, "Lord,
have mercy upon us!" From 4,000 to 5,000 people
died every week, and the work of removing the dead
was carried on by night, the carts rattling through the
deserted streets to collect the bodies of the victims and
convey them to the pits, into which they were un-
ceremoniously thrown without the sacred offices of the
Church. The death-rate increased as the year advanced.
Writing under date of August 31st, Pepys puts on
record the fact that, "In the City died this week 7,496,
and of them 6,102 of the plague. But it is found
that the true number of the dead is near 10,000.”
As for the people in the country, they declined to have
any dealings with their brethren in London, refusing
to buy anything that came from the city, or to allow
any of its inhabitants to enter their houses.
"When
any one bought a joint of meat in the market they
would not take it out of the butcher's hands, but took
it off the hooks themselves. On the other hand, the
butcher would not touch the money, but had it put
}
!
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
367
into a pot full of vinegar, which he kept for that pur-
pose. The buyer carried always small money to make
up any odd sum, that they might take no change.
The quacks made a rich harvest with their "only
true plague-water," their "infallible preventive pills,"
and other high-sounding nostrums, but the faculty were
wanting even in the pretence of remedies. When the
epidemic was at its height in the autumn the King
issued a command to the College of Physicians to
prepare a series of regulations for the public guidance
in preventing and treating the disease; and the Lord
Mayor caused great fires to be lighted in all the streets.
and open places on the 6th of September, in the hope
of purifying the air, and these fires were kept burning
for three days and nights. The doctors were divided
upon the utility of this measure, some contending that
it increased the danger, others supporting the proceed-
ing; but, luckily, while the men of medicine disputed,
a heavy rain fell, not only extinguishing the fires, but
ushering in a colder season, which gradually intensified
and put an end to the plague, not, however, until it
had carried off its 100,000 victims.
Although the plague has not revisited England since
that melancholy period, the country has suffered
repeatedly from outbreaks of epidemics, some of which
have borne an alarming resemblance, in many of their
symptoms, to the former disease. The march of sani-
tary science was slow and uncertain. Fire and natural
decay effected the removal of many plague-spots from
the overcrowded cities, and houses and streets were
rebuilt upon improved principles; still it was not until
comparatively recent times that the architect began to
realize the true importance of sanitary provisions.
The epidemic that troubled England the most during
this time of transition was the small-pox, which was
368
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
frequent in its visitations and terribly destructive.
There was hardly a family in the country some member
of which did not bear the indelible marks of the pain-
ful disease. But towards the close of the last century
there arose a movement for the prevention of this par-
ticular epidemic. It was known that in the East the
practice of inoculation prevailed as a remedy against
small-pox. Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who had
witnessed the process in Turkey, was a strong advocate
of its adoption, and Dr. Jenner found immortality
by becoming its chief apostle. It was long, however,
before he was able to find an opportunity of putting
the theory to the test. He was so enthusiastic on the
subject that at the medical clubs he used to attend, the
members got so tired of his recurrence to the theme
that they at length intimated that if he made any
further reference to it he would be summarily expelled.
But on the 14th May, 1796, his opportunity arrived.
On that day he took some cow-pox matter from the
hand of one Sarah Nolines, who had been infected
from her master's cows, and inserted it by two super-
ficial incisions into the arms of James Phipps, a
healthy boy about eight years old. It is recorded that
the cow-pox ran its ordinary course without any in-
jurious effect, and the boy was afterwards inoculated.
for the small-pox, the protection being complete.
Jenner now pursued his experiments with full confi-
dence; and, after many difficulties and delays, mainly
to be laid at the door of prejudice, his great discovery
was accepted by the doctors generally, and the theory
of vaccination became established. It is unnecessary
here to trace the development from inoculation to
vaccination; let it suffice that the protective measures
so strongly urged by Jenner were gradually accepted
and improved upon, until now we have compulsory vac-
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
369
cination and a gratifying immunity from the disease.
In 1723, in London alone, one out of every fourteen
deaths was caused by small-pox, and in France, in
1754, the proportion was one in ten. In Russia, not
less than two million persons were said to have fallen
victims to the disease in a single twelvemonth, about
the middle of the century. As vaccination came to be
adopted in this and other countries, the mortality from
small-pox gradually decreased, and Jenner was hailed
as one of the greatest benefactors of his time. In 1802
Parliament voted him a grant of £10,000, and in 1807
a further sum of £20,000. It was not till 1853, how-
ever, that vaccination was made compulsory in England,
and in Scotland and Ireland two years later. There
still exists an opposition party to vaccination, and un-
doubtedly there are numerous cases in which the
introduction of foul matter or pus into the system of a
child has been productive of pernicious results. The
anti-vaccinationists further contend that the large
decrease in the number of small-pox cases since the
adoption of Jenner's method is due more to improved
sanitation than to any virtue that there exists in vac-
cination. Of the latest development of the principle
of vaccination, by which M. Pasteur has sought to
combat that most fearful of all contagious diseases-
hydrophobia-it is at present unnecessary to say more
than that his system is being put to the fullest prac-
tical test, and that all Europe is hopefully interested
in the results.
The great epidemic of the present century has been
the Cholera, which has visited Europe at irregular
intervals since 1829, destroying multitudes all along
its line of march. This terrible scourge, it is generally
agreed, had for its birthplace the great delta of the
Ganges, where the pestilential marshes breathe forth
B B
370
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
:
organic impurities of the most deadly character. From
this bed of disease the poison-shafts have been dis-
seminated with such fatal effect that over fifty million
lives have been sacrificed by them. So clearly is this
to be traced that more than one eminent authority has
proposed to try the experiment of stamping it out at
its starting point by canalizing the delta of the Ganges,
and by drainage and cultivation removing the seeds of
pestilence. There is little doubt the disease had been
long familiar in the East before making its way to
northern latitudes. One of the earliest instances of
Europeans being attacked by it occurred during the
operations of the Marquis of Hastings in India in 1817.
While he and his army of over 10,000 Europeans and
a much larger native force were in the Bundelcund, not
far from Allahabad, the European troops fell under the
epidemic, which proved fearfully destructive amongst
them. It continued with unabated severity, until
early in November the army was moved westwards
towards Gwalior, thousands of dead and dying being
left behind. Happily, the removal of the troops from
the infected locality gave them relief.
It was in the Russian town of Orenburg, on the
Ural, that cholera made its first appearance in Europe,
having travelled, it is supposed, by way of Persia. In
1830 it made a further encroachment, spreading with
fatal force over various parts of the Czar's dominions.
the great epidemic of Moscow beginning in September,
and numbering among its victims many distinguished
people. In the following year cholera broke out at
Sunderland, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Shields, but
London remained exempt until the spring of 1832.
Most of the English seaports were attacked in the
summer of that year, and it was taken across the
Atlantic by Irish emigrants, and made its way to several
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
371
of the principal cities and to the Upper Mississippi,
where it very seriously interfered with the military
operations against the Indians. The disease did not
leave Europe entirely until 1837, after which the pesti-
lence absented itself from the western world for a full
decade. The year 1847 saw the return of the epidemic
with redoubled fury. It advanced again through Russia
and spread itself over the whole of Europe, its victims
being counted by thousands in all the great centres of
population, the overcrowded and less healthy parts of
our towns being the chief seats of the attack. From
1847 to 1853 Europe was once more free from cholera,
but in the last-named year it raged with fearful
violence in St. Petersburg, advancing along the Baltic
coast, and reaching London and Liverpool in July,
though not becoming epidemic until a year later.
Another visitation occurred in 1865, the starting point,
curious to say, being at Altenburg, a town in the very
middle of Germany. How it got there was an inex-
plicable mystery. It spread, however, from that dis-
trict over other parts of Germany, and in July, 1866,
appeared at London and Liverpool, though the visita-
tion was less serious than on former occasions. From
that time to the present we have had an immunity
from the disease in this country, although between
1873 and 1875 it appeared in a somewhat subdued
form in certain parts of Germany.
From the time of the first outbreak of cholera in
Europe there has been going forward a gradual im-
provement in matters of sanitation, and, when we con-
sider that all epidemics are specially fostered by impure
conditions of living, it is not too much to say that to
this improvement more probably than anything else is
due the continued absence of great epidemics. Medical
science has expended much thought and skill upon the
BB 2
372
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
investigation of the tangible cause of cholera; but as
yet without a well-defined result. Dr. Koch was sent
to India by the German Government in 1883 to look
into this matter, and his conclusions, after the most.
careful inquiry and examination, were as follows:
That the unknown entity (the germ) in cholera has
the form of a curved rod, which Dr. Koch likens to a
comma, as written not printed, and that the disease
is caused by the presence, growth and multiplication of
this organism in the apparatus for absorption, con-
tained in the lower part of the small intestine, and by
the consequent formation there of an animal poison,
which produces collapse and the other fatal effects
of cholera. Subsequent to this our own Government
sent out a special Commission for the purpose of
reporting generally on the practical bearing of the
German investigations. Dr. Klein was at the head of
the Commission, and after due investigation, the report
was that, although Dr. Koch was perfectly accurate in
his statement of fact, he had gone too far in in-
ference. It has to be admitted, however, that the real
bacteriological cause of cholera is still undiscovered.
Meanwhile, sanitary measures diminish the mortality
from cholera even in India, and it is in that direction
that there seems to be the most hope.
About 1832, Dr. Southwood Smith drew attention to
the subject of public health, and for many years he
continued to publish books, pamphlets, and reports
bearing on this subject, and in course of time the
Government were induced to take the matter up, and
numerous Acts designed for the prevention of epidemic
disease were passed, including the Public Health Acts
of 1848, 1855, 1872, and 1878, the latter being a con-
solidation of previous Acts. In 1851-3 the Common
Lodging Houses Act came into force, introducing
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
373
many useful regulations bearing on the health of the
poor. Then, in 1855, there was the Diseases Preven-
tion Act; in 1866 the Labouring Classes Dwelling
Houses Act; in 1866, 1868, and 1870 further Sanitary
Acts were passed; 1874 witnessed the enactment of
the Public Health Act for Ireland; and in 1874 the
Sanitary Laws Amendment Act came into operation.
Contemporaneously, private effort effected much
good. The National Health Society was founded in
1873; there was an International Sanitary Congress
at Vienna in the year following; the London Sanitary
Protection Association was established in 1881, Sir
William Gull, Professor Huxley, and others being
amongst its founders; from the 16th July to the
13th August, 1881, there was an International
Sanitary Exhibition in the Albert Hall; International
Sanitary Congresses were held at Washington in 1881,
and at Geneva in 1882; the International Health
Exhibition was held in 1884; and in the same year
the Fifth International Sanitary Conference took place.
at the Hague. All these various movements evidenced
the strong interest of the public, and the increased.
activity of the authorities in regard to the prevention
of disease.
""
Mr. Edwin Chadwick was an eminent worker on
behalf of the public health for many years. Indeed,
he has been called "the Father of Sanitary Reform,'
and not without cause. In his early manhood he
advocated many measures of public utility, and, after
his appointment to an official position in 1832, was the
means of introducing several effective reforms bearing
on the condition of the labouring population. It was
at his suggestion that the Poor Law Board instituted
an inquiry into the question of the housing of the poor.
Subsequently, he received the appointment of Chief
374
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Executive Officer of the first General Board of Health,
and during the five years of the existence of this body
sanitary principles were elaborated and applied to a
number of towns, with the result that the death-rate
was in some cases reduced to one-fourth, and even in
one or two instances to one-third the former rates.
His designs for improved sanitary dwellings, which
have served as the models for so many that have been
since erected; his suggestions for the better adminis-
tration of the parochial system of poor relief; and his
numerous writings on kindred matters have been of
great national benefit. It has been well said of him
that, he has made laws, yet he was never a legislator;
he has well-nigh revolutionized our national sanitary
arrangements, yet he was no doctor; he has taught
some of the higher, because most practical, principles
of education, yet he was no professor." Many other
scientific men-amongst whom Dr. W. B. Richardson
deserves honourable mention-have addressed them-
selves to the practical study of sanitary subjects, with
the most beneficial results to the community. It has
been by the persistent efforts of such men that the
various public authorities have gradually come to recog-
nize their duties in these matters; and the Boards of
Health and Medical Officers that are now to be found
in all the large centres of population, and even in the
rural districts, constitute an admirable testimony to
the growth of precautionary principles, and give an
assurance of scientific care and attention in strong con-
trast to the neglect that prevailed in the past. A separate
chapter might easily be written upon the subject of
sewerage, and another on water supply-matters which
have been of the utmost importance in working out
There is
this gigantic problem of sanitary reform.
an abundance of blue-book literature on these heads,
GREAT EPIDEMICS.
375
setting forth the reports of Royal Commissions, Select
Committees, and the like, and forming the basis of
much useful legislation.
It is nowadays pretty widely-though not univer-
sally-recognized, that overcrowding, the accumulation
of filth in and about dwellings, personal uncleanliness,
improper food and impure water, stagnant ditches,
foul drains, marsh lands, and similar evils, are predis-
posing causes to disease, and it is to the removal of
some of these causes that the Public Health Authorities
strive to adapt themselves. The principles of general
hygiene here indicated form the best preventive of
disease; and, in cases of infectious maladies, the
methods of isolation now provided for by the later
developments of our hospital system are the best safe-
guards.
376
CHAPTER XX.
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
THE cup of Lethe belongs not to the ancients, but is
the outcome of our own time. From Homer down-
wards, the poets have sung of draughts of sweet
forgetfulness and repose-inspiring decoctions, but only,
for the most part, as ministrations to pleasure or mini-
mizers of mind-weariness; neither the fancies of poetry,
nor the facts of past history have realized such a
complete pain-destroyer as that which is revealed in
the modern story of anaesthetics. In all ages recourse
has been had to plants possessing anaesthetic proper-
ties, and opiates have always been a powerful agent in
the hands of those practising the medical art; for all
that, the discovery of an effective allayer of physical
pain—an agent capable of temporarily suspending the
action of the sense of feeling-is one of the matters
we have to set to the credit of nineteenth-century
science.
It has been attempted to penetrate the mysteries of
that nepenthe of which the Odyssey speaks, which
delivered men from grief and wrath, and caused oblivion
of every ill; but doctors differ upon this as on other
points, some holding that it was a preparation of opium,
while others incline to the opinion that it was Indian
hemp boiled in wine. Pliny, Dioscorides, and other
ancient philosophers make repeated references to anaes-
thetic plants and substances, foremost among them
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
377
being mandragora, or mandrake-root, while what was
known as Memphite stone was regarded as of great
efficacy in producing local anaesthesia. The man-
dragora was of the deadly nightshade family, and was
largely used, both under medical advice and as a
soothing opiate for private use. The Emperor Julian,
it is said, took nightly draughts of this magic sleep-
inducer, and this and kindred decoctions formed the
chief portion of the pain-alleviating agents of the olden
time. When Iago had set his subtle poison at work
in the mind of Othello, the devil within him rejoiced
that
"Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday.”
""
The gentle Juliet may be supposed to have received
from Friar Lawrence an even more powerful potion,
sending through her that "cold and drowsy humour
which produced such a close simulation to death as to
be actually taken for it. The indications given by
Middleton in his tragedy, Women beware Women, seem
to point directly to the use of anaesthetic agents in
surgical operations. He says:
"I'll imitate the pities of old surgeons
To this lost limb; who, ere they show their art,
Cast one asleep, then cut the diseased part."
As for the Memphite stone, modern science-which
finds time to compare notes with the ancient wonder-
workers as well as to prosecute its own particular
researches has formed a very plausible theory con-
cerning it. It was known that the stone used to be
pounded and mixed with strong vinegar, and that the
paste thus produced was applied to the part affected.
378
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
If, as was no doubt the case, the stone possessed the
properties of marble, it would throw off carbonic gas
by the action of the acetic acid in the vinegar, and
this gas would be the element which would yield the
anaesthetic power.
According to Herodotus, a decoction of hemp, which
must have borne some resemblance to the bhang
or hashish of modern Orientals, was used for anaes-
thetic purposes by the Scythians; and it is on record
that the Chinese administered a preparation of hemp
for the like objects as early as the third century. The
ancient Assyrians we have it on the authority of
Aristotle-adopted a rather rough-and-ready method
of relieving the patient from local pain when certain
surgical operations were to be undergone. They pro-
duced anaesthesia by forcible compression of the veins
of the neck.
Instances of the application of agents containing
anaesthetic qualities, previous to the present century,
are numerous enough, but the precise nature of those
agents is not always ascertainable. In the Middle
Ages, when quackery of every description was rampant,
it was easy to impose upon a too credulous public with
medicines professing to exorcise pain, and if these
preparations did not always in themselves completely
answer expectation, by the assistance of faith and
imagination conditions would not fail to be induced
favourable to the alleviation of suffering. We are told
that Augustus II. of Poland was relieved of pain by
some secret agent, while a trying operation was per-
formed upon his foot; and amongst the stories which
have descended to us of men condemned to the terrors
of the mediæval torture-chamber, we find it stated that
money or influence was often able to procure from
the gaolers a secret potion whose action would yield
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
379
surcease of sorrow" until the cruel ordeal had been
passed.
Opium and other narcotic drugs were frequently used
for protection against pain in ages gone by. A curious
recipe has been handed down to us from Theodoric, a
pupil of Hugo, who lived in the latter half of the thir-
teenth century, and wrote a book on surgery. In this work
he gives an elaborate prescription for the concoction of
"a flavour for performing surgical operations" without
causing pain to the patient. The recipe runs thus, and
is said to be "according to Dominus Hugo " :-"Take
of opium, of juice of unripe mulberry, of hyoscyamus,
of the juice of the hemlock [cicuta], of the juice of the
leaves of unripe hemlock, of the juice of the wood-ivy,
of the juice of the forest mulberry, of the seeds of
the lettuce, of the seeds of the dock that hath a large
apple [Datura], each an ounce; mix all these in a large
brazen vessel, and then place it in a new sponge; let
the whole boil as long as the sun lasts in dog-days,
until the sponge consumes it all. As oft as it is
required, place this sponge in hot water for an hour,
and let it be applied to the nostrils of him who is to be
operated upon, until he has fallen asleep, when the
operation may be performed." In these various in-
gredients were included some of the most powerful
narcotic vegetables known to us at the present day.
Baptista Porta, in his work on "Natural Magic,"
published in 1608, gives recipes of a somewhat similar
kind, amongst them being one for a "sleeping apple,"
whose principal constituents were mandrake and opium,
the flavour of which had to be inhaled by the nose.
The mandrake, however, was gradually superseded by
the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) for these
purposes. Opium, which is the dried juice of the
seed-vessels of the common white poppy, has been in
ว
380
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
use for ages as a soother of pain and inducer of sleep,
its leading element being the alkaloid called morphine;
and as far back as the thirteenth century, Raymond
Lully, the alchemist, had an acquaintance with the
properties of ether; indications of a similar know-
ledge being given in the fifteenth century by Basil
Valentine, and in the sixteenth by Valerius Cordus, who
gave particulars how to make it. In the light of these
facts it seems not a little surprising that it was not
until about the middle of the present century that
ether was utilized for producing insensibility to pain.
Keats, with that delicate perception of physical feel-
ing which was a marked characteristic of his poetry,
alludes to the sensation which the application of
anaesthetic agents induces. It occurs in the opening
of his exquisitely dreamy "Ode to the Nightingale":
"My heart aches, aud a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk."
It was not until long after Keats's time, however,
that the science of anaesthetics began to stir the
minds of the faculty. Experiments of a desultory
character had been indulged in from time to time,
with fairly satisfactory results, but no master mind had
been engaged upon the subject, and little general
progress had been made. Mr. James Moore, an
English surgeon, borrowing an idea from the ancient
Assyrians, advocated compression of the large nerves
as a means of averting pain, some time towards the
close of the last century, and obtained permission to
try the method upon a patient in St. George's
Hospital. This was a case of leg amputation, and
the operator was none other than the famous John
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
381
Hunter. The experiment was so far successful that it
was only when it came to the sawing of the bone that
the patient showed signs of uneasiness. Mr. Liégard,
of Caen, followed on similar lines a little while later,
having, by the aid of a tourniquet applied to the leg,
been able, in two cases, to remove a toe-nail without
pain. But none of these attemps at pain-annihilation
was sufficient to establish a new surgical departure,
or even to invite much imitation; the true theory
of anaesthetics remained hidden away amongst a
thousand other secrets which Nature held in reserve
as rewards for the more intelligent searchers into her
mysteries.
Such a searcher was Sir Humphry Davy. In 1798,
when he was but twenty-two years of age, and plain
Humphry Davy, unknown to fame, and plodding away
with zeal and diligence as a doctor's apprentice at
Bodmin, he chanced upon a discovery which not only
drew attention to his own personality, but set the
world of science aglow with new thoughts. He was
but a lad of twenty-two, yet his investigations in the
study of chemistry and natural philosophy were of such
a remarkable character that they brought him into
association with some of the best minds of his time.
Dr. Beddoes, of Bristol, evinced a lively interest in
Davy's experiments, and it was at his suggestion that
the doctor's apprentice removed to Bristol and accepted
the post of superintendent of the Pneumatic Institution,
which had been established at Clifton for the purpose
of testing the medical effects of certain gases. After
two years of assiduous study and experiment, Davy
was enabled to publish his remarkable "Researches,
Chemical and Philosophical, chiefly concerning Nitrous
Oxide," which an eminent man of our own day, Sir
James Paget, has spoken of as an essay "proving a
382
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
truly marvellous ingenuity, patience, and courage in
experiments, and such a power of thinking and observ-
ing as has rarely, if ever, been surpassed by any
scientific man of Davy's years.'
Amongst the various properties of nitrous oxide,
Davy discovered one striking peculiarity. When he
accidentally inhaled the gas he experienced many
strange but not unpleasant sensations. His imagin-
ation was excited, he felt a greatly increased mental
activity, and became restlessly jubilant. Trying the
inhalation upon others, he observed similar results.
So merry did it make people that by common consent
it had the name of "laughing gas" given to it, and in
the cause of mirth rather than of medicine for many
years came to be frequently resorted to.
Unfortunately for medical science, Humphry Davy's
researches were directed to other studies and wider
issues, but he left to the surgical art a legacy of sug-
gestion which, though slow of fruition, was destined to
yield important results. He had noticed that, besides
its mirth-producing power, "laughing gas
laughing gas" was able
to produce temporary insensibility, and he wrote:-
"As nitrous oxide in its extensive operation appears to
be capable of destroying physical pain, it may probably
be used with advantage during surgical operations in
which no great effusion of blood takes place." Strange
to say, the doctors did not accept the hint, or make the
least attempt to put Davy's theory to the test of prac-
tical experiment, simple as it was and plainly as it had
been demonstrated. Nearly half a century elapsed.
before nitrous oxide gas was medically used as a means
of producing insensibility to pain.
In 1832, a M. Dauriol operated upon persons made
insensible by the use of ether containing sedative sub-
stances, hemlock, henbane, or stramony. This was
1
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
383
a step in the right direction, but still no permanent
result seemed to be arrived at. Dr. Smilie, a dozen
years later, used ether, combined with tincture of
opium, for producing insensibility prior to performing
surgical operations, and was in a great measure suc-
cessful; he, however, had not sufficient confidence in
his plan to continue it. Doctors, generally, fought
shy of anaesthetic notions through fear of injurious
consequences. And so the grand idea which Humphry
Davy had given to the world, as well as all kindred
suggestions, was allowed to rest without practical.
benefit being derived from it, until December, 1844,
when, remarkable to relate, the idea was revived in
America and had fresh life and purpose given to it.
One bitter cold night about Christmas time, 1844,
a number of the citizens of Hartford, in the State of
Connecticut, had been drawn from their firesides to
listen to a lecture by Dr. Gardiner Q. Colton on
certain gases.
The lecturer was very popular in
those parts, for he had a happy knack of combining
amusement with instruction,—a rarer gift in those days
than now. Amongst the diversions to which he treated
his audience there was none that gave so much satis-
faction as that which illustrated the effects of nitrous
oxide. Several persons had the gas administered to
them, and while under its influence indulged in such
merry antics as excited the hilarity of the assembly.
The genuineness of the experiments was proved by
the fact that the people operated upon were well-known
Hartfordians, and not persons in the pay of the doctor.
It was considered splendid fun to see respectable.
citizens conducting themselves like clowns at a fair.
Amongst the audience was a local dentist named
Horace Wells, who was interested in the scientific.
aspect of the matter. Wells noticed that when a Mr.
381
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Samuel Cooley, whom he knew very well, was under
the spell of the gas, and knocked his legs violently
against one of the benches, bruising himself severely,
he uttered no cry of pain, nor did he show the least
sensibility to the injuries he had sustained. This
incident set Wells thinking. He saw in it the very
thing that Davy had indicated forty-five years before,
and, like a true Yankee, resolved to utilize the idea in
his own business. He did not say anything to his
friends about his intentions that night, but the next
morning called upon Dr. Gardiner Q. Colton, along
with Dr. Riggs, a brother dentist, and asked to be put
under the influence of the gas. While so acted upon,
as had been previously arranged, Dr. Riggs extracted
one of Wells's molars, the latter feeling nothing of the
operation whatever. Elated by the success of his
experiment, Wells induced Colton to teach him how to
make the gas, and subsequently administered it to some
dozen patients with equally satisfactory results. He
now desired to make a public demonstration of the
anaesthetic properties of the gas, and was allowed to
make an experiment upon one of his own patients at
the Boston Hospital, under the supervision of Dr.
Warren. A large number of the faculty attended to
witness the experiment, but with no very friendly feel-
ing towards the tooth-extractor, whom they considered
to be trenching on ground made sacred to them. The
patient was placed in a chair, and the gas was applied.
But, from some cause or other, the moment the dentist
fixed his instrument and attempted to wrench the
offending tooth from its place, the owner of it uttered a
piercing cry. The upshot may be imagined. Wells
was laughed at and derided. They called him an im-
postor, and shook their empty heads as if they had
been full of wisdom, remarking, with a smile of satis-
!
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
385
faction, that they had known how it would end. And that
was about the last that was heard, in a public way, of
Horace Wells. Not having the courage of his con-
victions, and being weighed down by a super-sensitive-
ness that scarcely accorded with his profession, he did.
not take the trouble to explain that the inhalation had
not been long enough to effect the result aimed at,
but vanished from view and shrank back into the
obscurity from which the "laughing gas" had first
dragged him, dying shortly afterwards.
After Wells's death, Dr. Colton turned his attention
to the question of making practical use of nitrous oxide
as an anaesthetic; but he received scant encouragement
from those whose interest he sought to serve. For
nearly twenty years the dentists of America refused to
have anything to do with the anaesthetic, but persisted
in their old-fashioned method of extraction by torture.
It was not until 1863, when Dr. Joseph H. Smith, of
Newhaven, Connecticut, was prevailed upon to use the
gas upon a patient, that Dr. Colton's unwearying efforts
began to attract notice. When once the dentists of
America had had their eyes opened to the true merit of
the discovery, however, they soon made up for lost
time, for in 1867, when Dr. Colton proceeded to Paris.
for the purpose of enlisting the favour of the French
faculty, he was able to take with him "a clean record
of 20,000 successful administrations without a single
accident," although even that strong testimony was not
sufficient to surmount the barrier of professional preju-
dice behind which the Paris doctors inertly screened
themselves. Colton was more fortunate in London.
Mr. S. Lee Rymer had introduced nitrous oxide experi-
ments into England in 1864, and, later on, Dr. Evans,
an American dentist, brought Colton's apparatus to
London, and, in the presence of the staff of the Dental
C C
386
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS,
Hospital, administered the gas with complete success.
But there were two serious hindrances to its general
adoption. In the first place, it was difficult and costly
of production; and, in the next place, it demanded a
certain chemical skill in manipulation, which not many
dentists possessed. In time those objections were
overcome by the utilization of Faraday's discovery that
by submitting the gas to a pressure of 750 lbs. on the
square inch it assumed a liquid form, and, thence-
forth, when it became possible to send the gas out in
wrought-iron bottles, furnished with stop-cocks, the
process of administration was simplified to such a
degree that it was not long before Davy's discovery of
1798 was in universal application as an anaesthetic
agent for dental operations.
A more potent anaesthetic was found in sulphuric
ether. As far back as 1818, Faraday had disclosed
the fact that this gas was capable of inducing insensi-
bility; but, as in the case of Davy and his nitrous.
oxide, the scientific deduction had to travel a long way,
and spread itself over many years, before it could gain
acceptance. An English doctor named Long, practis-
ing at Athens, made use of ether in several surgical
cases with success in 1842, but left no record of pro-
cedure or results; in the same year, however, acting
quite independently, Dr. Jackson, an American,
brought this agent into notice as an anaesthetic. He
While pre-
was led to it by a rather curious accident.
paring some chlorine gas for the illustration of a lec-
ture, the bottle containing the gas fell and broke, and
as the antidote to the suffocating fumes, he inhaled a
quantity of sulphuric ether and ammonia, under the
impression that the inert salt, chloride of ammonia,
would be formed. Gradually, however, he fell off into
a condition of perfect anaesthesia, and when he subse-
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
387
quently recovered sensibility, his first thought was that
he had discovered a pain-destroyer of greater efficacy
than anything that had been previously resorted to.
But, as usual, it was not an easy matter to convince
others of the truths of a new discovery. It took four
years of lecturing and elucidation-four years of hard
argument and demonstration-before he could induce
any one to act upon his suggestion. Ultimately, in
September, 1846, a Boston dentist, named Morton,
secured immortality by experimenting with ether. He
had already made himself acquainted with the proper-
ties of nitrous oxide gas, and was favourably disposed
towards a further examination of the subject of anaes-
thetics. When, therefore, Dr. Jackson gave him some
ether, he, first of all, tried the effects of it on himself,
and afterwards extracted a tooth without pain from a
patient under its influence.
Mr. Morton immediately brought the matter under
the attention of the leading members of the faculty
in the locality, and at the Massachussetts General
Hospital, in the presence of many who had witnessed
Horace Wells's failure with nitrous oxide a year or two
before, he succeeded in throwing a couple of patients
into a perfect condition of anaesthesia while Drs.
Warren and Hayward performed two painful operations
upon them. The profession now began to assume a
less sceptical attitude towards the apostles of anaes-
thetics, and there grew up a desire to experiment
with the new pain-killer. Dr. Bigelow, of New York,
gave increased fame to it by two successful operations.
He cut out the inferior jaw of one patient and
amputated the thigh of another painlessly while they
were under the influence of the narcotic.
Up to this time Dr. Jackson had sought to keep
the precise nature of the anaesthetic a secret. He
cc 2
388
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
with mystery.
christened it Letheon, and endeavoured to shadow it.
Dreams of vast wealth arose in his
mind as he thought of himself as the only purveyor
of this powerful charm-worker, which must soon be in
demand all over the civilized world. But the dreams
were not to be realized even to a small extent. Dr.
Bigelow at first suspected the presence of sulphuric
ether by the smell, and, after submitting the mystic.
Letheon to proper scientific tests, satisfied himself that
it was ether and nothing else. His next surgical
experiments were with sulphuric ether of his own
providing, and the success was as great as before.
After this it was useless in Dr. Jackson to pretend to
make a secret of his Letheon; Letheon accordingly,
after a very brief service as an empty name, passed
into oblivion, and sulphuric ether-so called from its
being made by the action of sulphuric acid on alcohol
was proclaimed far and wide as the new anaesthetic.
On the 28th of November, 1846, Dr. Bigelow
communicated the result of his experiments to Dr.
Booth, of London, and in the following months the
first trial in England of ether as an anaesthetic took
place at Dr. Booth's house. During the same month.
Mr. Liston used ether with complete success in two
serious cases the amputation of a thigh, and the
extraction of a toe-nail. The use of ether now became
general, and in January, 1847, Dr. Simpson, of
Edinburgh, employed it with the best results in an
obstetric case. A few days before he had been
appointed one of Her Majesty's Physicians for Scot-
land, but in a letter to his brother at the time he
expressed himself as far less interested in this new
honour than in the success of his experiment with
sulphuric ether.
From that time the name of Doctor (afterwards Sir)
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
389
James Young Simpson became closely identified with
the study of anaesthetics. He approached the subject……..
with a due sense of its importance, and applied to
it a scientific skill of the first order. Several deaths
occurred through the careless and indiscriminate use
of ether, causing that agent to be regarded with
diminished favour. A less dangerous but equally
effective substance was called for, and to the discovery
of this Dr. Simpson devoted his best energies. In
his researches he was assisted by several able pro-
fessors, and for a time they gave a large share of their
attention to the matter. Any volatile substance in
which anaesthetic properties were suspected was care-
fully examined, and it was not long before the experi-
ments brought forth the coveted reward.
One night Dr. Simpson and his assistants were
sitting up late, bent on their self-imposed task. A
number of chemical fluids had been selected for ex-
periment, each man providing himself with a glass,
into which a small quantity of the particular substance
engaging attention was poured, the glass being placed
over warm water to help the evolution of vapour. In
this way, with their mouths and nostrils held over the
vessels, they tested one vapour after another, but it
seemed as if the spirit of unconsciousness was not to
be evoked. They tried many gases and liquids which
no one had ever thought of testing in this connection
before, and at last a small bottle of ponderous liquid,
which provoked no great expectations, and was only
known as a chemical curiosity in the laboratory, was
raked up out of some obscure corner and put to take
its turn with the rest. This was a small bottle of
chloroform. Presently, after more promising sub-
stances had failed them, it was resolved to submit
it to the test. A small portion of the liquid was
390
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
poured into each glass and the experimenters began
their inhalations. Professor Miller, one of the
assistants, has described what took place.
An un-
wonted hilarity seized the party; they became bright-
eyed and very happy, and conversed with such
intelligence as more than usually charmed other
listeners, who were not taking part in the proceedings.
But, suddenly, there was a talk of sounds being heard
like those of a cotton-mill, louder and louder; a
moment more, then all was quiet, and then-a crash!
On awaking, Dr. Simpson's first perception was
mental. This is far stronger and better than ether,"
he said to himself. He next observed that he was
prostrate on the floor, and that his friends were
confused and alarmed. Hearing a noise, he turned
round and saw his assistant, Dr. Duncan, beneath a
chair; his jaw dropped, his eyes staring, and his head
half bent under him; quite unconscious, and snoring
in a determined and alarming manner. More noise
followed, and much commotion, and then his eyes
overtook Dr. Keith's feet and legs making valorous
efforts to overturn the table, or more probably to
annihilate everything that was upon it. All speedily
regained their senses, and from the middle of that
night dates the discovery of the anaesthetic uses of
chloroform.
The new anaesthetic soon almost entirely superseded
the use of sulphuric ether. The substance had been
first discovered and described, almost simultaneously,
by Souberian in 1831, and Liebig in 1832; while its
composition was accurately ascertained by the eminent
French chemist, Dumas, in 1835. Its advantages
over ether were thus summarized:-1. A greatly less
quantity was requisite to produce the anaesthetic.
effect. 2. Its action was much more rapid and
THE STORY OF ANAESTHETICS.
391
complete and generally more persistent. 3. Its
inhalation and influence were more agreeable. 4. A
smaller quantity being used, it was less expensive.
5. Its odour was far from being unpleasant, and did not
long remain attached to the clothes of the attendant.
6. It was more portable and transmissible. 7. No
special kind of inhaler or instrument was necessary
for its exhibition.
On the 10th November, 1847, Dr. Simpson made
a communication on the subject to the Edinburgh
Medico-Chirurgical Society, and from that time it was
established in the leading position as an anaesthetic.
But, great as the benefit was that was conferred upon
suffering humanity by this powerful agent, there were
not wanting those who looked upon its use as an insult
to Providence. Pain, they maintained, was ordained
by the Creator, and to seek to annul physical suffering
was in the highest degree sinful. Even the chief of
the Army Medical Staff recommended the surgeons,
during the Crimean war, not to use chloroform, assert-
ing that the pain inflicted by the knife was a whole-
some stimulus, and its abolition was likely to be in-
jurious. These objections notwithstanding-and the
more serious objection of occasional deaths under its in-
fluence-it long held its ground as the chief anaesthetic,
and in all ordinary circumstances could be administered
with safety.
More recently, however, ether has again found its
way into favour, and is now the most generally used of
anaesthetics. In the period between the discovery of
the anaesthetic properties of ether and the introduction
of chloroform, ether was used by men of insufficient.
skill, and the numerous deaths then set against it
caused it to be regarded as highly dangerous; but now
that it is better understood, and the manner of its ad-
392
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
ministration is simplified and improved, it is considered
even safer than chloroform, its stimulant effect upon
the action of the heart being of great importance in
sustaining the vital powers.
Occasional recourse is had to other anaesthetic sub-
stances, but they are less certain in their action than
the three leading anaesthetics-ether, chloroform, and
nitrous oxide. Sir Spencer Wells has used bichloride
of methylene with advantage in abdominal operations,
and the same agent has been much used in ophthalmic
surgery. Some recommend a mixture of the various
anaesthetics, but none of these compounds can compare
in reliability with the three principal agents.
Pain has its uses in warning us of physical dangers,
and is one of the conditions of our existence; still,
every contribution to its alleviation is an addition to
the sum of human happiness. The men who have
been concerned in the preparation of the Lethean
draught which has robbed the surgeon's knife of its
terrors, and helped in a striking degree the advance-
ment of medical science, have good cause to be re-
membered with gratitude. Far from opposing the
operations of nature, it is to nature they have resorted
for an antidote against these developments of pain which
may be properly described as abnormal.
393
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
"IN the years to come it will be debated whether the
great minds of the later Victorian era were most con-
cerned with their souls or with their stomachs. Politics
we may put by; they are always with us; but, politics
apart, between these two interests, the spiritual and the
peptical, the question of precedence must surely lie.
What other claimant can there be? Not literature,
thrust away into corners, or tricked out in a newspaper
like some May-day mummer; not art, divorced, in
Carlyle's phrase, from sense and the reality of things;
not music, crushed Tarpeiawise under foreign gew-
gaws, or brayed in a chemist's mortar; not the drama,
levelled to a tawdry platform for the individual's
vanity. Not these things, nor any one of these things;
but the soul and the stomach, irreligion and indiges-
tion, doubt and dyspepsia-call them what you will—
these are the cardinal notes of our great inquiring
age." So wrote "A Layman" not long ago in an
article entitled "The Philosophy of Diet," in one of
the monthly magazines, and upon which even the
Lancet ventured to descant with favour. In the even-
tuality prognosticated by "A Layman," the history
and romance of dietetics must form the most im-
portant factor from which the future generation will
evolve its conclusions. With regard to its history,
Sir Henry Thompson expresses the opinion that our
394
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
forefathers did not sufficiently consider this great sub-
ject. He commends their care of our morals, and sees
a wise and lofty purpose in the laws they framed for
the regulation of human conduct, and the satisfaction
of the natural cravings of religious emotions. But
those other cravings, equally common to human nature,
those grosser emotions, cravings of the physical body,
they have disregarded. "No doubt," he says, "there
has long been some practical acknowledgment, on the
part of a few educated persons, of the simple fact that
a man's temper, and consequently most of his actions,
depend upon such an alternative as whether he digests
well or ill; whether the meals which he eats are pro-
perly converted into healthy material, suitable for the
ceaseless work of building up of both muscle and brain,
or whether unhealthy products constantly pollute the
course of nutritive supply. But the truth of that fact
has never been generally admitted to an extent at all
comparable with its exceeding importance." On the
contrary, there always has existed a large class of per-
sons who imagined that just as the fire will burn all
consumable material more or less quickly, so the human
body demanding, as it does, so much nutriment, would
be content with whatever food could be shown to con-
tain anything in the way of digestible material. There
is a very serious error involved in this mode of thought,
which possibly characterized our ancestors, more than
the present generation, although it was not owing to
the fact that the teachers of their day did not point
out to them the error. Plutarch was averse to a too
solid diet, for the reason that it does "
very much
oppress" those who indulge therein, and is apt to
leave behind" malignant relics." Moreover, such pro-
phets as Conaro and Cheyne, Abernethy and Jephson,
preached strenuously against the dietetic errors which
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
395
prevailed at the commencement of the current century,
and Sir Henry, in his turn, would not have men to be
great eaters of beef. He is very sure of the influence
man's diet has on his conduct. "It is certain that an
adequate practical recognition of the value of proper
food to the individual in maintaining a high standard
of health, in prolonging healthy life, and thus largely
promoting cheerful temper, prevalent good nature, and
improved moral tone, would achieve almost a revolution
in the habits of a large part of the community."
Notwithstanding the dietetic mistakes of their time,
however, the ancients were by no means devoid of
thought upon the stomachic influence, for always
through the years wise men who studied the conduct
and character of their kind have commended moderation
in gratifying the appetite, and lashed indulgence. The
writer already quoted points out that Milton, in a
famous passage, has chanted in his solemn music the
praises of a sleep which "was aëry light from pure
digestion bred"; and Pope, with equal truth, reminded
his fellows "how active springs the mind, which leaves
the load of yesterday behind." They did not believe
in a written law for these things; the doctrine and
bearing of their sermons is thus summed up—“Be
not unsatiable in any dainty thing, nor too greedy upon
meats. For excess of meats bringeth sickness, and
surfeiting will turn into choler. By surfeiting have
many perished, but he that taketh heed prolongeth
life." Tiberius, says Tacitus, held that man a fool
who at the age of thirty years needed another to tell
him what was best to eat, drink, and avoid. "There
iş," says Bacon, " a wisdom in this beyond the rules of
physic; a man's own observation what he finds good
of and what he finds hurt of is the best physic to pre-
serve health.” The melancholy Burton concludes that
396
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
"our own experience is the best physician; that diet
which is most propitious to one is often pernicious to
another. Such is the variety of palates, humours, and
temperatures, let every man observe and be a law unto.
himself." The Conaro to whom we have alluded was a
native of Padua, and was as wonderful an old gentleman
as the amiable M. Chevreul of Paris, who in August,
1887, completed his one hundred and second year, and,
as the saying goes, "still retained all his faculties un-
impaired." At the age of eighty-three he published
his "Discorsi della Vita Sobria" a treatise upon how
much a sober life could do; and he repeated his dis-
course at the age of ninety-five, not finally disappearing
from the world's stage until he had passed the century.
The quantity rather than the quality of what men
ate was the ruling law with the wise men of old;
measure was the one thing needful. Conaro, by the
time he had reached the age of thirty-six, had accus-
tomed himself to a daily measure of twelve ounces of
food and fourteen of drink; but he does not appear to
have had any scruples as to what he ate, neither did he
shun wine. "I chose that wine," he says,
" which
fitted my stomach, and in such measure as easily might
be digested." Dr. Lessius, another authority in the
seventeenth century, does not commit himself to any
measurement or scale. He says, "If thou dost
usually take so much food at meals, as thou art thereby
made unfit for the duties and offices belonging to the
mind, it is then evident that thou dost exceed the measure
that thou oughtest to hold." He tells, on ancient autho-
rity, some marvellous tales of the little men have found
enough to keep body and soul together; how one throve
through a long life on milk alone, how another lived
for twenty years on cheese-instances which we shall
amplify further on. But he insists, as do all the
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
397
ancient sages, that the measure must vary with the
age, condition, and business of the man. The golden
mean must vary in all sorts of people is the burden
of their song, "according to the diversity of com-
plexions in sundry persons, and of youth and strength
in the self-same body." Again : "A greater measure
is requisite to him that is occupied in bodily labour,
and continually exercising the faculties of the body,
than to him that is altogether in studies." On this
point all agreed. Life, we conclude, therefore, is
warmth, growth, repair, and power to labour, and all
these are derived from the food we eat, and the fluids
we drink—and these should be good.
The foods of barbarous and semi-civilized people are
the most varied and remarkable. We should not ex-
pect to find so much variety as actually prevails, for
instance, among the Esquimaux. The icy deserts of
the huge island of Greenland, cut off from all inter-
course with Europe ten months in the year, are
scarcely the locality in which a traveller might expect
to find that quality. Seal-flesh is their staple food,
although many Europeans have such a repugnance to
it that they almost regard the taking of it as an im-
moral act. Pasties made of seals' livers are regarded
in Greenland as great delicacies, and are the pride of the
Esquimaux housewives; for there are rules and regula-
tions even for a Greenlander's kitchen, and the art of
cooking enters largely into making palatable or other-
wise the numerous kinds of seal-flesh. Mikiak is the
name given by Greenlanders to the half-frozen, half-
rotten flesh of the seal, which in certain parts of the
island forms the principal provision of the inhabitants.
It is poor fare, but when fish and seals have failed for
any length of time it becomes an enviable tit-bit, and
is devoured with as keen a relish as if it were hare or
398
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
༣༩
game. The sufferings of the Greenlanders from famine
are indeed terrible at times, and they frequently have
to quiet the cravings of their stomachs with mussels and
seaweed, and often old sealskins, not sparing the ragged
skins which cover the roofs of their wretched hovels.
When, after some such period of deprivation, the seals.
once more appear, the suffering inhabitants can hardly
be very much blamed if they do commit extraordinary
extravagances of eating-extravagances which, never-
theless, compel penalties in return. The highest mor-
tality in Greenland occurs not in the time of famine,
but in the time of plenty-an apparent confirmation of
the adage that more die of eating too much than eating
too little, as in the case of the little girl in Western
Pennsylvania, who ate twelve saucerfuls of ice creams,
and died in two hours! Such instances might be
vastly multiplied nearer home than "Greenland's icy
mountains," or the continent of America. Another
favourite food of the Greenlanders is provided by the
whales and the dolphins which are sometimes caught,
but more frequently are found stranded on the shore or
floating dead upon the surface. Mattak is the Esqui-
maux's choicest dainty. It consists of the skin of a
whale either grilled or raw, and has a medical as well
as a gastronomic value, being considered one of the
best cures for scurvy. Sea-fowl and fish, and the eggs
of the eider ducks, add largely to the Greenlander's
larder, which unfortunately too often "gives out"
during the long winter. For the information of the
curious, a well-informed writer has given an authentic
menu of an extraordinarily sumptuous feast at a wealthy
It was as follows:- Smoked
Esquimaux's house.
seal-flesh; cooked do.; half-raw, half-rotten do.
(the so-called Mikiak). Roasted elk. A piece of a
whale's tail. Roasted reindeer. Smoked salmon.
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
399
Smoked reindeer. Cranberries mixed with entrails of
reindeer. Cranberries preserved in fat. Of all the
dishes which the Esquimaux eat with a relish none
is more revolting to our idea than the half-digested
herbs which they find in the paunch of the slaughtered
reindeer; yet so highly do they esteem this nauseous
fare that they call it Nerukak, the "food of foods.'
The physiological explanation of the loathsome taste is
the craving of the human stomach-a craving which
will not be refused-for vegetables of some kind.
In addition to the reindeer, the Laplanders feast on
bears' flesh and birds. The stalks of the plant An-
gelican affords them a favourite dish, and the plant is
looked upon in Norway as a preservative from scorbutic
complaints. In extremities the Lapps boil the moss
that hangs down from the trees and make gruel. Ber-
ries of every description abound, and supply the place
of fruit in the summer.
“In order to tickle the palate
they peel the rind from the fir-trees, and eat it either
raw or smoke-dried, or, in order to make it thoroughly
appetizing, they dip it in their favourite sauce, fish-oil."
Salmon is the premier dish among the residents by the
sea. It is eaten uncooked, but dipped in fish-oil, and
the tiniest babies are given this dish to accustom them
to oil. The store of dried fish sometimes becomes
exhausted, and then the refuse heads and bones are
all collected on which there is a little flesh to be found;
they are put into a cauldron together with slices of seal
fat, previously preserved in the seal's stomach, and the
whole concoction is boiled together. On the whole,
the Laplanders' food is wholesome and nourishing.
They are enabled by it to endure the fatigues of their
inhospitable life and the severity of their rigorous.
climate. Besides being nourishing, their diet is con-
ducive to health, and it is said that the Laplanders
400
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
suffer in consequence very little from disease. Fevers,
plagues, and other epidemics are practically unknown
among them, except colic with spasms, which prevail
somewhat extensively. They drink water, and brandy
is their nectar. A peculiarity of the Lapps' culinary
arrangements is that the men do everything but clean.
the utensils, which the women do by licking them!
A favourite dish with the Bachirs who inhabit the
Uralian regions of European Russia is thus described:
A sheep is boiled whole and then cut into pieces, both
the flesh and the fat being chopped very small. Meal
is then freely mixed with it, and it is boiled over again
into a kind of broth, very thick of course, which is eaten
with the fingers; a leathern bottleful of koumiss then
goes the round of the festive board. Mare's milk
(which koumiss really is) has the property of under-
going a slight spirituous fermentation, especially when,
after being submitted to heat for a little time, it is
shaken up for a considerable period. It has an intoxi-
cating effect, though the taste of alcohol is covered by
its acridness. It is considered salutary for phthisis,
and it often restores the vital forces to persons in the
last stage of exhaustion. Koumiss is more a necessary
of life to the nomadic Bachirs; the sedentary Bachirs,
on the other hand, habitually eat bread, with beef,
mutton, or horseflesh, and are only incidentally ad-
dicted to koumiss. They have, however, borrowed a
spirit (kvas) from the Russians, and prepare it like them
from meal and bran.
To travel from the Northern to Southern latitudes,
we find most peculiar food customs among the peoples.
of the Makassar, Javanese and Papuan races, which
make up the population of the Dutch island of Am-
boina—a land of plenty, and yet whose resources are
so little taken advantage of. The staple food of the
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
401
Amboinese is sago, prepared in a variety of ways, from
the simple blanc-mange shape to preparations of it
seasoned with spices and flowers. Sago pap is to them
a delicacy, and occupies the position in their diet that
macaroni does with the Neapolitans. Bread is very dear,
and in consequence is beyond the means of the abori-
ginal population. Vegetables are more plentiful than
meat; no considerable quantity of fish is eaten, which
is somewhat remarkable considering that the coasts and
creeks of the island are the resort of all varieties. No
one seems to think of attempting to catch the fish,
which are close at hand in shoals. Birds are seldom
eaten; the use of mushrooms is altogether unknown.
The drinking water is of the best quality, though to
those who first visit the island it tastes insipid, and
has a chalky flavour. Our authority records further
that "Anak has been introduced by the Chinese, who
have increased its stupefying effects by mixing it with
various vegetable products. This spirit, the effects of
which upon the aborigines have been deplorable, has
found its way to the hut of the poorest native. But their
favourite beverage nevertheless is the bitter sageroe.
The natural sap of the sago plant is called sweet
sageroe, but it rapidly becomes unfit for drink, and is
therefore promptly converted into bitter sageroe by
means of 'sebat segero,' the root of the kayoe toenie.
What brandy is to the Russians, sageroe is to the
inhabitant of this island, be he planter, labourer,
citizen, ferryman, Mahommedan or Christian. It is
the same drama with different actors, the same spring
at which the drunkard refreshes himself; the same
fruitful source of misery and crime." One peculiar
feature of the Amboinese is the extensive use of so-
called edible earths, which are largely eaten by the
women when in an advanced state of pregnancy, the
D D
402
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
poor creatures being credulous enough to believe that
by this means they will bring white children into the
world. Boiled rice is the staple food of the Javanese,
but they enjoy a quantity of other dishes made up of
fish; flesh and fish mixed together, the fat larvæ of a
very large beetle which lives in the palm and cocoa-nut
plantations, and is considered a very great delicacy;
ducks' eggs, baked ants, &c.; nearly 400 kinds of
their fresh-water fish are edible, and there are no fewer
than 1,100 kinds of salt-water fish, most of which can
be eaten also. Although rice, as we have said, is the
staple food, yet it has many competitors in the vege-
table kingdom, including maize, wheat, the pulse of
Java, sweet potatoes, and especially a variety of the
cassava or maniok, so well known in the West Indies,
which it is stated far surpasses rue as an article of food,
and can be cultivated with much greater ease and far
Tess watching. Unluckily, in the eyes of a Javanese
native there is nothing in the world equal to rice; and
though he may have already partaken of many much
more nutritious foods, he does not regard his meal as
complete till he has also consumed a quantity of rice.
The diet of the inhabitants of modern Egypt and the
Nile valley does not embrace a great variety of meats.
The consumption of butchers' meat is mostly restricted
to mutton, and that only in small quantity. The flesh
of the camel is eaten only by the peasants and the desert
Arabs, being unlawful for the Copts. Buffalo meat is
tough, coarse, and seldom consumed. Pigeons and
poultry are reared everywhere, and quails and partridges
occur wild. Fish figures largely in the maritime and
fluviatile districts. The salt fish is prepared after the
manner of cod; the smoked fish by the method adopted
with herring. An important item in the piscatorial
harvest is "bontarge," a kind of caviare prepared from
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
403
the roes contained in the two oblong membranous
pouches in the mullets common to Lake Menzaleh. In
Upper Egypt crocodiles are taken in the Nile by means
of traps, or by harpoons fixed in hollow bamboo handles,
and secured by a cord which unwinds with the struggle
of the wounded beast. Honey is obtained from domes-
ticated bees, and is generally clarified before being
eaten.
In reference to ourselves, the peculiarities of our
dietary do not seem so much marked as is the case
with foreign and semi-barbarous people. We imagine
we have a more rational diet, and we hope that we
benefit greatly, and endeavour to prolong our lives by
observing, to some extent at least, the canons of health
so numerously laid down by the medical faculty, and
those food reformers who would have man to thrive and
labour on the humble sixpence per diem. Both sections
of the community-the medical men and the reformers
-are agreed upon the possibility of keeping up health.
and strength beyond the allotted span of life upon an
expenditure even lower than that we have named; but,
generally speaking, the true philosophy teaches us that
our bodies are living machines of a very complex
character. Chemically, although we may consist, each
of us, of some two-thirds by weight of water, yet the
remaining third of solid materials exhibits in its way
many intricacies of composition. We are made not
of one or two but of divers stuffs. Complex compounds
of a highly vital character commingle with minerals
and with simpler materials to build up our frame. Nor
is this the whole story of food and its nature in rela-
tion to the body demanding to be nourished.
We
must find in the food the elements of the body, it is
true, which is the common-sense basis of all nourish-
ment. If food is to replace and repair the bodily wear

DD 2
404
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
and tear, without which not even so light a work as the
winking of the eyelid can be performed, it is clear
above all things else that in our nourishment we should
expect to discover the substances of which our frames
are built up.
The New Zealand native had a ferocious
way of gouging out his sharp-sighted enemy's eye and
swallowing it, because he thought that such an act
would give him the clear sight that resided in that eye.
Dr. Blythe, in his "Diet in Relation to Health and
Work," remarks that a very similar popular view is
held by many people in reference to food-they think,
if you want muscle, you must eat muscle, that fat
makes fat, and that mineral matters make bone; but
in these popular notions there are many errors which
Dr. Blythe proceeds to clear up.
Foods are scientifically divided into (1) Water,
(2) Meaty or albuminous-substances, (3) Starches or
Carbohydrates, (4) Fats, (5) Mineral matters, (6) Ac-
cessory foods, all of which have representatives in the
body itself. The amount of water in food, as in our
bodies, is very large. A beefsteak contains 75 per
cent. of it; cabbages 85 to 90 per cent.; and of sub-
stances most commonly eaten, rusks or biscuits are the
driest, and water-melons the most watery of food.
Water builds up new tissues, and from innumerable
experiments, many, as in cases of shipwrecked persons,
unfortunately compulsory, it has been abundantly
proved how long life will last with only this element to
sustain it. The amount of water, in every shape,
which Dr. Blythe allows to be sufficient, is a daily total
of four and a half pints. In the second division, the
four chief carbohydrates are ordinary cane-sugar, glucose,
and starches, such as wheat starch in bread, oat starch
in oatmeal, rice starch in rice, &c., and they are trans-
formed, in the mouth, in the stomach, and in the in-


THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
405
testines. Fat is not formed entirely from fat, but in part
from carbohydrates, and in part from meaty substances
as well. Albuminous food, besides containing carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen, and a little sulphur, also contains
nitrogen, and, as is well known, all the important
functions of the body are carried on by nitrogenous
foods, and solids-that "each person from the begin-
ning to the end of existence is immersed in a great
gaseous ocean of nitrogen." A meat diet increases
tissue change. Salt is the only mineral matter that
man craves for—all the rest being taken in sufficient
quantities with our daily food-and the explanation of
this common desire for salt is to be found in the fact
that it is essential to all the fluids of the body, the
blood, the lymph, and the chyle. Accessory foods.
are the luxuries of diet, such as tea, coffee, alcoholic
drinks, and spices.
The English are essentially a meat-eating nation;
we eat more meat than any of the European peoples,
and under these circumstances it is of interest to know
something of the differences in the flesh of various
animals. From elaborate researches Messrs. Lawes
and Gilbert have compiled numerous analyses of the
variations of the main constituents in different animals.
It is clear that if fat-free muscle is alone considered, we
buy more in an equal weight of veal than in beef, and
that in an equal weight of fat beef there is more muscle
than in lean mutton; and if we subtract the water,
considering the water as of no value, then the follow-
ing will be the order of merit fat pork, fat mutton,
fat beef, fat lamb, lean mutton, and fat veal-fat pork
containing least water, and fat veal most. There is a
fraudulent practice reported by the writer already men-
tioned, prevalent among butchers, of injecting their
meat with water. This is done by means of a fine
406
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
tube, and it is wonderful how much the weight of
certain joints, especially pork, may in this way be in-
creased without any very evident alteration in the ap-
pearance of the joint. As to the digestibility of meat,
there is considerable variation, as shown by a table
compiled in a most extraordinary way. A Canadian
patient of Dr. Beaumont's suffered from a fistula or
wound leading into his stomach, and through this
opening the different foods were introduced and with-
drawn at pleasure. Thus we know that the most
easily digested food is boiled pig's feet, and boiled tripe,
each of which takes one hour; that the longest time
taken in digestion is by roast pork, viz., five hours and
fifteen minutes. Roast goose, sucking pig, and boiled
lamb, each occupy two hours and a half; roast beef and
boiled mutton three hours, and fried beef, boiled fowls,
roast fowls and roast ducks, four hours each.
Blythe points out that this was the time occupied by
the Canadian's stomach, adding that "the digestion of
various people differs much, but the order in which the
meats disappear is probably constant with all people."
To many uninitiated it will appear singular that the
result of experiments shows that raw meat is much
more quickly assimilated than cooked meat. This is
explained by the fact that "the application of heat
coagulates the albuminous matters in the meat, render-
ing them denser and harder, and hence not so easily
permeated by the digestive fluids. If we could overcome
our prejudices in favour of cooked meat and eat raw,
the advantage would be more than counterbalanced
by the danger of contracting parasitic and other
diseases."
Dr.
Edible fish is divided into two kinds-fat fish, such
as salmon, mackerel, eels and herrings; and lean fish,
whiting, cod, haddock, sole, plaice and flounders; and
+
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
407
tinned meats are considered as an article of nourish-
ment cheaper than butchers' meat.
Following the classification of food adopted in "Diet
in Relation to Health and Work," we come to that which
from the earliest times, even when its composition was
most imperfectly known, has been considered the type
of foods-milk. Dr. Blythe enumerates in his work on
"Foods, their Composition and Analysis," no less than
fifteen constituents in milk; but for the present pur-
pose it is sufficient to consider that it is composed of
water, casein, milk-sugar, milk fat (butter), and mineral
substances (ash). These different constituents are
partly in solution, partly in suspension, and together
combine all that is requisite to a perfect diet. Never-
theless, it is an essential "food for babes," inasmuch
as with men a large proportion of the solids in milk do
not assimilate, but pass away. The public, unfortu-
nately, do not, as a rule, especially in London and
other large cities, get the pure milk, as is evident from
the fact that in one metropolitan parish alone, not-
withstanding that the " Sale of Food and Drugs Act” is
in systematic operation, there is yet a loss to the in-
habitants, according to the Public Analyst's report, of
at least £10,000 a year from the adulteration of milk.
The chief merit of butter as an article of food appears
to be its digestibility, as it is an open question whether
there is any difference of nutritive value between equal
weights of carbon in butter, beef, or mutton fat.
As bread is such a cheap and popular item in our
dietary, being technically described "as any form of
flour made into a paste with water, permeated by the
gases of fermentation and baked," it is interesting to
know that in no other article of food has there been
greater development during the last few years in favour
of the consumer. Chemical knowledge has largely
408
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
contributed to this result, and the greatest advance in
the scientific method of making bread was the patent
of Dr. Daugleish some years ago. He was the pioneer
of the mixing and manufacture by machinery which
gives the process the merit of great purity and cleanli-
ness. When we remember that bread is the staple
food of Englishmen, it is strange to reflect that there
are a number of civilized nations where a large pro-
portion of the peasantry eat little or no bread. Baked
loaves of bread are unknown in many parts of South
Austria and Italy, and throughout the agricultural
districts of Roumania. In the village of Obersteier-
mark, not very many miles from Vienna, bread is never
seen, the staple food being sterz, a kind of porridge
made from ground beechnuts, which is taken at break-
fast with fresh or curdled milk, at dinner with broth or
fried lard, and with milk again for supper. This
sterz is also known as heiden, and takes the place of
bread not only in Obersteiermark, but in Carynthia, and
in many places in the Tyrol. In the north of Italy
the peasantry live chiefly on polenta, a porridge made
of boiled maize. The polenta, however, is not allowed
to granulate like Scotch porridge, or like the Austrian
sterz, but is boiled into a solid pudding, which is cut
up and portioned out with a string. It is eaten cold
as often as hot, and is in every sense the peasant's
daily bread. The modern Roumanians are held by
many scholars to be descended from a Roman colony-
in other words, to be the cousins of the Italians, and,
curiously enough, a variation of the polenta, called
mamaliga, is the national dish of Roumania. The
mamaliga is like the polenta, in that it is made of
boiled maize, but it is unlike the latter in one impor-
tant respect—the grains are not allowed to settle into
a solid mass, but are kept distinct after the fashion of
oatmeal porridge.
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
409
Oatmeal, barleymeal, and ryemeal are important
food constituents, especially the first named, which
possesses all the elements necessary for the mainte-
nance of high bodily vigour, and is capable, with the
addition of fat, to sustain and support life indefinitely.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a bag of oatmeal
was the sole provision carried by the Scotch in the border
forays, and its more popular form is porridge. At one
time barley bread largely supplanted wheaten bread in
England, and ryemeal was once a common article of
diet. Dr. Blythe mentions a singular feature in the
growth of the latter. The rye is subject to a peculiar
fungus, which has powerful medicinal properties, and
when thus affected, if made up into bread, it causes a
very extraordinary disease known as Ergotism, in which
mortification of the limbs may take place. Various
epidemics of this disease have occurred, but the general
disuse of rye-bread in this country has practically
extinguished the disease here, though cases are not
infrequent on the Continent.
Indian corn is another cereal of marvellous nutrition.
"There are few plants," says Dr. Asa Gray, "of which
the uses are more various to man, and few which are
of greater importance to him than 'zea mays,' called
in the United States by the generic name of 'corn,' and
in Europe and Asia called Indian corn,' or maize.""
It is a native of the equatorial regions of Central
America, where it was cultivated by the aborigines long
before Columbus made his celebrated voyage across the
stormy Atlantic and discovered a New World. Yet
although there is nowhere an American but believes
that corn or maize is one of the grandest products of
his native country, there are not wanting naturalists to
maintain that the "corn in Egypt" spoken of in the
Old Testament was none other than the zea mays"
410
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
which supports so many millions of human beings, of
horses, cattle, pigs and poultry in the United States
and the Dominion of Canada. It is therefore probably
indigenous to the Eastern, no less than to the Western
Hemisphere, as representations of the plant appear in
Chinese books of a very early date, and there are
evidences to show that it was brought from Asia Minor
to Athens and Rome before the Christian era. Of all
cereals it is immeasurably the most productive, as it has
been computed that in sunny countries one single grain
of maize planted in a favourable position, where it can-
not be interfered with or overshadowed by trees, will
be multiplied eight hundredfold at the end of three
months. How much it has contributed to the wealth
and prosperity of North, Central and South America, it
would be impossible to estimate. There is no more
magnificent spectacle of its kind in the world than that
afforded by a field of maize in the month of September
over a vast portion of the North American continent.
It is, however, in the Southern States of the Union that
maize is chiefly valued and most universally employed
as a constituent of human food. The negro race, for
example, will use no other grain for making bread and
cakes, and until an Englishman has partaken of break-
fast in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama,
he can form no conception of the endless array of hoe
cakes, Johnny cakes, pone bread, puffs, and much that
will be set before him. Of puddings and pastry made
from the same rich and unctuous meal there is abso-
lutely no end, while the eagerness and gusto with
which delicate American ladies will gnaw the green or
immature cobs of corn, which they take between their
dainty fingers, should be seen to be understood. The
pith of the culm before the flowers are produced,
abounds in a sweet oily juice which is boiled into an
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
411
excellent syrup, and, fermented and distilled, it yields
a rich spirituous liquor. The dried leaves are used as
a winter fodder, and in recent times they have been
subjected, while yet full of sap and juice, to pressure in
a pit, and form the best materials for what is known as
ensilage. The stalks again are employed for thatch
and for fuel, and also for making baskets; and from
the cobs or husks from which the grains have been
removed a pipe is constructed, which every Southern
farmer and every adult male negro uses for smoking
tobacco. The silky spathes or swaddles surrounding
the ear are utilized in a variety of ways; in fact there
does not appear to be a particle of the plant that is not
laid under some service in its native lands. When the
Irish potato famine was raging in the winter of 1845-
46, the American Government chartered a vessel which
they loaded with maize, and sent it over as a present to
the starving human beings who were perishing of
hunger in the southern and western counties of
Ireland; but the generosity was thrown away. Rather
than cat maize in the form of bread and cakes the
Irish poor prepared to starve for want of the less sus-
taining potato. The late Sir Charles Trevelyan, who
devoted himself with rare unselfishness and energy to
visiting Tipperary, Galway and County Cork, reported
that he had in vain attempted to teach Irishwomen
how to cook maize in any of the multitudinous forms
which it assumes when dressed for the table in China,
Asia, Africa and America.
By a continuity of narrative we now approach the
subject of the potato, which has had its centenary
praises sung, and which remains an important dietetic
entity upon every dinner-table in Europe. It is, more-
over, the staple food of a vast population under British
dominion. There are differences of opinion as to how

412
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
the plant became naturalized in Europe: England
gives the honour to Sir Walter Raleigh, of having first
brought it over to this country; Germany, or at least
parts of it, accord the honour to Sir Francis Drake;
while France regard their own Parmentier as entitled
to most credit in the matter. In England, however,
the potato was known in 1586; in Spain it had been
introduced even earlier, brought there by enterprising
navigators, and invaders from the southern part of the
American continent, as Raleigh had brought it from
the north. Strange, that neither from Spain nor Eng-
land had it made its way into France, and that, to
enrich his country with it, Parmentier had first to
march to Hanover, to be made a prisoner there, and
detained until he had been able to familiarize himself
with the method of cultivating it, and the various
modes of preparing it for the table. When, however,
the French had once got hold of the potato they
certainly showed that they knew what to do with it.
Potato-sugar and potato spirit apart, they invented
some half-dozen modes of cooking it which have since
been adopted in all civilized countries. It was reserved.
for the French to teach us how to fry potatoes in two or
three different ways; how to stew or "Sauter" them;
how to arrange them in little round pieces, well
browned and with fried onions à la Lyonaise—or sliced,
boiled and covered with parsley and butter à la maître
d'hôtel. Doubtless, but for Parmentier and the French,
says an authority on the subject, we should at this
moment in England have only four ways of serving up
potatoes—boiled, mashed, baked, or roasted. In what-
ever form, however, the potato is the cheapest vegetable
diet obtainable; it possesses antiscorbutic properties,
and if supplemented with a little fat, or, still better,
with fat meat such as bacon, it will support life and
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
413
maintain health for an indefinite time. Half a pound
of bacon and five pounds of potatoes are given as a
daily diet upon which a labourer could do hard work,
and live in good health. Beans, peas, and lentils
succeed the potato, and the importance of cabbages,
carrots, turnips, &c., is far more than their nutritive
value, for without the addition of these substances,
even while eating fresh meat, we are liable to decline in
health and suffer from eruptions, while if we eat salt
meat for any time, and consume neither potatoes nor
vegetables, nor fruits, then that terrible disease scurvy
is imminent.
66
Fruit has now a large part in our modern dietary
system, and if we accept the teaching of Dr. De Lacy
Evans, who has added to the already voluminous.
literature on "How to Prolong Life," man may live
entirely upon fruits in better health than the majority
of mankind now enjoy. "Good, sound, ripe fruits," he
says, are never a cause of disease, but the vegetable
acids lower the temperature of the body, decrease the
process of combustion or oxidation—therefore the waste
of the system-less sleep is required, activity is in-
creased, fatigue or thirst hardly experienced." Still the
body is well nourished, and as a comparatively small
quantity of earthy salts are taken into the system, the
cause of old age is in some degree removed, the effect
is delayed, and life is prolonged to a period far beyond
our “three score years and ten." Dr. De Lacy Evans
himself proved the fact that a fruit diet requires less
sleep. He lived for five days entirely upon oranges,
with the result that the temperature was lessened,
though there was a pleasant glow through the whole
system. To other individuals, however, he felt cold,
so that animal heat is only relative. Only three or
four hours' sleep was required in the twenty-four.
414
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Fruits, he maintains, are nutritious in themselves, but
should they not contain sufficient nitrogen to satisfy a
theoretical appetite, all the other elements being pre-
sent, man may absorb the deficient nitrogen from the
surrounding atmosphere, the combination resulting in
albumen or protein. "For this reason, together with
the fact that they contain little earthy matter, fruits are
man's best diet, if truly he desires a long life." Dr. De
Lacy Evans recognizes the difficulty attending a sudden
change of diet, and the necessity of conforming to
the rules and usages of society, and therefore lays
down the following simple rules :-(1) Eat moderately,
always remembering that you eat to live-to give-a
balance to the system. (2) Take no more than three
meals a day. (3) Avoid eating large quantities of
bread, pastry, and other. farinaceous foods. To those
who are willing to make alterations in their diet, he
would apply the same rules, with this difference :-Eat
fruits, if possible, at every meal, and commence with
them; if the appetite is not moderately satisfied, finish
with the ordinary articles of diet.
A few years ago a diet like that above recommended
would have been impossible in the majority of house-
holds, but the development during the last few years of
the import trade in fruit, and the impetus given to it
by the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, has brought this
dietetic element within reach of all, in some form or
other. The West Indies, probably more than any other
part of the globe, have enlarged the export of fruits.
They grow almost wild, and include bananas, pine-
apples, plantains, cocoa-nuts, prickly pears, the bread
fruit, &c. Not all the West Indian fruit is suitable
for export here, but most of it is, and the trade is
rapidly assuming large proportions. The Colonies, too,
supply the English market with a remarkable variety
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
415
of fine fruit in different systems of preservation, none
of which are prejudicial to the fruit itself.
The subject of drink in relation to diet has given
rise to much controversy. The art of making strong
drinks, not only to exhilarate, but to intoxicate, seems
to have been one of the earliest attainments of our
race. In all parts of the world, and in the rudest
states of society, mixtures of such a kind have been
discovered. The infusion of herbs into the fermenta-
tion of so-called cordials must have been practised in
the most early ages, and it is somewhat noticeable that
the Gaelic word lusadh, which means drinking, is derived
from lus, a herb or plant. The Celtibri had at their
festivals a certain liquor composed of no fewer than one
hundred kinds of herbs, and which was esteemed a
most sweet and wholesome drink. Others at a very
early age were fond of distilling various flowers and
herbs to form a mixture, special care being taken to
gather them at a certain age of the moon. Before
wine became a drink among the nations of Western
Europe they employed not a little of their grain in
making two kinds of drink called curmi and zythus
(corresponding to our ales and beer), by simply steeping
it in water. Whether the Caledonians could make
malt liquor as early as it was found in use among the
South Britons, is not known, but curmi or ale was in
use in the third century, and common in the sixth. The
Picts were noted for the art of extracting a delicious.
drink from heather tops and blossoms. A pleasant
drink, it is said, is often made from the flowers of the
heather, differing from the Pictish beverage in the
addition of other ingredients, and especially honey.
Herb ale was a favourite "browst" in the olden time,
and it was an invariable practice when brewing to put
a quantity of blooming heather tops in the mash-tub,
1
416
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
which gave a peculiar strength and flavour to the liquor.
The roots also were sometimes used, but from their
astringent nature they had to be used sparingly. It is
said, however, that beer equal to the best malt liquor
could be made from herbs furnished from the Scottish
mountains. We have, therefore, a continuous history
from earliest times to the present day of the manu-
facture and consumption of an intoxicating drink similar
to the popular beverage of the English people; and not-
withstanding all the literature to the contrary, there is
yet no evidence to show that alcohol in moderation,
and judiciously used, is detrimental to health. Total
abstainers should not forget that alcohol is formed in
their own bodies, and, as Dr. Richardson says, "No
man can be, in a strict scientific sense, a non-alcoholic,
inasmuch as, 'will he, nill he,' he brews in his own
economy a 'wee drap.' It is an innocent brew cer-
tainly, but it is brewed, and the most ardent abstainers
must excuse it. The fault, if it be one, rests with
Nature, who, according to our poor estimates, is no
more faultless than the rest of her sex." Smoking
likewise, in excess, is injurious. It affects the brain,
the heart, the circulation and temperature; but it is
to a certain extent a disinfectant; it mitigates the
pangs of hunger, and soothes depression.
Dr. De Lacy Evans has brought together a very
curious and entertaining list of cases of longevity, and
his first instance is remarkable, and only one among
many similar ones supporting the fruit diet. A lady
at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, died in 1754, at the age
of 108, having lived upon biscuit and apples, with milk
and water during the last sixty years of her life. Ex-
treme temperance is the characteristic of most of the
cases, and the diet was mainly milk, vegetables, fruit,
&c. One venerable instauce is that of Petralsch Zartan,
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
417
a member of the Greek Church, who is said to have
lived to the age of 185. He was a strict observer of
the numerous fasts established by the ritual of his
religion, but added to his abstemious diet (milk and
leaven cakes) a good-sized glass of brandy. There are
a number of instances recorded where "moderation
and temperance may have been practised in diet, but
not in alcoholic drinks and tobacco." A certain Daniel
Bull McCarthy, who lived to the age of 111, in the
county of Kerry," when in company, for the last seventy
years of his life drank plentifully of rum and brandy;
and if, in compliance with solicitations, he drank claret
or punch, he always drank an equal quantity of rum or
brandy, which he called a 'wedge.'" A Middlesex veteran
who survived beyond a century, actually never took any
other liquids, as liquids, into his stomach than ardent
spirits-London gin. Until within a fortnight of his
death he took from a pint to a pint and a half daily.
Leeds was the residence two or three years ago of a
woman of some celebrity, who when last she appeared
before the magistrates and was getting on to ninety years
of age, gave a story of her life, which was one of habitual
intoxication. A Herefordshire man who lived to be 108
years old was an inveterate smoker, taking his last whiff
a few hours before his death. Dr. De Lacy Evans sees
a philosophy in such cases. "Both drinking and
smoking take away the appetite; less food is eaten,
therefore a less amount of earthy salts are taken into
the system, and the cause of old age is delayed in its
results; still sufficient food is taken to support life,
and great age follows." Among other instances of
longevity must be mentioned the celebrated Thomas
Parr, who died in 1635, aged 152. He married at the
age of eighty-eight, and would appear to owe his death
to the interruption of his regular and abstemious mode
E E
418
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
of life. He was brought to London by Thomas, then
Earl of Arundel, to see Charles I., "when he fed high,
drank plentifully of wines, by which his body was over-
charged, his lungs obstructed, and the habit of the
whole body quite disordered; in consequence, there
could not be but speedy dissolution. If he had not
changed his diet, he might have lived many years
longer." A Yorkshireman who died in 1670, aged
169, remembered the battle of Flodden Field, and the
registers of the Chancery and other courts proved that
he gave evidence and had an oath administered to him
140 years before his death. When ninety years of
age, a child was born to him, and when 160, he walked
to London to have an audience with Charles II., and
was able to swim across rapid rivers after he was 100.
His diet was coarse and sour.
There have been during the last two centuries numer-
ous voluntary exhibitions of fasting to test the tenacity
of life to the human body, and the most recent in-
stances, those of Merlatti, Succi, and others, at the
close of 1886, and the beginning of 1887, aroused fresh
attention to the subject. Dr. Forbes Winslow has
related a few facts not previously generally known in
reference to fasting. That life can be supported and
preserved, and the ordinary duties performed on a diet
comparatively simple and limited in amount we have
already shown, but Dr. Winslow's evidences of fasting,
both voluntary and otherwise, form an interesting sup-
plement. In 1719 there lived a certain Thomas Wood,
born of intemperate parents. Up to the age of forty he
indulged himself to excess in meat of a fatty nature,
and in large quantities of those articles of diet con-
taining fatty ingredients, such as cheese, butter, and
sugar, his beverage being strong ale. He gradually
developed into a man of enormous dimensions, and
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
419
complication after complication of disorders arising day
by day, he became alarmed at the inevitable fate which
stared him in the face. He gradually cut down his
diet by degrees, diminishing his beer to begin with,
and then those diets containing sugar, and also animal
flesh. He ultimately allowed himself only pudding
made of sea biscuit. With this change of food all his
symptoms disappeared, he became metamorphosed from
a monster into a man once again. The curious fact
is that he abstained from all drink of whatever descrip-
tion. The "sea pudding" was composed as follows:-
Three pints of skimmed milk, this, being boiled, was
poured on one pound of sea biscuit broken into pieces.
This compound being boiled in a cloth for two hours,
it became a pudding of sufficient consistency to be cut
with a knife, and on this alone he subsisted for two years,
enjoying splendid health, and with an absence of all
those disagreeable symptoms before mentioned. The
quantity taken was 1 lb. at five o'clock in the morning
as his breakfast, and the same quantity at noen for
dinner; after this hour he abstained from all food until
next day. The case of Wood is beyond all doubt,
as two clergymen, two doctors, and the churchwarden
in the parish where he lived all testified to the truth of
the facts.
Continuing to trace the history up of fasters we come
upon that of John Brown, a miner, of Ayrshire. He lived
buried in a coal mine without swallowing anything but
small quantities of chalybeate water sucked through
a straw, this being sufficient to sustain life even in
a contaminated atmosphere, the nervous excitability
being thus diminished, and thus mitigating the crav-
ings of hunger. At Liège some colliers were shut up
in a pit for twenty-four days, and sustained their lives
with water alone from a fountain. Experiments were
EE 2
420
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
made and the water analyzed. It was found to contain
upon evaporation nothing extraordinary, and only lime,
or what is called "calx." The same constituent is
supposed to have existed in the fluid which sup-
ported John Brown, as before alluded to. Elizabeth
Woodcock, in 1799, lived eight days on snow-water.
Cecilia Steers, in 1820, lived fifteen days also on snow-
water alone. This came from a well thirty feet deep,
and which had been made for the purpose of obtaining
chalk. In 1765 we read of three women in Italy,
buried for thirty-seven days in the snow, living on
snow-water, also impregnated with lime. In 1795 a
Yorkshire gentleman, aged sixty, absolutely was inca-.
pacitated from taking food for thirty-six days. When
in health he weighed 240 lbs., and on the thirty-second
day of his fast he was reduced to 188 lbs. in weight.
Dr. Willan relates a case of an abstainer living seventy-
two days without nourishment, on which day he died
exhausted. He lived only on water flavoured with
orange-juice. Henry Welby, who lived in 1637, never
tasted either fish, flesh, or fowl for forty years, though
possessed of great wealth. He died at the ripe old age
of eighty-four. During the whole of his retirement
his chief food was oatmeal gruel and salad of cool
herbs. But the longest time recorded in the annals of
physic in which a man existed without food was sixty-
one days, the case being that of a young man driven
mad from overwork. Alexander Benedictus mentions
a case at Venice where a man lived forty-six days with-
out food. The History of France states that Louis the
Pious, Emperor of France, who died in 840, existed
forty days without food or drink. Albertus Magnus
gives us the record of a woman of Cologne who lived
for seven weeks only on water. It is said that Demo-
critus lived to the age of one hundred and nine years,
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
421
and that in the latter part of his life, for forty days, he
lived on smelling honey and hot bread. Raulin relates
another case where fifty-two days of fasting took place
on water alone. The Medical Gazette for July 1833
contains two remarkable instances: one of these, a
patient, is stated to have lived six years without swal-
lowing any food, the mouth being occasionally moistened
with water, tea, or whey, which was not swallowed but
spat out. In the other case, which was originally re-
corded by Professor Ricci, of Turin, an inability to take
food existed for three years. There are many traditions
in all histories relating to the means employed by vari-
ous individuals to support life during danger and pri-
vation. The Indians of Asia and America, when they
are bound for a long journey where there is a possibility
of such a state of affairs existing, prepare themselves
for emergencies as follows: They mix the juice of
tobacco with powdered shells in the form of small balls,
which they retain in their mouths. The gradual solu-
tion serves to counteract the uneasy craving for food, it
having been proved by experiment that clay introduced
into the stomach relieves hunger. In 1770, a woman
living at Barmouth created considerable excitement
and amazement in the world. She was reported to
have lived for seven years and a half without tasting
food, her lips only moistened with water.
The manuscript department at the British Museum
contains a quaint description of the fasting of Jane
Hodges (Sloane MS., 4,811). She lived in the year
1669. She suffered from hysterical aphonia, and neither
ate nor drank for nine weeks, so it is reported. She
was under a delusion, and stated that "she fasted for
the sins of the people, and that she was the saviour of
the nations." She ultimately recovered and took food.
In 1870 we read of the "Lancashire fasting girl,"
+
422
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Ellen Sudworth, aged eleven. This is, however, not
one of clear abstaining from solid food, as she lived on.
liquids and soups. We now come to Dr. Tanner, the
American physician, who in 1880 commenced his fast
of forty days' duration. He apparently completed this,
and was stated to have benefited to the extent of
£25,000 by it as a commercial speculation. This
"fasting doctor" has been followed by innumerable
imitators. One student, an Italian, who attempted to
exist for fifteen days without food, succumbed on the
eighth day, and in other cases death has proved the
impossibility of the task, except to such as are physi-
cally constituted to resist privation for a lengthened
period.
A remarkable fasting incident was reported from.
America in October, 1886, at the time Merlatti was
beginning his feat in Paris. It was the case of Anabel
Langan, a Wisconsin girl, nine years of age, of whom
her mother gave the following account:-Last January
Anabel began to lose appetite, and gradually discarded
the use of food. At first she gave up tea and coffee;
then she stopped eating meat and vegetables; and
finally milk and fruit were discarded. During her long
fast she virtually lived on air. She drank water in
great quantities, and inhaled the atmosphere with
much satisfaction. She became dreamy and slightly
preoccupied, but did not decline in health. Her
cheeks became more pale, but she was not reduced in
weight to any extent. She delighted to roam in the
open air, and always returned from a ride as gay as a
lark. She had such a longing for the fields and woods
that it was a trial to her when night came. To people
who saw her, and said she was not well, she would say,
"I am all right. I can't die as long as I am not
hungry, and I am not hungry yet." She was at this
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
423
time under the care of Dr. Overpeck. By his direction
she was regularly bathed in milk and olive oil. Every
device was resorted to to stimulate a taste for food.
Dainties were temptingly exposed, but she rejected
them all alike. On the fifty-third day she was seen to
nibble a crumb of bread. From that time she began
to gradually recover her appetite.
Merlatti's self-imposed fast of fifty days, which was
to outdo Succi, who had fasted thirty days, came to
an end on December 16th, 1886. His condition was
flushed and feverish, and perceptibly thinner than for-
merly, but, on the whole, he was reported to be look-
ing remarkably well. It is noteworthy, however, that,
on the thirtieth day of the fast, the Medical Committee
broke up, unwilling to incur the responsibility of any
accident that might befall the fasting man, who must
be taken at his word for having kept on for the re-
mainder of the time, as only a desultory surveillance
was maintained. Merlatti served no scientific purpose
by his fast; he was in a starving condition when it was
over, and was rallied with difficulty.
There are a few articles in our general dietary we
have not yet alluded to, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, drinks,
foods, &c. They are classified by Dr. Blythe as
"accessory foods," and he subsequently treats of the
three first named and chocolate as "alkaloid-holding
drinks." There is very little nourishment in the
ordinary quantities of tea and coffee, but these drinks
give in some obscure way energy to brain and nerve, a
stimulus distinguished from that of alcohol in being not
alone different in kind but also in not being followed
by a depression. Cocoa has more nutriment, and may
be considered as a drink or a food, or as a combination.
Excessive tea or coffee drinking is responsible for dys-
pepsia in many instances.
424
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
It is rather startling to have our faith in beef-tea as
a typical animal fluid food so rudely shaken as has been
the case during the past year or two. But as a matter
of fact it has been scientifically demonstrated that
simple infusions, decoctions and extracts of meat have
practically no nutritive value. Milk and cereal prepar-
ations now take the place in the sick-room and in
hospital wards of the old time beef-tea, and not only
among physicians, but among the laity it is coming to
be understood that the latter cannot fairly be classed
among foods. Virchow, the eminent German physi-
ologist, says that "Beef-tea, which is vulgarly supposed
to contain nearly all the valuable elements of the meat,
is only of value as a condiment. If drunk while warm
it is of about the same value as tea or coffee." Dr.
Austin Flint, sen., in an address before the New York
Medical Association, declared that the valuation set by
many persons upon beef-tea or its analogues is a "delu-
sion and a snare, which had led to the loss of many
lives from starvation." Professor Williams, in his work
on "The Chemistry of Cookery," deprecates it; Dr.
Fothergill, in his "Manual of Dietetics," hopes that the
"brains have been knocked out of the superstition that
beef-tea or any other meat tea is food," and the Lancet
has written frequently in the same strain. As stimu-
lants, it is admitted, such preparations, like tea and
coffee, have a certain value, not to be ignored, and they
may be effectively employed in a class of cases for which
physicians are wont to prescribe alcoholic beverages.
Nutritious and appetizing broths and soups, of beef,
mutton, chicken, oysters, &c., are made for the sick;
but in the making of them we are advised to bear two
or three points in mind. The nutritive value of these
articles consists mainly in the milk, powdered bread,
baked flour, pearl barley or other grain preparation
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
425
added to them. The growing recognition of the fact
that the old time "extracts of meat are compara-
tively valueless as foods, has led to the manufacture of
numerous articles combining not only the juices but
the nutritious albumen of the meat with cereals, and
in some cases with certain ingredients of milk also.
•
Artificial temperance drinks have no place in die-
tetics. In too many instances they have been demon-
strated to be frauds upon the public, inasmuch as the
most seductive of them have been proved to be pos-
sessed of more alcohol than our national beverage
itself. Undetected, the frauds have resulted in some
unaccountable aberrations, as, for instance, the case of
the worthy deacon in the Midlands, who, overpowered
with thirst begotten of his exertions in amusing the
school children in the woods, drained several bottles of
the temperance champagne in the course of the after-
noon. Presently an agreeable feeling crept over him, a
strange sense of exhilaration caused him to leap about.
the ground, then sit down on a veal-and-ham pie, and
finally, like Mr. Stiggins, at the memorable gathering
of the Brick Lane Branch of the Grand Junction
Ebenezer Temperance Society, accused the whole
party of being tipsy!
Frauds in the matter of food were to some extent dealt
with in the "Sale of Food and Drugs Act;" although
in a sense the measure has proved a failure, as in-
stanced earlier in this chapter with regard to the adul-
teration of milk. The failure is mainly due to a radi-
cally false idea of its conception. The onus of working it
falls upon those whom it was intended to protect; it is
laid upon the analyst to discover, when it should have
been imposed upon the trader to declare. There in-
heres in a large number of commodities a normal or
national standard with which they are as naturally sup-
426
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
What is
No doubt
posed by the public to substantially conform.
beer? What is butter? What is cheese?
many persons would have to be listened to before these
questions could be satisfactorily determined. If after the
fullest inquiry it turns out that the legal standard of beer
might be reasonably made to cover a certain admixture
of sugar, or of malt or hop" substitutes," well and good.
If the standards of butter and cheese can be legiti-
mately made to countenance any portion of milk or
cream substitutes, so let it be ordained. Then the
law should enforce either a compliance with the standard,
or a compulsory declaration by the manufacturer of any
departure from it. So far as butter is concerned, ad-
ditional protection to the public has been secured by the
Margarine Bill passed in the last session of Parliament
(1887), and which is operative from the 1st of January,
1888. It is designed to prevent the foisting upon the
public of a substance, the consumption of which has
wonderfully increased in late years, and hitherto deno-
minated "butterine." The restrictions imposed by
the Act in question are exceedingly stringent, but not
more so than on the Continent. Danish legislation,
for instance, is very severe under this head. Every keg
containing butterine is required to be made of a dif-
ferent shape to that used for true butter, while the
legend" Margarine" is indelibly stamped on the re-
ceptacles in question. In Austria, fine and imprison-
ment await the vendor of animal fats who sells butterine
without declaring its true nature. In Belgium, the
words "artificial butter" are required to be legibly
displayed wherever the compounds are sold, and what
was regarded as a piece of plain and necessary protec-
tions against fraud on the Continent cannot be con-
sidered out of place in England. The public have an
indefeasible right to know what it is they are buying,
THE ROMANCE OF DIETETICS.
427
and such a system need not in the least degree operate
as an abridgment of real freedom of trade. At the
same time it is satisfactory to know from specialists.
and public analysts that "Margarine," which butterine
must henceforth be called, is a decidedly wholesome
article of food.
To sum up a somewhat complex subject, we may
adopt the conclusions of Dr. Blythe, as well as some of
those of "A Layman," whose article we referred to at
the outset of the chapter. There are diets suited to
every age, every climate, and for every species of work,
physical or mental; diets by which diseases may be
prevented and cured-diets suited to some constitutions.
and injurious to others-diets which make the skin
glossy, the frame vigorous, and the spirits joyous;
others which mar the face with wrinkles, speckle the
body with eruptions, and make the form hollow and
lean and prematurely old. Dr. Blythe thinks that,
when by successive researches the science of diet is
better understood, without doubt a school of physicians
will arise, discarding all drugs, and treating maladies.
by cutting off certain food, by surfeiting with others-if
indeed, at the present time, there is not in the highest
representatives of modern medicine the nucleus of the
future school of dietetics ready formed.
Our lay writer believes that a man must be his best
physician. The inevitable can only be deferred by the
hoarding of his strength and health, and this he will
most surely do by the observance of one simple rule,
framed for man's conduct thousands of years before our
wisdom discovered that the pancreatic juice converts
starch into sugar, and that levulose is isomeric with
glucose-that is the rule of simple moderation.
428
CHAPTER XXII.
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
As distinct from medicine, the sphere of surgery is
more limited, embracing all those diseases which affect
the solid parts of the human body, and which can in
any way be relieved by manual operation. There is a
noble roll of British surgeons whose marvellous achieve-
ments, particularly in recent years, are the admiration
of the world, while the French chirurgical school in-
cludes many eminent operators whose names will live
even as the name of Hippocrates, who was the first to
make surgery a separate study. Surgery is that depart-
ment of the art of healing which divides tissues or
parts improperly united, and unites those which have
been divided, when they should remain in union;
separates whatever has become dangerous or incon-
venient to the patient, removes foreign bodies or parts.
of the body which from disease or the loss of vitality
have become foreign, whenever they exert a hurtful in-
fluence on the animal economy; restores to their cavity
or replaces in their normal positions portions of the
body which have become displaced; checks the loss of
blood from wounded or divided blood-vessels; reduces
inflammation or removes the purulent or phlegmonous
matter which may have been deposited by them;
repairs and corrects any deformities and distortions;
and effects the replacement of lost tissues. Its means
of accomplishing these results are the hand, lint, band-
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
429
ages and apparatus of various kinds, cutting, crushing
and probing instruments, catheters, bougies, sounds,
forceps, specula, &c., and the various forms of direct
and indirect cauteries, both liquid and solid.
Hippocrates, before whose time the history of surgery
has no very strong interest, treated several surgical
subjects with considerable success; but as it is doubtful
whether he ever had an opportunity of actual dissection,
except of animals, we must not be surprised that the
art did not keep pace with medicine. Nevertheless, he
reduced dislocations, and adjusted fractures, used the
trephine, applied the forceps in accouchements, made
incisions into the kidney for the removal of the calculi,
performed amputations, and perforated the cavity of
the ribs in empyema and hydrothorax. After Hippo-
crates, Herophilus and Erasistratus began anatomical
investigations under the auspices of Ptolemy Philopater,
in whose reign the study of medicine was divided into
dietetics, pharmaceutics, and surgery, the last being
practised in Egypt by Philoxenes, Georgius, and
Sostratus, Heron and the two Appollonii, with Am-
monius Alexandrinus, who was distinguished by the
name of Lithotomos. The practice of human dissec-
tion began about this period, and among the bold opera-
tions of Erasistratus were the extirpation of the spleen,
and the application of remedies direct to scirrhosities
and tumours. To him also belongs the invention and.
application of the catheter. Pupils of these eminent
men invented peculiar bandages, introduced the tour-
niquet, and other contrivances for reducing dislocations.
One of them employed an instrument for lithontriptic
purposes. Before the Christian era, too, in Rome,
surgery must have made some progress, for Meges, the
predecessor of Celsus, had accomplished numerous
operations. Celsus, however, was the greatest surgeon
430
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
of ancient Rome, and
of the Christian era.
Aretæus, the first to use the cantharides blister,
Heliodorus, and Rufus the Ephesian, and afterwards.
Autyllus, who all added to the surgical knowledge of
the time, and evolved new views on a variety of sub-
jects, such as the treatment of injuries of the head, the
resort to arteriotomy instead of venesection in sudden
emergencies of inflammatory action, the radical cure
of hydrocite by free incision of the parts, and a more
thorough investigation of the diseases of the kidney, &c.
flourished at the commencement
Between A.D. 50 and 120 lived
The early Christians were opposed to dissection, and
consequently the art of surgery languished in the early
days of that era. Aëtius was the most notable surgeon
of the dark ages, although Alexander of Tralles, a
younger contemporary of Aëtius, wrote treatises on
diseases of the eye and fractures, which secured a high
meed of praise. A long oblivion almost buried the art
after the overthrow of the Roman empire, and with the
exception of Paulus Ægineta, in the seventh century,
who was a surgeon of eminence and considerable origin-
ality, there is scarcely a record of any men of distinction
whose efforts could revive the art until it was resusci-
tated about the year 900, when the Arabians discovered
the writings of the ancients, and appropriated them to
their own use, "making great additions, which but
disgraced the original." To Rhazes, however, must be
given the credit at this time of having described for the
first time spina ventoso and spina bifida, cauterized the
wounds from the bites of rabid animals, opposed the
use of the knife in cancer, except when limited, and
when the whole tumour could be removed, and gave
a clear and satisfactory description of the treatment
of hernia. Aricenna, who died early in the eleventh
century, introduced the flexible catheter, and Abucasis,
*
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
431
who died early in the following century, introduced an
instrument for the cure of fistula lachrymalis, invented
the probang, and in wounds of the intestine practised
union of divided parts of suture with success.
With these, and a few other exceptions, however,
the practice of surgery from the eleventh to the six-
teenth century was confined, first, to the ignorant
priests, and, when they were interdicted from surgical
practice by the Edict of the Council of Tours in 1163,
to the still more unlearned barbers and farriers, with
occasionally a quack strolling over Europe and im-
posing on the credulity of the superstitious by his
surgical rites. It is curious in this connection to find
how closely allied barbers were with surgery hence-
forward until late in the eighteenth century. In the
"Memorials of the Craft of Surgery in England,"
edited by Mr. D'Arcy Power from materials compiled
by Dr. John Flint South, we find it recorded that the
barbers were practising surgery as a part of their craft
as early as the reign of Edward III., though it is not
clear how far this practice extended. It is certain, how-
ever, that they were desirous of preventing any person
using barbery until, as their petition set forth, "they had
been found able and skilled in the said art by trial and
examination before certain barbers of the City." The
petition referred to was presented to the Mayor and
Aldermen of London, who gave assent to it, and it was
enrolled as an ordinance in the Chamber of London.
"The barbers," continues the work already quoted,
"although considering surgery as part of their craft,
since it was recognized as such by the ordinance of
1375, either failed to prosper in their surgical practice,
or found their authority of small avail, in consequence
of the existence of surgeons who were not shavers, and
over whose actions they had in consequence no control."
+
432
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Matters did not run smoothly between the shaving and
non-shaving sections of surgical professors; the City
took the part of the barber-surgeons, who, however,
would appear to have been divided against themselves,
for they found occasion in 1415 to "tumultuously
report to Thomas Franconer, Mayor, and the Court of
Aldermen, that "certain barbers of the City of London,
inexperienced in the art of surgery, very frequently take
charge of sick and wounded persons with the intent of
fraudulently acquiring their goods, whereby the sick
were often worse off at their departure than at their
incoming, and on account of the unskilfulness of these
barbers were oftentimes maimed, to the scandal of the
skilled, and the manifest harm of the people of our
Lord the King." Masters of the barber-surgeons
were thereupon appointed-" the ablest, and wisest and
most discreet of all the barbers practising the surgical
faculty, to minister what in their opinion was wanting
in cases of death and maim." It was not until more
than three hundred years later that Parliamentary enact-
ment finally dissolved the "barber-surgeon" alliance.
The appearance of Vesalius revived the science of
surgery, which for the first time, and under the self-
educated anatomical scientist, Ambroise Paré, was put
upon a sound and scientific basis. Paré was body-
surgeon to four of the French kings successively, all of
whom he followed to the field, and was much esteemed
by the soldiers. To him we owe the improvement of
the practice of tying the arteries after operations or
wounds, instead of cauterizing them with hot irons or
boiling oil. Beneficial as this mode of treatment was,
it met with most violent opposition from the physicians
of the time, who were astonished that a surgeon should
dare to publish any plan of treatment not found in
the writings of the ancients, and accordingly after his
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
433
death the use of the ligature declined. Next to Paré
in the order of illustrious surgeons followed Fabricius
ab Acquapendente of Padua, who published the first
really valuable treatise on surgery of modern times,
and which passed through seventeen editions. Petit,
in the seventeenth century, cultivated anatomical know-
ledge when a mere boy, and published his treatise on
diseases of the bones when a very young man.
Hol-
land also possessed a genius in surgery named Raw,
who was the most distinguished lithotomist in Europe;
but who excited some contempt for concealing his
mode of operating even from his pupils, Heister and
Albuins, whose merits, however, effaced the stigma of
Raw from Holland, as did the conduct of the illustrious
Camper in the following century.
In England the practice of surgery dates from the
time of Wiseman, who was sergeant-surgeon to
Charles II., and was the first eminent writer on the
art in this country. He was the father of English, as
Paré was of French surgery. He was the first to re-
commend, what is still the practice, viz., immediate
amputation in military emergencies when the preser-
vation of the limb was impossible. The flap operation
in amputation is claimed by James Young, and also
by two French surgeons, all contemporaries of Wise-
man's. Cheselden, White Douglas, the two Monroes,
Sharp, Cowper, Warner, Alanson, and Percival Pott
(who first gave lectures at St. Bartholomew's Hos-
pital in 1729, and who is well known as the most
judicious writer on fractures, amputations, injuries of
the head, and diseases of the spine), Hawkins,
Smellie, and the two Hunters followed, to make up
a famous record. John Hunter was the greatest
master of the principles of surgery in the profession.
It was he who first pointed out the danger of oper-
F F
434
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
ating on a diseased artery, and showed how it might be
obviated to him surgery owes the greater part of her
scientific reasonings. He was also the best operator
of his day, having once removed a tumour from the
side of the head and neck as large, if not larger,
than the head to which it belonged, and at another
time dissected out a tumour which one of our best
operators had, too hastily, declared none but a madman
would meddle with.
About the same period Germany furnished Hil-
danus, Scultetus, Puriman, and Heister; Italy, Salia-
cotius, Cæsar Magatus, and M. A. Severinus; France,
La Peyronic, Jean Louis Petit, Ledran, Garangeot,
and the illustrious Desault, to swell the ranks of
distinguished surgeons, which may be supplemented
by the names of Molinelli, Morgagni, Scarpa, Ber-
trandi, Moscati, Pevender, Plätner, Röederer, Rambilla,
Sheden, and Richter.
The nineteenth century has, however, accomplished
more in the development and improvement of the
science of surgery than all the centuries before it.
In England, Home, Abernethy, Sir Astley Cooper,
Liston, Lawrence, Guthrie, and others of the highest
reputation, have passed away, leaving us others hardly
less eminent in the field. In France, Dupuytren,
Roux, Lisfranc, and Larrey had no superiors before
them, nor had Germany before Richter, or Italy
before Scarpa. The accomplishments of the period
in which these men reigned over anatomical science
are succinctly summed up in Messrs. Ripley and
Dana's Cyclopædia :-The introduction of anaesthesia,
resection of the bones at the joints, the preservation
of the periosteum and consequent development of
new bone; partial amputations of the foot, as in-
stanced in the operation of Lisfranc for the removal
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
435
of the metatarsus, and of Chopart, Symes, Malgaigne
and Pirigoff for disarticulation of tarsal bones; the
amputations at the thigh and shoulder joints; the
ligature of arteries within the trunk and immediately
at their departure from it; the resection and removal
of portions or even the whole of the upper and lower
jaw; the operations for cleft; the opening by longi-
tudinal sections of the air-passages at different points
to avoid asphyxia; the introduction of the silver suture,
especially in operations on the viscera; the adoption
of the immovable apparatus for fractures; the processes
for remedying disunited fracture; the substitution of
milder means for the trephine in all except the most
serious cases; the improved treatment of ulcers and
abscesses; the cure of the most formidable aneurism
by the ligature of the carotid subclavian, axillary,
humeral, and external and internal iliacs; the treat-
ment of varicose veins; the successful treatment of
calculus by lithotrity, in consequence of the great
improvements made in the processes and instruments;
the diagnosis and treatment of tumours, whether
encysted, fatty, vascular, or malignant; the cure of
strabismus, and the generally improved treatment of
diseases of the eye, including the invention of the
ophthalmoscope by Helmholtz in 1851, and the refor-
mation of ophthalmic medicine and surgery carried on
by Graife, Donders, Bowman, Toynbie, Wilde, Von
Tröltsch, Politzer, and others; the restorative pro-
cesses by which the nose, lip, and other parts are re-
formed from adjacent tissues; the treatment of hare-
lip and club foot; the notable advance consequent upon
the conservative treatment of gunshot and other wounds
of the brain, and a host of other more technical achieve-
ments.
In most recent years a change came over the prac-
F F 2
436
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
tice of surgery because of the influence of the germ
theory of disease. The theory was adopted in England,
notably by Mr. Lister, and by certain leading German
surgeons, including Volkmann, Von Nussbaum and
König, though it met with little "honour in its own
country "—at all events in France. It was Pasteur's
theory, and it consisted of a systematic endeavour to
prevent the access of air, and therefore of germs
contained in the air, into wounds, and to destroy any
germs which might have entered. Carbolic acid was
the germicide upon which he placed his main reliance,
and all wounds were immersed in it, and all operations
were performed in its vapour instead of in the air.
The most essential part of every operation became a
spray apparatus which should surround the tissues to
be operated upon with a vapour of carbolic acid. The
surgeon himself, his assistants, the instruments used,
everything which could possibly convey a microscopic
germ into a wound, was thoroughly impregnated with
the germicide, and after this the wound was dressed
with absolutely impermeable complicated dressing
composed of many layers of different materials, each
adding to the wished-for result-the avoidance of the
entrance of air. When it became necessary to open a
wound that had once been dressed, the same elaborate
performance was repeated, and the part could only be
inspected and examined under a covering of carbolic
acid, either in the form of a solution or a spray. This
is what is understood by antiseptic surgery, which has
in some degree modified the surgery of the day. The
practical details of the treatment have been modified
from time to time; other antiseptics, such as the
bichloride of mercury, thymol, and eucalyptol have
been substituted for carbolic acid, but the essential
features of the system remain. Whatever may be the
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
437
¡
!
technical verdict as to the antiseptic treatment, it has the
admirable quality of promoting perfect cleanliness, and
the prevention in consequence and in some degree of
putrefaction; the avoidance of any collection of pus in
wounds by drainage, and of securing absolute rest to
injured parts. The extent to which absolute cleanli-
ness may be carried, and the good results of such care,
are shown in Volkmann's clinic, and the following
description must interest all who are unacquainted.
with the organization of such an establishment :-
"Since 1873 every nurse and assistant has submitted
to careful disinfection before touching any breach of
surface, no matter how trifling. All sounds used for
exploration, and even scissors used for cutting sutures.
in wounds not treated antiseptically, are first disin-
fected. During this period the slighter forms of
phlegmon have entirely ceased, and erysipelas is only
rarely seen in its so-called spontaneous form. Visitors
going through his (Volkmann's) wards and seeing
recent wounds on the face treated by the open method,
without any inflammatory action being visible, have
remarked that the wards must be so entirely carbolized
that all wounds heal readily; or that such cases show
what good results may be obtained by the old method.
Both conclusions are incorrect, for all the cases were
treated on the antiseptic plan, the occlusion dressing
alone being omitted. In every case, in every part of
every operation, the causes of putrefaction are ex-
cluded. So thoroughly are his best nurses imbued
with this idea that they disinfect the scissors with
which they cut off the plaster bandage from a simple.
fracture. His own practice is to use a five per cent.
solution of carbolic acid freely for washing. He does
not consider it necessary to go to the extent of chang-
ing the linen; but for operations and dressings both
438
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
1
¿
he and his assistants put on white linen coats, and of
these he often uses three or four for himself of a
morning. He discards the old cloth operating gowns,
and does not approve of the waterproof sleeves and
aprons. By this means he is enabled to deliver his
course on operative surgery from six to eight o'clock
in the morning, during which his hands are constantly
in the blood and fluids of fresh and putrid subjects,
and then occupy himself immediately with operations
on the living, and with fresh wounds, without carrying
infection. He thinks it much better to disinfect a
visitor and to dress him in a fresh clean gown than to
trust to his assertion that for a certain number of days.
he has not been exposed to putrid influences. If it
were not possible thus rapidly, and yet thoroughly, to
purify oneself it would be necessary to establish special
stations and special assistants for all patients whose
wounds were not entirely free from any septic charac-
ter; for every surgeon is liable to be called from a foul
wound or a septic inflammation to give immediate
attention to some case particularly susceptible to
septic influences. At first he felt great anxiety on
this point; the bad cases were all isolated, and their
dressings were postponed till the last, and after
finishing his assistant took a bath and changed his
clothes. Now the only cases isolated are erysipelas,
diphtheria, and the like. Where he has a long series
of operations he begins with those in which the danger
of infection is greatest and ends with those already
suffering from septic disease. First he opens a peri-
tonæum, then removes a loose body from the knee, then
exorcises diseased joints, and finally comes to the acute
progressive inflammation.”
Under the influence of perfect cleanliness and free
drainage the range of successful operations has been
!
;
1
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
439
greatly widened—-the abdomen may now be explored
with comparative impunity; all the organs which for-
merly were considered beyond surgical interference
may now nearly all be reached by the surgeon's hand
and knife, with the result that many lives are saved
that but a few years ago would have been sacrificed.
Electricity has been drawn upon by the profession,
and by its aid the desire so long entertained to see
within the body for the purposes of diagnosis has been
gratified. In 1867 Milliot invented an instrument
for lighting up the abdominal cavity so that its con-
tents could be seen through the abdominal wall, but only
used it on animals and dead bodies. His experiments
led Lazarewitch to apply the same thing to gynæcology,
but failed to get light without at the same time get-
ting an amount of heat which rendered the instrument
dangerous and useless. Dr. Nietze of Vienna origi-
nated the idea of illuminating the interior of the
bladder by passing into it a white-hot platinum wire,
and the idea was practically carried out by Leitner,
the surgical instrument-maker of Vienna. The inven-
tion is called the Nietze-Leitner endoscope, and con-
sists of a platinum wire heated by electricity and sur-
rounded by a current of water to keep it from burning
the tissues. Sir Henry Thompson spoke cautiously
in regard to this invention, but, according to the writer
of the article on Surgery in "The Annual Cyclopædia,"
said there were some conditions the existence of which
we sometimes suspect, but cannot positively affirm to
exist, whose presence may now be ascertained by this
instrument. He referred to the identification of sac-
culated stone as the cause of existing and unrelieved
symptoms; to the detection of growths removable by
operation, and to the investigation of the nature of
foreign bodies other than calculi which have become
440
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
lodged there. Sir Henry Thompson added that he
had recently seen a fatal case of vesical growth which
might have been easily removed by operation; and in
such a case the new endoscope might possibly render
essential service. In singular contrast with this state-
ment is the fact that in "The International Encyclo-
pædia of Surgery," the sixth and concluding volume of
which appeared in 1886, the Nietze-Leitner endoscope
has no place, unless it is the vague reference to the
"electric lamp" in the extract we quote. Writing on
Lithotrity, Dr. W. H. Kingston depreciates Cruisis'
endoscope, the use of which he has discontinued, as he
can conceive of no case in which more reliable infor-
mation cannot be obtained with other means of diag-
nosis," and, he continues, as much and as little
may be said of the electric lamp, which, however, may
some day aid materially in throwing light where much
is sometimes needed; and the interior of the abdomen
being rendered diaphanous, an opaque body, such as a
calculus, may yet be found to cast or receive a shadow.
This was suggested to my mind at the meeting of the
International Medical Congress in Paris, seventeen
years ago, but thus far no advantage has resulted as
regards the detection of stone."
The further uses of electricity in surgery are thus
enumerated by Dr. Butler:-(1) Electricity is used
for the sake of its absorbent effects in the treatment of
serious effusions, recent effusions of blood or lymph,
cystic tumours with watery contents, subacute and
chronic glandular enlargements, and in any case in
which absorption is interrupted. (2) On account of
its ability to coagulate albumen, it is employed in the
treatment of aneurism, nævus and varicosis; and in
cases of morbid growths when the object in view is to
produce starvation" (as it were) of the tumour by
1
1
i
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
441
causing small coagula to form at several places within
its structure; which coagula act as interrupters to the
free circulation of blood through the growth and in-
terfere with its nutrition so far as to render absorption
more easy of accomplishment. Any benign solid
growth, the removal or total destruction of which is
perhaps injudicious, or at least undesirable, may be so
treated. (3) With a view to utilizing its escharotic
effects, electricity is exhibited in malignant tumours in
hard fibrous strictures, and for the removal of electro-
chemical decomposition of any morbid growth, what-
ever be its structure. From this list we should except
osteoid or bony formations, as well as morbid growths
which have undergone calcerous degeneration. (4) In
virtue of the capacity of electricity to cause muscular
contractions, it is often called upon to break up adhe-
sions, as in cases of partial anchylosis, &c. (5) For
the purpose of stimulating the process of repair, its
effects are brought to bear upon indolent ulcers, and
flabby granulations of an ulcerated surface.
During what may be called the dark ages of the art
of surgery, when the ignorant priests, and the still
more ignorant barbers, were its professors, the in-
struments were equally rude and disgraceful. Knives,
hot irons, screws, files and saws, were the imple-
ments that were plied with cruel recklessness on
the unfortunate patients, and it was not until the
educated school of surgeons grew up that a revolution
in the mechanical department of the science took place.
It would be impossible to describe adequately the
variety of a surgeon's armamentaria"; we must be
content with noticing a few of its characteristics, and
observing the remarkable care and skill now exercised
in the manufacture of the arms of what is irreverently
described as the "modern Sawbones." Mr. Liston, who
442
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
was facile princeps among the operators of his day,
speaking of instruments and operations, said the ap-
parati should be in good order, and always within
easy and convenient reach of the operator, so that he
may, in a great measure, be independent of lookers-on.
Before he ventures to begin he should ascertain that
everything is arranged and in proper order; more par-
ticularly that the cutting instruments have good points,
that their edges are keen, and that the joints of
forceps and scissors move freely and readily. The
principle on which the instrument is made to cut should
be well considered. Every knife is to be looked upon
as a fine saw; the teeth of some are set forwards, and
these cut best from point to heel, as does a razor; but
the greater number are set in the opposite direction—
for example, the common scalpel and bistoury-and
act efficiently only in being drawn from heel to point.
Every cutting instrument should be well balanced and
placed in a steady, smooth handle; the point should
either be in a line with the back, which ought then to
be perfectly straight, or both edge and back should be
so far convex, the point being in the middle of the
blade. Naturally, the manufacturers of the instruments
have a great responsibility in making them efficient;
but there is little room for anxiety on that score, seeing
that Sheffield, the principal seat of the cutlery trade of
the world, is entrusted with much the largest share of
their manufacture. That desirable state of excellence
described as "when the form and physical properties
of the instrument are exactly to the wish of the ope-
rator," is difficult of attainment; but everything that
skill and manipulation can do is done in the factories
of the cutlery metropolis. The choicest pieces of steel
are carefully selected, and the best workmen are dele-
gated to the forging, hardening, tempering, grinding
SOME CURIOSITIES OF SURGERY.
443
:
and polishing. Furnishing the edge, technically termed
setting, is a work of much delicacy and skill, and the
nature of each particular operation is considered in
judging the requisite degree of strength or delicacy of
edge. The saws used in surgery are of the best spring
temper, while to that class of instruments denominated
blunt, shear steel is adapted. Some instruments, such
as catheters, and other tubes and probes, are necessarily
made of gold and silver, and every year adds to the
extraordinary variety upon which the manufacturers
have to bestow all that artistic efficiency and ingenuity
necessary to keep pace with the prolific surgical instru-
ment-inventor.
444
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE MODERN HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
HOSPITALS had a rather curious origin, and the pro-
genitors of the huge benevolent institutions of the pre-
sent day were as much unlike them as it is possible to
imagine. We have the word from ancient Rome.
The "hospitall" was the name of the guest-chamber in
a Roman's house. The stranger introduced to his host
by the recommendation of a third person was safe
within the gates of his protector, who was not neces-
sarily his entertainer; for after one dinner with the
family, the stranger generally dined in the hospitall
and paid for his food. The early Greeks kept alive
these customs of hospitality; but the nursing of the
sick poor formed no part of them with either people.
Antoninus Pius first caused the erection of a hospital
for the sick who crowded in the open air round about
the temple of Esculapius at Epidaurus; and the
buildings attached to the temple of Æsculapius at Rome,
on the island in the Tiber, formed also a receptacle for
the sick. Still these foundations bore no more resem-
blance to our modern hospitals than do the pump-rooms
of Harrogate, Leamington, Cheltenham, or Aix-les-
Bains to the wards of those institutions.
The Apostles began the new system of hospitality
founded upon the teachings of their Lord and Master,
to feed the hungry, lodge the homeless, and heal the
THE MODERN HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
445
The
sick as well as preach the gospel to them.
earliest of the Church's bishops were most zealous to
get money for the sick, the poor, the wayfarer, and the
orphan. In the year 325 the Council of Nice had,
among other business, to define the qualities and
duties of hospital-master, and thirty-five years later
Gregory of Nazianzen is found urging Julian the
Apostate to imitate, "by the building of hospitals and
travellers' rests, the Christians whom he ridiculed."
About the same time, Basil the Great speaks of the
early Christians as having developed the hospital
system into completeness, and he himself founded a
general hospital called the Basiliait. John Chry-
sostom, some years later, erected a great general
hospital at Constantinople, "spending upon it and the
other smaller hospitals a part of his own substance,
as well as the superfluous riches of the Church.
Lunatic asylums were founded also at this period by
monks in the Wilderness of Bithynia. The earliest
hospitals were intended principally for poor travellers,
although there were several foundations for rich
travellers who needed solace on the road. In the
eighth century laymen interested themselves in the
work, and in Lucca alone the burghers erected three
hospitals, while the German residents established a
fourth for their own countrymen.
Milan possessed the first foundling hospital, and
the great orphan asylum of the Greek Emperor,
Alexius Comnenus, was the forerunner of our military
hospitals. The monastic system absorbed the hos-
pitals into itself, and those old piles of buildings that
remain to us, such as the hospital of St. Bartholomew
the Less, Smithfield, are evidences of that age when
charity had another and far different meaning than at
present. The advent of the Crusaders and leprosy
446
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
into Europe from the East, originated the building of
leper houses, named Lazarettos, from the hospitals of
St. Lazarus, in which the outcast lepers, called Lazari,
were received and tended by brothers of the Order of
St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. There were even other
special hospitals in those days, such as lying-in, small-
pox, and lunatic hospitals.
The modern growth of the system may be best
traced in the history of what were long known as
the "Five Royal Hospitals"-St. Bartholomew, St.
Thomas's, Bethlehem or Bedlam, Bridewell, and
Christ's Hospital. Rahere, a minstrel, founded the
Priory of St. Bartholomew in 1102, and the ancient
hospital chapel is still the parish church of St.
Bartholomew the Less. In 1547 it was handed over
to the citizens of London as a hospital. The Great
Fire left it unharmed, but it was rebuilt in 1729, and
has since developed into the most comprehensive of
such institutions. In addition to the out-patients'
rooms and wards devoted to the treatment of ordinary
medical and surgical diseases and accidents, there are
special departments for skin diseases, diseases of the
eye, the ear, and the throat-orthopedic, dental,
maternity, and infectious disease departments. St.
Thomas's Hospital, the imposing block of buildings on
the opposite side of the Thames to the Houses of
Parliament, has also an ancient lineage. Until 1871
it was located nearer London Bridge than West-
minster, having been founded in the twelfth century.
In 1207 the original hospital was destroyed by fire,
and it was rebuilt, but not on the same ground, in
1228, by Peter, Bishop of Winchester. Within its
walls, in 1537, the first English Bible was printed by
James Nycolson of St. Thomas's Spy Hall, in South-
wark. The Bible bore the inscription, "Imprynted in
THE MODERN HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
447
Southwark in St. Thomas' Hospital by James
Nycolson. Dedicated by M. Coverdale to the King,
1537." In 1676 it narrowly escaped destruction again.
by fire, as the following inscription on a tablet over the
court-room entrance of the old hospital recorded :—
"In
the midst of judgement God remembered mercy, and
by His goodness in considering the poor and distressed
put a stop to the fire at their house, after it had been
touched several times therewith, by which in all pro-
bability all this side of the Borough was preserved.'
Owing to railway necessities the hospital had to
remove again in 1862, and this time it was located in
the Surrey Gardens, where it remained until the com-
pletion of the present handsome pile of buildings,
which were opened by the Queen a little more than a
dozen years ago. Bethlehem Hospital was a priory
founded by Simon Fitzmary in 1247. Exactly three
hundred years later it was handed over by Henry VIII.
for the reception of lunatics. It was rebuilt in 1676,
and wings were added in 1733. The present building
was constructed in 1810. As for the remaining two
of the Royal hospitals-Bridewell and Christ's—they
early ceased to be receptacles of the sick.
The great movement in hospital building took place
in the eighteenth century, and among the chief
institutions founded during that period were the
Westminster, Guy's, St. George's, the London, and
the Middlesex hospitals. The special institutions
established during the same period included the
British Lying-in, the City of London Lying-in, the
Queen Charlotte, the Small-pox, and the Lock. In
the provinces, between 1710 and 1797, hospitals were
established at York, Salisbury, Cambridge, Bristol,
Edinburgh, Windsor, Aberdeen, Northampton, Exeter,
Worcester, Newcastle, Manchester, Chester, Leeds,
448
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Stafford, Norwich, Oxford, Leicester, Dumfries, Here-
ford, Birmingham, Montrose, Nottingham, Canterbury,
Glasgow, Dundee, Dublin, &c. During the present
century the increase has continued until there is now
almost a plethora of such establishments and their
auxiliaries.
Besides the civil hospitals there are naval and
military hospitals for the cure of soldiers and sailors,
and formerly Greenwich and Chelsea were the two
great English establishments founded as asylums for
disabled and superannuated men of both services. The
former, however, is now given up for that purpose,
although a part is appropriated as a hospital for sick.
merchant seamen of all nations. The foundation of
the Chelsea home for old soldiers is romantically attri-
buted to Nell Gwynn's influence over her royal lover;
but as a matter of fact Sir Stephen Fox, the first Pay-
master-General of the Forces, conceived in 1681 the
idea of the Chelsea Hospital, and induced the King
to take steps to accomplish the object. It was hoped
that the public would have contributed largely to the
scheme, but, in addition to one thousand three hundred
pounds from Sir Stephen Fox, and one thousand
pounds from Tobias Rustall, a former page of the
back stairs, only two thousand three hundred and
forty-seven pounds were thus raised. The King added
six thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven pounds
four shillings and twopence-halfpenny, the unapplied
balance of secret service money. The troops them-
selves were ingeniously put under contribution towards
the project, ultimately justifying the observation of one
Chaplain-General in his "Traditions of Chelsea Col-
lege," that "within the walls of Chelsea Hospital the
veteran has indeed nothing to complain of; but why?
Because the establishment is his own, built by his own
THE MODEL HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
449
or his predecessors' money, supported out of funds which
the nation never gave. The in-pensioner, therefore,
though he has no complaints to make, owes nothing to
the generosity of the House of Commons." Chelsea Hos-
pital was originally called Chelsea College. The lands
about Chelsea and Battersea were formerly Church
property, belonging to the Abbot of Westminster, but
at the Reformation all but a small portion passed into
the hands of private owners. On a part of the reserved
land, James the First resolved to build a college for the
study of polemical divinity. The building was begun
but was stopped for want of funds. Under the Com-
monwealth, the place was used for the confinement of
political offenders and prisoners of war, and it was not
until 1692 that the building was appropriated to the
admission of pensioners. Since then it and its inmates.
have passed through exciting times. In the chapel
and hall are the evidences of these, including the re-
mains of French colours captured in Marlborough's
wars. The wards and galleries of the establishment
are long, lofty and airy apartments. In the galleries
the men take their meals, and the rations from the
following description may be described as good, ample
and satisfactory. Each man receives daily one pound
of bread, one ounce of butter, a quarter of a pint of the
best new milk, with three-quarters of an ounce of
cocoa, and one ounce of moist sugar for breakfast,
and one-sixth of an ounce of tea, and three-quarters
of an ounce of moist sugar for tea. For dinners
each man has, on Sunday, thirteen ounces of beef,
one pound of potatoes and plum-pudding; on Wed-
nesday he gets ten ounces of bacon and one pound
of cabbage, or other vegetable; on the other five days
he obtains thirteen ounces of mutton, one pound of
potatoes, and one-and-a-half ounce of Scotch barley.
G G
450
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
A sufficient quantity of herbs, oatmeal, salt, pepper,
and mustard is supplied. On Fridays half a pound
of cheese is served out; and every day a pint of
porter. On Royal birthdays special rations are given.
The regulations admitting visitors are very liberal, and
how well the inhabitants of the hospital are looked.
after may be judged by their longevity. By far the
greater majority of patients exceed the allotted span of
life, and not very many years ago one of the inmates
died at the great age of one hundred and eight.
Our other principal military hospitals are the Royal
Victoria Hospital at Netley, the Herbert at Woolwich,
and the Cambridge at Aldershot. The Naval hospitals
are at Haslar, Plymouth and Chatham.
The administration of the civil hospitals is usually
carried on by a body of Governors who are either
specially appointed or are benefactors of the institution.
From them an executive committee is chosen, or the
executive power may be vested in a single official-
often the Treasurer. In the latter case controversies
are not unusual, such as the one which occupied the
pages of two of the leading Reviews a few years ago
anent the nursing system adopted at Guy's. With the
financial and general management of affairs the secre-
tary or superintendent has to do, while an apothecary
superintends the pharmaceutical department. The
treatment of the sick is, of course, entirely in the
hands of the physicians and surgeons, whose appoint-
ments are for the most part honorary, in the sense of
being unpaid, and under whom resident medical officers
act.
One of the most serious difficulties with which
hospital authorities have had to deal is the out-patients'
department. Such a department was unknown in the
original design of a hospital, although there can be
THE MODEL HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
451
little doubt that it was the existence of it which led
Macaulay to write in his History that "every brick-
layer who falls through a scaffold, every sweeper of a
crossing who is run over by a carriage, may now have
his wounds dressed and his limbs set with a skill such
as 160 years ago all the wealth of a great lord like
Osmond, or of a merchant prince like Clayton, could
not have purchased." The latest figures compiled in
this connection show that in London alone one million
one hundred and sixty-eight thousand persons are on
an average relieved in one year; or, to put it more sig-
nificantly, out of a population of over five millions one-
fourth receive actual benefits from the hospitals. In
1871 a committee of doctors, appointed at one of the
largest meetings of their profession ever held in London,
reported that the out-patient system was one of the most
mischievous examples of indiscriminate charity; that
the practice of giving medicine freely and gratuitously
at hospitals formed one of the most fruitful sources of
demoralization and abuse; that hundreds, if not thou-
sands, of the out-patients who suffered from debility,
arising from the insanitary condition of their homes,
want of wholesome and sufficient food, and other causes
tending to depress the vital powers, were tempted to
go to hospitals by the relief which tonic medicine was
often found to give them, but that this empirical mode
of treatment was very unsatisfactory, and was attended
by great and unnecessary expense-that at least one-
half of the patients relieved at hospitals could not, from
their comfortable social position, be considered proper
objects of charity; that the excessive numbers of those
who were seen, three-fifths to nine-tenths of whom
were considered by the Committee to be suffering from
trivial ailments not requiring hospital treatment, pre-
vented proper attention being paid to each individual
GG 2
452
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
case, and fostered a habit of hasty diagnosis and care-
less observation on the part of the medical staff, which
tended to erroneous and ineffective treatment, and that
in fact much work done in the out-patient department
of hospitals neither conduced to the sound advance-
ment of professional knowledge nor to the advantage of
the public. This view was followed up by Sir Charles
Trevelyan, who wrote numerous letters to the Times in
1873, pointing out that medical treatment was provided.
in London for the entire working class on a purely
gratuitous eleemosynary footing through the out-
patient department of hospitals and the free dispen-
saries; that the great bulk of the people were thus
being educated to dependent mendicant habits, and
that instances frequently occurred of the corruption
extending to the middle classes; that the out-patients'
departments were so crowded that it was impossible to
give to serious cases the attention they required, and
that those for whom the charity was really intended
wasted their strength in unavailing attendance; and,
finally, that the burden of providing gratuitous medical
relief for the bulk of the metropolitan population, being
beyond the power even of London charity, the public
ear was constantly harassed with lamentable appeals.
of empty beds and bankrupt exchequers.
It
The most remarkable statement, however, of the
abuses connected with the out-patient system was given
by a writer in Fraser's Magazine in August 1874.
was contained in a memorial presented to the Weekly
Board of St. George's Hospital in March of that year.
The signatories included the Duke of Westminster,
the Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Eversley, Mr. Gathorne
Hardy, Sir James Paget, Sir William Fergusson, Sir
William Gull, the Rev. Mr. Liddell, and Mr. Thomas
Hughes, who set forth that the out-patient department
THE MODEL HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
453
of St. George's, and the neighbouring free dispensaries,
by their gratuitous provision for even the most ordinary
medical treatment of the working classes, had, how-
ever unintentionally, largely contributed to encourage
them in improvident and mendicant habits; that owing
to the numbers flocking to receive gratuitous medical
relief, and to the limited time at the disposal of the
medical officers, it had been found impossible that each
case should receive proper examination and treatment;
that something had been lately done towards remedy-
ing this by limiting the numbers of new cases seen
every morning by each medical officer, but that this did
not touch the root of the evil, while it superadded some
new inconveniences.
""
Under such circumstances it was not surprising that
a few of the hospitals failed to some extent in affording
that relief to out-patients which had been added to the
original design. One of the leading medical journals
thus described the method of "getting through the
patients a
few years ago. The out-patients are
divided into two categories, which, however, are neither
very well defined nor very well observed. These are
the "casualty," which comprises those who are sup-
posed to require temporary treatment for diseases or
injuries of a trifling character, and the out-patients pro-
perly so called, who, after receiving a regular letter of
admission, are entitled to the advice of the assistant
physicians and surgeons for a period of two months.
The casualty patients are attended to in a new building
situated at Smithfield, at the north-east corner of the
hospital property. It consists of a large, well-ventilated
room, capable of seating about 600 persons. The
males sit at one end and the females at the other. On
the north side are two small consulting rooms for
medical cases, and on the south side are four others in
454
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
which the patients are examined and their wounds
dressed. In the centre there is a rough dispensary, in
which six different mixtures are kept in large brown.
jugs; there are also some gargles, lotions, and pills of
a simple character. The medicine in the jugs is dis-
pensed by two female nurses, and the dose is often
ordered to be taken on the spot. The following is a
sample of the amount of work done in one day, and the
way it is done :-One physician was required to see and
prescribe for one hundred and twenty-five men, and
another physician for one hundred and sixty-five women
and sixty-two children. These were all new cases
whose symptoms ought to be inquired into, their
diseases ascertained, and remedies prescribed for them,
and in addition to these a considerable number of old
cases had to be seen. After some hours of steady work
it was found necessary to hurry over the remainder,
and one hundred and twenty patients were seen and
dismissed in an hour and ten minutes, or at the rate
of thirty-five seconds each. Who shall say what mis-
takes were made by the doubtful doses of physic ordered.
at random and poured out of a huge brown jug, as if
the object were to get rid of troublesome customers
rather than cure their complaints?
It is a gratifying fact that no such serious allegation
can be made against the in-administration of our hos-
pitals. The patient has a bed assigned to him, where
the cubic space is carefully proportioned to the number
of inmates. He has provided for him the particular
diet which suits his complaint; he is attended by
trained nurses; the symptoms of his illness are sys-
tematically noted, and any change from day to day is
duly recorded. He is visited once or twice daily by
the house physician, or house surgeon, neither of
whom, however, undertake the treatment of his case,
THE MODEL HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
455
that being entirely reserved for the visiting physicians
and surgeons, who are in most cases men of the highest
standing in their profession. They are men, moreover,
who above all the other professions put together give
more gratuitous service to mankind. Their skill, time
and talents they devote almost entirely to hospital
labour, and they are seconded by those indefatigable
women workers the nurses-of whom Florence
Nightingale was an early pioneer. The extent of their
labours may be gathered from a few current statistics.
The largest general hospital is the London, in White-
chapel Road, in the East-end of the Metropolis. At
its foundation, in 1740, it was situate in the midst of
green fields and charming pastures; now it is in the
centre of a vast population of working people, many of
whom have recourse to its "hospitality" during the
year. It contains 790 beds, and night and day sur-
geons and doctors are kept on duty to receive the
injured or sick who may be brought to its portals.
The patients are kept until cured without any charge,
and in 1885 it accommodated 8,106 in-patients, in
addition to treating 67,942 out-patients. In this insti-
tution the bread in a twelvemonth costs over £1,000,
the meat over £6,000, milk more than £2,000, and
eggs nearly £1,000. Fish absorbs £600 of the income
of the London Hospital; firing £1,700, lighting £1,200,
drugs £3,300, and plasters nearly £400. At Guy's
Hospital there is a strong permanent medical staff,
who have to treat on the average about 5,000 in-
patients a year, and 85,000 out-patients; the ten or a
dozen medical men at St. Bartholomew's treat 6,000 in-
patients, while thirteen have the nominal care of one
hundred thousand out-patients; and at St. Thomas's,
with a similar staff to Guy's, the in-patients number
about 6,000, and the out-patients 66,000.
456
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
Of the special hospitals devoted to the treatment
of individual diseases, the Cancer Hospital, the
Consumption Hospital at Brompton, and the Great
Ormond Street Hospital for sick children, are the
principal, although they are by no means the only
institutions of their class. In all there are more
than one hundred hospitals in London, and although
the cost of in- and out-patients per head varies.
considerably at each of them, yet the average shows
that each bed costs £1 14s. 4d. per week, or a total for
the year of £535,600, while the out-patients cost an
aggregate of £137,550. This makes the total of
hospital expenditure in one year £673,150, and upon
the most recent returns available we find that the
income of hospitals and dispensaries reaches but
£675,000. The contributions towards the main-
tenance of the institutions have been largely
augmented in recent years by the adoption of the
Continental practice of a special collection on one
Sunday in the year. Dr. James Wakley, the editor of
the Lancet, started the Metropolitan Hospital Home
Fund in 1873, and a table showing the amount of the
collections and the number of the congregations contri-
buting displays a gratifying development of the scheme.
For instance, in 1873, one thousand and twenty-two-
congregations contributed £27,700 8s. 1d., while in
1886 fifteen hundred and ninety-five congregations
made up a total contribution of £40,399 7s. 7d.
Cottage hospitals, convalescent homes, and provident
dispensaries are among the many offshoots of the
larger system, and especially has the number of
dispensaries grown within the last few years. That at
West Ham takes the credit for having treated the
largest number of patients in one year, viz., 17,829, in
1885. The Western General Dispensary came next,
THE MODEL HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
457
with a total of 16,716 patients. Of course, it is need-
less to say that the public dispensaries to which we
now allude are not to be confounded with the private
dispensaries set up by medical men quite legitimately
for their own benefit, but which are not unfrequently
conducted on the lowest of commercial principles.
The public dispensaries of London, with their com-
mittees of management and staffs of physicians and
surgeons-who in the case of the free dispensaries are
almost invariably honorary-do excellent work, and
are worthy of more than all the support they obtain.
They undertake the treatment of diseases at the
patients' own houses, and by calling in the aid of the
nursing institutions they are not only able to supply
medical attendance and medicine, but also trained
nurses.
All such institutions, therefore, must be considered
to be foremost among the monuments of benevolence
and piety, for to the philanthropist, the remembrance of
how many hundreds of his fellow-men are annually
relieved or cured of some form of sickness or suffering
in them; to the medical man, who knows how much
his art is indebted to the experience gained within
their walls; and to the general public, who receive
both directly and indirectly the advantages which they
bestow, the great hospitals of the present day retain
something of the sacredness that once invested the
monasteries which preceded them.
458
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
"PERADVENTURE a little spark may yet lie hid."
How many sparks of expiring nature, we wonder, has
the Royal Humane Society been instrumental in
fanning into the flame of renewed life, health and
vigour, during its history of more than one hundred
years? Within the last fifty years about twelve
thousand persons have been rewarded by the Society
for saving life from drowning alone, and most of those
will be familiar with the appropriate motto which we
have quoted. It encircles in Latin upon the front of
the Society's medal the figure of a boy blowing an
extinguished torch in the hope, Lateat scintillus forsan.
Under the device, also in Latin, is the record that the
Royal Humane Society was established in London in
1774, "for the recovery of persons in a state of
suspended animation." There is not a benevolent
society in existence worthy a higher place on the scroll
of fame than the noble organization initiated by
Doctors Hawes and Cogan more than a century ago,
and continued in uninterrupted usefulness to the
present time, and we doubt whether, among all the
claims upon the generosity of Englishmen to-day,
there is an institution more worthy of support than
that which has its head offices at 4, Trafalgar Square,
London, and whose affairs are administered with such
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
459
conspicuous discrimination and ability by Captain I.
W. Home.
The art of resuscitating the apparently dead would
appear to have been unknown in ancient times.
About the middle of the last century the penetrating
genius of an Englishman, Dr. John Fothergill, saw
the "dubiousness and fallacy of the received criteria
of dissolution." In a paper addressed to the Royal
Society, and recorded in their Transactions, he main-
tained the possibility of saving many lives without
risking anything"; but, strange as it may appear
to-day, the subject aroused little or no attention in
the learned and philosophical world. The idea still
prevailed that death ensued the moment respiration
ceased. "Temerity and ignorance," wrote Dr. Hawes,
guided by prejudice, still continued to ravage the
human species-man still persevered in being the
executioner of innocent man, and numbers were still
consigned to that most horrid of deaths, a sub.
terraneous one." Though the suggestion was an
Englishman's, yet the glory there was in making the
first experiments as to the theory was snatched from
us by foreigners; it was in Switzerland, in 1767, that
the first instances of resuscitation occurred. M.
Reaumur, well known by his theory of animal instinct,
was the practitioner who made the reports of these
cases to the French Academy of Sciences. Shortly
afterwards, a Society for the Recovery of the
Drowned" was instituted at Amsterdam, and it was
the Transactions of this Society that Dr. Cogan, a
learned and judicious physician, translated in 1773,
and which enlisted the sympathy of Dr. Hawes. The
translation was made by Dr. Cogan with the object of
convincing the people of this country of the practi-
cability of resuscitating the apparently drowned. To
66
460
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
the ardent and indefatigable mind of Dr. Hawes a
career of public usefulness was thus opened up, which
he pursued till his death. Finding that a strong
and general prejudice existed against the theory of
resuscitation, and that the idea was even ridiculed as
hopeless and chimerical, he determined to demonstrate
it. With this view he publicly offered rewards to
persons, who between London and Westminster
Bridges, should, within a certain period of the
occurrence of an accident, rescue the bodies of
drowned persons and bring them to places appointed
on shore for their reception, in order that the means of
resuscitation might be tried. At these places he and
his friends restored several lives. During one whole
year Dr. Hawes continued to pay these rewards him-
self; but at the end of this period Dr. Cogan
represented to him the injury his private fortune must.
sustain by such continued expenses, and kindly
offered to unite with him for the formation of a
Humane Society. By dint of much personal effort
and influence the two doctors obtained the support of
the following thirty-two gentlemen, who were first
members, and therefore the founders, of the present
noble organization --Doctors William Cooper, Oliver
Goldsmith, Heberden, Kooystra, Lettsom, and Wat-
kinson; the Revs. Bouillier, Richard Harrison,
Dr. Jeffries, M. Snowden, Dr. Towers, and van Essen;
also Messrs. Armiger, Fred Bull, Delver, Denham,
William Fox, Benjamin Hawes, James Horsfall, F.R.S.,
John Jacob, Joseph Jacob, Robert Palmer, Patten,
Michael Pearson, Phipps, Samuel Prime, John Bewlay
Rich, Thomas Tower, W. Towgood, William Town-
send, Warrand, and Wright.
At first the efforts of the Society were confined to
the recovery of the apparently drowned, as was the
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
461
case with similar societies on the continent, which seem
to have sprung up almost simultaneously with the
Amsterdam organization; but in a very short time the
English Society had extended its sphere of usefulness.
Its timely succour roused the lethargy produced by
opium taken in immoderate and repeated doses, rescued
the wretched victims of intoxication, rekindled the life
extinguished by the sudden stroke of lightning, re-
covered the apoplectic, restored life to the infant that
had lost it in the birth, provided efficacious remedies
in cases of accidental smothering, and of suffocation by
noxious damps-in fact, in time no species of death
seemed to be placed beyond the reach of the Society's
assistance, where the mischief had gone no farther than
an obstruction of the movements of the animal machine
without any damage of the organs. The resuscitative
process also began to be applied, through the instru-
mentality of the Society, and with "happy success, to
counteract the fatal effects of a most heinous crime,
said by foreigners to be almost peculiar to this country
-suicide." The very idea of the possibility of being
restored, or brought back to life, it was thought in
those days, "must operate to repress the audacious
and impious hand of him who is eager to hurry out of
existence." Mr. John Milward, a gentleman distin-
guished by his benevolent and professional knowledge,
was the first medical assistant of the Society who
furnished examples of the "practicability of restoring
persons stricken apparently dead by lightning." Dr.
Fothergill enjoyed the pleasure of living to see the rules
adopted which he had recommended thirty years before.
Dr. Hawes continued the moving spirit of the Society.
He managed its affairs, promoted its efficiency, edited
its Transactions, and compiled the annual reports. The
first volume was dedicated to King George III., who
462
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
66
manifested a deep interest in the organization, and in
an Introduction Dr. Hawes indulges in observations
connected with the subject with a view of engaging the
regard and attention of the philanthropist, or scien-
tific inquirer." In conclusion, the Doctor says that his
great object has been to allure the advocates of
humanity and science to the discussion and investiga-
tion of an important cause which has been ever dear
to him. He trusts he is neither rash nor presumptuous
in cherishing the pleasing hope that there is no person.
whose breast is alive to the feelings of social nature
that can read the following pages without feeling him-
self elevated above the common level of humanity-
that there is no inquirer into the doctrine exemplified
in the following Transactions, who will not find some
hints capable of leading the sagacious mind to the dis-
covery of consequences valuable to science and useful
to mankind. But, whatever may be the judgment of
the candid and impartial concerning his labours in re-
cording the Transactions of the Society, he cannot
repress the sensations of almost parental pleasure
which he feels in the survey that this work has
occasioned him to take of the rising state and rapidly
increasing importance of an institution, the establish-
ment and promotion whereof have employed the best
part of his rational life. He cannot but declare that
he feels all his labours amply rewarded in beholding
this institution arrived at a maturity which promises
to resist the fate of the varying fashions that rise and
sink in the stream of life. The Editor feels himself
abundantly consoled, and even remunerated, for all his
cares, all his anxieties, and all his solicitudes, when he
considers and reflects on the stability the Humane
Society has acquired in the conviction of the public
mind, and, above all, in obtaining the patronage of a
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
463
Sovereign whose virtues, as they constitute the hap-
piness of the present age, will afford the richest theme.
of praise to the admiration of posterity. Such
acquisitions will enable the institution to diffuse its
blessings to the human race when Providence shall
permit him no longer to be an agent in administering
these blessings to his fellow-creatures, or the feeble
organ of recording these noblest offices of humanity
for the instruction and information of unborn ages.'
Not many years afterwards, and at the ripe age of 72,
the good doctor passed away at his house at Islington,
leaving a great gap to be filled in the administration of
a Society which had been almost his idol for a period
of thirty years.
When the Society had been established a twelvemonth
upwards of twenty objects, in most of whom the vital
powers seemed to have been totally suspended, had been
brought back to life, and on the first anniversary there
were presented to the public view ten persons who had
been brought from the "confines of the region of
death." The youngest of the ten had been under
water a quarter of an hour, and upwards of forty
minutes had elapsed before any proper assistance could
be procured. And yet after attentive perseverance of
four hours he was restored to life. Such instances as
these sufficed to establish the Institution in public
favour, in which it has continued to grow through an
unexampled career of usefulness. The plan of the
Society was rapidly adopted in provincial towns.
1776 Liverpool established an auxiliary, and Norwich,
Hull, Worcester, Chester, Kidderminster, and Dublin
also adopted the plan; in 1777 Colchester and other
places followed suit, so that in a very short time the
humanizing influence inaugurated by Dr. Hawes
spread like a network over the land.
In
464
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
One of the earliest peculiarities of the means
adopted to enhance the popularity of the institution
was the annual sermon. The first was preached by
the Rev. Mr. Harrison from the text, "As we have
therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men,"
and upon each succeeding anniversary of the founda-
tion of the Society, some divine of more or less
prestige advocated the claims of the humane institu-
tion to the general public. Among others Dr. Samuel
Glasse, one of His Majesty's Chaplains, preached for
the Society, and one of his sermons, delivered in the
parish church of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, London, on
the 27th of March, 1793, was remarkable for the
following address to the King, which preceded the
discourse "Your Majesty's gracious patronage of a
Society which has for its object the preservation of
the lives of your subjects, and whose efforts have been
blest with such eminent success, entitles your Majesty
to the most grateful acknowledgments from every
friend to its prosperity. Your Majesty in the follow-
ing pages will have the satisfaction of seeing this
Humane Institution happily advancing under your
Royal auspices and under the favour of many great
and good persons among your subjects. Its reputa-
tion and its benefits are not limited to Great Britain,
or even to Europe; they are extended to America and
to the West Indies. Many countries have been
supplied with the apparatus necessary to restore
suspended animation; by which very considerable
expense has been cheerfully incurred by the Society.
Liberally supported, as it has hitherto been, this
establishment will be found to rise yet higher in the
public esteem, in proportion as its benefits are felt and
known. And in proportion to the service which it is
doing to mankind will be our hopes of securing the
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
465
continuance of your Majesty's protection, the en-
couragement of a generous nation, and, above all, the
favour and the blessing of Him in whose hands are
the issues of life and death, without whose aid the
wisdom of the wise will be frustrated and the best
exertions of human industry will fail of their desired
effect."
But of all the discourses which have been enlisted in
the services of the Society that of Mr. Rowland Hill
was the most extraordinary, though characteristic.
Mr. J. T. Smith, in his "Book for a Rainy Day," relates
how that one Sunday morning, in his younger days, he
was passing Surrey Chapel on his way to Camberwell,
when the "swelling pipes" of the organ had such an
attraction that he was induced to go inside. "No
sooner was the sermon over, and the blessing bestowed,
than Rowland electrified his hearers by vociferating,
6
Doorkeepers, shut the doors!' Slam went one door ;
bounce went another; bang went a third; at last, all
being anxiously silent as the most importantly un-
expected scenes of Sir Walter Scott could make them,
the pastor, with a slow and dulcet emphasis, thus
addressed his congregation:- My dearly beloved, I
speak it to my shame, that this sermon was to have
been a charity sermon, and if you will only look down
into the green pew at those-let me see-three and
three are six, and one makes seven, young men with
red morocco prayerbooks in their hands,-poor souls!
they were backsliders, for they went on the Serpentine
river and other distant waters on a Sabbath; they were,
however, as you see, all saved from a watery grave. I
need not tell ye that my exertions were to have been
for the benefit of that benevolent institution, the
Humane Society. What! I see some of ye already up
to be gone; fie! fie! fie! never heed your dinners;
H H
466
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
don't be Calibans, nor mind your pockets. I know
that some of ye are now attending to the devil's
whispers. I say, listen to me! take my advice, give
shillings instead of sixpences; and those who intended
to give shillings display half-crowns, in order not only
to thwart the foul fiend's mischievousness, but to get
your pastor out of this scrape; and if you do I trust
Satan will never put his foot in this circle again. Hark
ye! I have hit upon it, ye shall leave us directly. The
Bank Directors, you must know, have called in the
dollars; now if any of you happen to be encumbered
with a stale dollar or two, jingle the Spanish in our
dishes; we'll take them, they'll pass current here. Stay,
my friends, a moment more. I am to dine with the
Humane Society on Tuesday next, and it would shock
me beyond expression to see the strings of the Surrey
Chapel bag dangle down its sides like the tags upon
Lady Huntingdon's servants' shoulders. Now, mind
what I say on this occasion, I wish for a bumper as
strenuously as Master Hugh Peters did when he re-
commended his congregation in Broadway Chapel to
take a second glass.'
The King evinced a much more practical interest in
the Society than merely becoming its patron, as the
present receiving house in Hyde Park is a present-day
testimony. Early in its career the Society made a
celebrated hostel in the vicinity of what is now Albert
Gate, its receiving house for patients from the Ser-
pentine. "The Fox and Bull" was the name of the inn,
said to have been founded in the reign of Elizabeth.
Here for a long time" was maintained that Queen Anne
style of society, where persons of ' parts' and reputation
were to be met with in rooms open to all. A Captain
Corbet was for a long time at its head; a Mr. Shaw,
of the War Office, supplied the London Gazette, and
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
467
W. Harris, of Covent Garden Theatre, his playbills.'
Among its visitors were George Morland, and his
patron, Sir W. W. Wynn, and occasionally Sir Joshua
Reynolds, who painted its sign, which was blown down
in a storm in 1807. While the house served as the
Humane Society's receiving house, there was brought to
it the body of the first wife of the poet Shelley, after she
had drowned herself in the Serpentine. George III.
granted a plot of ground contiguous to the Serpentine,
on the north side, for the erection of a receiving house,
in order that immediate and judicious medical aid
might be afforded to the accidentally drowned, and
those who in a state of despondency had adopted the
dreadful resolution of terminating their existence
therein. A Committee, consisting of the Rev. Mr.
Harrison, Dr. Hawes, Mr. Cranage, and Mr. Jackson,
was appointed by the Court of Directors to superintend
the building, &c., which, when finished, was furnished
with the most approved appliances in the shape of
electrical machine, couchette, warm bath, &c. The
present building, however, supplanted the old one, of
which it is an extension, through the generosity of
William IV., in 1834, and is from the design of Mr.
J. Bunning. The first stone was laid by the Duke of
Wellington. Over the Ionic entrance is sculptured the
face of the Society's medal-the boy, the torch, and the
appropriate motto. The house contains, beside, accom-
modation for the resident superintendent and boatmen
of the Society, two wards, a surgery, and committee
room. The wards are furnished with two baths and
six beds, and, when filled with hot water, the bed-
ding becomes heated; the object of which is to keep
up the temperature of the body after the patient is
moved from the warm bath to the bed.
There are
likewise two hollow iron tables with pipes leading to a
HH 2
468
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
boiler, through which the hot water circulates, keeping
the hot water bottles, &c., warm, and the rooms at a
high rate of temperature. About two tons of water are
thus constantly kept hot throughout the year, and by
these arrangements a warm bath can be obtained night
or day, immediately. A stretcher is kept at the receiv-
ing house ready for carrying persons in cases of acci-
dents by equestrians, &c. When an accident occurs,
and while the boatmen are engaged in recovering the
body from the water, a messenger is dispatched for the
medical attendant outside the park; thus no loss of
time occurs, which is so essential in cases of suspended
animation.
Receiving houses were provided in numerous other
places, such as along the course of the Thames, as well
as on the banks of the river Lea, and other rivers and
canals. Medical assistants were nominated in every
town and village, where their services were likely to be
called into action. Honorary medallion awards were
instituted to humane, skilful and successful exertions
of individuals, and pecuniary rewards commenced to
those by whose skill or humanity a human life was
saved-in short, the attention of the Committee was
given to every possible means by which the objects of
the Society might be promoted, and sudden and acci-
dental death prevented.
When the Society had been established fifty years it
was enabled to report that Great Britain and Ireland
boasted forty-eight societies in their principal towns.
and ports, together with four in the British colonies.
Russia, Prussia, Denmark, America, Bohemia, and the
Duchy of Nassau had formed similar associations in
their various dominions. The Emperor of Russia had
taken peculiar interest in the subject, and once had
himself the supreme happiness of causing the restora-
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
469
tion of one of his subjects. On a progress through
Poland, his Imperial Majesty was, by chance, separated
from his attendants, and seeing some persons busied
on the bank of the river Wilna, curiosity prompted him.
to alight from his horse and approach them, when he
found they had just taken from the water the body of
a man to all appearance drowned. The Emperor
assisted to undress the body and revive it, and while
thus employed his suite, among whom was an English
surgeon, joined him. The attempt to restore animation
was at length given over, three hours having been
employed in apparently useless endeavour. At the
instance of the Emperor, however, the attempt was
renewed and was successful. On the return of life to the
object of his humanity the Emperor exclaimed, " Good
God! this is the happiest moment of my life. The
gold medallion of the Royal Humane Society was voted
to his Majesty and graciously accepted.
Within the half century the Society had paid rewards
to nearly twenty-one thousand claimants for having
rescued persons from drowning. Heroic and affecting
instances were among them, in which individuals, from
a spirit of humanity, had exposed their own persons to
the most imminent hazard in order to save a fellow-
creature; while, stimulated by the rewards offered by
the Society, men had fearlessly plunged into the water
and trusted to their strength and dexterity for success.
in bringing persons who were sinking to shore; or a
rope had been carried round the body of a bold swimmer,
frequently through the midst of a raging surge, and the
deliverer and the delivered had returned together in
triumph from the frightful waters. Under the second
head of the Society's operations, viz., the restoration
of individuals who, from whatever cause, were in a state
of suspended animation, more than 5,000 persons had
470
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
been rescued by its direct agency in the neighbourhood
of the metropolis alone. Among the instances had been
all kinds of cases of suspended animation, such as had
been occasioned by submersion, lightning, noxious.
airs in coal and other mines, wells, &c., apoplexy,
hanging, and attempts at suicide.
The Society adopted, after mature experience and
the practical tests of many years, what is now known
as the "Silvester method of restoring" the apparently
dead. If it be from drowning, suffocation, or narcotic
poisoning, that the victim is suffering, medical assist-
ance, blankets and dry clothing should be sent for;
but the patient should be treated instantly, and the
points to be aimed at are, first and immediately, the
restoration of breathing, and secondly, after breathing
is restored, the promotion of warmth and circulation.
The efforts to restore life should be persevered in until
the arrival of medical assistance, or until the pulse and
breathing have ceased for an hour. Dr. Silvester's
rules for restoring natural breathing are (1) To adjust
the patient's position by placing him on his back on a
flat surface, inclined a little from the feet upwards;
raise and support the head and shoulders on a small
firm cushion or folded article of dress placed under the
shoulder blades. Remove all tight clothing from the
neck and chest. (2) To maintain a free entrance of
air into the windpipe, cleanse the mouth and nostrils;
open the mouth, draw forward the patient's tongue and
keep it forward. (3) To imitate the movements of
breathing, induce respiration by placing yourself at the
head of the patient, grasp his arms, raise them up-
wards by the side of his head, stretch them steadily
but gently upwards for two seconds; induce respiration
by immediately turning down the patient's arms, and
pressing them firmly but gently downwards against
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
471
the sides of his chest for two seconds; continne these
measures alternately, deliberately, and perseveringly
fifteen times in a minute, until a spontaneous effort to
respire be perceived. When that effort is perceived
cease to imitate the movements of breathing and pro-
-ceed to induce circulation and warmth. In order to
excite respiration the rules state that during the em-
ployment of the above method the nostrils should be
excited with snuff or smelling salts, or the throat be
tickled with a feather. The chest and face should be
rubbed briskly, and cold and hot water should be
alternately dashed on them. Friction of the limbs and
body with dry flannel or cloths should be had recourse
to. When there is proof of returning respiration, the
individual may be placed in a warm bath, the move-
ments of the arms before described being continued
until respiration is fully restored. The body should
be raised in twenty seconds to a sitting position; cold
water should be dashed against the chest and face, and
ammonia passed under the nose. Should a galvanic
apparatus be at hand, the sponges to be applied to the
region of the diaphragm and heart. After natural
breathing has been restored, the method to adopt to
induce circulation and warmth is as follows:-Wrap
the patient in dry blankets and rub the limbs upwards,
energetically. Promote the warmth of the body by hot
flannels, bottles or bladders of hot water, heated bricks
to the pit of the stomach, the armpits, and to the soles
of the feet. On the restoration of life, when the power
of swallowing has returned, a teaspoonful of warm
water, small quantities of wine, warm brandy-and-
water, or coffee should be given. The patient should
be kept in bed and a disposition to sleep encouraged.
During re-action large mustard plasters to the chest
and below the shoulders will greatly relieve the dis-
472
MEN IN PERIL AND WEAKNESS.
tressed breathing. In all cases of prolonged immersion
in cold water, when the breathing continues, a warm
bath should be employed to restore the temperature.
If the patient's prostration is due to intense cold, the
body should be rubbed with snow, ice, or cold water;
warmth should be restored by slow degrees, as it is
highly dangerous to apply heat too early. In the case
of intoxication, the individual should be laid on his
side on the bed with his head raised, and stimulants.
should be avoided; while in the case of apoplexy or
sunstroke, cold should be applied to the head, which
should be kept well raised, clothing removed from the
neck and chest, and stimulants avoided.
In the year 1874 the Royal Humane Society com-
pleted the century of its existence. It had enjoyed,
besides the Royal patronage already mentioned, the
support of their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent and
Sussex, and subsequently of Queen Victoria, who re-
mains the Patron of the Institution. During the one
hundred years of its operations the Society had been the
means of saving 35,056 persons from premature death.
In the summer of 1874 no fewer than 356,813 persons
were estimated to have bathed in the Serpentine, and
although many casualties occurred, none of them were
fatal.
The last report of the Society shows that the follow-
ing rewards were given for saving or attempting to save
life during 1886:-One gold medal (Stanhope), seven
silver medals, two silver clasps, 128 bronze medals,
nine bronze clasps, 149 testimonials on vellum, eighty-
six testimonials on parchment, and thirty-six pecuniary
rewards with certificates. The Society maintains life-
saving apparatus at nearly 300 places, and many lives.
are frequently rescued from drowning by the use of its
drags and life-buoys, which are largely distributed

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
I
3 9015 06438 5191