IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL ON A MATTRESS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 21, 29 December 1877, Page 3

IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL ON A MATTRESS.

An interesting trial of a new life-* saVing apparatus has just been made m the English "Channel. The chief points of this co-called maitress^ contrived by Captain "Webb,: the /Channel swimmer, are its simplicity and cheapness. It consists of a plain wooden case, 6ft 6in long, and 2ft 6m wide, the bottom of which is curved froni end to but the sides are cut straight, being and 6ft 6in long, and nearly a foot wide. These sides, the bottombeing curved form a double keel, one on each side of the mattress» Over the sides is securely stretched and fastened a piece of strong waterproof canvas. This wooden case, with its canvas top, is of course, exceedingly light and buoyant, and foi?ms a Very comfortaMe berth or mattrass on board ship, and weighing, as it does, about sßlbs, could be easily thrown overboard in* case of emergency, and would serve as a life-saving raft. Soon after 12 p'clpek m the afternoon, Captain Webb, accompanied by his boatman and a friend, left Eamsgate : m a small sailing boat. Originally it had been Captain Webb's intentioii to start from Eamsgate, and to attempt to paddle; m the new life-raft the whole Way to Dover. The tide, however, was extremely weak, and. as a considerab^crowd of persons had collected on Eamsgate Pier, under tli6 inipres 7 sipn that some ; new torpedo experiments were about to take place, it was deditted to make the 7 first experiment m the open sea; arfair wind he soon got out to seay and on reaching pS Deal, five or; six miles from shore, the hollow berth was thrown overboard for the first time. Captain Webb, m ordinary dress, took his seat on the canvas top m a siuall pbolof salt water, paddle m hand- The sea was far too rough to be pleasant, which added to the interest created m the novel eicursion^of Captain Webb/ The "Mattress?'rose and fell withibhe waves with great buoyancy and apparent stability, and m a perfectly horizontal position. The difficulty that had been feared*, m Weeb keeping his

seat on the side of a large wave, did not arise ; and by means of a double paddle, similar to those used m ordinary cauoes, Webb kept his seat without undue effort, and made very steadily m the direction of Dover at the rate of three miles an hour. He arrived at the pier-head shortly after four o'clock, having occupied nearly four hours m his trip. The " mattress " draws only two or three inches of water, forms a comfortable berth, and can be made by any ordinary carpenter at a cost of about 30s.