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Show 'Uf; f The Inventor and the Water-Bucket water-tight compartments in the bottom. Even if one compartment fills with water the others keep the boat floating. Even 20 holes or leaks wouldn't sink such a boat. The boat and everything on it is .made of buoyant material, such as balsa wood or cork. Passenger ships and the United States Coast Guard both have special lifeboat crews. These men have special training, take a stiff examination, and have regular drills. The lifeboat has come a long way since William Wouldhave. But we owe some of its efficiency to the man who saw a float in an old woman's bucket., He was kind enough to want to help her,, and clever enough to make use of what he saw. Ail Aboard A new book for junior hobbyists hobby-ists is "Make It and Ride It" by C. J. Maginley (Harcourt, Brace & Co.) which tells how to make all sorts of things from kiddie cars to soapbox racers. Complete plans are given with each item. 'Is. A TALL, lanky man walked : along a London Street, in the year 1790, muttering to himself. e," People stared at him. lV "That's William Wouldhave," to,' someone remarked. "Odd as his Vf;. name, he is! A crazy inventor." ! He never held a job very long, L( though he'd tried everything from painting houses to teaching music, ci He was always inventing an elec-t elec-t trical machine, a clock, an organ. rei But nobody ever wanted to put money 'nto his new - fangled ,t; schemes. A cheerful chap, though, 1;", always kind and friendly. 1; On this particular day, an old woman at a street-pump was t struggling to lift her heavy water bucket. Wouldhave's big hands raised it smoothly from the 5" ground. Then he stopped short. He put the bucket down, tipped e; it one way, then anpther, then 1. kicked it. He eyed a float in the f bucket. "This wooden float keeps the - water from spilling!" he cried. t!, "Where'd you get it?" The old woman stammered, "It's ! just a a round wooden bowl, sir. t One that broke in two." "Half a round wooden bowl," v' he repeated softly. "One quarter ; of a sphere." Abruptly he kissed the old ! woman smackingly on the cheek, i and strode away. She shrugged, r tapped her head significantly, and ; with a sigh carried home her water bucket. '1 Wouldhave, when ae reached fi his own home, filled a large tub with water. He cut a bowl in half, pushed one piece down to the bottom, and it popped right to the surface. He turned the float upside down, and it promptly turned right side up again. Furiously Furi-ously he churned the water with his hands. The float bobbed, twisted, twist-ed, banged the tub sides but it stayed upright. "Eureka!" shouted Wouldhave, "I've found it!" And rushing out of the house, he began jumping and clapping hands and sputtering explanations to everyone he met. "A boat that'll swim in any sea! , It can't sink, can't overturn! A lifeboat for shipwrecks!" A few days later, Wouldhave sent plans for his new lifeboat to the government. YEAR earlier, a storm had wrecked a ship only 300 yards from land. The crew jumped into the water to try to swim ashore. People stood along the beach, watching. Before their eyes, the sailors drowned, one by one. This tragedy aroused the English Eng-lish people. The government offered of-fered prizes for the best plans for a strong, safe lifeboat. But the Prize Committee laughed at Wouldhave's idea. They couldn't believe a boat's SHAPE could keep it from sinking or turning over. He couldn't persuade them to make a working model from his plans. He died the way he'd lived, poor and unknown. Sixty years later, in 1850, his "self-righting" principle was first tried out. And it worked! rpODAY'S lifeboats and rafts would seem miraculous to William Wil-liam Wouldhave. Twice as large as his, they hold up to 300 people. They have 50 different pieces of equipment tools,' signals, blankets, blan-kets, medicines, food, fishing kits, even a Bible. "Guns" can throw life lines to ships many yards away, for people to hold on to and clamber to safety. Swimmers can hold on to grab-rails and ropes all along the gunwales. Once, when a lifeboat capsized, the crew clung to the grab-rail all night. Then, in daylight, they stoon on one grab-rail, pulled on the other, and so righted the boat. Thep they went on to save 22 other people swimming in the water! A modern lifeboat can be launched and driven even in a storm. It has sails and oars, besides be-sides a motor that keeps running even with the boat full of water. "Sea anchors" heavy containers dragging behind the boat spread oil to calm angry seas, and keep the boat from drifting too fast in a gale. Automatic valves drain water of" the deck. Many lifeboats today, especially in England, still use Wouldhave's quarter-bowl principle. A newer idea is to , have many different |