Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1897 — Life Buoy. [ARTICLE]

Life Buoy.

An Ingenious new life-buoy has been Invented by a Swiss engineer, and tried recently at Geneva. The buoy contains an air-cell, which is automatically inflated by means of the vapor of chloride of methyl as soon as it enters the water. It Is also supplied with a sealight of the Holmes description—that is, a capsule containing phosphide of calcium, which, when wetted by the water, yields a bright, torch-like flame, lasting for three-quarters of an hour. The principle of the buoy is also applied to a life-saving dress. The buoy Itself, however, has the appearance of an air pillow, and Is simply bound across the chest.