Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1920 — Simplifies Launchings. [ARTICLE]

Simplifies Launchings.

A big steel cargo boat was launched successfully some weeks ago by the throw of a single electric switch, says Popular Mechanics Magazine. Sidewise launchings have been precipitated hitherto by skilled axmen, who chopped through the launching cables at a given signal. Inattention on the part of one man, with this old method, sometimes resulted in an uneven progress down the ways, or even In disaster. With the new system, heavy wooden guillotines take the places of the axmen. The weighted blades are held at the tops of the frames by the attraction of electromagnets; when the current is broken.. all the blades descend simultaneously and the vessel strikes the water on an even keel.