Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1896 — SUPREME MOMENT IN A LAUNCH [ARTICLE]

SUPREME MOMENT IN A LAUNCH

It 1* Whdß the Vestel Flirt Gete bto tha Water. iThat a launch is a matter of mathematics, as v[cdi as of great skill and labor, is shown by the fact that the man of science who has the matter in charge always makes a se t ofealculations show - ing the strain on the ship and its precise condition at practically every foot of the journey down the ways. If a boat should get in the way, or if it should take an unusual length of time to knock out the keek-blocks, or if any one of half a dozen things should cause serious delay, the scientific man knows just how long he can wait, and jußt how far the limit of safety extends. There is always one supreme moment! in « launch, and ft la at a timethates-' capes the average spectator. It is when the vessel gets fairly well into the water. ■ Ibis is when an importantfaetor known 1 as the moment of buoyancy comes into piny. If yon can imagine a vessel slid-1 Ing down an incline without any water 1 into which to drop, you can see that the ] vessel would tip down suddenly at the j end which has left the ways, and would I rise at the end still on the Incline. But j really, in successful launches, the stern of the vessel is gradually lifted up by the water, and this throws the weight forward on that part of the ship still resting on the ways. Tho force of the water is called the “moment of buoyancy,” and the natural tendency of the ship to drop to the bottom of the stream is called the “moment of weight." Now the moment of buoyancy must always be greater than tb* moment of weight; but it must not bp very much greater, for if it were it would throw too mtgsh weight forward on the port of the ship still on the ways, and might break them down, or injure the plates or keel of the ship- When the great English battleship Ramil lies was launohed, this did really happen; and sogreat-was the strain near the boW that parts of the cradle were actually pushed right into the bottom of the vessel. It is this danger of disaster that causes the scientific launcher to make the most careful calculations as to the conditions surrounding the ship at every foot of her journey into the water.—Frank Matthews, In St. Nicholas. —Borax is extensively used in preserving foods. Dr. Fere, of Paris, has tried it to cure epilepsy and finds that It is many persons. It causes loss pf appetite, with burning pains in the stomach; favors skin diseases, especially e(;ema; produces baldness, and, above all, brings on kidney disease, converting slight disorders into fatal cases.