The following article and image is about a suit for the victims of a shipwreck. The way it was designed not only made people look like ocean fish, but they would have also looked like a tasty treat to sharks.
To Make Shipwreck Perfectly Safe
A very ingenious device has been invented by a German, Gustav Heinrich, which he declares will deprive shipwreck of all its terrors under all circumstances.
Furnished with this device a passenger might be thrown into mid-Atlantic and live in comfort for many days while waiting to be picked up.
The apparatus is made of watertight canvas. It has sleeves ending in gloves. There is a port hole in the head which can be closed when the weather is rough. When the port hole is closed air enters through a tube above the head. No water can enter through this.
The man or woman using this device stands with his feet in a sort of bucket which forms the base. This bucket takes in a certain quantity of water which acts as ballast, and keeps the lifesaver and its occupant upright. Sufficient food and drink can be taken aboard to keep the passenger alive for a week or more.
The apparatus is provided with a revolver and signal lights, with which the shipwrecked passenger can signal for help by day or night. Attached to the apparatus are ropes by which two or three people can keep themselves afloat if they have not the good fortune to have life-saving outfits of their own.
It is proposed that one suit of this kind should be provided for every person on a ship. At present, as has been proved by many terrible disasters, there are no adequate provisions for saving life in case of a sudden sinking of the ship through collision or any other cause.
The boats are not sufficient to carry all passengers, and it seems doubtful whether a sufficient number will ever be provided, although an unusually active movement for insuring safety at sea has been going on lately. In any case shipwrecked passengers may be thrown in the sea with such haste that there is no chance for them to get into the boats. In such accidents the boats may be sunk or made useless from many causes.
The lifesaving suits at present provided are comparatively little use in case of a shipwreck in mid ocean.
Source: The Dress That Made Paris Vow to Reform Its Fashions in 1914.
