But to-day, even with all the modern improvements which have been put into the ship, both sailing and steam-propelled; notwithstanding all the navigational appliances, the water-tight compartments, the size of ships and the excellence with which they are sent on their voyages, there is still need for the lifeboat, which has to go out many times during a bad winter at the summons of necessity. Although it is possible that the motor, as in the trawler, will eventually oust steam from this special type of craft, that stage has not yet been reached. Steam is a comparatively recent innovation to the lifeboat, and this is partially explainable by the deep-rooted prejudice of the local seamen. It is also owing to the fact that when the lifeboat has to go out at all the seas are very bad, and the craft is subjected to the water breaking over, and unless special precautions were taken to guard against this the fires would be put out, and the boat would be rather worse off than if she had no engines. There are only a few steam lifeboats along our shores, and they are placed at such stations where they can lie afloat instead of having to be launched down the beach or from a specially constructed slipway. The first form of steam lifeboat was to some extent on the lines of the ship which John Allen had suggested as far back as 1730, of which we spoke in an earlier chapter. It will be remembered that he advocated a system which was actually employed by James Rumsey in 1787. The principle was that of sucking water in at the bows and ejecting it at the stern. A more recent instance of the use of this idea will be found in the boat illustrated on the opposite page which shows a hydraulic lifeboat. The disadvantage of having a screw propeller is that it stands a very good chance of being fouled, if not damaged, by wreckage and ropes. Therefore engines were installed which sucked in the water by means of a “scoop,” placed at the bottom of the boat amidships. The water thus indrawn is discharged aft on either side of the hull, and if the craft is desired to go astern, then this is easily done by discharging water forward. This type has been in actual use, and has been highly efficacious in saving human life from shipwreck. By referring to the lower figure of the illustration on page 255, which shows the midship section of one of the hydraulic type, some idea will be gained of the placing of the “scoop.” By using alternately one of the after pipes the ship can be manœuvred to port or starboard just like a vessel fitted with twin-screws. But there are corresponding disadvantages which require to be weighed. It is distinctly not an economical method of propulsion, and if the sea happens to contain much sand considerable damage may happen to the engines, and other undesirable matter also may work still greater havoc. [Illustration: A SCREW LIFEBOAT. _By permission from “The Yachting Monthly.”_]