The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-22 00:00:00

On Tuesday the Police Committee of th
Lion sat at Guildhall, en which occasion the
report upon the subject of fire-escapes was preslorti:.‘ 'v.-la-
the Committee, from Mr. Daniel W,viittle Har4ctisrVllk
City Police Commissioner, and iNir, Braidwood,
Superintendent of the London Fire
a, 1.840.
City Police Office, Oct...
Gentlemen —ln obedience to your resolutit "1 oft
22d September ult., "That the City Police C. 111‘-ti
to_
sioner and Mr. Braidwood be requested to consu
gether, and report their opinion as to the best plc "t" for
a fire-escape, and such as they would recommend fer
adoption in the City of London," we have procec
without delay to the consideration of this most imp& `r,
tant subject.
Although we bad the advantage cf being present
wl.en the various model.; and plans cvere submitted to
your Committee, and of hearing= the iateres6wr expla-
nations of their proposed working, we considered dge
to the ingenious contrivers, who came before you, to
reconsider their respective plans and surestiotii, with
minuter attention to details than was practicable At t-.?ie
first and rapid exhibition of them, The models
explanatory suggestiois, brought under the review
your C.-_,minittee, exceeded thirty in numbt2r, each
which embraced cue or more of three distinct objects.
lit. Machines intended for domestic use only, to be
resorted to by inmates of houses in cases of fire.
2d. Machines to be externally applied, and made to
combine the security of property with the protection of
persons.

3d. Machines exclusively for the protection of life
from fire, to be externally applied, under the responsible
direction of the police.
While we felt that our attention and invirics ought
to be mainly directed to the latter of these ribj'ects we
cannot withhold the mggestion, that more than one of
the first-named plans alight Le introduced, at a `rifling
cost, into houses with great advantage, especiaoy in
neighbourhoods not immediately within the reach g
more public appliances.
When it is known that easy means of descent from-
the loftiest apartment of a house may be permanently
obtained, at a cost considerably under 605., an obligation
is imposed upon the heads of families, which to disregard
would not only disarm complaint of its justice, but
strengthen the impression, that the public are too prone
to rely upon external agency, and to throw aside the
precautions of individual prudence.
Having determined to confine our attention to the
objects stated, wo proceeded to the selection of those
plans, with a view to their minute inspection, which ap-
peared to us to combine to the greatest extent the prin-
cipal objects to be dcsiderated in a machine intended tor
the rescue of life from fire. These objects are simplicity
and strength of structure, facility of working and of
transfer from place to place, and the ready varying of
elevation.

Upon a review of the models submitted to your Cora-
mittee in our presence, Jour of them, in an especial
manner, attracted our attention, and it is due to the
parties to state that they not only submitted their re-
spective inventions, without the slightest reserve, to our
individual examination, but to the keener criticism of
each other.

Each of the plans thus selected possesses exclusive
merits, and in the discharge of a duty so interesting to
the public, we have not hesitated to embrace the great
advantage which a combination of excellences, not ex-
clusively the property of either, naturally affords, and
which we consider will be found in the plan we shall
presently venture to recommend for the adoption of the
City of London.
The great experience of one of us in cases of fires,
and of others who have been attracted to them, justify
the opinion that unless the means of escape are at hand
within a very few minutes after the discovery of a fire,
all human efforts must prove unavailing ; and, it is not
has borne out by experience and observation, that when
the means were promptly available, no person, with one
melancholy and fatal exception, who has visibly sought
has failed to find saving he'p.
We arc the more anxious to impress upon the minds;
of the Committee the paramount importance of iastan-•
taneous aid in cases of fire, because we feel that unless
instantaneous recourse can be had to well-adapted ma-
chines, and experienced men to work them, 11 their
efforts and wishes must fail. Equally supported by ex-
perience is the statement, that in the far greater num-
ber of instances the fire ladders, now used by the Lon-
don Brigade, have been found, when promptly at hand,
fully adequate to the purpose of rendering assistance to.
persons in danger, and although other machines or con-
trivances may be brought to bear in wide streets and.
upon lofty houses, that in the narrow streets, courts,
and alleys, which abound in the City of London, no
other instrument can be effectually used.
But, at present, the brigade ladder is only in partial
use, under the direction of the Fire Brigade, and in
co-operation with engines exclusively employed for Ike
extinction of fire, and the rescue of property.
To render these ladders at all times available, they.
must be placed under the responsible superintendancss
of the police, at intervals not exceeding a quarter of is
mile, and upon carriages which will hold the several
parts or joints of the ladders compactly together um*
they arrive at the spot required.
To carry the suggestion into effect of having a set
of ladders at all times available within the prescribe/1
space, we find that the number required for the City of
London will not exceed twenty.
But while the experience before reverted to leads us
to the conclusion that with the appliances just described,
no human life ought to be lost when the danger actually
presents itself, we are not insensible to the intense feel-.
ing which pervades the public mind upon the subject
brought under our consideration, and that it is the duty •
of all public authorities to make every reasonable effort,
at whatever cost, to assuage the fears of the public.
With this impression strong in our minds, we feet
that we should disappoint just expectation, as also th
tberal and humane policy of the Corporation of Lou-
don, were we to restrict our recommendation to the
ladder already described. We therefore strongly re-
commend that a machine should always be at hand„
whose firmer appearance, and rapid elongation, should
afford assistance to the infirm, and dissipate the alarm's
of the timid. Each of the machines, which have been
finished, and exhibited before us, embrace some of
the requisite qualifications, but not one combines th-a
whole.
The fire-escape of Mr. Davies is by far the most
simple, and the mode of descent superior to any other,
where it can be applied, the metal basket in a great
measure screening those in it from the smoke, or partial
flames from the lower windows, but the entire machine is
ponderous, and requires greater aid to move it witit
celerity than can always be obtained at the instant,
while its unchangeable length restricts its action to all
but the widest streets.
The machine of Mr. Wivell, which has been for
some time before the public is superior to that of Mr.
Davies, in so far as it is capable of sonic reduction, ai
well as extension, and moves on a carriage of easier
guidance, yet its fixed length of thirty-five feet, and tho
great strain it requires to elevate it, together with this
impediment occasioned to its progress by an adverse
wind acting upon the canvas, and its inapplicability to
the narrow streets, which abound in the City, are de-
cided difficulties to its adoption.
The sliding ladders of Mt. Gregory, when place('
upon the carriage of Mr. Wivell, form the machine
which, upon the whole, we venture to recommend for
adoption in the City f London, The utmost length
of these ladders, when travelling, is 24 feet, at which
height they may be instantly raised, and without being
moved can be quickly extended to 40 feet, and with a
little contrivance may be carried considerably higher.
This machine may be drawn along the streets
quickly, and quickly elevated by two men, while the
method of raising the additional length is simple, and
unencumbered with cordage and other contrivances
which complicate many of the fire escapes submitted U.
our inspection.
While we feel assured that in carrying oat a plan
which has for its object the first of social duties, the
be Corporationexpeeted thatwill w
note should
submit
bestar tledb y
to
expense,
your
cco
yetom if
I mayte w
some estimate of the probable annual cost of mainaain.a
ing the proposed establishment, as well as the preheat:•
nary outfit.

To have a set of brigade ladders, on a fitting car•
riage, in which are to be stored the ropes, belts, can•
vacs, bag, and other conveniences to facilitate descent, SC
intervals sufficiently near to be in actual use within fivo
minutes after the discovery of a fire, would requires
twenty complete sets, and would cause an outlay front
330/._ to 4001.

We further propose that ten of Gregory's ladders.,
mounted as before described, and similarly equipped es
the other ladders, be assigned to appropriate localities;
and committed, during the hours of the night, to the
charge of ten police constables.
The cost of these ladders, with the carriage and
equipments, would be between 300/. and 400/„ to which
must be added the constant charge of ten constables.
That these machines may be used with promptitude
and precision, we suggest that the officers and mosta.
bles of the police force should be frequently exercised
in their use, and the whole placed under the control of
the chief office.
In noticing the subject of cost, and the maintenance
of the Life Preserving Establishment, we are induced
to recommend, it will not fail to occur to your Com.
mittee that its adoption will save the parochial autbori.
ties, within the City, much expense, and relieve theA
of the gravest responsibility.
We have the
D. honour
HARVEY,to be Gentlemen, yours Bce
W.

JAMES BRAID WOOD,
Superintendent of the London Fire Establishment,
and Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The Report evidently met the approbation of the
Committee, who have entered upon the subject with
great zeal and activity.

ENLEY,-'

- -
LORD A's Lordship, we are gra‘
tificd to learn, is now restored to his mental faculties, and
is enabled to mix with his family. Indeed, the Learned
Lord is so much recovered as to be able to take carriage
airings almost daily,