New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-08-21

cate Of potash, q soluble glass AIT 10 otbed, eos
this would not do il became q mere powder ana
fell down; il was like mixing sand and wood, there
was no reason Why the wood should not burr. al
though il was impeded considerably by the sand OF
silicste. Another plan proposed consisted 10 st'u-
rating the wood with suphste OF iron this does
very well and we see no reason why II should not
be used. The ssturation 10 effected BY means oil
putting the wood In boiler exhausting the ar oy
an air pump and allowing then the entrance Of tne
solution. A third plan, which answers well IL 'ne
ssturation OF the wood with sulphste OF am onia
The theory Of this is different from that OF any oil
the others The sulphste By being heated 10 de
composed, smmonia comes of, and nitrogen along
with little water and sulphurous acid reese
gases act as fire quencbers, preventing air RON
coming TO the wood, by surrounding the WOOD WIN
an atmosphere OF iucom bustible gases. When these
gases escape, uphuric acid remains and this Il Of
oil things the most perfect destroyer OF ire fnu
plan has also many advantages, although II seems
to have one evil, that If left wet il encourages
mould, which, however, isdestroyed by the use OF
metallic salt.
But, perhaps, it will be unnecessary to adop' any
Of those methods long Is chloride OF zinc can DC
used, a substance which prevents hre ana oeco"
positiop NJ the same time. When we Thick thar
ship may be 90 built that 1t cannot tshe IRE tn'
FIRE made on the deck itself will not nf ime IT, toat
the shavipgs taken from the wood will NOT eurp' ano
that hay and straw itself will not barn IN union
! with these substances, we cannot help ieehn5 sur
! prised tbst we should have warehouses Oult OF
] combustibe wood and ships liable TO burn out the
| passengers with few minutes notice We have
insurance companies feeding on our mistoftunes,
| and we take no heed whatever OF the Inventions
/ made And yet we must be excused there are 30
| many inventions we find it impossible to make use
Of them al This matter however, should be flrst
necessity among architects and builders out
builders do lot want security: 1t 10 their interest,"
under the present system, that buildings should not
last long. IL warehouse were hreproof, man
| might leave bis goods and be assured that he
would rot be beggar in the morning. evsa
although he did not spend large sums on lnsurinS
Ii is even now within the power OF art 70 Pian
matters so that the emigrsnt may retire % rest
without fear, although his neighbor should noI os
able 10 resist the self in9u gence OF pipe u ~
bscoo Apdit ia also possible to prevent tne uiaI
ff war from taking fire even although ,eu u'1 Jul
let be planted on its deck. Az P'esen' r
nrey 10 the merest accidents we play hlnd OF
| game of chance with the destructive hre, and we
1ay TO keep off the evil, TO provide against oss'
but there il pay for the suiocsed children In the
nursery, or the mangled bodies OF those who have
Jumped from the houfe'oP, to escape more pam
fu death and for the painful fate OF those VINO, 70
avoid the horrors Of death by FIRE, have saved
themselves from it by the awful alternative 81
drowning.
There have been modes devised of putting out
FIRE none are perfect Water, as it is used does
little good. A warehouse with hundred th0uehnd
pounds worth Of cotton linen, and silk, takes fire
and burns down in hour. The amount OF heat In
such rapid combustion is really too great to cal
culate, il must be such as to dssipate enormous
Quantities OF water. Water poured on a house
on fire. when il is OF such dimensions as this, is q
mere mockery. The utmost that can be done il to
prevent the next house from burning. A simple
let of waser such az a man can hold, ought now to
be superseded by something more substantial. A
little river is wanted to put out such flames as oc
cur. Firemen expose their lives and all their gain
is praise In the newspapers for what has done good
10 no creature whatever the FIRE has consumed
everything.
Carbonic acid has been proposed nothing puts
out fire better than this but ii is difficult to know
how to apply it, and it is troublesome to get ready.
II houses could be built with tight fitting covers to
the windows, it might be managed even without
cnbonic acid-the air could be all excluded. This
might be done in some cases, bat it would not be
ger eral convenience.
The 80 called Fire Annihistor can put out large
Ares by using sudden discharges OF incombustible
gases; but this also, 10 thing not To be relied on
al the substances used not likely to protect the
| property around it, being themselves combustible
and destructive, and difficult TO manage on great
scale. The best mode must certainly be, first, pre-
vention This does app pear the easiest OF all Next
the cure by the of water, which is an innocent
substaI ce, which might be so managed as to be at
! band readily, and can be got chcsply. When wa.
ter s supplied high pressure and in great abund.
ance every house can be supplied with safeguard
sesi st FIRE: and when houses and ships shall be
built with fire. proof materials fire will cease to be
an evil which can be numbered among human cal
antilles. This we hope TO see growing rapidly
more and more popularity interesting