New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-09-18

ITS ORIGIN AND OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES FOR EN-.
T4NGulsM1SG FIRES.
The late James Braidweod, The first superin.
iendent Of the London Fire Brigade, wrote, three
or four years ago,an interesting book, entitled
a. Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction,7 This
work has Just been published by Bell s. Daddy,
London, and it contains much valuable informa
ton.
Mr.. Braidwoolssas eotsmans BY birth, was a FIRE.
man for forty five years. At the age OF twenty
three years he was appointed superintendent Of
the Edinburgh fire department. aud the great fire
in High street aud other parts of THE pId town in
dueed the local authorities and til insurance com
panies to listen TO his Recommendations for an
Improved Iaodeaf procedure Funds were granted
MIN for the organization ana maintenance of an
efficient Brigade formed Of the best aud bravest
men hat he could get together, encouraged to
share seEneT hat his pllitanthr0pic spirit, and
carefully trained to their work according to plans
of his own.
Plenty of opportunities occurred for praetioing
1heiregaffs and the5records Of their achievements
show l5w well they succeeded. Previously, when
houses Mere oh fire, the firemens had attempted
nothing but to pour water on the outside walls of
the burning houses and the neighboring buildings
and had done that clumsiiy enough BraidWood
taught them to trace the fire 70 its source and
as Tar as 4iossbes To check before it had time
to spread. In the first year OF its existence his
brigade had forty eight fires TO deal with eleven
OF them proved total losses, and twelve Of them
conld moi be suppressed before serious damage
was done. tntfle second year there were eighty
tires, seven of which were total losses and eighteen
we're serious In the third year there were ninety
Jour hress with but one total loss and only nine
Others thatswere attended with serious disaster.
in the ffth year, out OF hundred and ninety-tour
nres, only one proved quite u1Inandg eabte, and
only eighteen had to be reported considerable,
In 1870 he wrote for the London Society Of
Arts Il description Of a chainladder fire escape
which lie had constructed, aud the silver medal
sent to him on account Of that invention vas ao-
companisa by a request that he would give t'a
complete account OF his mode of drilling tiremen
and eaniHinng tlie use of Horoscopes with the
ordinary hFe engine service. In compliance with
that invitation Braidwood wrote, in 1880, a trea.
xise ION the Construction of Fire-Engines and
Apparatus, the Training of Firemen and the
Method Of Proceeding in Cases of Fire. of which
The most important passages are reprinted in the
present volume.
In 1888 eight London insurance companies re-.
solved to follow the example set ten years before
IN Edinburgh; n association, known as the Lon
don Fire Engine Establ Ishrnent soon recognized
as tie Lolldon Fire Brigade. was established IN
der the management of BraidWoed, who left
Edinburgh to undertake the duty, and applied him
self 70 his new work with indefatigable energy.
This acc oumt af the brigade was written by him
only fe 81 months before his deaths
THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE.
The London fire brigade now January, 1851 "
consists of one superintendent four f0Temen
each being appointed to district consisting of
fourth part of London, which he never leaves ex
Gepfson some very pressing emergency, and who,
in the absence Of the superintendent has the sole
command toll ALI engines, Oft franen, within, or
who may come within, his district twelve engi-s
neers, ten subengiheers; fortysseYen senior IRE
men and forty-thfee gjunior ffemen in ALL one
hundred and seventeen individuals, In addition
there are fifteen drivers and thirty-sere horses,
all living at The several stations and ready
when required. There il also supplement
fary force Of four extra fremen, -four drivers and
eight horses liYingat the stations, pursuing their
usual avocations, and only paid by the committee
when required. The mechanical appliances con
sist of twenty-seYen large engines drawn BIZ
horses, eight small engines drawn by hand, fwal
floating eng ines worked by steam, one OF forty
horse power, and the other Of eighty horse power
one land steam fire engine, and twenty-eight
hand pumps, one OF the latter being carried on
each engine.
z When an engine ID sent to fire, only four
Mremen and one driver accompany it. The levers
are worked by the bystanders, who are paid onel
shilling for the first hour and sixpence for each
succeeding hour, besides refreshments. Upwards
of six hundred assistants have been thus employed
at one time. The principal protection of London
against fire is entirely voluntary the part of the
insurance companies, to whom the above estab-
lishment belongs: there being no law in any shape 1
whatever to control or sustain the brigade; and /
with the exception of some fifteen or twenty, the
parish engines are comparatively useless at a se-
Tions fire. IL must not be omitted that the great
est possible assistance is given to the firemen by
the police, of whom there are about seven thou |
sand, in keeping back the crowd, etc. The fire |
Offices look upon the whole as amatter Of private
business, that the brigade is proportioned quite
as much to the amount which the Offices think IL
prudent to spend as TO the size Of the place.
Paris, which IS not half the size of London, and
the buildings of which are much substantial,
has upwards of eight hundred fremen,
# Z 1T appears to me that any success which the |
brigade may have attained depends, In great
measure. on the liberal pay given, by which the
best men for the purpose can be obtained the
favorable view ia which the brigade is regarded
by the public, and the willing and able assistance
given by a numerous and perhaps the bestpolice
In existence. +
HOW 70 PET OUT 4 FIRE.
Aebapterof this book is devoted to the methods
of putting out fre--tie following passages being
of easy application
4 The persongin the house bestqualided forsuch,l
duty should endeayar 10 ascertain, with Az much
precision az possible the extent and position Of
the fire. while tire Others collect as lnueflWater as
theyean. If the fire be inan upperfo the inmates
should be got out ediately although the lower
safety for some time III in the lower part of the
house after tie8innates have been removed great