, 1874-09-03
PREVENTING FIRES.
Letter from Joseph Bird Ex-
pl.lnutory of His System.


En0 Use OF E1T6. w ullBs
MI. n1nD's r1nE-rnEyENT1vE SYSTEM.
II The Editor of The Chicago Tribune:
Sin: The people Of Chicago know but too
well tho horrors Of condagratlona-a shocking
death to hundro1s financial ruin To thousands,
nnd everything In the world Bwopt away from
Ions OF thousands Of homes. Even tho lust
great fre brought misery and diatross which no
people, however humane, no money, however
freely givon, could wholly repair.
Tho question OF questions. then, to tho people
Of Chicago is " How shall We prevent the dread
ful fires which occur in this city7"
AZ briefly as possible 1t s proposed to answor
tlis question. Whom two womon near the last
great fire., saw tho tlanos they wore not 8 feet III
diameter. With johnson pump those womon
could have dashed it ont in half q minute, and
with almost as little work as to hive run to tho
door and cried "Firoi'
Tho question then occtlrB, "IIow could thoy
have had the johnson pump and tho pail Of
wator?"
Thoy should be placed In every part Of tho
city 10 uear each other thai one could be used
upon any and eyory fro within one minute Of ita
! discovery. Uutor tho charge of tho police thoy
should DO hung III noarly the samo plnco in each
uou6Cf uHu tHV tIh|@b itlluA hltA4 hAtH4
always stand lndor them.
They should also 10 In avary business Iouao
In the city which from it's nature might DO the
| cauao Of suddon fros, stores whore intinmmablo
oils, rossu, tar or siinlhr merchandise arc kept
or used, hotels, stables, furniture atores,-in
| short, everywhere III situations where hros
| occur.
They should DO in tho care Of N,opolico Of tho
several boata small Btar upon the door should
| be tho Bigp of their location. Stringent laws
should DO matle to keep thcnl in order; card
showing how otFoctiyo they arc; TINT one poraon
| 10xl2 feot and fcot high, when well OIL fire,
in minute or two that the drcntlful conilagra-
| tio1s Of Chicago Md Boston could ilnye been
prevented By their iso, md giving directions for
yonr house or near by. .ako tho cngino and wator
| 10 it md play upon It MS you would upon any
other work. Keep cool. anl, with your help ind
that Of others who will comb to your ad, it will
| Now let ua suppose thom distributed through
out tho city. A fire like TINT Of tho Inst ono oc
ours. and ia aecn as WIS that Gro. III half d
minute one Of the pumps would bo at work. and
| a single pail OF water would dnah 1t ont. Let u8
tho great confiagration. Tho O'Loary barn
sot isro 70 half a dozen bui'aingsa by
| sparks Water could have boon thrown
daBhed cut before It was a foot in diamoter.
Thus tho fires would hagc been held Until the
steamors arrived and got to work, and that
dreadful fire Of the world would have dwinlled
down IT, to Mrs oLoarys burn, cows, horse, etc.;
Suppose fro in n furniture atoro OF manu-
factory. III few seconds after itH discovery an
| ongine able to dash it out il applied, and the
| dnngnr ovor without iii n1nrm, Otherwise, -?
But tho fire is In stable Which il bursting
into flames on oil sides, and thoro arozbuldinga
| near upon which they will soon 1onp aud Het
them on ilro! Boforo tho telegraph can give tho
alarm to tho stcanl- engine Aronaen. q ssteam Of
water il On evory exposed place from tho neigh
boring small engines, md would keep them from
catching fro, and hold them nnti1 the building
fills, or the steamers arrive. whom, having moth
haff-doxon which would haye been raging but for
the pumps, thoy would casiy oxtinguisl it, and
! tho tangor would DO oyer.
But who would do all this work2 WhS, you,
roater; would you not, II you saw ire which
you could pr. out in minute or two With loss
of perhaps 81 do it rather than hnve It burn on
until tie telegraph could givo tho alarm,
tho ot1ginoa come, cot ready to, pay,
whi1o In tue meantimo tho fire haa become
30 largo that it cannot bo nut out before
your house is destroyed? Would not every one
do 10 There is not d man or woman, 4 hoy or
girl Old enough to be i'll the grammar schools OF
tho city, who would not take the engines to tho
lire In tllor own houses or those of their near
noighhors, and work them 80 vol that nine ont
Of ton OF al tho tires OF tho city would be put
out almost without loss whl!a thoy wonld hold
many otlors in ohock until tho steamers could
be got TO work.
Lot III suppose ono moro caae: You waie up
and SEQ bright light aiming into your window.
a carpenters nhop IN tho rear Of your house ia
in aamcs. The bent il intonso, and you canuot
stand between your house and Tho lre Tho
house is already smoking As furnace! It may
burst into !iery blaze in 2 moment! Just then
your no1ghbor has arrived with an ongine. An
upper window il opened, and little ssEon1n d.
rccted from the window back upon the heated
i | NJ f1n nrI1 fh1 wnfnr cooling WhPF.