The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-10-27
AMERICANS AHEAD.
Appliances for Fighting Fire at tho
Highest In This Country.
The EpgIisA Regard Our Tine Records
for Putting Ont Fires - Soas-
thing Truly Aston
lshin4.

There is much to be learned from
America by all of as. saws the London
News, and it is to be regretted that enc
of the crack brigades of the states
could not have crossed the ocean to at
tend the present fremen's congress-
We may find one more opportunity for
the lesson if the committee OF the Chi
eaao exhibition think fit 70 invite the
firemen Of Europe to the coming
worlds fair. The Americans like 70
think that they take the lead m tins
branch of public work; and by all &C
counts of them they would still be very
hard to beat. Most of our newer con-
trivances are probably OF American
origin. The steam FIRE engine: the
horses standing ready harncssed day
and night and trained to walk straight
into the shafts as soon as they hear
the alarm bell; the pole down which the
men, also ready dressed. slide from
their sleeping-roems to reach the base
ment to save the few seconds that might
be lost by their coming dewnstairs-ali
these seem to have been matters OF
common experience in America when
they were still talked of as novelties
here. The same thing may be said OF
tho alarm boxes
The Americans train for speed. and
some Of their records" are astonish-
ing. At fire which occurred in New
York two years ago, the first alarm was
received at e:o7. In three minutes after
that the first engine reached the burn
ing building, which. it may be sup
posed, was not far of. The whole Sec
ond floor, which was one hundred feet
long, was mass of fire, and the flames
were spreading to the stories above.
Other engines soon arrived. and by 6:s5,
or in less than half an hour, not .
spark of fire was left In the building.
The water towers. which are huge per
pendicular pipes. carried on g movable
derrick, pour the stream into the high
est buildings at any elevation required.
They are packed into comparatively
small space when not in use. but are in
stantly reared to their full height by
the force of carbonic acid gas The
floating fire engines are largely used in
New York, as the city is surrounded by
water. The latest IS built OF steel, and
it travels at very great speed. Its
four pipes are from three to four Inches
In diameter, but the power OF all the
pumps may be concentrated into one or
two pipes, which yield still larger vol
ume of water. These five-inch streams.
in their tremendous force. act like bat
tering-rams and drive their way through
ceilings and roofs, and even through
brick walls, into the very heart OF the
FIRE
In some instances the life lines are
fred from a gun, on much the same
principle as that in use for the rocket
apparatus at sea. The gun carries thin
lNne to the fremen at the top OF the
burning building. and with this they
draw up the stouter rope they require.
The life nets, which are equally light
and streng, into which persons jump
with comparative impunity from the
highest floors. save many lives The
best of these contrivances have been In
troduced in our own fire service, in
great part owing to the enterprise
and energy of Capt Shaw. He
was able to boast in his farewell
address that during the thirty years
of his control of the metropolitan
brigade the number OF stations
had been raised from thirteen b fifty
nine and the number of fremen from
not much more than one hundred TO q
little over seven hundred. In 1861 there
were NO telephones or call points. They
now extend over the whole of London.
The last moment of his official career.
however. Capt Shaw was still calling
for more of everything. Yet 1t will be
some time before the rate payer Will
enable him to realize his ideal of thirty
two new stations at an average cost OF
. thousand q year each perfect
water supply was then, and perhaps
still is, our most pressing need. Only
small number of the pipes were con-
stantly charged. and there were often
more engines at FIRE than there was
water for their use.