Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-11-03
rRInu1E FaoM Ionn suLL


Ne Admits That We surpnss Him In AD-
planes for FIghting Fire.
There Is much 70 be learned from Amer.
lea by all Of Us. and &c is TO b. regretted
that one Of the crack brigAdes Of the States
could not have crossed the ocean to at
tend the hremen's congress We may
find one more opportunity for the lesson II
the committee OF the Chicago exhibition
thinks fit TO invite the 6remen Of Europe 70
the Worlds fair. The Americans like 10
think that they take the lead in this
branch Of public work, and BY all accounts
Of them they would still be very hard 70
beat.
Most OF our newer contrivances are prob
ably Of American origin. The steam fire
engine; the horses standing ready harnessed
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 sleep
ing rooms to reach the basement to save
the few seconds that might be lost by their
coming down stairs-all 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 the alarm boxes.
The Americans train for speed, and some
of their records" are astonishing. At a
fire which occurred In New York two years
ago the first alarm was received at 6:07. In
three minutes after that the first engine
reached the burning building, which. it
may be supposed, was not very far of.
The whole second floor, which was 100 feet
long, was mass Of fire, and the flames
were spreading to the stories above. Other
engines soon arrived, and by 6:35, or in less
than half an hour, not spark Of fire was
left In the building. The water towers
which are huge, perpendicular pipes car
ried on q movable derrick, pour the
stream into the highest buildings at any
elevation required. They are packed into
q comparatively small space when not In
use, but are instantly 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 n very great speed. Its four
pipes are from three to four inches in di
ameter, but the power Of all the pumps
may be concentrated into one or two pipes,
which yield still larger volume Of water.
These 5-inch streams, in their tremendous
force, act like battering 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 gun, on much the same principle as
that in use for the rocket apparatus at sea.
The gun carries thin line 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 strong, into which per
sons jump with comparative impunity
from the highest floors, save many lives.
The best Of these contrivances have been
introduced in our own fire service, in great
part owing to the enterprise and energy of
Captain 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 to fifty-nine, and the
number Of firemen from not much more
than 100 to n little over ZOO. In 1861 there
were no telephones nor call points. They
now extend over the whole of London.
To the last moment OF his official career,
however, Captain Shaw was still calling
for more Of everything. Yet it will be
some time before the ratepayer will enable
him to realize his ideal of thirty-two new
stations at an average cost of thousand
year each. A perfect water supply was
then, and perhaps still is, our most pressing
need. Only small number of the pipes
were constantly charged. and there were
often more engines at u fire than there WIS
water for their use.