The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-04-24
Seattle 4an's lnventton Makes . 0aving
Of Precious Seconds.

Of Precious Seconds.
Yesterday was . red letter day In the
fire department and Chief Hunt wore .
broad smile. The secret Of this lay in the
fact that . mechanical contrivauce for
opening the doors OF the stalls had been
put In place and found to work satisfac.
torily. 1t may not seem anything won.
derful to one not acquainted with fire dc.
partment matters to hear that the ap.
paratus will gain three seconds in leaving
the house by this new continuance. but to
those initiated 1t means volumes. For
more than . month engine company No.
has been getting to fires in an unusually
prompt manner, and the secret Of this lies
in the continuance which Engineer Walter
Bouse has perfected.
The Bragg patent for opening the doors
expired last February and. although
Bouse had received word from tho patent
Office that his continuance was not an in-
fringement, Corporation Counsel Don.
worth thought best to wait until the law
settled the matter conclusively.
By the Bragg machine the doors we're
opened after the first tap on the bell or
gong, but by Bouse's contrivance the doors
are opened on the back stroke Of the ham.
mer and the horses are coming out of the
stalls before the firemen or people in the
city have heard the first sound Of the bell.
Then 1t comes to point where the fremsn
must work like lightning. II Is race BE-
tween the horses and the men who snap
the collars to see which will reach the pole
first. The collars once closed around the
excited animals necks, the men swing on,
each in his place. and at tho last tap of the
first sound of the alarm the driver pulls .
cord, the'o outer doors fly open and away
goes the fire brigade.
At first glance Bouse's door-opener
looks complicated, but on close examine
ton the operation appears very simple. A
long brass lever runs under the gong Of
the indicator on the main door, and the
hidden end Is 30 adjusted that the sound
ing hammer, whom thrown back for tho
first stroke, hits the end and moves 10
about an eighth Of an inch. At the other
end Of the lever Is . rod which runs down
at right angles and holds in place another
lever running parallel to the one nxst
mentioned by one-sixteenth Of an inch
catch. Four inches beyond tho fulcrum
the last mentioned lever II connected per-
manently with . long rod, which has Q
heavy weight attached to the lower end
and at the upper end, little below the
level of the tops Of the doors. are iron
arms which look like "V." These arms
connect with brass rods that run along
over tho tops Of the doors and are in turn
connected with tho spring which keeps
the doors closed.
When an alarm comes In the hammer Of
the gong 10 thrown back before it makes .
forward stroke and sounds. In going beok
II strikes the concealed end Of the nsut
mentioned lever and moves It about IN
eighth Of an inch. This motion il trans.
mitted to the lever holding the ''paralik
lever" in place. with the result that The
sixteenth-inch connection 10 broken and
the heavy weight attached to the long nod
drops to tho door, pulling the wires thao
run over the tops Of the doors either vay
toward . common point. The motion Of
the last mentioned rods 10 communicated
to swing pulisys that draw up the door,
springs and let the doors fly open. ThiA
combination Of levers acts almost ~
stantly, and by observation ~ ene1no
house No. 3 it has been ascertained that a
short number calls the apparatus win l..
ready TO go At the last tap Of the d0t
round, whereas In time gone By u a..
quently happened that the second rouaA
would be finished before the start ~
made. An average start has been sisA.
teen seconds but now Chief Hunt expects
to be able to get away in fifteen seconds @
all times.