Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-01-25
OUT OF THE FLAMES.
A DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN TALKS
ABOUT FIRE ESCAPES.

to Do When Caught In . Burning
Buildins-It Is Well to Know How to
TALL Care OF Yourself Mt Such = Time.
"Wrap the rope around the body, al.
ways put one hand below and one hand
above on the rope, then slide," was the
advice of Captain McAdam in reply to
my query of how to get out of a burn
ing building.
The question was provoked by seeing
a number of blue coated firemen 90
speeding down rope suspended from
the sixth story of building They were
testing fire escapes, and their ease and
confidence made me wonder why some
of this level headedness couldn't be i'm
parted to women-or men either, for
that matter-in cases of emergency.
So went inside the great, admirably
kept drilling roomSapd interviewed the
captain.
WELL" he added, "you can preach
TO women about the way to use ropes
and fire escapes, but when a person is
scared out of her senses you can't expect
her to do calmly what she would trem-
BILE to do in time of safety.
"Why, don't dare take a raw man
and send him down from the sixth story
for his trial. If l did. he would never
appear again. get him broke in by
commencing at the first, then increas-
ing his slide, not reaching the seventh
story for two weeks. -
''Then you don't think it silly for
people to forget all common sense in
time of fire." asked
"Never. No one realizes more than
the horrible feeling of being caught in
n trap. Fire seems to demoralize the
bravest. Women are just as brave as
men, for 1 have known a man to rush
down stairs, leaving wife and five chill
dren, when if all of Hagenbeck's ami
mails were placed in a field and his child
among them he would dash over the
fence alone to its rescue"
Whats best to remember"
First, how to use the ropes that are
placed in hotel rooms and should be in
every private residence They are at
tached firmly to link in tho window.
Should the rope be without appliances,
simply drop it out of the window; then,
sitting on the sill, place the rope around
the body under the arms. Make no loop,
only pass the long end of the rope over
the other in front of the chest. As you
lower yourself place the right hand firm
~ on the end of the rope, which reaches
TO the ground. This prevents the rope
from slipping of the body. Throw the
weight of the body on that hand and
guide with the left, which is on the up
per end of the rope. The friction of the
ropes passing each other over the chest
prevents too rapid descent, and thus
the hands are saved from severe blister.
ing, for rs soon rs the rome cuts through
the flesh man or woman will let go;
tho agony is too great. In descending
keep the body near the wall and break
the slide by scraping the feet along the
walls
Suppose the fire broke ont from a
window below while the person is COM
ing down-then what?'
1.-The only thing is to swing close to
the wall until the heat is too intense,
then give the body a herculean push
outward by the feet from the wall. The
momentum will send the body flying
out into space, clear of the flames; then
slide just as fast as rope and gravita-
| ton Will take you, even if the hands
are cut. 1t is the only safe measure
There is no time to take any other pre-
caution
Captain McAdam, however, does not
approve of the plain rope OF course the
iron fire escape is every fireman's pref
erence, if it is free, but sometimes it
supports mob that is equally danger
Gus. Again, certain occupants are cut
off from it by fire, SO next to this comes
n rope, attached to an iron pulley,
which in turn is fastened to a hook in
the window. One end of the rope is
thrown to the ground; the other has
small loop which can be quickly pulled
TO fit the body. 1t is slipped under the
| arms and the body lowered. No holding
on is necessary, for it is the primitive
science of a bucket on pulley line go
ing down well. The rope goes around
| several small wheels inside the pulley,
| which materially check the run of the
rope, limiting it to ten feet in ten sec
| onds. The moose can't slip off the body.
The wheels must go around as long as
the weight is there, and, to quote the
captain, Kick and holler rs she will,
she's bound TO como DOWN
''In case Of being caught by the fire,
captain, what is the best thing to do?
Put a wet blanket around yourself and
run through it?''
Theoretically that is fine" he an
| swered, but remember that it takes
buckets of water To soak a blanket, and
| If there is not Il bath tub near to accom-
plish this no few pitchers are adequate.
So next best is 10 wrap the head up in
| coat or anything wooden. This keeps
out the fire and not the air from the
lungs, and the greater danger comes
from the former being inhaled.
"Should the smoke commence to fill
| the room and you want to crawl to an
other part of the building, drop on your
hands and f1ees and crawl as close to
the floor as possible. for the smoke goes
H. 4 Il a -