The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-27

| liquid poured over a person or scat
tered about a burning room will in
! variably extinguish a fire in the begin
ming Or if 20 pounds of salt and 10
pounds of nitrate of ammonia be dis
solved in several gallons of water and
bottled. it will serve as a first-class
! eXtlnguisher. By splashing and spray
! ing burning articles an incombustible
coating is Immediately formed and the
fire utterly Quenched. The wet blanket
/ is very pretty theory, but the article
itself is never at hand when most
needed. 1t takes buckets of water to
wet blanket, and there isn't the time
and often there isn't the water If
one could only remember, where there
/ is not rug, bit of carpet or blanket
/ within reaching distance. just to lie
/ down and roll over on the floor, that
/ would always eXtinguish a fire in it's
1 incipient state. But people lose their
! heads in fire more quickly than under
| any other circumstances; their first in
stinct is to run. and that of course
leeds the flames. You have no idea
1 how rapidly human flesh burns. When
L was a fireman 1 was once standing
/ outside the station house and saw a
/ fire break out just opposite. A lamp
standing on a mantel shelf just above
a stove-one of those inexplicably
careless arrangements that people go
and broke on the stove, of course scat
tering the burning oil. AS l say, saw
the fire break out and dashed across
the street. A woman wrapped in flames
was already in the hall-precisely the
worst but most usual thing to do-cry-
ing Mein kind, mein kindi ! wrapped
my fireman's coat about her. threw
her down (Which you must always do)
and rolled her over on the floor. The
flames were soon eXtinguished but it
was too late, the woman died that
night. l tell you this to show you how
rapidly the deadly work goes on, and
how instantaneously one must act"
CRIMINAL CARELEssNEss.
How is it that these criminal extin-
guishers are not in every house?"
Simply the carelessness of people
and their unwillingness to spend the
necessary money. Why we have the ut
most difficulty in having them placed
in hotels, lodging houses, etc, where il
is required by law. Landlords evade
the law whenever they can, often
grudging the bit Of rope that is made
obligatory in rooms where one or more
windows do not open upon a fire es-
cape. This manila rope, an inch in di-
ameter, Of sufficient length to reach the
ground and with its fastenings of suf-
tcient strength TO sustain d weight of
see, and is not expensive. Yet it re-
quireS our utmost vigilance to have it
provided, even where the law requires
il"
Are people in general timid about
taking to a rope, and do they manage
ii successfully in making descent of
several stories?"
20 yes: they take TO the rope CRATE
fully enough when driven by scorching
flames. There is d best way to descend
rope just as there is a best way for
everything else. 1t is almost fatal to
attempt TO slide down as the agony and
injury to hands is uncomfortable. One
should make his descent calmly, hand
over hand, with a little thrust of the
foot against the building now and then
20 keen him clear from possible burn
ing of the casing beneath"
Can you suggest nothing further in
the way of home protection?'
Beyond the chemical eXtirguishers,
the Wilson fire escapes and ropes? No.
But these are adequate if only they
were in every residence, public and
private If you ever find yourself in
burning room, cut off from all escape,
wrap something wooden about you,
particularly protecting the head. Keep
the mouth and nose as well shielded as
possible, for hot air and smoke are as
destructive to life as fire itself. almost
=
of the lungs, Crouch down on the floor,
as smoke rises, and crawl your way to
tbs window and scream for help.
MORE FALSE ECONOMY.
why is it that more people haven't
a private call like the messenger call, I
communicating directly With the fire
department. instead of being obliged to
run round the block, hunt for a key,
ETC., which often occasions the delay
that is fatal?"
That again is purely a matter OF ex-
penSe. AIRY private residence may have !
such a box. and many have. The Van /
derbilts, for instance. We have been /
called up by it. too, which resulted in
timing MI Vanderbilt 50. Whenever the
department Is called out on account of
z burning chimney the person is fined
So which goes into our pension fund I
This regulation is TO make people more
careful in the care of their chimneys. (
Every year we renew our efforts to
make this law binding upon the land /
lords instead Of the tenants. But the
landlords had some pull and got in
ahead of US, ana the law now reads (
against the tenants. 1t should. how I
ever, be the landlords duty to keep his (
chimneys in proper condition. Some
times tenants whole household goods .
would not sell for 50. OF course in
those cases we use our discretion
Our latest and strongest contest is !
against skyscrapers. Chief Bonner en-
phatically states that buildings eX-
ceeding 125 feet in height are beyond .
the reach of the fire departments best
efforts. He suggestes, if the s1yscrap-
ers are to continue to soar higher and
higher. a law should be passed COM
pelling the owners to provide stand
pipes, pumps and hose, machinery to
work the pumps and competent men
to run the machinery and handle
the hose"
MARION DEPEW