The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-08-18


 The best, safest and quickest plan for
 fighting fires in high buildings.
 Let US assume that we are called up-
 on to put out fire in the top of an of
 flee building 250 feet high Such
 building, if properly constructed, will
 be provided with stand pipes, adequate
 elevator service and an interior court
 or well, extending from the ground
 floor to the roof. Stand pipes should De
 not less than six inches internal diame-
 ter and have siamese connection be-
 low with the pumps of the building. A
 check valve should be provided so that
 when steamers are attached, their force
 will be added to that of the local pumps
 Each floor should have those connec-
 tions with the stand pipes and sufficient
 hose to reach to the most remote point on the floor above. A code of signals by which communication can be estab- lished between the firemen and the en-
 gineer of the building is essential With these as the existing conditions, the firemen would ascend on the eleva- tor with their portable tools and appa- ratus and a fire at the height indicated would present little, if any greater, S3AA N~ floor. Should the fire occur at night the conditions shQuld not be materially
 different, as under proper management competent men are in charge at night as we'll as by day
 While the conditions outlined above should exist in all buildings of the character under discussion, the situa- tion, in case of fire, is usually very different.
 Stand pipes may be out of order, or inadequate, and elevators may be disa- bled and useless
 Tn case the elevators fail it is neces- sary to use the stairway, and, after the 5 truckmen, should follow the pipemen, bearing the necessary hose, and this A must be carried on the shoulders of the men. A fifty foot section of ordi- nary 21s inch cotton hose, with coup 1ings, weighs from 56 to 60 pounds, and 250 feet of IA inch rope about 65 pounds either of which Is 8 good load for man a who must climb a steep stairway to the height of 250 feet. With an average rise of seven inches per step, he must take some 450 vertical steps before reaching the field of action and con- # sume from seven to ten minutes of z time.
 If it is found necessary to use hose instead of the stand pipes for conduct < ing the water from the street to the A fire, the hose should be taken up in the X elevator, if it is running, and then low 2 cred until connection is made with the z hose below It should pass across and { around the stairway at intervals ot * eighty or hundred feet to afford { < resting place, and relieve it from the # enormous strain to which it will be x subjected by it's own weight and it @ load of water.
 k It may be found necessary to hoist hose by means of rope through the light shaft, or from the outside of the
 building, but this will be done only as g N last resort The time and energy ex pended in accomplishing the result car only be justified by absolute necessity. It will frequently happen that tht hose belonging to the building is defee. k tive, or not to be found and the depart < ment hose will have to be substituted $ In view of such contingency 1t is i'm
 perative that all connections should bt | of the standard thread in use by the To- cal fire department.
 Of course fires in high buildings are E subject to the same contingencies a: ;sB fires elsewhere. If by good fortune W. have an adjoining high building from which the fire can be reached the prob lem of mastering it Is simplified If, a! !. is usually the case, the building itsel
 is practically incombustible and tn Ks @contents consist of office furniture only the danger of a spread of the flames i T reduced to minimum. Experienc E has shown that 8 chemical stream vii ' do effective work on a fire of this na < ture even when through 200 and odt sS Svertical feet of hose.
 !. A strange perversity of the janitoria & &mind leads that functionary to selec sSthe attic as a storehouse for waste pa per and other rubbish which accumu Hates in the building under his charge sA A few tons of this sort of nerehandis Smakes q very pretty fire when it get
 fairly going. and although thus far " 5Gave fortunately succeeded in check