The record-union., 1899-09-02


is cast out of the window to which it
is attached The lower end is taken
by those on the ground and the bag
twisted until those at the window can
get into the chute and find lodgment.
The people below then let go of the
sack and it unwinds rapidly under pres
sure of the weight and the rescued slide
safely to the ground. The objection
to this old time device is that it is
!! bulky, and cannot well be kept con-
stantly attached to the window seat.
while in case of fire those called upon to
use it if it is detached are apt in their
excitement to be unable to make the
head of the chute secure in its upper
fastenings. However, that objection is
Of less weight than objections attach
ing to large number of other escapes,
or any which must be brought into use
from the upper end first. 1t is GER
tainly safer for women and children,
and far more efficient than any ladder
device. Besides it can be used if woven
of non-combustible material to pass
| people through smoke and fame with
out particle of injury to them.
The whole subject is again under dis
cussion by our Eastern contemporaries,
and many valuable suggestions are
being made. We may reasonably hope
that ere long the ideal fire escape will
nv Tod T,,
! day large printing establishment,
having some three hundred persons in
its employment, tested a new escape
which it has erected upon its building.
AT given signal the three hundred
rushed to the windows having connec-
tion with the escape through laterals
| and threw themselves upon a winding
incline. The building was emptied in
exactly five minutes without a scratch
being received by any person.
Among the employees were a number
of women and children. This latest
idea in fire escapes consists of a, sheet
steel chute, cylindrical in form, six feet
in diameter. It is related, we are told,
to window on each floor by sheet steel
approach leading to the main chute
In the center of this chute there rises
a three-inch stand pipe At the level
of each floor hose is attached to this
pipe. On the outside of the chute there
is series of ladders for the use of
firemen when working from the fire es-
cape.
When. a person is fleeing from fire
and finds the ordinary means Of egress
obstructed, he steps upon the incline
leading to the main chute, sits down,
and is without effort on his part gently
moved by gravity to the main tube.
The latter is smooth as glass on the
inside, slightly curved to fit the shape
of the body and coils about the stand
pipe. The escaping person goes rapidly
spinning around the stand pipe in the
body-groove, and yet not so fast as to
occasion injury. At~the foot he is shot
out Of an open door and received in the
arms of those waiting to receive him
and to prevent him falling by reason of
the momentum his body has ac-
quired.
On the trial the only discomfort ex-
| perienced was a tendency to sea sick
ness on the part of some of the three
hundred who made the trip 'One young
woman tainted at the start, but her
inert body came safely down without
the slightest injury.
1t is claimed for this new device that
that baby or an infirm person, an
invalid or cripple can be placed in
the escape and landed with entire
safety. From even this meager de-
scription of this machine we can under
stand its high value for manufactures
at least, and buildings where large
numbers of Worl11nen are employed on
lofty floors. 1t remains to be seen.
however, whether such means of es-
cape could be made practical in hotels,
where the population of constantly
changing is mixed, widely scattered in
many rooms, and where discipline and
N--0~ ceNeoAA OAA0CA lc11lOlLS u Mudl 10 90
to use the escape could not be expected
OF the guests. 1t would seem also that
such an escape would be liable, by rea-
son of it's openings at each floor, to
become charged with smoke, and thus
be converted into death trap.
Evidently, as already said, the ideal
fire escape is yet to come. American
inventive genius has assuredly not yet
devised one that fills all the essential
conditions, though there are several
that are highly useful, and which for
the strong and self-possessed are all
that could be desired. But the ideal es-
cape must be very nearly automatic in
action, and be capable of bringing
down safely the timid, the sick. the
helpless, and women and children as
Well as the self-reliant men.
Another feud is on in Kentucky. II
is a, fresh one TT hos