The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-02-04
AMERIcANs ~ THE WoRLD.
Appliances for Fighting Fire at the High
est sn This Country.


Appliances for Fighting Fire a. the High
ct sn This Country.
There is much to be learned from
America by all Of us says the London
News. and it IS to be regretted that
one Of the crack brigades OF the
states could not have crossed the
ocean to attend the present fremens
congress. We may 1nd one more op-
portunitv for the lesson il the COM
mittee Of the Chicago exhibition
think 1T to invite the hremen Of
Europe to the coming Worlds Fair
The Americans like TO think that
thev take the lead In this branch Of
Of public work: and by all accounts Of
them they would still be very hard TO
beat MostO our newer c0ntrivances
are probably Of American origin.
The steam fire engine; the horses
standing ready harnessed day aud
night and trained 10 walk straight
into the shafts as soon as they hear
the alarm bell: the pole down which
the men, also ready dressed, slide
from their sleeping-Tooms TO reach
the basement to save the few seconds
that might be lost by their coming
d0wnstairs-all these seem to have
been matters OF common experience
IN America when they were still
talked OF as novelties here. The
same thing may be said Of the alarm
boxes.
The American train for speed, and
some Of their records are astOnish-
ing. At a fire which occurred in New
York two years ago, the first alarm
was received at 6:07 Ia three min
utes after that the first engine
reached the burning building which,
it may lie supposed, was not very far
of. The whole second floor, which
was 100 feet long, was a mass Of fire,
and the flames were spreading 20 the
stories above. Other engines soon
arrived, aud by 6:s5, or In less than
half an hour, not a spark Of fire was
left In the building. The water
towers. which are huge perpendicular
pipes, carried on a movable derrick.
pour the stream into the highest
buildings at any elevation required.
They are packed into a comparatively
small space when not in use, but are
instantly reared To their full height
by the force OF carbOnic acid gas. The
floating fire engines are largely used
in New York, as the city is sur
rounded by water The latest is built
OF steel, and it travels at a very great
speed Its four pipes are from three
to four inches in diameter but the
power Of all the pumps may be con-
centrated into one or two pipes, which
Weld q still larger volume Of water
These flyc-ineh streams, in their ire
mend1us force, act like battering-
rams and drive their way through
ceilings and roofs and even through
brick walls into the very heart Of the
Ere.
In some instances the life lines are
fired from a gun, on much the same
principle as that in use for the rocket
apparatus al sea. The gun carries a
thin line TO the hremen at the top OF
the burning building. and with this
/ tAt1 NtAW AI ANN oNVAAtA A'HN tHfI
require The life nets, which are
equally light and strong, into While !
people jump with comparative impu-
nifty from the highest floors, save
many lives. The best OF these con-
triyances have been introduced In our
own fire service, in great part owing
to the enterprise and energy Of Capt.
shaw. lie was able 10 boast Ia his
farewell address that during the thir-
ty years Of his control Of the metro
polltan brigade the number OF sta
tons had been raised from thirteen
10 ffty-nlne and the number Of ire
men from not much more than 100 20
little over ZOO. In 1861 there were
no telephones or call points They
now extend over the whole Of Lon
don. The last moment Of his Official
career however Capt Shaw was still
calling for more OF everything Yet
II Will be some time before the rate
payer will enable him % realize his
ideal Of thirty-twO new stations al an
average cost Or q Thousand year A
perfect water supply was then, and
perhaps still IS our most pressing
need Only a small number Of the
pipes were constantly charged. and
there were often more engines at a
fire than there was water for their
pan