Evening star., 1902-03-08
HOTEL FIRES.
A Few Suggestions Which May Save
Life

THE many hotel fires this winter, attend
ed by such great loss of life, calls to mind
a simple rule of safety which l always fol
low and which travellers may employ to ad-
vantage said Washington drummer.
1t may be recalled that at the Park Ave
nue. Hotel fire in New York, though only
several of the floors in one part of the
building were burned out. the loss Of life
was heavy and the list of casualties large.
observed that most of these resulted from
the guests running toward the front stair
case into the fames and toward that por-
ton of the building in which the fire had
originated, whereas II they had gone the
other way, toward the rear staircase they
would have been saved
NOW, l follow plan which may be car
r1ed out at a glance, accompanied by a
word or two. and which will soon become q
matter Of habit whenever you put up at a
MOTEL at which you are not acquainted
observe the location of the different stair
cases, and their relative distance and direc-
ton from my room, whether to the righ-
or to the left, ahead, or In the rear of
the entrance to my door, as I come out int ]
the hall, and nottas / go into my room.
also look to see II my window is close Il
an adjacent roof, or If the hall windows
open upon an adjoining roof. Then l look
Tor the fire escapes, and for the rooms
opening upon the fire escapes, and if don't
see them, | ask the hall boy, and these
mentally locate rs to situation upon going
out Of my room.
Some people are SO careless that they
arc In hotels for several days before trey
can readily find their way to the eleva-
tors and staircases. and it Is these foolishly
non observing people whose names usually
appear in the list Of the killed and wound
ed No time is lost in following the simple
method l pursue. | have been in several
hotel fires. and ! fully understand the vital
Importance Of knowing which Way to turn
In the possible darkness and smoke. whe,
l have left my room under such terrible
Misunderstanding circumstances
Especial stress should be laid upon .hc
Importance of fixing these locations unon
emerging from your room, and not mo,
going in, as a reversal results and one he
comes turned around fatal error in thc,,
sands of instances. To turn to the left
when you should turn to the right or VIC,
versa, often means death Once the habi.
Is established you will act instinctiveIy
AGAIN, people should never jump Int
the street unless the tiremen below are
there with their nets. The trained fire
man of today, with his scaling ladder can
go up the front of a building as easily as 2
boy climbs a tree. Even though the flames
are close behind you, there is usually room,
on the window sill, or the easement of the
WINDOW below, upon which you may stand
for few moments, and In that time you
may be rescued. A jumn to the sidewalk
below means almost inevitable death while
minute longer on the window sill would
have meant rescue. In going through
smoky halls wrap a wet towel. a blanket
coat or garment about the head to save
the lungs from the smoke and fire A ouick
Cash when protected In this manner has
saved many a man who otherwise would
have dropped overcome by the smoke or the
flames.
while 1t Is all well enough to talk about
what to do in case of a fire." concluded
the drummer. IAN observance of this r,,,e
will save a nervous man. where cool head
leading another man in the wrong direction
will lead him to his death"