The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-02-11

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woman has, and the most treach-
erous,' remarked grizzled fire
chief, viewing the blackened interior
Of a once perfectly appointed Kitchen
."Failure on the part Of women IN the
kitchen to appreciate this one fact Is
the direct cause of a large percentage
of our fres,' says a writer in GOOD
man equation entering into nearly all
fires. This and ignorance, either OF
the common causes of household fires or
of what to do when an inciplent blaze
is discovered, are responsible for the
destruction of hundreds of American
following suggestions for the avoidance
of fires: s..
- Don It empty hot ashes into wooden
barrel. It is better not to use a wooden
barrel anyhow. ..a.
Don t shake the range or furnace and
Immediately take up the ashes. Clear
the ash pit first and then shake down:
It is the freshly shaken down ashes and
Goals that make the trouble. -
Don't keep a hot fire continuously in
an open fireplace for too long a time.
The thickest wall Of brick. will heat
thru eventually. 3 t1eT = sIt=# -
Dom leave hot fat on the stove.
Don't have unprotected woodwork
close to a furnace. .
F.. Don't allow paper or other light, IN
fammable stuff to accumulate In the
cellar or elsewhere.
Don't allow greasy rags to lie in dark
corners or closets. >-.
Don't have lace curtains near unpro-
tected gas jets.
These cover the more important and
most. frequent causes Of fire: Aeaky
sion of bad outbreaks. Gas stoves pos
sess elements of danger which all too
frequently are overlooked. "Gas stoves
break the monotony of life for us pretty
often,' said a fireman. Then he ex-
in the supply tube not far from the
burner. Sooner or later a lighted match
is passed over it or fame from the
burner reaches it and a blaze so small
as to escape notice is started. The stove
is left for an hour or two, the Hame eats
constantly increasing hole, until the
tube is burned off, and a full flow of gas
starts conhagratlon. -,
The common method Of hunting with
. lighted match for gas leaks is dan
gerous, practice, as the following Incl.
the odor Of gas in the cellar, examined
all the pipes, going over them carefully
with lighted matches. Nowhere could
he detect leak, and at last be gave up
the search. A few hours later his house
was seriously damaged by. fire. !nvestl,
cation showed that lead gas pipe had
been melted off. During the morning
search for gas the match had passed
over the leak, starting a flame so small
that by daylight it was invisible. Gradu-
ally it had melted the lead, with the
final disastrous results: r. .e.,,;h1
veteran fire fighter. With a shaving
brush or other small brush and an Or ,
binary soap lather, go over suspected
pipe. If there is q leak, no matter now
I,,,hh in l9th6r.
A leak too small to produce a flame Will
thus disclose it's whereabouts.
But fires will occur with the most
careful. Tt is danger from which no
home is exempt. 1t is one OF the posi- posi-
bilities which every man, man ana e W6at
shall | do in case of irea,', 1t is the
duty of each individual to sit down and
think this problem out fully for MIN
self or herself. He owes it to his home;
he owes it to his neighbors. 10 trust &c
Inspiration when the emergency occurs
is fatal blunder,* nine times out OF
The first requirement is to have, every
member of the household know the loca
ton of the nearest fire alarm box, as al
alarm is usually turned In from tne 90. oHs
phone, but the latter may be used II
The case of hidden, smouldering, fires
For such fires a chemical is all that l
needed as rule. :. :,
Never throw water on burning OIL Q
fat: fires of this nature must be smoth
cred. Water scatters the flames an
makes bad matter worse. 49,. :.
ga GOOD chemical extinguisher L
the house is the cheapest insurance
know off, says the fire chief. III ever
house had an extinguisher 1t Wo9l
partment. AS it is, our men put on
most of the small fires by means Q
these tank extinguishers. One shout
be located ns.every kitchen, for that !
the danger point There 2 woman nan W y
would turn to it instinctivelys in tim
of need. Water often does nearly
=. much harm as the fire, but with tn
chemical. damage is reduced to mln
mum. I have seen costly piano Pr no. W m
with the chemical, wasnea on, GU ~ ~ w.
no trace of the chemical remained.
little acid is there that have had tn
sprav full in the face, filling. both eye
vet experienced no Inconvenience. "a
extinguisher costs but s cents TO TO- :,
cooking soda) being one OF the CHI
In a majority of the extinguishes
now on the market the principle is 5tl
<. same. The soda and acid brought.
gether in, about three gallons OF OF w a
f.. gas, which forces a stream forty7seYt
feet, by actual measurement: EXT
&. guishers should be recharged, once
year, tho the writer knows Of ca
where one was successfully used Will
had not been looked at for five yea!1
{ Beyond this annual recharglng5, VIM
& REQUIRES not over five minutes, an e
/ tinguisher needs no care and no atte
Y tion. 81 s,.z
! SMALL FIREPRooF DWELLING