Evening star., 1928-12-16

The origin of the automatic sprin-
king system, designed as a method of
.. checking fires in large
AUTOMATIC establishments and now
cnr;rLlar in common use in this
oprlhhler' country, is thus describ-
ed in The Star of December 10, 1878:
"a form of sprinkler has been de-
vised and put into some of the New
England cotton mills, which it is thought
will solve the great fire-extinguishing
problem of putting the water exactly
where it is needed. To get at the fire
Is the great aim, and small quantity
of water thrown directly on burning
materials is generally sufficient. The
ordinary sprinklerS placed over the
ceiling of rooms and mills in fac
tories through which water can be
forced in case of fire on the blaze be-
meath have not been entirely Satisfac-
tory. The apertures of the pipes have
needed have frequently proved inoper-
ative At other times a whole building
has been drenched and goods damaged
by reason of a slight fire in a single
room or at the mere suspicion of fire
through lack of coolneSs and judgment
on the part of the man who opened
the valves. The possibilities of both
these annoyanceS are removed by the
automatic sprinkler. The holes in the
pipes are covered by metallic caps fas-
tened by a solder which meltS at 155
degrees Fahrenheit. The clogging Of the
pipe with dust is thus prevented and
when a fire occurs the solder meltS and
the water is let down where it will do
the most good, and nowhere else"
x
Whenever James G. Blaine was sched-
uled to address the Senate so years
ago he drew a
Blaine Draws crowd, so great was
Big Crowd. no1tiep1 n1S IeppIarlen as a a
The Star of December IL. 1878, thus
describes the scene enacted that day in
the upper house of Congress on such
an occasion:
Senator Blaine made his anticipated
speech on the resolution for an investi-
CATION Of the recent elections, in the
Senate this afternoon. At 10 o'clock
in the morning crowds of ladies and
gentlemen began to pour into the Sem
ate galleries and an hour before the
Vice President opened the session
scarcely a seat in any but the diplomat
ic gallery could be found. There the
benches were empty and no one was
allowed to enter except an attache OF
the sergeant-at-armS Office. For a long
time the doorkeepers of the ladies' gal
lery tried to keep the fair ones from
sitting In the aisles, but the attempt
was futile. A bad example in this re-
spect was set by the families and friends
of the Senators in their own semi-select
little gallery and the effect of the crowd
ing was contagious. Every nook and cram
ny was filled to overflowing. AS the time
of the morning hour, l pm, approach
ed, a few members of the foreign le-
cations entered the diplomatic gallery.
There were Secretary EvartS and his
daughters; H. Lendercoone, the Danish
Minister: Capt. Gore Jones of the Brit
ish navy and Mrs. Gore Jones and
several attaches.
1.-THE scene on the floor greatly
resembled one of the interesting days
during the sessions of the electoral COM
mission. It would be impossible to
name the crowd of Representatives who
sat upon extra chairs or sofas and
filled the standing room between the
walls and the Senators desks in the
chamber. Chairs were also placed in
Cne space lmmeQ1aCely III IrOnt OF Jne
Vice Presidents desk. Several irrev-
erent spectators on the floor of the
chamber seated themselves on the car
pet at the head of the main aisle.
Nearly every Senator was present,
nearly all of them, with one exception,
paying the closest attention to the
speaker. The solitary exception was
Mr. Conkling, who sat at his desk and
busily wrote In a letter book during
the entire time of the speakers delivery.
Mr. Blaine was In excellent trim for
speaking. He read his remarks in a
clear and distinct tone, which penetrat-
cd every portion Of the chamber"