Milford chronicle., 1934-12-21
DON'T LET FIRE
TURN CHRISTMAS
JOY TO SORROW
Instruct Children Care.
fully In The Use OF
Toys, Especially Elec-
trical Ones.

-
There was an atmosphere Of
Christmas everywhere in the San
ford home, where pretty decorations
of understanding materials had been
used profusely. The gifts had been
opened. and heaps of paper and tis-
sue had been left near the tree.
Sounds of festivity filled the house,
and in childish glee little Alice dom
ned paper costume.
Snapi A vicious spark from a
short circuit beneath the tree ignit-
ed thin tissuei The flames leaped in
stantly to Alice's dimsy costume and
she ran shrieking from the room.
Then people woke up. Uncle Jack
stuck out his foot, neatly tripping
the child onto a rug, into which he
rolled her, snufilng out the flames as
he protected her face and hair. Dad
and Uncle Art reappeared with fire
extinguishers that made short work
of the fire. But the room was a
wreck, Alice had some painful
burns and the holiday spirit was
considerably dampened.
Nevertheless, heartfelt thanks.
givings went up from the Sanfords
as they realized what might have
happened to their child and home!
They were lucky folks, indeed! Ev-
cry Christmas brings reports of
fires that did not end so fortunately.
Four lessons are pointed out by the
National Board of Fire Underwrit-
ers from this incident:
First is the Importance of pur-
chasing standard wire, fuses, plugs, |
sockets and sets of Christmas tree |
lights-that is, those bearing the ap- |
prOval label of Underwriters Labor |
atories. In addition, have all extra
wiring done by a licensed electri-
clan, detach appliances when not in
use and don't hang wires over nails.
Second is the folly of using in
fiammable decorations for trees and
rooms. Non-combustible decorations
are now on sale.) All paper and tis-
sue wrappings from packages should
also be disposed of at once.
The last two lessons stand to the
credit of the Sanfords: They used
the correct method of putting out
flames in clothing and they kept fire
eXtinguishers handy. When clothing
catches fire, the person should nev-
er run, but always get down on the
floor and roll in rug or blanket,
holding it tight about the neck to
protect the face. Fire extinguishers
many times will stop a fire before
it gets dangerous.
Still other essential precautions
are:
Instruct children carefully in the !
use of toys, especially electrical s
ones. Avoid toys requiring an alco- \
hol or kerosene lamp. Flimsy mo-
tion picture machines should be II
avoided, as children may borrow or n
rent inflammable film and attempt to \
use IL. Ia
SmOking-In rooms decorated for :
he holidays and where excited chill Il
lren are playing, smoking is apt to s.
DC dangerous. ConsideTate smokers
will use another room. h
candleS-Never use lighted can t
lies for decorations. They are espe- 81
,ially hazardous on trees. and on
window sills where curtains may be 81
blown against them. N
TreeS--Set trees up securely anu O
It some distance from lighting and
leating fixturues. A new type of u
stands, which holds the butts in wa d.
er, keeps trees greener. Otherwise,
he heat of a house dries out tree Al
md soon makes II real hazard. A p
.ood precaution is to take down the
rec and dispose Of it few days af- "
er Christmas. ~
Santa ClaUS-Don't let old Kris 81
lringle himself be fire hazard.
)ftentimes his costume or "whis- q
iers" would burn furiously IL acci- VI
lcntally ignited. This would hardly &c
,c fair to the old gentleman. Cos
ume and cotton beard can be made II
afer if sprayed with solution of n'
yater-glass, which is Obtainable at IN
ii drug stores. r,