The Central Glamorgan Gazette, and General, Commercial, and Agricultural Advertiser. — 1880-05-21 (Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, Wales)

FIRE ENGINES PAST AND PRESENT.  The members of the Manchester Scientific and Mechanical Society have visited the Chief Fire Station at Manchester, in order to inspect a fire engine constructed in 1726. In appearance the engine, which is the property of Mr. Superintendent Tozer, closely resembles the manual fire engines used at the present day, and is constructed upon much the same lines, but is considerably snuffler. It has two pumps of practically the saute class as those now in vogue, and they are worked by long handles on each side, and also by treadles large enough for six men, three on each side. The engine will, under favourable circumstances, throw a jet of water a height of about 100 feet. Its power was praetitally tented in the presence of the Society William Newsham, a pearl button maker of the Cloth Fair, London, was the inventor. An engine of ruder shape was invented by him four years earlier. It is said to have been the first fire engine made. Experiments were made with the old engine, and also with the " Merryweather " steam fire engine now in possession of the Corporation, showing their capabilities and the vast improvement effected since the invention by Newsham ; and Mr. Superintendent Tozer gave an interesting resum, of the origin and development of fire brigades. Before separating the members of the Society thanked Mr. Tozer for permitting them to see the engine and for describing the evening, at the twelfth ordinary meeting of the society, Mr. Hallett in the chair, Mr. J. L. Savage, deputysuperintendent of the City Fire Brigade, read a paper on "The Great Fire of London in 1666 ; its calms and results." Ile showed that the the was undoubtedly due to incendiarism, an outcome of civil and religious commotion. Vast as was the extent of the conflagration, the wonder was that it did not extend further when it was remembered that the streets of aneient Loudon wtee narrow and crooked, with many courts and alleys, that the buildings wero constructed largely of wood, and had overhanging eaves and many projections. So narrow wore many thoroughfares that persons in the houses of one side could shake hands across the street with their neighbours on the other side. The further progress of the fire was largely checked by the existence of open spaces and wider streets on the outskirts of the city, where also there were many houses bulit of brick. The only fire-extinguishing apparatus in existence at the time, so far as he had been able to ascertain, consisted of leather buckets, and hand squirts, ein. in diameter and 18in. stroke, used in the same way as ordinary syringes; whilst the water supply was obtained from wells anti the dirtier part of i.e Thrones. Mr. Savage asked what benefit had resnl:ed • from the terrible lesson of this tire. Tae introduction of brick walls generally, but that was about all. The extent of the floor arta, numerous windows overlooking those of other premises, hearth., laid upon timber, and timber laid in too close. proximity to flues, beams restieg upon stone corbels instead of being put right into the walls or upon 'aiding —all these things had received too little considerid as sources of (hanger. He instanced the grit at fire in Linelon in 1861 as illustrating, amongst other things, tie- daneer of the windows of one warehou,e overlooking another in close proximity to it, and t.to utter failure of what was then considered the fineet fireproof building in the world. Upon this eubj- et of the construction of buildings with rehr on to tee danger of fire, he referred to Mr. Siiperintentlent Toxer's articles in Ellyi 'leering, vol. 18. on " Socalled fireproof structures," adding the remark I eat in order to stop the spreading of a fire from buildita,4. to building in a continuous line, whatever the contents, short of explosives, it was only necessary tc have a well-built party wall carried through the rooms up to and three feet above the highest part 01 the roof. Then, providing no timber was let intc the walls or opining matb• in it in any part, a fire in one building, even if it was allowed to burn itself out, would not do the slightest injury to the next. The plating of the windows of one building overlooking another should be avoided as far as possible. "A " shaped roofs should I, la.carded, and "V" shaped roofs substituted. whilst he late, a very strona objection to Mansard roofs, which had a tendency to encourage the spread of fire to other beildings. 'A new kind of building was coming into use made entirely of iron and glass, with timber floors. For a spinning mill he had no objection to this kind oh structure if it had the usual brick floors and if the iron columns were well coated with plaster, because in a spinning mill there was not sufficient inflammable material to heat the ironwork to a very high; temperature. But were a fire to occur in a Manchte. ter warehouse built on this plan, it was easy tc anticipate the result. He was aware that in spite of what he or anyone else might say buildings con. eructed largely of iron would become more num.:. roue. Ile would suggest to those who designed their the advisability of haring plenty of metal in the outside columns, which should be well covered witl plaster, and of having the roof made o. tho flimsiest possible material. so as to allow the fire to aseene straight into the air, little coining through the win. dows, and so avoid igniting other property. lb said, in conclusion, he thought architects would Net wisely if they sometime consulted practical fireeet in relation to 'the eonetruetion of buildings.—A cordial vote of thanks was given to Mr. Savage  Pastor llirsch, of Lintorf, attributes a decrease col 9 per cent, in suicides in