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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5206-0.txt b/5206-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e3f831 --- /dev/null +++ b/5206-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1394 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fires and Firemen, by Anon. +(#1 in our series by Anon.) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Fires and Firemen + +Author: Anon. + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5206] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 5, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, FIRES AND FIREMEN *** + + + + +This eBook was prepared by Gordon Keener. + + + +The Eclectic Magazine +of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art +Vol XXXV.--No. I +May, 1855. + + +1: Fires and Firemen +Annual Reports of Mr. Braidwood to the Committee of the Fire Brigade +[From the Quarterly Review] + +Among the more salient features of the Metropolis which instantly +strike the attention of the stranger are the stations of the Fire +Brigade. Whenever he happens to pass them, he finds the sentinel on +duty, he sees the "red artillery" of the force; and the polished axle, +the gleaming branch, and the shining chain, testify to the beautiful +condition of the instrument, ready for active service at a moment's +notice. Ensconced in the shadow of the station, the liveried watchmen +look like hunters waiting for their prey--nor does the hunter move +quicker to his quarry at the rustle of a leaf, than the Firemen dash +for the first ruddy glow in the sky. No sooner comes the alarm than +one sees with a shudder the rush of one of these engines through the +crowded streets--the tearing horses covered with foam--the heavy +vehicle swerving from side to side, and the black helmeted attendants +swaying to and fro. The wonder is that horses or men ever get safely +to their destination; the wonder is still greater that no one is +ridden over in their furious drive. + +Arrived at the place of action, the hunter's spirit which animates the +fireman and makes him attack an element as determinedly as he would a +wild beast, becomes evident to the spectator. The scene which a +London fire presents can never be forgotten: the shouts of the crowd +as it opens to let the engines dart through it, the foaming head of +water springing out of the ground, and spreading over the road until +it becomes a broad mirror reflecting the glowing blaze--the black, +snake-like coils of the leather hose rising and falling like things of +life, whilst a hundred arms work at the pump, their central heart--the +applause that rings out clear above the roaring flame as the +adventurous band throw the first hissing jet--cheer following cheer, +as stream after stream shoots against the burning mass, now flying +into the socket-holes of fire set in the black face of the +house-front, now dashing with a loud shir-r against the window-frame +and wall, and falling off in broken showers. Suddenly there is a loud +shrill cry and the bank of human faces is upturned to where a +shrieking wretch hangs frantically to an upper window-sill. A +deafening shout goes forth, as the huge fire-escape comes full swing +upon the scene: a moment's pause, and all is still, save the beat, +beat, of the great water pulses, whilst every eye is strained towards +the fluttering garments flapping against the wall. Will the ladder +reach, and not dislodge those weary hands clutching so convulsively to +the hot stone? Will the nimble figure gain the topmost rung ere +nature fails? The blood in a thousand hearts runs cold, and then +again break forth a thousand cheers to celebrate a daring rescue. +Such scenes as this are of almost nightly occurrence in the Great +Metropolis. A still more imposing yet dreadful sight is often +exhibited in the conflagrations of those vast piles of buildings in +the City filled with inflammable merchandise. Here the most powerful +engines seem reduced to mere squirts; and the efforts of the +adventurous Brigade men are confined to keeping the mischief within +its own bounds. + +When we recollect that London presents an area of 36 square miles, +covered with 21,600 square acres of bricks and mortar, and numbers +more than 380,000 houses; that all the riches it contains are nightly +threatened in every direction by an ever-present enemy; that the +secret match, the spontaneous fire, and the hand of the drunkard, are +busily at work, it is evident that nothing but a force the most +disciplined, and implements the most effective, can be competent to +cope with so sudden and persevering a foe. + +As late as twenty-two years ago there was no proper fire police to +protect the Metropolis against what is commonly called the +"all-devouring element." There was, it is true, a force of 300 +parochial engines set on foot by Acts which were passed between the +years 1768-74--Acts which are still in existence--but these engines +are under the superintendence of the beadles and parish engineers, who +are not the most active of men or nimble of risers. It may easily be +imagined, therefore, that the machines arrived a little too late; and, +when brought into service, were often found to be out of working +order. Hence their employment did not supersede the private engines +kept by some of the insurance offices long prior to their existence. +On the contrary, owing to the increase of business which took place +about this time, the different companies thought it worth their while +to strengthen their former establishments, and this process continued +while the parochial engines, with a few honorable exceptions, were +dropping into disuse. + +About the year 1833 it became evident that much was lost, both to the +public and to the insurance companies, by every engine acting on its +own responsibility--a folly which is the cause of such jealousy among +the firemen at Boston (United States), that rival engines have been +known to stop on their way to a fire to exchange shots from revolvers. +It was therefore determined to incorporate the divided force, and +place it under the management of one superintendent, each office +contributing towards its support, according to the amount of its +business. All the old established companies, with one exception,[*] +shortly came into the arrangement, and Mr. Braidwood, the master of +the fire-engines of Edinburgh, being invited to take the command, +organized the now celebrated _London Fire Brigade_. + +[*] The West of England Fire-Office, which retains the command of its +own engines. + +At the present moment, then, the protection against fire in London +consists, firstly, in the 300 and odd parish engines (two to each +parish), which are paid for out of the rates. The majority of these +are very inefficient, not having any persons appointed to work them +who possess a competent knowledge of the service. Even women used now +and then to fill the arduous post of director; and it is not long +since a certain Mrs. Smith, a widow, might be seen at conflagrations, +hurrying about in her pattens, directing the firemen of her engine, +which belonged to the united parishes of St. Michael Royal and +St. Martin Vintry, in the city. We question, indeed, if at the +present moment any of the parish-engines are much better officered +than in the days of widow Smith, with the exception of those of +Hackney, Whitechapel, Islington, and perhaps two or three others. +Secondly, there are an unknown number of private engines kept in +public buildings, and large manufactories, which sometimes do good +service when they arrive early at small fires in their neighborhood, +although, singularly enough, when called upon to extinguish a +conflagration in their own establishments, they generally "lose their +heads," as the Brigade men express it, and very many instances have +occurred where even the parish-engines have arrived and set to work +before the one on the premises could be brought to bear upon the fire. +The cause is clear. The requisite coolness and method which every one +can exercise so philosophically in other people's misfortunes, utterly +fail them when in trouble themselves. The doctor is wiser in his +generation, and is never so foolish as to prescribe for himself or to +attend his own family. + +Thirdly, we have, in contrast to the immense rabble of Bumble engines +and the Bashi-Bazouks of private establishments, the small complement +of men and material of the Fire Brigade. It consists of twenty-seven +large horse-engines, capable of throwing 88 gallons a minute to a +height of from 50 to 70 feet, and nine smaller ones drawn by hand. To +work them there are twelve engineers, seven sub-engineers, thirty-two +senior firemen, thirty-nine junior firemen, and fourteen drivers, or +104 men and 31 horses. In addition to these persons, who form the +main establishment, and live at the different stations, there is an +extra staff of four firemen, four drivers, and eight horses. The +members of this supplementary force are also lodged at the stations, +as well as clothed but are only paid when their services are required, +and pursue in the daytime their ordinary occupations. This not very +formidable army of 104 men and 31 horses, with its reserve of eight +men and eight horses, is distributed throughout the Metropolis, which +is divided into four districts as follows:--On the north side of the +river--1st. From the eastward to Paul's Chain, St. Paul's Churchyard, +Aldersgate-street, and Goswell-street-road; 2d. From St. Paul's, &c., +to Tottenham court-road, Crown street, and St. Martin's-lane; 3d. From +Tottenham-court-road, &c., westward, 4th. The entire south side of the +river. At the head of each district is a foreman, who never leaves it +unless acting under the superior orders of Mr. Braidwood, the +superintendent or general-in-chief, whose head-quarters are in +Watling-street. + +In comparison with the great Continental cities such a force seems +truly insignificant. Paris, which does not cover a fifth part of the +ground of London, and is not much more than a third as populous, +boasts 800 _sapeurs-pompiers_: we make up, however, for want of +numbers by activity. Again, our lookout is admirable: the 6,000 +police of the metropolis, patrolling every alley and lane throughout +its length and breadth, watch for a fire as terriers watch at +rat-holes, and every man is stimulated by the knowledge, that if he is +the first to give notice of it at any of the stations, it is half a +sovereign in his pocket. In addition to the police, there are the +thousand eager eyes of the night cabmen and the houseless poor. It is +not at all uncommon for a cabman to earn four or five shillings of a +night by driving fast to the different stations and giving the alarm, +receiving a shilling from each for the "call." + +In most Continental cities a watchman takes his stand during the night +on the topmost point of some high building, and gives notice by either +blowing a horn, firing a gun, or ringing a bill. In Germany the +quarter is indicated by holding out towards it a flag by day, and a +lantern at night. It immediately suggests itself that a sentinel +placed in the upper gallery of St. Paul's would have under his eye the +whole Metropolis, and could make known instantly, by means of an +electric wire, the position of a fire, to the head station at +Watling-street, in the same manner as the Americans do in Boston. +This plan is, however, open to the objection, that London is +intersected by a sinuous river, which renders it difficult to tell on +which bank the conflagration is raging. Nevertheless we imagine that +the northern part of the town could be advantageously superintended +from such a height, whilst the southern half might rest under the +surveillance of one of the tall shot-towers on that bank of the +Thames. The bridges themselves have long been posts of observation, +from which a large portion of the river-side property is watched. Not +long ago there was a pieman on Londonbridge, who eked ont a precarious +existence by keeping a good look-out up and down the stream. + +Watling-street was chosen as the headquarters of the Fire Brigade for +a double reason: it is very nearly the centre of the city, being close +to the far-famed London Stone, and it is in the very midst of what may +be termed, speaking igneously, the most dangerous part of the +metropolis--the Manchester warehouses. As the Fire Brigade is only a +portion of a vast commercial operation--Fire Insurance--its actions +are regulated by strictly commercial considerations. Where the +largest amount of _insured_ property lies, there its chief force is +planted. It will, it is true, go any reasonable distance to put out a +fire; but of course it pays most attention to property which its +proprietors have guaranteed. The central station receives the +greatest number of "calls;" but as a commander-in-chief does not turn +out for a skirmish of outposts, so Mr. Braidwood keeps himself ready +for affairs of a more serious nature. When the summons is at +night--there are sometimes as many as half-a-dozen--the fireman on +duty below apprizes the superintendent by means of a gutta percha +speaking-tube, which comes up to his bedside. By the light of the +ever-burning gas, he rapidly consults the "London Directory," and if +the call should be to what is called "a greengrocer's street," or any +of the small thoroughfares in bye-parts of the town, he leaves the +matter to the foreman in whose district it is, and goes to sleep +again. If, however, the fire should be in the city, or in any of the +great West-End thoroughfares, he hurries off on the first engine. +Five minutes is considered a fair time for an engine "to horse and +away," but it is often done in three. Celerity in bringing up aid is +the great essential, as the first half hour generally determines the +extent to which a conflagration will proceed. Hence the rewards of +thirty shillings for the first, twenty for the second, and ten +shillings for the third engine that arrives, which premiums are paid +by the parish. All the engines travel with as few hands as possible: +the larger ones having an engineer, four firemen and a driver, and the +following furniture:-- + +"Several lengths of scaling-ladder, each 6 1/2 feet long, all of which +may be readily connected, forming in a short space of time a ladder of +any required height; a canvas sheet, with 10 or 12 handles of rope +round the edge of it for the purpose of a fire-escape; one 10-fathom +and one 14-fathom piece of 2 1/2-inch rope; six lengths of hose, each +40 feet long, 2 branch-pipes, one 2 1/2 feet, and the other from 4 to +6 feet long, with one spare nose-pipe; two 6-feet lengths of +suction-pipe, a flat rose, stand-cock, goose-neck, dam-board, +boat-hook, saw, shovel, mattock, pole-axe, screw-wrench, crow-bar, +portable cistern, two dog-tails, two balls of strips of sheepskin, two +balls of small cord, instruments for opening the fire-plugs, and keys +for turning the stop-cocks of the water-mains." + +The weight of the whole, with the men, is not less than from 27 to 30 +cwt., a load which, in the excitement of the ride, is carried by a +couple of horses at the gallop. + +The hands to work the pumps are always forthcoming on the spot at any +hour of the night, not alone for goodwill, as every man--and there +have been as many as five hundred employed at a time--receives one +shilling for the first hour and sixpence for every succeeding one, +together with refreshments. In France, the law empowers the firemen +to seize upon the bystanders, and compel them to give their services, +without fee or reward. An Englishman at Bordeaux, whilst looking on, +some few years since, was forced, in spite of his remonstrances, to +roll wine-casks for seven hours out of the vicinity of a +conflagration. We need not say which plan answers best. A Frenchman +runs away, as soon as the _sapeurs-pompiers_ make their appearance +upon the scene, to avoid being impressed. Still, such is the +excitement that there are some gentlemen with us who pursue the +occupation of firemen as amateurs; providing themselves with the +regulation-dress of dark green turned up with red, and with the +accoutrements of the Brigade, and working, under the orders of +Mr. Braidwood, as energetically as if they were earning their daily +bread. + +The fascination of fires even extends to the brute creation. Who has +not heard of the dog "Chance," who first formed his acquaintance with +the Brigade by following a fireman from a conflagration in Shoreditch +to the central station at Watling-street? Here, after he had been +petted for some little time by the men, his master came for him, and +took him home; but he escaped on the first opportunity, and returned +to the station. After he had been carried back for the third time, +his master--like a mother whose son will go to sea--allowed him to +have his own way, and for years he invariably accompanied the engine, +now upon the machine, now under the horses' legs, and always, when +going up-hill, running in advance, and announcing the welcome advent +of the extinguisher by his bark. At the fire he used to amuse himself +with pulling burning logs of wood out of the flames with his mouth. +Although he had his legs broken half a dozen times, he remained +faithful to his pursuit; till at last, having received a severer hurt +than usual, he was being nursed by the firemen beside the hearth, when +a "call" came, and at the well-known sound of the engine turning out, +the poor brute made a last effort to climb upon it, and fell back dead +in the attempt. He was stuffed and preserved at the station, and was +doomed, even in death, to prove the fireman's friend: for one of the +engineers having committed suicide, the Brigade determined to raffle +him for the benefit of the widow, and such was his renown that he +realized £123 10s. 9d. + +Mr. Samuel Brown, of the Institute of Actuaries, after analyzing the +returns of Mr. Braidwood, as well as the reports in the "Mechanics' +Magazine," by Mr. Baddeley, who has devoted much attention to the +subject, drew up some tables of the times of the year, and hours of +the day, at which fires are most frequent. It would naturally be +supposed that the winter would show a vast preponderance over the +summer months; but the difference is not so great as might be +expected. December and January are very prolific of fires, as in +these months large public buildings are heated by flues, stoves, and +boilers; but the other months share mishaps of the kind pretty +equally, with the exception that the hot and dry periods of summer and +autumn are marked by the most destructive class of conflagrations, +owing to the greater inflammability of the materials, than in the +damper portions of the year. This, from the desiccating nature of the +climate, is especially the case in Canada and the United States, and, +coupled with the extensive use of wood in building, has a large +influence in many parts of the Continent. The following list of all +the great fires which have taken place for the last 100 years will +bear out our statement:-- + +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- + | | | Value of | + | | | Property | + Month | Description of Property, &c. | Place | Destroyed | Year +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +January | Webb's Sugar-house | Liverpool | £4,600 | 1829 + | Lancelot's-hey | " | 198,000 | 1833 + | Town-Hall and Exchange | " | 45,000 | 1795 + | Caxton Printing Office | " | -- | 1821 + | Dublin and Co. Warehouse | " | -- | 1834 + | Suffolk-street | " | 40,000 | 1818 + | Mile End | London | 200,000 | 1834 + | Royal Exchange | " | -- | 1838 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +February | York Minster | York | -- | 1829 + | 3 West India Warehouses | London | 300,000 | 1829 + | House of Commons | Dublin | -- | 1792 + | Argyle Rooms | London | -- | 1830 + | Camberwell Church | " | -- | 1841 + | Custom House | " | -- | 1814 + | Hop Warehouse | Southwark | -- | 1851 + | J.F.Pawson and Co.'s | St. Paul's | | + | Warehouses | Church Yard| 40,000 | 1853 + | Pickford's Wharf | London | -- | 1824 + | Goree Warehouses | Liverpool | 50,000 | 1846 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +March | New Orleans | United St. | $650,000 | 1853 + | 15,000 houses at Canton | China | -- | 1820 + | 13,000 houses | Peru | -- | 1799 + | Manchester | England | -- | 1792 + | Fawcett's Foundry | Liverpool | £41,000 | 1843 + | Oil Street | " | 12,600 | 1844 + | Apothecaries' Hall | " | 7,000 | 1844 + | Sugar House, | | | + | Harrington-street | " | 30,000 | 1830 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +April | 1000 Buildings | Pittsburg |$1,400,000 | 1845 + | Savannah | United St. | 300,000 | 1852 + | Parkshead, Bacon-street | Liverpool | £36,000 | 1851 + | Windsor Forest | England | -- | 1785 + | Margetson's Tan-yard, | | | + | Bermondsey | London | 36,000 | 1852 + | 1158 Buildings, Charleston | United St. | -- | 1838 + | Horsleydown | London | -- | 1780 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +May | Dockhead | London | -- | 1785 + | Great Fire, 1749 houses | Hamburgh | -- | 1842 + | 23 Steamboats at St. Louis | United St. | $600,000 | 1849 + | 15,000 houses | Quebec | -- | 1845 + | York Minster | York | -- | 1840 + | Duke's Warehouses | Liverpool | -- | 1843 + | Okell's Sugar-house | " | -- | 1799 + | Gibraltar Row | " | -- | 1838 + | Liver Mills | " | £8,700 | 1841 + | Billingsgate | London | -- | 1809 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +June | Rotherhithe | London | -- | 1765 + | Copenhagen | Denmark | -- | 1759 + | Montreal | Canada |$1,000,000 | 1852 + | St. John | Newfoundland| -- | 1846 + | Louisville | United St. | 100,000 | 1853 + | 47 persons, Quebec Theatre | Canada | -- | 1846 + | 1300 houses, Quebec | " | -- | 1845 + | Gutta Percha Co., Wharf Road | London | £23,000 | 1853 + | Humphrey's Warehouse, Southwark| " | 100,000 | 1851 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +July | Hindon | Wiltshire | -- | 1754 + | 15,000 Houses | Constantinople -- | 1756 + | 12,000 Houses | Montreal | -- | 1852 + | 300 Houses | Philadelphia| -- | 1850 + | 300 Buildings | N. America | $160,000 | 1846 + | 302 Stores | New York | 1,200,000 | 1846 + | Apothecaries' Hall | Liverpool | -- | 1851 + | Glover's Warehouses | " | £17,000 | 1851 + | Dockyard | Portsmouth | -- | 1770 + | Wapping | London | 1,000,000 | 1794 + | Ratcliffe Cross | " | -- | 1794 + | Varna | Turkey | -- | 1854 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +August | Dublin | Ireland | -- | 1833 + | Gravesend | England | 60,000 | 1847 + | Walker's Oil Mill | Dover | 30,000 | 1853 + | Falmouth Theatre | Falmouth | -- | 1792 + | Buildings, Albany | United St. | $600,000 | 1849 + | 10,000 Houses | Constantinople -- | 1782 + | Smithfield | London | £100,000 | 1822 + | East Smithfield | " | -- | 1840 + | Bankside | " | -- | 1814 + | Gateshead | England | -- | 1854 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +September | 46 Buildings | New York | $500,000 | 1839 + | 200 Houses, Brooklyn | " | 150,000 | 1848 + | Scott, Russell, and Co., Ship | | | + | Builders, Mill Wall | London | L80,000 | 1853 + | St. Paul's Church, Covent | | | + | Garden | " | -- | 1795 + | 60 Houses, Rotherhithe | " | -- | 1791 + | Astley's Amphitheatre | " | -- | 1794 + | Mark Lane | " | 150,000 | 1850 + | Covent Garden Theatre | " | -- | 1808 + | Store Street and Tottenham | | | + | Court Road | " | -- | 1802 + | Macfee's | Liverpool | 40,000 | 1846 + | Gorees | " | 400,000 | 1802 + | Formby Street | " | 380,000 | 1842 + | Cowdray House | Sussex | -- | 1793 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +October | 52 Buildings | Philadelphia| $100,000 | 1839 + | Grimsdell's, Builder's Yard | Spitalfields| -- | 1852 + | Withwith's Mills | Halifax | £35,000 | 1853 + | Robert-street | N.Liverpool | 150,000 | 1838 + | Lancelot's-hey | Liverpool | 80,000 | 1854 + | Memel Great Fire | Prussia | -- | 1854 + | London Wall | London | 84,000 | 1849 + | 20 Houses, Rotherhithe | " | -- | 1790 + | Lancelot's-hey | Liverpool | 30,000 | 1834 + | Wapping | London | 100,000 | 1823 + | Houses of Parliament | " | -- | 1834 + | Pimlico | " | -- | 1834 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +November | Royal Palace | Lisbon | -- | 1794 + | New York | United St. | -- | 1835 + | 20 Houses, Shadwell | London | -- | 1796 + | Aldersgate-street | " | £100,000 | 1783 + | Cornhill | " | -- | 1765 + | Liver-street | Liverpool | 6,000 | 1829 + | Wright and Aspinall, | | | + | Oxford-street | London | 50,000 | 1826 + | Hill's Rice Mills | " | 5,000 | 1848 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +December | Dock Yard | Portsmouth | -- | 1776 + | Patent Office and Post Office | Washington | -- | 1836 + | 600 Warehouses | New York |$4,000,000 | 1835 + | Fenwick-street | Liverpool | £36,000 | 1831 + | Brancker's Sugar-house | " | 34,000 | 1843 +----------+--------------------------------+-------------+-----------+----- +(Extracted from the Royal Insurance Company's Almanac, 1854.) + +One reason, perhaps, why there is such a general average in the number +of conflagrations throughout the year, is, that the vast majority +occur in factories and workshops where fire is used in summer as well +as winter. This supposition appears at first sight to be contradicted +by the fact, that nearly as many fires occur on Sunday as on any other +day of the week. But when it is remembered that in numerous +establishments it is necessary to keep in the fires throughout that +day, and as in the majority of cases a very inadequate watch is kept, +it is at once apparent why there is no immunity from the scourge. +Indeed, some of the most destructive fires have broken out on a Sunday +night or on a Monday morning--no doubt because a large body of fire +had formed before it was detected. A certain number of accidents +occur in summer in private houses from persons on hot nights opening +the window behind the toilet glass in their bedrooms, when the draught +blows the blind against the candle. Swallows do not more certainly +appear in June, than such mishaps are found reported at the sultry +season. + +If we watch still more narrowly the habits of fires, we find that they +are active or dormant according to the time of the day. Thus, during +a period of nine years, the percentage regularly increased from 1.96 +at 9 o'clock A.M., the hour at which all households might be +considered to be about, to 3.34 at 1 P.M., 3.55 at 5 P.M., and 8.15 +per cent at 10 P.M., which is just the time at which a fire left to +itself by the departure of the workmen, would have had swing enough to +become visible. + +The origin of fires is now so narrowly inquired into by the officers +of the Brigade, an by means of inquests, that we have been made +acquainted with a vast number of curious causes, which would never +have been suspected. From an analysis of fires which have occurred +since the establishment of the Brigade, we have constructed the +following Tables:-- + +Curtains 2,511 +Candle 1,178 +Flues 1,555 +Stoves 494 +Gas 932 +Light dropped down Area 13 +Lighted Tobacco falling down do. 7 +Dust falling on horizontal Flue 1 +Doubtful 76 +Incendiarism 89 +Carelessness 100 +Intoxication 80 +Dog 6 +Cat 19 +Hunting Bugs 15 +Clotheshorse upset by Monkey 1 +Lucifers 80 +Children playing with do. 45 +Rat gnawing do. 1 +Jackdaw playing with do. 1 +Rat gnawing gaspipe 1 +Boys letting of Fireworks 14 +Fireworks going off 63 +Children playing with Fire 45 +Spark from Fire 243 +Spark from Railway 4 +Smoking Tobacco 166 +Smoking Ants 1 +Smoking in Bed 2 +Reading in do. 22 +Sewing in do. 4 +Sewing by Candle 1 +Lime overheating 44 +Waste do. 43 +Cargo of Lime do. 2 +Rain Slacking do. 5 +High Tide 1 +Explosion 6 +Spontaneous Combustion 43 +Heat from Sun 8 +Lightning 8 +Carboy of Acid bursting 2 +Drying Linen 1 +Shirts falling into fire 6 +Lighting and Upsetting Naphtha Lamp 58 +Fire from Iron Kettle 1 +Sealing Letter 1 +Charcoal Fire of a Suicide 1 +Insanity 5 +Bleaching Nuts 7 +Unknown 1,323 + +Among the more common causes of fire (such as gas, candle, curtains +taking fire, children playing with fire, stoves, &c.), it is +remarkable how uniformly the same numbers occur under each head from +year to year. General laws obtain as much in small as in great +events. We are informed by the Post-Office authorities that about +eight persons daily drop their letters into the post without directing +them–we know that there is an unvarying percentage of +broken heads and limbs received into the hospitals–and here +we see that a regular number of houses take fire, year by year, from +the leaping out of a spark, or the dropping of a smouldering pipe of +tobacco. It may indeed be a long time before another conflagration +will arise from "a monkey upsetting a clotheshorse," but we have no +doubt such an accident will recur in its appointed cycle. + +Although gas figures so largely as a cause of fire, it does not appear +that its rapid introduction of late years into private houses has been +attended with danger. There is another kind of light, however, which +the insurance offices look upon with terror, especially those who make +it their business to insure farm property. The assistant secretary of +one of the largest fire-offices, speaking broadly, informed us that +the introduction of the lucifer match _caused them an annual loss of +ten thousand pounds!_ In the foregoing list we see in how many ways +they have given rise to fires. + +Lucifers going off probably from heat 80 +Children playing with lucifers 45 +Rat gnawing lucifers 1 +Jackdaw playing with lucifers 1 + --- + 127 + +One hundred and twenty-seven known fires thus arise from this single +cause; and no doubt many of the twenty-five fires ascribed to the +agency of cats and dogs were owing to their having thrown down boxes +of matches at night--which they frequently do, and which is almost +certain to produce combustion. The item "rat gnawing lucifer" reminds +us to give a warning against leaving about wax lucifers where there +are either rats or mice, for these vermin constantly run away with +them to their holes behind the inflammable canvas, and eat the wax +until they reach the phosphorus, which is ignited by the friction of +their teeth. Many fires are believed to have been produced by this +singular circumstance. How much, again, must lucifers have +contributed to swell the large class of conflagrations whose causes +are unknown! Another cause of fire, which is of recent date, is the +use of naphtha in lamps--a most ignitable fluid when mixed in certain +proportions with common air. "A delightful novel" figures as a +proximate, if not an immediate, cause of twenty-two fires. This might +be expected, but what can be the meaning of a fire caused by a high +tide? When we asked Mr. Braidwood the question, he answered, "Oh! we +always look out for fires when there is a high tide. They arise from +the heating of lime upon the addition of water." Thus rain, we see, +has caused four conflagrations, and simple overheating forty-four. +The lime does no harm as long as it is merely in contact with wood, +but if iron happens to be in juxtaposition with the two, it speedily +becomes red-hot, and barges on the river have been sunk, by reason of +their bolts and iron knees burning holes in their bottoms. Of the +singular entry, "rat gnawing a gaspipe," the firemen state that it is +common for rats to gnaw leaden service pipes, for the purpose, it is +supposed, of getting at the water, and in this instance the gray +rodent labored under a mistake, and let out the raw material of the +opposite element. Intoxication is a fruitful cause of fires, +especially in public houses and inns. + +It is commonly imagined that the introduction of hot water, hot air, +and steam pipes, as a means of heating buildings, cuts off one avenue +of danger from fire. This is an error. Iron pipes, often heated up +to 400°, are placed in close contact with floors and +skirting-boards, supported by slight diagonal props of wood, which a +much lower degree of heat will suffice to ignite. The circular rim +supporting a still at the Apothecaries' Hall, which was used in the +preparation of some medicament that required a temperature of +300°, was found not long ago to have charred a circle at least +a quarter of an inch deep in the wood beneath it, in less than six +months. Mr. Braidwood, in his evidence before a Committee of the +House of Lords in 1846, stated that it was his belief that by long +exposure to heat, not much exceeding that of boiling, water, or +212°, timber is brought into such a condition that it will fire +without the application of a light. The time during which this +process of desiccation goes on, until it ends in spontaneous +combustion, is, he thinks, from eight to ten years--_so that a fire +might be hatching in a man's premises during the whole of his lease +without making any sign!_ + +Under the heads "Incendiarism," "Doubtful," and "Unknown," are +included all the cases of wilful firing. The return Incendiarism is +never made unless there has been a conviction, which rarely takes +place, as the offices are only anxious to protect themselves against +fraud, and do not like the trouble or bad odor of being prosecutors on +public grounds. If the evidence of wilful firing, however, is +conclusive, the insured, when he applies for his money, is +significantly informed by the secretary, that unless he leaves the +office, _he will hang him_. Though arson is no longer punished by +death, the hint is usually taken. Now and then such flagrant +offenders are met with, that the office can not avoid pursuing them +with the utmost rigor of the law. Such, in 1851, was the case of a +"respectable" solicitor, living in Lime Street, Watling Street, who +had insured his house and furniture for a sum much larger than they +were worth. The means he adopted for the commission of his crime +without discovery were apparently sure; but it was the very pains he +took to accomplish his end which led to his detection. He had +special]y made to order a deep tray of iron, in the centre of which +was placed a socket, the tray he filled with naphtha, and in the +socket he put a candle, the light of which was shaded by a funnel. +The candle was one of the kind which he used for his gig-lamp, for he +kept a gig, and was calculated to last a stated time before it reached +the naphtha. He furtively deposited the whole machine in the cellar, +within eight inches of the wooden floor, in a place constructed to +conceal it. The attorney went out, and on coming back again found, as +he expected, that his house was on fire. Unfortunately, however, for +him--if it is ever a misfortune to a scoundrel to be detected--it was +put out at a very ear]y stage; and the firemen, whilst in the act of +extinguishing it discovered this infernal machine. The order to make +it was traced to the delinquent; a female servant, irritated at the +idea of his having left her in the house to be burned to death, gave +evidence against him; he was tried and convicted, and is now expiating +his crime at Norfolk Island. Plans for rebuilding this villain's +house, and estimates of the expense, were found afterwards among his +papers. + +The class "Doubtful" includes all those cases in which the offices +have no moral doubt that the fire has been wilful, but are not in +possession of legal evidence sufficient to substantiate a charge +against the offender. In most of these instances, however, the +insured has _his reasons_ for taking a much smaller sum than he +originally demanded. Lastly, we have the "Unknown," to which 1323 +cases are put down, one of the largest numbers in the entire list, +though decreasing year by year. Even of these a certain percentage +are supposed to be wilful. There is no denying that the crime of +arson owes its origin entirely to the introduction of fire insurance; +and there can be as little doubt that of late years it has been very +much increased by the pernicious competition for business among the +younger offices, which leads them to deal too leniently with their +customers; or, in other words, to pay the money, _and ask no +questions_. It is calculated that _one fire in seven which occur +among the small class of shopkeepers in London is an incendiary fire_. +Mr. Braidwood, whose experience is larger than that of any other +person, tells us that the greatest ingenuity is sometimes exercised to +deceive the officers of the insurance company as to the value of the +insured stock. In one instance, when the Brigade had succeeded in +extinguishing the fire, he discovered a string stretched across one of +the rooms in the basement of the house, on which ringlets of shavings +dipped in turpentine were tied at regular intervals. On extending his +investigations he ascertained that a vast pile of what he thought were +pounds of moist sugar, consisted of parcels of brown paper, and that +the loaves of white sugar were made of plaster of Paris. Ten to one +but the "artful dodge" which some scoundrel flatters himself is +peculiarly his own, has been put in practice by hundreds of others +before him. For this reason, fires that are wilful generally betray +themselves to the practiced eye of the Brigade. When an event of the +kind is "going to happen" at home, a common circumstance is to find +that the fond parent has treated the whole of his family to the +theatre. + +There is another class of incendiary fires which arise from a species +of monomania in boys and girls. Not many years ago, the men of the +Brigade were occupied for hours in putting out no less than half a +dozen fires which broke out one after another in a house in West +Smithfield, and it was at last discovered that they were occasioned by +a youth who went about with lucifers and slily ignited every thing +that would burn. He was caught in the act of firing a curtain in the +very room in which a fireman was occupied in putting out a blaze. A +still more extraordinary case took place in the year 1848, at Torluck +House, in the Isle of Mull. On Sunday, the 11th of November, the +curtains of a bed were ignited, as was supposed, by lightning; a +window-blind followed; and immediately afterwards the curtains of five +rooms broke out one after another into a flame, even the towels +hanging up in the kitchen were burnt. The next day a bed took fire, +and it being thought advisable to carry the bed-linen into the +coach-house for safety, it caught fire three or four times during the +process of removal. In a few days the phenomenon was renewed. The +furniture, books, and every thing else of an inflammable nature, were, +with much labor, taken from the mansion, and again some body-linen +burst into a flame on the way. Even after these precautions had been +taken, and persons had been set to watch in every part of the house, +the mysterious fires continued to haunt it until the 22d of February, +1849. It was suspected from the first that they were the act of an +incendiary, and upon a rigid examination of the household before the +Fiscal-General and the Sheriff the mischief was traced to the daughter +of the housekeeper, a young girl who was on a visit to her mother. +She had effected her purpose, which was perfectly motiveless, by +concealing combustibles in different parts of the house. + +The most ludicrous conflagration that perhaps ever occurred was that +at Mr. Phillips's workshop, when the whole of his stock of instruments +for extinguishing flame were at one fell swoop destroyed. "'Tis rare +to see the engineer hoist with his own petard," says the poet; and +certainly it was a most laughable _contre-temps_ to see the +fire-engines arrive at the manufactory just in time to witness the +fire-annihilators annihilated by the fire. A similar mishap occurred +to these unfortunate implements at Paris. In juxtaposition with this +case we are tempted to put another, in which the attempt at extinction +was followed by exactly the opposite effects. A tradesman was about +to light his gas, when, finding the cock stiff, he took a candle to +see what was the matter; whilst attempting to turn it the screw came +out, and with it a jet of gas, which was instantly fired by the +candle. The blaze igniting the shop, a passer-by seized a wooden pail +and threw its contents upon the flames, which flared up immediately +with tenfold power. It is scarcely necessary to state that the water +was whiskey, and that the country was Old Ireland. + +Spontaneous combustion is at present very little understood, though +chemists have of late turned their attention to the subject. It +forms, however, no inconsiderable item in the list of causes of fires. +There can be no question that many of those that occur at +railway-stations, and buildings, are due to the fermentation which +arises among oiled rags. Over-heating of waste, which includes +shoddy, sawdust, cotton, &c., is a fearful source of conflagrations. +The cause of most fires which have arisen from spontaneous combustion +is lost in the consequence. Cases now and then occur where the +firemen have been able to detect it, as for instance at Hibernia Wharf +in 1846, one of Alderman Humphreys' warehouses. It happened that a +porter had swept the sawdust from the floor into a heap, upon which a +broken flask of olive-oil that was placed above, dripped its contents. +To these elements of combustion the sun added its power, and sixteen +hours afterwards the fire broke out. Happily it was instantly +extinguished; and the agents that produced it were caught, red-handed +as it were, in the act. The chances are that such a particular +combination of circumstances might not occur again in a thousand +years. The sawdust will not be swept again into such a position under +the oil, or the bottle will not break over the sawdust, or the sun +will not shine in on them to complete the fatal sum. It is an +important fact, however, to know that oiled sawdust, warmed by the +sun, will fire in sixteen hours, as it accounts for a number of +conflagrations in saw-mills, which never could be traced to any +probable cause. + +By means of direct experiment we are also learning something on the +question of explosions. It used to be assumed that gunpowder was +answerable for all such terrible effects in warehouses where no gas or +steam was employed; and as policies are vitiated by the fact of its +presence, unless declared, many squabbles have ensued between insurers +and insured upon this head alone. At the late great fire at +Gateshead, a report having spread that the awful explosion which did +so much damage arose from the illicit stowage of seven tons of +gunpowder in the Messrs. Sisson's warehouse, the interested insurance +companies offered a reward of 100l. to elicit information. The +experiments instituted, however, by Mr. Pattinson, in the presence of +Captain Du Cane, of the Royal Engineers, and the coroner's jury +impanelled to inquire into the matter, showed that the water from the +fire-engine falling upon the mineral and chemical substances in store +was sufficient to account for the result. The following were the +experiments tried at Mr. Pattinson's works at Felling, about three +miles from Gateshead. + +"Mr. Pattinson first caused a metal pot to be inserted in the ground +until its top was level with the surface; and having put into it 9 +lbs. of nitrate of soda and 6 lbs. of sulphur, he ignited the mass; +and then, heating it to the highest possible degree of which it was +susceptible, he poured into it about a quart of water. The effect was +an immediate explosion (accompanied by a loud clap), which would have +been exceedingly perilous to any person in its immediate vicinity. +The experiment was next made under different conditions. The pot into +which the sulphur and nitrate of soda were put was covered over the +top with a large piece of thick metal of considerable weight; and +above that again were placed several large pieces of clay and earth. +It was deemed necessary to try this experiment in an open field, away +from any dwelling-house, and which admitted of the spectators placing +themselves at a safe distance from the spot. The materials were then +ignited as before; and when in the incandescent state, water was +poured upon the mass down a spout. The result was but a comparatively +slight explosion, and which scarcely disturbed the iron and clods +placed over the mouth of the vessel. Another experiment of the kind +was made with the same result. At length, a trial having been made +for a third time, but with this difference that the vessel was covered +over the top with another similar vessel, and that the water was +poured upon the burning sulphur and nitrate of soda with greater +rapidity than before, by slightly elevating the spout, the effect was +to blow up the pot on the top into the air to a height of upwards of +seventy feet, accompanied by a loud detonation. With this the coroner +and jury became convinced that whether or not the premises in Hillgate +contained gunpowder, they contained elements as certainly explosive, +and perhaps far more destructive." + +We may here mention as a curious result of the Gateshead fire that +several tons of lead, whilst flowing in a molten state, came in +contact with a quantity of volatilized sulphur. Thus the lead became +re-converted into lead-ore, or a sulphuret of lead, which as it +required to be re-smelted, was thereby debased in value from some +twenty-two to fifteen shillings a ton. + +The great fire, again, which occurred in Liverpool in October last, +was occasioned by the explosion of spirits of turpentine, which blew +out, one after another, seven of the walls of the vaults underneath +the warehouse, and in some cases destroyed the vaulting itself, and +exposed to the flames the stores of cotton above. Surely some law is +called for to prevent the juxtaposition of such inflammable materials. +The turpentine is said to have been fired by a workman who snuffed the +candle with his fingers, and accidentally threw the snuff down the +bung-hole of one of the barrels of turpentine. The warehouses burnt +were built upon Mr. Fairbairn's new fireproof plan, which the +Liverpool people introduced, some years ago, at a great expense to the +town. + +Water alone brought into sudden contact with red hot iron is capable +of giving rise to a gas of the most destructive nature--witness the +extraordinary explosions that are continually taking place in +steam-vessels, especially in America, which mostly arise from the +lurching of the vessel when waiting for passengers, causing the water +to withdraw from one side of the boiler, which rapidly becomes red +hot. The next lurch in an opposite direction precipitates the water +upon the highly-heated surface, and thus explosive gas, in addition to +the steam, is generated faster than the safety-valves can get rid of +it. + +A very interesting inquiry, and one of vital importance to the +actuaries of fire-insurance companies, is the relative liability to +fire of different classes of occupations and residences. We already +know accurately the number of fires which occur yearly in every trade +and kind of occupation. What we do not know, and what we want to +know, is the proportion the tenements in which such trades and +occupations are carried on, bear to the total number of houses in the +metropolis. The last census gives us no information of this kind, and +we trust the omission will be supplied the next time it is taken. +According to Mr. Braidwood's returns for the last twenty-one years, +the number of fires in each trade, and in private houses, has been as +follows:-- + +Private Houses 4,638 +Lodgings 1,304 +Victuallers 715 +Sale Shops and Offices 701 +Carpenters and Workers in Wood 621 +Drapers, of Woollen and Linen 372 +Bakers 311 +Stables 277 +Cabinet Makers 233 +Oil and Color men 230 +Chandlers 178 +Grocers 163 +Tinmen, Braziers, and Smiths 158 +Hooses under Repair and Building 150 +Beershops 142 +Coffee-shops and Chophouses 139 +Brokers and Dealers in Old Clothes 134 +Hatmakers 127 +Lucifer-match makers l20 +Wine and Spirit Merchants 118 +Tailors 113 +Hotels and Club-houses 107 +Tobacconists 105 +Eating-houses 104 +Booksellers and Binders 103 +Ships 102 +Printers and Engravers 102 +Builders 91 +Houses unoccupied 89 +Tallow-chandlers 87 +Marine store Dealers 75 +Saw-mills 67 +Firework Makers 66 +Warehouses 63 +Chemists 62 +Coachaakers 50 +Warehouses (Manchester) 49 +Public Buildings 46 + +If we look at the mere number of fires irrespective of the size of the +industrial group upon which they committed their ravages, houses would +appear to be hazardous according to the order in which we have placed +them. Now, this is manifestly absurd, inasmuch as private houses +stand at the head of the list, and it is well known that they are the +safest from fire of all kinds of tenements. Mr. Brown, of the Society +of Actuaries, who has taken the trouble to compare the number of fires +in each industrial group with the number of houses devoted to it, as +far as he could find any data in the Post-office Directory, gives the +following average annual percentage of conflagrations, calculated on a +period of fifteen years:-- + +Lucifer-match makers 30.00 +Lodging-houses 16.51 +Hatmakers 7.74 +Chandlers 3.88 +Drapers 2.67 +Tinmen, Braziers, and Smiths 2.42 +Carpenters 2.27 +Cabinet Makers 2.12 +Oil and Color Men 1.56 +Beershops 1.31 +Booksellers 1.18 +Coffee-shops and Coffee-houses 1.20 +Cabinet Makers 1.12 +Licensed Victuallers .86 +Bakers .75 +Wine Merchants .61 +Grocers .34 + +It will be seen that this estimate in a great measure inverts the +order of "dangerous," as we have ranged them in the previous table, +making those which from their aggregate number seemed to be the most +hazardous trades appear the least so, and _vice versâ_. Thus +lucifer-match makers have a bad pre-eminence; indeed, they are +supposed to be subject to a conflagration every third year, while the +terrible victuallers, carpenters, mercers, and bakers, at the top of +the column, shrink to the bottom of the list. These conclusions +nevertheless are only an approximation to the truth, since it is +impossible to procure a correct return of the houses occupied by +different trades. Even if a certain class of tenements is +particularly liable to fire, it does not follow that it will be held +to be very hazardous to the insurers. Such considerations are +influenced by another question, Are the contents of houses forming the +group of that nature that, in case of their taking fire, they are +likely to be totally destroyed, seriously, or only slightly damaged? +For instance, lodging-houses are very liable to fire, but they are +very seldom burnt down or much injured. Out of 81 that suffered in +1853 not one was totally destroyed; only four were extensively +affected; the very large majority, 77, were slightly scathed from the +burning of window and bed curtains, &c. Among the trades which are +too hazardous to be insured at any price are--we quote from the Tariff +of the "County Fire-office,"--floor cloth manufacturers, gunpowder +dealers, hatters' "stock in the stove," lamp-black makers, +lucifer-match makers, varnish-makers, and wadding-manufacturers; +whilst the following are considered highly hazardous,--bone-crushers, +coffee-roasters, composition-ornament makers, curriers, dyers, +feather-stovers, flambeau-makers, heckling-houses, hemp and flax +dressers, ivory-black makers, japanners and japan-makers, +laboratory-chemists, patent japan-leather manufacturers, lint-mills, +rough-fat melters, musical-instrument makers, oil and color men, +leather-dressers, oiled silk and linen makers, oil of vitriol +manufacturers, pitch-makers, rag-dealers, resin-dealers, saw-mills, +seed-crushers, ship-biscuit bakers, soap-makers, spermaceti and wax +refiners, sugar-refiners, tar dealers and boilers, thatched houses in +towns, and turpentine-makers. + +It is a notable fact that the city of London, which is perhaps the +most densely inhabited spot the world has ever seen, has long been +exempt from conflagrations involving a considerable number of houses. +"The devouring element," it is true, has made many meals from time to +time of huge warehouses and public buildings; but since the great fire +of 1666 it has ceased to gorge upon whole quarters of the town. We +have never had, since that memorable occasion, to record the +destruction of a thousand houses at a time, a matter of frequent +occurrence in the United States and Canada--indeed in all parts of +Continental Europe. The fires which have proved fatal to large plots +of buildings in the metropolis, have in every instance taken place +without the sound of Bow bells. A comparison between the number of +fires which occurred between the years 1838 and 1843, in 20,000 houses +situated on either side of the Thames, shows at once the superior +safety of its northern bank, the annual average of fires on the latter +being only 20 against 36 on the southern side. For this exemption we +have to thank the great disaster, if we might so term what has turned +out a blessing. At one fell swoop it cleared the city, and swept away +for ever the dangerous congregation of wooden buildings and narrow +streets which were always affording material for the flame. + +The means to be adopted to prevent the flames spreading, resolve +themselves into taking care not to open doors or windows, which create +a draught. The same rule should be observed by those outside; no door +or glass should be smashed in before the means are at hand to put out +the fire. + +_Directions for aiding persons to escape from premises on fire._ + +1. Be careful to acquaint yourself with the best means of exit from + the house both at the top and bottom. + +2. On the first alarm reflect before you act. If in bed at the time + wrap yourself in a blanket, or bedside carpet; open no more doors + or windows than are absolutely necessary, and shut every door after + you. + +3. There is always from eight to twelve inches of pure air close to + the ground: if you can not therefore walk upright through the + smoke, drop on your hands and knees, and thus progress. A wetted + silk handkerchief, a piece of flannel, or a worsted stocking drawn + over the face, permits breathing, and, to a great extent, excludes + the smoke. + +4. If you can neither make your way upwards nor downwards, get into a + front room: if there is a family, see that they are all collected + here, and keep the door closed as much as possible, for remember + that smoke always follows a draught, and fire always rushes after + smoke. + +5. On no account throw yourself, or allow others to throw themselves, + from the window. If no assistance is at hand, and you are in + extremity, tie the sheets together, and, having fastened one end to + some heavy piece of furniture, let down the women and children one + by one, by tying the end of the line of sheets round the waist and + lowering them through the window that is over the door, rather than + through one that is over the area. You can easily let yourself + down when the helpless are saved. + +6. If a woman's clothes should catch fire, let her instantly roll + herself over and over on the ground; if a man be present, let him + throw her down and do the like, and then wrap her in a rug, coat, + or the first _woollen_ thing that is at hand. + +7. Bystanders, the instant they see a fire, should run for the + fire-escape, or to the police station if that is nearer, where a + "jumping-sheet" is always to be found. + +Dancers, and those that are accustomed to wear light muslins and other +inflammable articles of clothing, when they are likely to come in +contact with the gas, would do well to remember, that by steeping them +in a solution of alum they would not be liable to catch fire. If the +rule were enforced at theatres, we might avoid any possible recurrence +of such a catastrophe as happened at Drury Lane in 1844, when poor +Clara Webster was so burnt before the eyes of the audience, that she +died in a few days. + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, FIRES AND FIREMEN *** + +This file should be named 5206.txt or 5206.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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